Object masking in Premiere

Learn how to use AI-powered Object Mask in Adobe Premiere to isolate and track subjects for effects and color corrections.

Masking in Premiere lets you isolate specific areas of your footage to apply effects, color corrections, or selectively blur elements. These tools are designed to streamline your editing workflow, enabling you to accomplish complex tasks without leaving your editing environment to use After Effects.

Use Object Masking to auto‑isolate and track moving subjects without manual keyframes or plugins.

Object Mask

The Object Mask tool uses AI to automatically identify objects and people in your footage. With a single click, you can select and isolate an object, then track it throughout your shot. This is particularly useful for:

• Blurring faces for privacy protection
• Applying color corrections to specific objects
• Creating selective effects that follow moving subjects

Object Mask quality modes

When creating an Object Mask, you can choose between two mask quality modes, Sharp and Smooth modes, to best suit your subject and workflow.

Sharp mode

Sharp mode produces binary masks with crisp, well-defined edges. This is the behavior Object Mask has always used, now labeled Sharp.

Sharp mode is best suited for:

• Objects with clear, distinct boundaries.
• Standard masking workflows where edge precision matters.

Smooth mode

Smooth mode produces masks with softer edges that better handle fine details. Use Smooth mode for:

• Hair, fur, or fabric textures.
• Subjects with intricate or delicate edges.
• Semi-transparent or translucent elements.
• Situations requiring natural-looking edge blending.

Selecting an object or a person

You can start selecting an object by selecting the Object Mask Tool from the toolbar and hovering over the Program Monitor. All the prominent objects that can be selected will be highlighted. You can select any of them by simply clicking on them.

If an object you want isn't automatically highlighted, you can use the Rectangle or Lasso tool to roughly draw around it. The model will then detect the object within the drawn area and select it for you.

There are three ways to select an object or a person for the Object Mask:

• Hover and click
• Draw around with the Rectangle   tool
• Draw around with a Lasso   tool

Mask refinement

You can add or subtract objects or portions of objects from the mask using the + and – buttons. The + and – modifiers can be temporarily toggled with the Option or Alt modifier key. In this way, you can quickly add and subtract from the Object Mask to correct it. The selection process is the same as the initial selection.

• To add or remove full objects that are highlighted, simply click on the object.
• To add or remove sections of the object or person, you can draw a rectangle or lasso around the desired area. The model will detect the section and apply the change accordingly.

Mask data storage

Object Mask relies on mask data that can get quite large in size. Storing this directly within the project file could significantly impact its size and performance. To ensure smooth operation and efficient storage, the mask data will be saved externally, in a dedicated folder located next to your project file. The folder will be named <Project Name> Masks for easy identification and management.

The corresponding mask folder must be present for the masks to be accessible within the project. When moving or sharing your project, please ensure you also move the mask folder along with the project file.

If the project’s mask folder cannot be found, the Object Masks will be marked as offline and will not be available for use. This will affect only Object Masks and will not impact other types of masks.

Locating an offline mask

When you open a project containing an offline mask, you'll see an option to locate the missing mask. Select Locate to browse the mask folder (if you have access). This relocates the mask and makes it available. Then select Not Now to open the project anyway, with offline masks marked as such.

When you open a project containing an offline mask, Premiere prompts you with the following options:

• Select Locate to browse the mask folder (if you have access). This relocates the mask and makes it available.
• Select Not now to open the project anyway, with offline masks marked as such.

Working with offline masks in the Effects Control panel

Offline masks appear marked as offline in the Effects Control panel. You can locate them directly from there by selecting Locate.

Mask quality feedback

To help improve Object Mask, you can submit quality feedback directly from the Effect Controls panel. Select the Provide Feedback icon next to any Object Mask entry, indicate whether the mask quality was satisfactory, and optionally provide additional details.