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Paint Mask

Paint a mask by hand over any image, or refine a generated one, and send it to every node that takes a mask. White is edited, black is kept. Free.

The Paint Mask node lets you paint a mask by hand over an image and use it anywhere a mask is accepted. You brush over the area to change, and the node outputs a black-and-white PNG: white is edited, black is kept. The node never runs a model and costs no credits.

When to use it

  • Mark an exact area to repaint in Modify Image, when a text description cannot find it.
  • Fix a mask from Generate Mask that is almost right.
  • Share one mask between several nodes, for example Modify Image and Relight & Switch.
  • Keep a mask as part of a workflow. The mask is saved with the workflow, its exports and node presets.

Quick start

Add the node

Press Tab on the canvas and choose Image › Edit & Retouch › Paint Mask.

Connect the image

Drag from an image node to the Image input. This is the picture you paint over.

Paint the mask

Double-click the node, or click Paint mask on it, to open the Mask editor. Brush over the area to change, then click Save mask. The node shows how much of the image is masked.

Connect the mask

Drag from the Mask output to the Mask input of an editing node. Wire the same image into that node's Image input.

imageimage + mask seedmaskUpload ImageStreet photoGenerate Maskthe red carPaint MaskRefined by handModify ImageIdeogram Edit, same photo in Image
Generate Mask finds the car, Paint Mask refines the mask by hand, and Modify Image repaints only the masked area of the same photo.

Inputs

InputAcceptsWhat it does
ImageImage nodes, such as Upload Image, Generate Image and Modify ImageThe picture to paint over. The mask is painted at the full resolution of this image. Required to open the editor.
Mask seedMask outputs, such as the Mask output of Generate MaskOptional. A mask to start from: the editor opens with it, and you add or erase areas.

The output, Mask, is the painted PNG, at the full resolution of the image. White areas are edited and black areas are kept. It is a plain PNG, so it also works anywhere an image is accepted.

The Mask editor

ControlWhat it does
Brush (B)Paints the area to change.
Erase (E)Removes paint: the area is kept.
Shape (L)Click points around an area. Click the first point again, or double-click, to close the shape and fill it.
SizeThe brush size, from 4 to 200 px. [ and ] make it smaller and larger.
Hardness and FlowHow soft the brush edge is and how strongly each stroke paints. Soft or light strokes paint gray, which blends the edit into its surroundings.
Select all, Invert and ClearMark the whole image, swap the marked and kept areas, or remove all paint.
FeatherSoftens the edges of the whole mask.
overlay, mask, sourceShow the mask over the image, the mask alone, or the image alone.
Undo and redoCtrl+Z and Ctrl+Y.

The editor shows the share of the image that will be regenerated, as a percentage. Click Save mask to keep your work.

Settings

SettingWhat it does
Default brushThe Size and Hardness the brush starts with each time you open the editor.
LabelThe node's name on the canvas.

On the node itself, Edit mask reopens the editor, Clear mask removes the mask, and Download mask saves the PNG.

Where the mask goes

Any input that accepts a mask can take it:

White means "edit" and black means "keep" everywhere in Nodaro, so a mask from Paint Mask and a mask from Generate Mask are interchangeable.

Good to know

  • A mask fits one image. The mask is painted at the resolution of the image it covers. If you wire a different image into the editing node, repaint the mask.
  • Saved masks do not follow upstream changes. When upstream nodes run again, the node keeps the last mask you saved. Check that it still matches the new image.
  • Gray blends. Soft, gray areas of the mask are blended by the editing node, which is useful for smooth transitions.
  • No credits. Paint Mask never runs a job, so it never costs credits.

Frequently asked questions

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