OMATOOLS/OmaRAW guide

Guide / Masks and local adjustments

Brush and pen masks

Paint a correction or trace a precise, editable outline.

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On this page · full reference

Film recorded with an earlier version; the written reference is current.

Where it is

Develop → Masks → Pen · Shapes & overlay → Brush

Quick overview

  • Brush paints exactly where you draw. Size, hardness and flow control the stroke; it does not recognise an object.
  • Pen creates a closed editable path from corners and curves. Close with Enter or the first point; Escape cancels an unfinished path.
  • Move points and handles later, then set feather and opacity. AI brush is a different selection tool.

In this film

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  1. Draw a closed outline with PenClick makes a corner; click and drag makes a curved point.
  2. Place the first point beside the cupAn unfinished path does not affect the photograph.
  3. Follow the upper edgeUse a few useful points rather than many tiny segments.
  4. Continue down the right sideYou can refine points after closing the path.
  5. Add the lower-left pointA closed shape needs at least three points.
  6. Close the path with EnterEscape would cancel the unfinished path.
  7. Review the actual feathered coveragePoints and curve handles remain editable.
  8. Feather blends the outlineThe value is a percentage of the photo’s short side.
  9. Apply a small local liftThe same mask can also carry Colour and Detail corrections.
  10. Add an ordinary brush strokeThis paints coverage exactly along your stroke.
  11. Choose size, hardness and flowSize sets width; hardness sets the edge; flow controls coverage.
  12. Paint a short stroke across the tabletopThis is ordinary Brush, not AI brush.
  13. The stroke joins the shape listUse its combine control to add or subtract coverage.
  14. Hide the guides and inspect the editA traced path and painted stroke share this local’s correction.
  15. Save by continuing your editCompleted paths and strokes remain editable in the catalog.

Brush, Pen and AI brush have different jobs

Use Brush for freely painted areas, Pen for a deliberate closed outline, and AI brush when you want the model to infer an object's boundary. An ordinary brush stroke never expands itself to find an object.

Brush

The local brush makes a shape along the path you paint. Use it to lift small patches of shadow, soften a distracting area or add irregular coverage to an existing mask.

  1. Create or select a local. Open Shapes & overlay and select the brush icon, Paint a brush stroke on the picture.
  2. Set Brush size, Brush hardness and Brush flow before painting.
  3. Drag across the area. A click makes a single dab. Short movements work at 100% zoom as well as Fit.
  4. Inspect the resulting stroke in the shape list. It can be repositioned with its centre handle and combined with the existing selection.
  5. Hide coverage and adjust Colour, Tone or Detail for that local. Turn brush mode off when you finish painting.
Control What it changes How to judge it
Brush size / Stroke width The width of the painted mark Large for broad lighting, small for corrections close to an edge
Hardness The transition from the centre of a stroke to its edge Softer for gradual light; harder for defined objects
Flow How much coverage the stroke lays down Lower it for a lighter stroke; inspect accumulated coverage where strokes overlap
Opacity The contribution of the completed shape Reduce an existing shape without redrawing it
Combine How the stroke joins earlier shapes Add to expand selection, Subtract to protect a painted area

Brush size is relative to the photograph, so the same setting looks different on screen when zoom changes. The standard local brush has shape combination controls; right-drag to erase is the AI draft's Paint/Brush gesture, not a promise that every drawing tool uses that gesture. Switching away from Masks or changing photos discards an unfinished stroke.

To make a brush-only local, begin with a local shape, add your brush stroke, then remove the starter shape once the stroke exists. Watch the shape list so you remove only the temporary shape. Keep both when you want the brush to add to or subtract from the original selection.

Pen

Pen draws a closed shape made of corners and curves. Unlike a painted stroke, its outline can be moved point by point later. Use it for a product edge, clothing, architecture or a subject the automatic selection finds poorly.

Draw and close an outline

  1. Choose Pen at the top of Masks to start a new local, or the pen icon under Shapes & overlay to add to the selected local.
  2. Click for a corner. Click and drag for a curved point with handles. Use a few well-placed points rather than a dense chain of tiny segments.
  3. Continue around the object. Backspace removes the last draft point.
  4. Finish with at least three points: click the first point, press Enter, double-click the last point or choose Close shape.
  5. Escape or right-click cancels an unfinished path. A draft that is not closed does not change the photo.

Edit points and curves

Select a point to reveal its handles. Drag the point to move it and both handles together. Drag a handle to change the curve. Alt-drag moves one handle independently, useful where a smooth edge meets a corner. Smooth gives a point matching handles; Corner removes them.

Double-click an existing edge to insert a point without changing the curve. Delete a selected point while keeping at least three. Drag the centre cross to move the whole shape. Points follow the photo's crop and rotation, so keep editing the same shape after changing composition.

Feather and opacity

Feather softens the outline. It is shown as a percentage of the photograph's short side: 0.10% means 5 pixels on a 5000-pixel short side. Start low for a close object edge; increase only until the adjustment blends. Click the number to type an exact value. The slider deliberately gives more travel to small changes.

Opacity changes the correction passed through the shape. The overlay colour and strength change only the display. Use Show what the mask covers to see the actual feathered coverage, then hide it and check the corrected edge at 100%.

Combine and keep editing

Brush and pen shapes support Add, Intersect, Subtract and Exclude, individual inversion and bypass. Shapes can be named, duplicated and reordered. Use a subtracting shape to protect an eye, a window or another object inside a larger selection.

Completed shapes survive saving, Undo, snapshots and mask copy/paste and affect exported pictures. A copied path does not recognise the same object in a different pose: review its placement on the destination. AI selections accepted with Create editable mask become this same kind of editable path; they do not stay a live AI tracking selection.