OMATOOLS/OmaRAW guide

Guide / Masks and local adjustments

Radial and gradient masks

Place light with a soft ellipse or a graduated transition.

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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 → Radial or Gradient

Quick overview

  • Radial selects an ellipse; Gradient fades across a line. Both create a new local with independent adjustment values.
  • Use the icons inside Shapes & overlay to add shapes to an existing local. Radius, rotation, feather and softness change coverage.
  • Hide the display to judge the correction; use the local eye to bypass the actual effect.

In this film

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  1. A mask controls where the correction actsA new neutral mask does not change the photograph.
  2. Create a radial localUse an ellipse for a soft pool of light.
  3. Inspect its coverageThe overlay shows selection; it is not the adjustment.
  4. Place the ellipse around the cupMove and size it with the on-image handles.
  5. Inspect the shape controlsRadius changes the area. Feather blends its boundary.
  6. A shape can contribute less coverageOpacity changes the effect; overlay strength changes only the display.
  7. Open Tone and lift this areaThe sliders belong to the active local.
  8. Apply a modest liftStart small and look for a natural transition.
  9. Hide the guides to judge the correctionThe local remains enabled.
  10. Create a separate gradientUse a gradual transition for one side of the scene.
  11. Move and rotate its transitionThe centre line is half coverage; outer guides are about 10% and 90%.
  12. Darken the brighter side gentlyEach local has independent correction values.
  13. Inspect Rotation and SoftnessA wider transition usually suits gradual lighting.
  14. Compare without the mask displayCheck the full image and the boundary at 100%.
  15. Keep or undo the editCompleted moves and slider drags are saved as undoable edits.

What this lesson demonstrates

The film creates real radial and gradient locals, changes coverage and applies tone adjustments. Both are geometric selections. They are useful even when no object has a clear outline and require no model download.

Radial

A radial mask selects an elliptical area. Its centre receives the strongest coverage and the boundary can fade into the surrounding photograph. Use it for a gentle lift to a face, an object on a table or an area of light. Inversion can select the surrounding area instead.

  1. Press Radial at the top of Masks. This creates a new local, with Tone ready for adjustment.
  2. Drag the centre handle onto the subject. Use its on-image shape controls and Shapes & overlay to adjust the ellipse.
  3. Preview coverage. Set Radius to cover the subject and Feather to blend the transition. Avoid a tiny hard circle unless that is deliberate.
  4. Open Tone and increase Exposure slightly. Hide the mask display to judge whether it looks like natural light.
  5. Move the centre again if necessary. The outline moves immediately; the actual mask and photo update on release as one Undo step.

Radius changes the selected area. Feather controls how gradually its boundary blends. Opacity reduces the amount of selection passing the correction through. These do different jobs: a smaller shape does not make its centre correction gentler, and a paler overlay does not reduce the edit.

An ellipse can cover background alongside a face. Add a colour range or intersect it with a pen shape when that matters. A broad feather is appropriate for lighting; a traced object often needs a more precise boundary.

Gradient

A gradient changes coverage progressively across the photograph. Think of a graduated lighting correction, such as bringing down a bright sky or balancing a room that is brighter on one side. It does not distinguish sky from buildings or trees.

  1. Press Gradient to create a separate local.
  2. Move its centre line to the transition you want. Rotate it to follow the horizon, a window or the direction of light.
  3. The centre line marks roughly half coverage. The two outer guides mark approximately 10% and 90% coverage, so they show the width of the transition rather than hard cut-off lines.
  4. Set Rotation for direction and Softness for how broad the fade is. Preview the selection to check which side receives the effect; invert the shape if you need the opposite side.
  5. Start with a small negative Exposure for a bright sky, or a small positive Exposure for a dark edge. Hide coverage and inspect the whole photograph.

A narrow fade can create an obvious band. Widen Softness for gradual light, and check objects crossing the transition. To protect a foreground object, combine the gradient with a subtracting pen or brush shape. A luminance range can also restrict it to brighter pixels, but it will include similarly bright foreground pixels.

Separate locals or one combined selection?

The top Radial and Gradient buttons create new locals with independent correction values. The icons under Shapes & overlay add shapes to the active local, which then share its Colour, Tone and Detail controls.

For “brighten the face and darken the sky”, use two locals. For “brighten two faces by the same amount”, add two shapes to one local if that suits the scene. See combination modes before using an Intersect or Subtract shape.

Review and save

Use the local eye to compare its whole effect. Check that the centre of a brightening mask does not clip and that its edge is invisible at normal viewing size. The local and all its shapes remain editable after leaving the photo, reopening the catalog and exporting. Undo reverses a completed move or adjustment; deleting a local removes its whole correction.