Adjustment Brush Tool in Photoshop: Hit or Miss?
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The Adjustment Brush Tool in Photoshop lets you paint an adjustment onto part of a photo, and Photoshop builds the adjustment layer and its mask for you.
The brush sits under the Brush Tool, with a dropdown of adjustments such as Brightness/Contrast and Hue/Saturation. Pick one, paint over the area you want to change, and the effect shows only where you painted.
Adobe built it for beginners who are new to adjustment layers and masks. If that describes you, it is the gentlest way to start making local adjustments.
Experienced users get a different answer. The brush is another route to the same adjustment layer, and in most cases the old route is shorter.
By the end of this post you will know how to paint an adjustment with the brush and what it builds in the Layers panel. You will also know when a plain adjustment layer is the faster choice.
The video was recorded in the Photoshop Beta in March 2024, when the Adjustment Brush was still a beta-only feature.
Note: The Adjustment Brush Tool reached the general release in Photoshop 2024 (version 25.9), the May 22, 2024 update. It is still part of the current version of Photoshop.
Key Takeaways
- The Adjustment Brush creates a regular adjustment layer with a layer mask. Nothing new lands in the Layers panel.
- Add and subtract on the brush are the same as painting white or black on the mask.
- The dropdown skips some adjustments and every fill layer, so the New Adjustment Layer icon stays part of your workflow.
- You cannot reach the Properties panel sliders until your first brush stroke, so the settings come after the painting.
- With a selection active, the brush needs one extra click compared with creating an adjustment layer directly.
- Each brush layer holds one adjustment, unlike the Lightroom Adjustment Brush, which stacks several in a single stroke.
Table of contents
- What You Will Learn
- Requirements
- Step 1: Find the Adjustment Brush Tool in Photoshop
- Step 2: Choose an Adjustment From the Options Bar
- Step 3: Paint the Adjustment Onto the Photo
- What the Adjustment Brush Really Does
- Missing Adjustments
- No Properties Until You Paint
- Selections Take an Extra Click
- Not the Lightroom Adjustment Brush
- Hit or Miss? The Verdict
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Conclusion
- Related Links
What You Will Learn
- How to find the Adjustment Brush Tool and restore it when the Toolbar hides it
- How to pick an adjustment from the Options bar dropdown and paint it on
- How to subtract an effect with the minus icon
- How to read what the brush builds in the Layers panel and Properties panel
- How to get the same result faster with an adjustment layer and an inverted mask
- How to decide whether the brush fits your workflow
Requirements
Before you start
- Photoshop 2024 (version 25.9 or later) or the current version
- A photo with an area you want to brighten or recolor
- No prior experience with adjustment layers. The post explains what each step builds.
Step 1: Find the Adjustment Brush Tool in Photoshop
The Adjustment Brush Tool is nested under the Brush Tool in the Toolbar. Click and hold the Brush Tool to open its group, then choose the Adjustment Brush Tool.
If you’re not seeing it, don’t panic. Go into the Toolbar menu and reset the Toolbar to default.
Warning: Resetting the Toolbar to default also wipes any custom Toolbar layout you built. Note your arrangement first if you customized it.
Step 2: Choose an Adjustment From the Options Bar
Once you have selected the Adjustment Brush Tool, head to the Options bar and choose an adjustment type from the dropdown menu.
The video picks Brightness/Contrast.
Note: Photoshop 2026 (version 27.10, the August 2026 release) added a Light adjustment layer that handles brightness and contrast with six sliders. Our Light adjustment layer guide covers it.
Step 3: Paint the Adjustment Onto the Photo
Now paint over your image to make it brighter. The effect lands only where the brush touches.
If need be, click the minus icon and paint to subtract the effect from any area you overdid.
Look at the Layers panel. Photoshop created a Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer with a mask that reveals the effect only in the areas you painted over.
From the Properties panel, use the sliders to fine-tune the brightness and contrast.
Tip: Keep the Layers panel open while you paint. Watching the mask fill in with white shows you exactly what the brush is doing behind the scenes.
What the Adjustment Brush Really Does
If you are more advanced, you are probably wondering whether the brush simply creates an adjustment layer and applies a layer mask to the areas you painted. The answer is yes.
The Adjustment Brush Tool is just another route to the same destination.
Every part of the brush maps to something you can already do by hand:
- The dropdown in the Options bar matches the New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel, with a few adjustments missing.
- The add option is the same as painting with white on the layer mask, which reveals the effect.
- The subtract option is the same as painting with black on the layer mask, which hides the effect.
Adobe probably developed the brush as training wheels to make adjustments and masks more accessible to beginners. For experienced users, it will not make workflows faster or more efficient. The next three sections show why.
Missing Adjustments
First, the Adjustment Brush Tool does not include all adjustments or fill layers.
When the video was recorded, Curves was one of the missing ones. So you still have to go into the New Adjustment Layer icon for Curves or any of the other missing adjustments.
If I still have to go to the New Adjustment Layer icon half the time, I am probably going to end up going there every time.
