Why does painting on an adjustment mask change the opposite area from the one I intended?

Work through the cause

1. Work in a copy and select the intended adjustment-mask thumbnail. Inspect the mask itself before painting on the composite.
2. Make a small reversible stroke in a clearly identifiable test region. Toggle the adjustment and determine which area is revealed or concealed.
3. Undo the test, correct the mask deliberately and inspect the entire boundary. Avoid inverting a mask without understanding all regions it affects.

A concrete case (illustrative)

Illustrative case: an editor wants to brighten the wall around a shoe but darkens the shoe instead. The adjustment was correct; its mask scope was reversed. A test stroke exposes the mistake before a long series of compensating edits.

Acceptance and next action

Pass when the mask’s visible scope agrees with the intended correction and no original product pixels were painted accidentally. Keep corrections on appropriate editable layers so a later product reference change remains reviewable.

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