# @phlearn on YouTube

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://youtube.com/watch?v=_pA_VwuWOXc
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/70442753-phlearn-youtube
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/98208b0163.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-05-20T13:00:35.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** PHLEARN (@phlearn) — https://gondola.cc/phlearn

## Caption

▶ Download the sample image, PSD and PDF guide for this tutorial (free with a PHLEARN account): https://phlearn.com/tutorial/how-to-use-ai-depth-masking-in-photoshop/

Learn how to use Depth Masking in Camera Raw to quickly isolate subjects from the background. Learn a non-destructive workflow using Smart Objects, target your color and exposure adjustments, and apply realistic lens blur to enhance focus.

AI Depth Masking uses AI to calculate the three-dimensional space of your image, letting you select and edit just the foreground or just the background instead of the whole photo. We'll use it to brighten and sharpen our subject, recolor the background, then finish with a radial gradient, vignette, and lens blur to draw the eye right where it belongs.

CHAPTERS
0:00 A Favorite New Feature: AI Depth Masking
0:20 Converting Your Layer to a Smart Object
1:45 Creating an AI Depth Mask on Your Subject
2:34 Refining and Brightening Your Subject
3:55 Creating a Second Depth Mask for the Background
4:52 Using Point Color on the Background
5:48 Adding a Radial Gradient to the Face
6:29 Adding a Vignette and Background Blur
8:16 Editing Non-Destructively with Smart Filters

THE STEPS
1. Convert your background layer to a Smart Object, then open Filter, then Camera Raw Filter
2. In the Masking panel, choose Range, then Depth Range and click your subject with the eyedropper to select by depth
3. Adjust exposure, shadows, texture, and clarity to brighten and sharpen just your subject
4. Create a second depth mask on the background and adjust its exposure, highlights, and color with Point Color
5. Add a radial gradient mask over your subject's face and boost exposure slightly
6. Outside your masks, add a vignette in the Optics tab and increase background blur with Lens Blur
7. Add a touch of grain in the Effects tab, then click OK to return to Photoshop with your edits as reusable Smart Filters

Go deeper with the PHLEARN PRO course “Master Natural Light Portrait Editing in Photoshop”: https://phlearn.com/tutorial/natural-light-portrait-editing-in-photoshop/

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PHLEARN PRO: every PRO tutorial, one membership
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▶ https://phlearn.com/pro

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#Photoshop #PhotoshopTutorial #CameraRaw

## Stats

- **Views:** 14,248
- **Likes:** 852
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 32

## Tags

photoshoptutorial, photoshop, cameraraw

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