affinity photo · HeyBraza shows you
affinity photo mask brush not painting
HeyBraza spots why your brush does nothing on the mask - wrong thumbnail selected, white-on-white, or zero opacity - and points at the fix.
you select the paintbrush, drag it across a mask, and nothing happens. it's almost never a bug - it's one of a few setup mistakes. here's how to tell which one is yours and get the brush working again.
short answer
two causes: you're painting on the image thumbnail rather than the ringed mask thumbnail, or you're painting white onto a white mask. press 'x' to swap to black, and check brush opacity and flow aren't near zero.
or do it yourself
- 1check you've clicked the mask thumbnail (the ringed one), not the image - painting on the image won't show on the mask.
- 2look at your brush colour: on a white mask, white paint does nothing - switch to black to hide, or press 'x' to swap black and white.
- 3in the context toolbar, make sure brush opacity and flow aren't near 0% - set both to 100% to test.
- 4confirm the brush 'blend mode' is 'normal' and you're using the paintbrush, not the erase or selection brush.
- 5still nothing? the mask may be hidden - toggle its visibility, or zoom in to check you're painting inside the canvas.
steps last checked
let HeyBraza do this with you
HeyBraza teaches you software while you're using it. hold a key and ask out loud - an ai tutor that sees your screen walks you through every step in real time, pointing and highlighting on your real work, talking you through it as it goes - not someone else's tutorial.
downloadcommon questions
i'm painting white on the mask and nothing shows - why?
the mask is probably already white, so white-on-white is invisible. paint black to hide pixels, or press 'x' to flip your colours.
how do i know i'm on the mask and not the layer?
the selected thumbnail has a highlight ring around it - click the mask thumbnail so the ring is on it before you brush.
