Mask Brush

What is the Mask Brush?

The Mask Brush lets you define exactly where on the product the artwork should appear. Anywhere you paint = printable. Anywhere you don't paint = transparent / shows the bare product.

Typical use: a mug photo where the mesh covers the body AND the handle. The handle shouldn't have artwork on it. You paint a mask over just the body and the handle area is excluded.

Recommended workflow

1. Position your artwork on the product (Mesh + magnet as needed)
2. Click the Mask button in the toolbar — brush panel slides in below
3. Mask starts filled white (everything printable) — brush defaults to Erase mode
4. Drag over the parts you don't want artwork on (handle, lid, base)
5. Click 💾 Save Mask to Product so it persists next session
6. Click Done to exit Mask mode

Brush controls

One-click actions

• Fill All — paints the entire canvas white (all printable). Default starting state.
• Invert — swaps painted ↔ unpainted. Useful if you painted the opposite of what you meant.
• Clear — wipes the mask entirely (nothing printable).
• 👁 Preview With Mask — toggles live preview of how the mask clips the artwork. Off by default so you can position freely.
• 💾 Save Mask to Product — stores the mask to this product in the database. Auto-loads next session.
• Forget Saved — deletes the stored mask for this product.
• Done — exits Mask mode.

What you see on the canvas

• Red tint — areas NOT painted (artwork WILL be clipped here, meaning hidden).
• Clear / no red tint — areas painted (artwork will show here).
• Brush cursor — green circle = Paint mode, red circle = Erase mode. Size matches the Size slider.

Save Mask to Product — reusable per-product clipping

The 💾 Save Mask to Product button stores your painted mask to the selected product record. Every future artwork dropped on that product will respect the same clipping area — no need to paint again.

This is the same "smart object" workflow as Photoshop mockup PSDs: define the print area once, swap artwork forever.

Keyboard shortcuts

What happens at generation time

The mask is ALWAYS applied server-side when the mockup is generated, regardless of whether 👁 Preview With Mask is on or off in the editor.

The engine composites the artwork onto the product, then blends against the bare product photo using the mask alpha — painted areas show artwork, unpainted areas show through to the original product. Plus the auto-displacement adds surface bumps so the artwork really looks printed on.

Troubleshooting

• Entire canvas is red when I open Mask mode — the mask is empty. Click Fill All to start with everything printable, then erase what you don't want.
• Artwork disappeared when I turned on Preview With Mask — probably means the mask doesn't cover where the artwork sits. Paint in that area or turn preview off.
• Mask doesn't survive reloads — you need to click Save Mask to Product — brush strokes alone stay in memory but aren't persisted until saved.
• Brush cursor stuck after exiting — click anywhere on the canvas to refresh, or press Esc.