AI Masking

AI Masking Overview

Capture One 16.3.0 offers three new AI Masking techniques: Masking the Subject and Background, AI Select, and AI Eraser. These tools allow for easy and precise masking of images, with features like automatic identification of subjects or backgrounds, easy selection and removal of specific objects or areas. With the release of Capture One 16.4.0, AI Masking now utilizes the GPU if it’s powerful enough, resulting in significant performance improvements

The Background Layer is now referred to as the Image Layer to avoid confusion between subject and background layers.

• Masking the Subject and Background
• AI Select & AI Eraser Cursor Tools
  • Click Method
  • Rectangle Method
• AI Masking in Styles
• Copy AI Masks Between Images
• Use AI Masks with Next Capture Adjustments
• FAQ

Masking the Subject and Background

Capture One has the ability to automatically identify and mask the subject or background in your images, thereby creating a new layer with a high-quality edge-refined mask. This method of masking can be incorporated into Styles, providing a convenient way to mask and apply adjustments simultaneously, and can be used on multiple images at once.

Click Subject or Background in the Layers & Masks Tool to create a mask and a new layer.

To use AI masking on multiple images at once, select images in your collection (Cmd/Ctrl+A to select all or Cmd/Ctrl+Click to select individual variants) and then click Subject or Background from the Layers & Masks tool. Ensure that you have Edit All Selected Variants enabled. 

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AI Select & AI Eraser Cursor Tools

The AI Select and AI Eraser tools simplify masking specific objects or areas in images. They support click and rectangle methods for adding or removing masks as needed, with a complementary color preview of the mask overlay.

You can find AI Select and AI Eraser in the toolbar and in the Layers & Masks Tool (Adjust Tool Tab).

Hold down Alt/Option key to toggle between AI Select and AI Eraser.

Capture One takes a few seconds to prepare the AI model for each image. This process is repeated when zooming in for high-quality masks of smaller objects.

Click Method

With the click method, hovering over an image displays a preview of the expected mask area. Clicking an area of the image will add a mask (and create a new layer if none exists).

Starting with Capture One 16.4.0, a short animation will appear when clicking with the AI Select Cursor Tool to provide visual feedback, regardless of mask visibility settings.

Hold down Alt/Option to remove masked areas.

Rectangle Method

The rectangle method is useful for complex objects. Dragging a selection rectangle over the object with the AI Select or AI Eraser cursor displays a preview of the expected mask area. Like the click method, this either adds to or removes from the selected layer, or creates a new one if none exist.

Zoom in to your image to select facial features or smaller objects in your scene.

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AI Masking in Styles

Save AI masks as part of a Style for future use across other images.

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Copy AI Masks Between Images

In Capture One 16.3.4, you can copy unchanged Subject Mask and Background Mask Layers to other images, and Capture One will automatically re-calculate what the subject or background is.

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Use AI Masks with Next Capture Adjustments

In Capture One Pro 16.3.4, AI Masks are now supported in Next Capture Adjustments, recalculating as new images come in.

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FAQ

• AI masking analyzes the original image without considering Healing/Cloning or other adjustments.
• AI masking works with all supported image files.
• You don’t need to be online to use AI masking.
• You can manually modify an AI mask with a Brush or Eraser.
• If there are more than one subjects in an image, Capture One should select them all.
• The mask will carry over while you tether if it’s a part of the Style selected in the Next Capture Adjustment Tool.
• There is no option to turn off the AI if it slows down performance as AI mask calculation is active only if you select AI Brush.
• Keyboard shortcuts are available to enable Subject and Background. The default ones are B and E, but you can adjust them according to your preferences.
• It’s possible to combine an AI mask with a Linear Gradient one by making a linear gradient, rasterizing it, and adding to it with AI Select. Otherwise, it will replace the existing mask.
• These AI tools should work pretty well without any limitations on monochrome files as they do on color files.
• Capture One will not increase the total number of layers from now 16 to more at this moment.
• More specific masks for portrait like skin, eyes, lips are not available but you can already zoom in and manually select necessary parts.
• It’s not possible to export these masks to Photoshop.
• There is no way to refine only specific areas of the mask currently, you can only refine the whole mask, not its parts.
• Subtracting one mask from another is not currently available.
• AI mask is more aimed to masking a subject that you can further color correct rather than remove. You can try Healing/Cloning as an option instead.

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