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ON1’s SuperSelectAI makes light work of identifying the regions in your photo and applying filter and adjustments to them. It is the first half of a secret weapon, a one-two punch to quickly accent the subject of your photo, or a particular region if that’s your need. Watch the video above to see the technique in action.

Step 1 - Make A Selection With SuperSelectAI

Turn on the SuperSelectAI tool and hover over your image. ON1 will highlight various regions. Click on your subject or the area you want to accent to select it. It is OK if the selection has more than your subject.

Step 2 - Apply A Filter Or Adjustment

With your subject or region chosen, right click and apply an Effect filter or Adjustment. ON1 adds the filter or adjustment to the stack with a mask that only applies the effect to your selection.

In my photo, I want to brighten the city buildings a little, so I’ve applied an Adjustment with an increase in exposure. It is OK if the look of the effect is too strong or too weak. You can refine that later … in fact, that’s my next step.

Step 3 - Refine The Adjustment

The defaults for a filter or adjustment are not always what we want. Use the sliders on the right side to refine the adjustment to your needs. While you adjust sliders, pay attention to your primary subject - that’s the important part to get right!

In my photo, the default for “Exposure +” is a full stop increase in exposure. That’s far too bright for this scene. I pull down the Exposure slider so there is only a slight increase in brightness in the buildings. As I make the adjustment, my eyes are on the church on the left third of the frame.

Step 4 - Limit The Adjustment With An Edges Mask

Here comes the one-two punch. After using SuperSelectAI to do the heavy masking work for you, reach for the Edges shaped mask in the Masking group. You can activate the masking tools by clicking on the Mask swatch in the filter or adjustment you just added. In the toolbar, choose the Masking Bug and set the shape to Edges. Click once on your subject and adjust the shape of the mask to encircle just your subject. A soft feather is usually wide for treatments like this.

Pro tip: Turn on the Mask Overlay mode with the O keyboard shortcut to clearly see the boundaries of the mask.

You’re Finished!

And that’s it! Now your adjustment is only affecting your subject. Masking was quick and easy with a combination of SuperSelectAI and the Edges shaped mask. In my photo, the church has a soft kiss of brightness, accentuating it and emphasizing it compared to the rest of the buildings along the river.