Create masks

Last updated on Jun 24, 2025
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Follow along with any project to learn how to mask and isolate specific areas of a video.

Learn how to use masking in Premiere Pro to isolate and edit specific areas of your video with precision.

Creating masks in Adobe Premiere Pro is a powerful technique that allows you to isolate and manipulate specific areas of your video, enabling you to achieve professional-level effects and seamless transitions.

You can use masks to blur out a background, highlight a subject, or add creative overlays. Once created, a mask acts as a stencil, revealing only the portion of the video or image beneath it. You can then apply effects or adjustments to the area within the mask, leaving the areas outside the mask unaffected. Masks can be animated over time, allowing you to create dynamic effects, transitions, or tracking shots.

You can create masks using two methods:

  • Using the Rectangle Tool , Ellipse Tool , and Polygon Tool 
  • Drawing a mask using the Pen Tool .
Before you begin

Make sure your clip is on the timeline and displayed on the Program Monitor.

  1. Select the clip in the Timeline panel, and then select Window > Effects.

  2. From the Effects panel, select the effect you want to apply to the clip.

    For example, if you want to use the Mosaic effect, select Video Effects > Stylize > Mosaic.

  3. Apply the selected effect to a clip by dragging the effect from the Effects panel to the clip in the Timeline panel.

  4. Open the Effect Controls panel to see the effect properties. Select the dropdown arrow next to the name of the effect you are using to reveal its controls.

    The Effect Controls panel is open, an effect is selected, and the dropdown is open to reveal its controls.
    Use the Effect Controls panel to open the effect’s settings and adjust its properties.

  5. To create a mask using an existing shape, select the Ellipse, Rectangle, or Polygon tools in the Effect Controls panel to create a mask.

  6. To draw a mask, select the Pen Tool icon. Select to create a vertex point, and keep clicking to draw more points, until you're happy with the path and shape.

    Press Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) while clicking on a vertex point to change it to a Bezier point, allowing you to adjust line segments on both sides of the point. You can also drag the handles to create curved shapes.

  7. The shape mask appears in the clip displayed in the Program Monitor, and the effect is constrained within the masked area. You can further edit the appearance of the mask as needed.