How To Do Selective Editing In Lightroom

We often receive tutorial requests from our customers, and one of the most popular requests is selective editing. What is selective editing you may ask? It's essentially editing one part of the photo while leaving the rest intact. In today's tutorial, we'll show you how to change the tone of a photo background in Lightroom using the Adjustment Brush Tool. 

1. Import Your Photo

Import your photo and switch to Develop Mode.

 

2. Apply The Presets Or Your Own Edits

We're using our Rose Gold Lightroom Preset (Desktop Version) from our Single Lightroom Preset Collection to create a rich, high-contrast aesthetic.

3. Select Adjustment Brush Tool

In this tutorial, we want to make the background black and white, so we choose the Saturation setting from the options. Depending on how desaturated you want the background to be, we're setting ours to -100 (the lowest).

  

4. Turn On Mask Overlay And Start Painting

With the Adjustment Brush Tool settings defined, we're going to turn on the Mask Overlay feature and start painting over the image. The Mask Overlay feature makes it easy for you to see where you are painting by highlighting the painted areas red. Once you're done painting, unselect the Mask Overlay and you'll see the effect immediately. 

To paint, right-click and hold-down over the areas you want to paint. Release the mouse to stop painting. 

 

5. Adjust Brush Settings For Precise Control

You can control the intensity and precision of the effects by adjusting the brush's settings as you paint. These settings include size, feather, flow, and density. If at anytime you would like to undo/remove the effect, hold down the key ALT or OPTION and painting over the area.

 

6. Done! Before & After