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Adobe added a new feature to Lightroom Classic in the recent 14.3 (April 2025) update – Landscape masking.
The new Landscape masking tool is a game changer for outdoor photography of any type. No matter what genre you shoot, if you make photos outside, you’ll love the new tool.
I’m going to show you how it works with an example. The difference between these two photos is down to local adjustments made using Lightroom’s masking tools and nothing else.
This is the before version.
And this is the result after making local adjustments using Landscape masking.
Note: Landscape masking is also available in the Lightroom for desktop app and Adobe Camera Raw (ACR). The interface looks different, but the tool is the same.
How to use Landscape masking
Landscape masking is powered by AI. Here’s how to use it.
1. Open a photo in the Develop module and make any global adjustments required. Set the desired Profile and White Balance and (if needed) adjust the brightness using the Exposure slider.
That gets you to a great starting point to use masks.
This is the photo I’m using for this demo. It’s the same as the before version shown above.
2. Go to the Masking panel. If you haven’t made any masks yet you’ll see something like the screenshot below. Click Landscape to access the new landscape masking tool.
3. Lightroom Classic uses AI to detect seven different types of subject in your outdoor photo. They are:
- Sky (the same as using Select Sky).
- Architecture
- Vegetation
- Water
- Mountains
- Artificial ground (roads, paths and other man-made features)
- Natural ground
In my case, the photo found Sky, Architecture, Vegetation and Water.
Check the boxes for the masks you want to create and click Create Mask.
Tip: Hover over the each option to see the associated mask overlay. Don’t worry if the masks aren’t perfect – that’s easy to fix.
4. Now you’ll see a new mask for each option in the Masking panel. The thumbnails help you see the masked (selected areas). Remember, white means that part of the photo is selected, and black means it isn’t (Photoshop users like to say “white reveals, black conceals”).
Refining Landscape masks
Now it’s time to look at the masks to see if they need refining.
Sky mask
Click on a mask and press ‘O’ on the keyboard to see the mask overlay.
Note that I set Overlay Mode to Color Overlay on B&W in the Toolbar as that makes the overlay easy to see (press ’T’ on the keyboard to see the Toolbar if it’s hidden).
You can see the Sky mask in the screenshot below.
If you look closely you can see that the mask isn’t perfect, and has bled over the edges of the building. I’ve zoomed in so you can see it.
That’s easy to fix if it happens to you. Click on the Sky mask in the Masking panel and click the Subtract button underneath. That brings up a list of all Lightroom Classic’s masking tools.
Pick the one you want to use – in this case I went for Select Subject. Lightroom used AI to generate the mask and subtracted it from the Sky mask, giving this much improved result. It’s not perfect, but we can refine further with the Brush tool if needed.
In this situation, I recommend waiting until you’ve made any adjustments to the Sky to see if you need to use the Brush to refine the mask. Otherwise you may spend ages perfecting your masks when it isn’t necessary.
Architecture mask
Here’s the overlay for the Architecture mask.
It’s done a good job, but missed parts of the wall. I used the Add button and Select Objects to mask the rest of the wall above the water.
Then I clicked the Add button and used the Brush tool to fill in the missing bits.
Vegetation mask
The Vegetation mask includes some of the wall.
I used the Subtract button with the Brush to improve the mask.
Water mask
The Water mask was accurate and didn’t need refining.
Combining Landscape masks
It occurred to me that it would be useful to combine the Vegetation and Architecture masks. Then I could apply adjustments to both at the same time.
Here’s how I did it.
1. I clicked Create New Mask > Select Landscape and checked the Architecture and Vegetation options. Then I unchecked the Create 2 separate masks box and clicked Create Mask. This told Lightroom to combine the two regions into one mask
This is the result.
2. Again, the mask missed some of the wall. I clicked the Add button and used Select Objects to add the rest of the wall to the mask.
3. That left a couple of gaps, so I clicked Add and used Brush to fill them in. Here’s the result.
4. I renamed the mask to Architecture & Vegetation combined to make its purpose clear.
It may sound complicated when written out, but in practice takes less than a minute to carry out once you’re familiar with the process.
Masking workflow
In this demo I created the masks first then made local adjustments afterwards. You can do it this way with your photos, or you can use the masking tools one at a time, as needed.
It’s up to you. Both workflows get you to the same place.
Local adjustments with Landscape masking
Now that I had the mask it was time to think about the local adjustments I wanted to make. Here’s a list of what I did, with a brief explanation of why I made each adjustment.
Architecture & Vegetation combined: Increased Clarity to bring out texture. Increased Shadows to bring out Shadow detail.
Sky: Moved the Highlights slider left to make the sky darker. This is more subtle than moving the Exposure slider.
Water: Moved Highlights and Exposure sliders left to make the water darker. Moved the Clarity slider left to add softness to the already blurred water.
Vegetation: Moved the Tint slider left a little to add some green to the trees.
I didn’t need to use the individual Architecture mask so I left it untouched.
Landscape masking – before and after
Here are the before and after versions again.
Before (above)
After (above)
This demo shows that Lightroom Classic’s new Landscape masking option is a powerful tool for developing any outdoor or landscape photo. It’s light years ahead of the cruder Brush, Linear Gradient and Radial Gradient tools that used to be our only options.
If you have any questions about the new tools, or would like to see more demos, then let me know by leaving a comment or replying to my newsletter.
Mastering Masks
Lightroom’s masking tools have changed the way photographers develop photos forever. My ebook Mastering Masks teaches you how to create stunning photos using masks and local adjustments. It covers all the latest tools and techniques covered, plus there are fourteen Case Studies for you to follow along with.
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