Draw the mask. Skip the drag.
In Premiere a new mask lands under "Unassigned Masks" and waits for you to drag it onto Opacity. Press Mask on the Outflow toolbar instead: Premiere switches to its mask tool, you draw, and the mask is on Opacity the moment you let go. The clip is cut out. That is the whole tool.
Free to download. Tested on Premiere Pro 2026; 2025 and 2024 work too, on Windows and Mac. The basics stay free forever, Pro unlocks every tool, cancel any time.
Mask a copy. Keep the original whole.
Switch on "On a new layer" and the button first puts a copy of the clip on the track above, then masks that. The cut-out sits on top, the full clip stays underneath for a blur, a colour shift, or anything else you want behind the subject.
- The copy keeps the clip's scale, position and opacity
- No audio doubled: the copy is video only
Object, ellipse, rectangle or pen.
Hold the button and pick the shape. Object is Premiere's own object mask: click the person, it finds the edge. The choice is remembered, so a plain press uses the one you picked last.
- Object, ellipse and rectangle land on Opacity by themselves
- Pen: close the shape, then press once more
One thing to set up, once.
Premiere ships its mask tools without a keyboard shortcut. The button needs one to switch to the tool, so the first press shows you where to give it one, with a short recording. After that it is press, draw, done.
Give the tool a shortcut. In Premiere: Edit › Keyboard Shortcuts, search "Mask Tool", give Object Mask Tool Shift+Q. The first press of the button walks you through it.
Select a clip and press Mask. Premiere switches to the mask tool; the button pulses while it waits.
Draw. The moment the mask exists it is moved onto Opacity. Undo works as always.
Frequently asked
Why does it need a keyboard shortcut?
Premiere gives panels no way to switch its tools. What a panel can do is press a key for you, so the button presses the shortcut you gave the mask tool. Premiere ships the tool without one; giving it Shift+Q takes ten seconds and the first press of the button shows you where.
Shift+Q is taken on my keyboard.
Give the tool any other key in Premiere, then record the same key in the panel: the toolbox button at the foot of the toolbar › Mask tool keys. Click the field, press the keys. Shift or Ctrl+Shift with a letter works best; Alt combinations open Premiere's menus on Windows.
How does it know the mask is drawn?
It watches Premiere's undo history while the button is armed. Drawing a mask is one undoable step; selecting clips or switching tools is not. The first new step after the press is your mask, and Opacity is added right after. Pen masks are the exception, since every point can be its own step: close the shape, then press the button once more.
Is Mask free?
Three masks free. Every account gets three to try it with, for ever - not three a month. Pro ($19 a month or $149 a year) makes them unlimited and adds Auto Edit, Relight and Remove music.
Does it work with masks I already drew?
A mask drawn before pressing the button stays where Premiere put it. Draw with the button armed and it lands on Opacity; or in Premiere, right-click the unassigned mask for its own assign option.
Mac?
Yes. The first press asks macOS once for permission to press keys for Premiere (System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility).