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This article is part of a mini-series about the masking features in ON1 Photo RAW and ON1 Effects. This installment introduces the Masking Bug and explains how to use the Center & Edges shape of this tool.

The Masking Bug

The Masking Bug Tool in the Mask Tool Group is the tool to reach for when you need to mask large areas of your photo. The bug has several shapes to choose from:

• Center - an elliptical mask with bias toward areas inside the ellipse

• Edges - an elliptical mask with bias toward areas outside the ellipse

• Gradient - a classic straight-edged mask

• Reflected Gradient - a dual-sided gradient you can fade in two opposite directions

All shapes of the Masking Bug have controls to set the Opacity or combine it with a color range mask. You can also add multiple masking bugs to a single filter or local adjustment using the Add button (although I rarely do so). Remove a masking bug using the Delete button.

Once a shape for the Masking Bug is selected, click in the preview area to drop a bug on your photo. Use the on-screen controls to position and shape the mask.

The Center & Edges Shapes

Center and Edges are oval-shaped masks, and they are opposites of one another. Their names come from what they do - affect the center of an elliptical mask (what’s inside the oval) or affect the edges of an elliptical mask (what’s outside the oval). ON1 provides excellent controls to position and shape the oval. The controls for the mask are on-screen in the preview area. They are:

• Position - click and drag the large, circular pin to position the transition point of the mask.

• Rotate - click and drag the smaller circular pin to rotate the angle of the mask

• Stretch & Squeeze - click and drag the four control points to shape the oval mask and change its size

• Feather - click and drag either of the dashed lines to make a large, gradual feather or a small, rapid transition

Pro tip: For precision rotation, click the Rotate pin and hold down the mouse button. Move your cursor farther away from the Position (center) pin and then rotate.

Whether or not Center or Edges conceals or reveals the adjustment you’re applying differs between an Effects filter and a Local Adjustment. For example, consider the Center shape. An Effects filter, by default, is applied everywhere and a Center shape conceals what’s in the center.

However, the default for a Local Adjustment is a full black mask, concealing the entire adjustment. A Center shape will reveal what is inside the oval.

In practice, I always forget which is which. I’ll choose one, and if I get it wrong, I’ll choose the other and move on with my post-processing.

Up Next

This masking series continues with a series of articles on the ON1 Masking Brush.