From 76ad667fd686fda6c337b60e85a6c6393c848986 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Duncan Tourolle <duncan@tourolle.paris>
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2026 20:28:09 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] Offer a mask that is nothing but a hand
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Every route to a layer began with a selection — a gradient, a band, a subject,
a category — and painting was reachable only by making one of those and
joining a painted part to it. So the answer to "brush a correction onto this
corner of the sky" was "add a radial gradient you do not want, then paint into
that", which is not an answer.

Paint sits beside Linear and Radial and makes a layer whose base is a brush.
It covers nothing until a stroke lands in it, so pressing it arms the brush
and shows the mask as well: a row that appeared and changed no pixel, with the
pointer still in "select", is indistinguishable from a button that did nothing.
---
 ui/dr-ui/src/develop.rs  | 31 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 ui/dr-ui/src/masks_ui.rs | 31 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 ui/dr-ui/ui/masks.slint  | 16 ++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 78 insertions(+)

diff --git a/ui/dr-ui/src/develop.rs b/ui/dr-ui/src/develop.rs
index bd21c9d..4e89dda 100644
--- a/ui/dr-ui/src/develop.rs
+++ b/ui/dr-ui/src/develop.rs
@@ -3434,6 +3434,37 @@ impl DevelopSession {
         Some(id)
     }
 
+    /// TRACES: FR-DEV-19b
+    /// Add a mask that is nothing but hand-painted, and select it.
+    ///
+    /// **The one route to a brush that starts from nothing.** Everything else
+    /// in this file makes a layer out of a selection — a gradient, a band, a
+    /// subject, a category — and painting was reachable only by making one of
+    /// those first and then joining a painted part to it. So the answer to
+    /// "brush a correction onto this corner of the sky" was "add a radial
+    /// gradient you do not want, then paint into it", which is not an answer.
+    ///
+    /// The layer covers nothing until a stroke lands in it, which is exactly
+    /// what [`dr_pipeline::mask::MaskPart::covers`] is about: it is not active,
+    /// it costs no slice, and an invert on it would not take the adjustment
+    /// global. What the panel shows meanwhile is a row with the tools armed
+    /// over it — see `masks_ui`, which arms them.
+    pub fn add_brush_mask(&mut self) -> Option<String> {
+        let id = self.graph.masks().next_id();
+        if !self
+            .graph
+            .masks_mut()
+            .push(MaskLayer::new(id.clone(), MaskSource::brush()))
+        {
+            return None;
+        }
+        self.active_masks = vec![id.clone()];
+        self.active_part = 0;
+        self.history
+            .record(&self.graph, Edit::Action(labels::step::MASK_ADDED));
+        Some(id)
+    }
+
     /// TRACES: FR-DEV-10
     /// Add a mask that selects by a range of the photograph's own values.
     ///
diff --git a/ui/dr-ui/src/masks_ui.rs b/ui/dr-ui/src/masks_ui.rs
index c777b7b..692afe3 100644
--- a/ui/dr-ui/src/masks_ui.rs
+++ b/ui/dr-ui/src/masks_ui.rs
@@ -1010,6 +1010,37 @@ pub(crate) fn wire(
             redraw(&w);
         });
     }
+    // TRACES: FR-DEV-19b
+    {
+        let weak = window.as_weak();
+        let session = session.clone();
+        let redraw = redraw.clone();
+        let rows = rows.clone();
+        window.global::<Masking>().on_add_brush(move || {
+            let Some(w) = weak.upgrade() else { return };
+            let made = session
+                .borrow_mut()
+                .as_mut()
+                .and_then(|s| s.add_brush_mask())
+                .is_some();
+            // Armed, and this is not a convenience: the layer covers no pixel
+            // until something is painted into it, so a press that made a row
+            // and left the pointer in "select" would be indistinguishable from
+            // a button that did nothing. The same reasoning as `on_part_added`
+            // below, and the tool's own handler turns the mask view on.
+            if made {
+                w.global::<Masking>().set_tool(1);
+                if let Some(s) = session.borrow_mut().as_mut() {
+                    if s.mask_view() == 0 {
+                        s.set_mask_view(1);
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            sync(&w, &session);
+            sync_rows(&w, &rows, &session);
+            redraw(&w);
+        });
+    }
     // TRACES: FR-DEV-10
     {
         let weak = window.as_weak();
diff --git a/ui/dr-ui/ui/masks.slint b/ui/dr-ui/ui/masks.slint
index f896611..6bef8f8 100644
--- a/ui/dr-ui/ui/masks.slint
+++ b/ui/dr-ui/ui/masks.slint
@@ -970,6 +970,22 @@ export component MaskPanel inherits Rectangle {
                 enabled: Develop.enabled;
                 clicked => { Masking.add-gradient(true); }
             }
+
+            // TRACES: FR-DEV-19b
+            // **A mask that is nothing but a hand.** Beside the gradients
+            // because it belongs to the same answer to "where" — and because
+            // without it the only way to reach the brush was to make a
+            // gradient nobody wanted and paint into that.
+            //
+            // It covers nothing until a stroke lands, so pressing this arms
+            // the brush as well as making the layer: a row that appeared and
+            // changed no pixel, with the pointer still in "select", would look
+            // exactly like a button that did nothing.
+            Button {
+                text: "Paint";
+                enabled: Develop.enabled;
+                clicked => { Masking.add-brush(); }
+            }
         }
 
         // Ranges, on their own row rather than beside the gradients. A