Today’s Question: Is there a way in Camera Raw or Develop in Lightroom Classic to make an elliptical mask that extends far beyond the image or the monitor edge? I want a super skinny mask that fades quickly on either side of the long axis.
Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can create a Radial Gradient (elliptical) mask in Camera Raw or Lightroom Classic by zooming out so the image is small, enabling you to stretch the mask far beyond the edge of the image. It can also be helpful to set your monitor display to a higher resolution, even if only temporarily.
More Detail: The bounds of an elliptical mask created with the Radial Gradient masking feature with Camera Raw or Lightroom Classic enables you to extend the bounds of the mask edge outside the image area. This enables you to exercise greater control over the specific position and gradation of the mask, which in turn affects which specific portions of the image are affected by the targeted adjustment.
For example, you could use this technique to create an elliptical mask shape that causes only the left and right edges of the image, without affecting the top and bottom edges.
The key is to zoom out far enough that you can make the mask shape large enough to meet your needs. The first step would be to zoom out on the image, such as by using the Navigator control at the top of the left panel. The minimum zoom setting is 6%. If that’s not quite enough room to enlarge the mask as much as you’d like, increasing display resolution would help if that is possible with your configuration.
For example, I use a monitor display with a 4K resolution, but I generally set the display to closer to a 3K resolution. So, I could temporarily increase the resolution setting to 4K to have more room for enlarging the mask shape. The resolution could be reduced again after the mask is complete.
Of course, it is worth noting that if you want a very thin mask affecting only one dimension of the image, it might be easier to combine to linear shapes with the Linear Gradient option for masking. For example, you could create a Linear Gradient mask that applies an adjustment to only the left edge of the image and then add to that another Linear Gradient mask that adds the right edge of the image to the overall mask.