Note: The dropdown may have gained adjustments since the video was recorded. Check the list in your copy of Photoshop before you count on any one adjustment being missing.
No Properties Until You Paint
One advantage of the Adjustment Brush Tool is that you can start with a black mask and target specific areas to adjust.
Unfortunately, you do not have access to the properties of those adjustments until you start painting on the layer.
Say you want to turn a flower blue with the brush. This is the order the tool forces on you:
- Choose Hue/Saturation from the dropdown.
- Paint over the flower.
- Go to the Properties panel and click Colorize.
- Drag the Hue slider over to blue and increase Saturation.
- Go back to the flower and continue painting.
To me, this is a lot less efficient. This is the way I prefer:
- Create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer.
- Press CtrlI (Windows) or CommandI (macOS) to invert the mask to black.
- Click Colorize, drag the Hue slider over blue, and increase Saturation.
- Paint over the flower with white.
Doing this gives you the same result. In my opinion, it is faster and more efficient, because the sliders are set before the first stroke.
Our Hue and Saturation adjustment layer guide goes deeper, including how to narrow the hue sliders to a single color. When the sliders cannot isolate an object, our guide on how to change color in Photoshop covers a fill layer approach instead.
Selections Take an Extra Click
Another issue is how the tool works with selections.
Say you make a selection with Select Subject and want to desaturate the main subject. With the brush, choose Black & White from the dropdown. Then you have to click once on the subject to create the adjustment layer.
You could do all this with one less step using adjustment layers. With the same selection active, create a Black & White adjustment layer. Photoshop turns the selection into the mask, so there is no need to click anywhere else.
Want the reverse, with one color staying while everything else goes gray? See how to keep one color in Photoshop.
Not the Lightroom Adjustment Brush
Some people compare this tool with the Adjustment Brush in Lightroom and Camera Raw. To me, the two are not similar.
Lightroom lets you paint over an area and then apply numerous adjustments, such as brightness changes, color changes, and even sharpening, all in the same adjustment.
The Adjustment Brush Tool in Photoshop applies one adjustment per layer, and it is the one you choose from the dropdown menu.
When I first heard the name, I expected something similar, maybe even Camera Raw on an adjustment layer. Something where one brush stroke applies several different effects.
Instead, we got another way of doing the same thing, and it does not offer any new functionality.
Hit or Miss? The Verdict
For me, the Adjustment Brush Tool in Photoshop is a miss.
To be fair, I do see some value in specific use cases. Painting many soft adjustments across a photo, one after another, could save some time.
In my workflow, those cases are few and far between.
The brush could be a great introduction to adjustments and masks for someone opening Photoshop for the first time. But it is trying to solve a problem that was not really there.
I would rather see those resources go into newer tools or into updating some of the older ones.
Tip: If you are learning masks, use the brush for a few edits, then click the mask thumbnail in the Layers panel. Seeing your strokes as white on black is the fastest way to understand what the manual method does.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is nested under the Brush Tool in the Toolbar. Click and hold the Brush Tool to open the group and pick it. If it is not there, open the Toolbar menu and reset the Toolbar to default.
No. It reached the general release in Photoshop 2024 (version 25.9) on May 22, 2024. The Adjustment Brush Tool is still part of the current version of Photoshop.
It creates a normal adjustment layer and paints white onto its layer mask wherever you brush. Open the Layers panel after a stroke and you will see the adjustment layer and its mask. You can edit both exactly as you would any other adjustment layer.
The Properties panel for the adjustment does not appear until you make your first brush stroke. Paint once, then open the Properties panel and set the sliders. Any strokes you add afterward use the new settings.
Yes. With a selection active, choose an adjustment from the dropdown and click once inside the selection to create the layer. Creating an adjustment layer from the New Adjustment Layer icon skips that click, because Photoshop turns the selection into the mask on its own.
No. The Lightroom Adjustment Brush stacks brightness, color and sharpening changes in a single stroke. The Photoshop brush applies one adjustment per layer, the one you choose from the dropdown.
Click the minus icon and paint over the area you want to clear. This is the same as painting with black on the layer mask. Switch back to add to paint the effect in again.
When the video was recorded, Curves and every fill layer were among the missing options. The dropdown may have changed since then, so check the list in your version. Anything missing is still one click away at the New Adjustment Layer icon in the Layers panel.
Conclusion
The Adjustment Brush paints an adjustment layer and its mask in one motion, which makes it a friendly first step into local adjustments.
Once you know what it builds, the manual route is within reach. Create the adjustment layer, invert the mask, set the sliders, and paint. It is the same result with fewer detours.
Watch the full video above to see both routes side by side. Then comment on the video and tell me whether the tool is a hit or a miss for you.
Selections and Masking Mastery
Complete course includes 2.5 hours of step-by-step lessons, 6 structured modules, downloadable practice files, and custom Photoshop brushes. Everything you need to master selections and masks in one place.
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Next, learn how to target any color with the Hue and Saturation Adjustment Layer.
