No matter which selection command - or tool that you use, there will often be times - when you need to improve and refine a selection.
Hi, I'm Seán Duggan, a photographer and Photoshop author.
For simple changes, you can add to - or subtract from a selection, but for some subjects you may need to do - a bit more to clean up the edges.
This is especially true for subjects - that have softer edges.
For situations like that.
Photoshop Select and Mask workspace - is the place to go.
Let's have a look.
In this file, - I want to select the dancer so I can hide - the original background in that photo and reveal this circular design underneath.
With the Dancer layer active, I'll go to the Select menu and choose Subject.
Any time you have a selection - that includes soft edges such as hair, it's likely - that it will need some refinement.
So let's go right into Select and Mask - and get to work.
Select and Mask is available - in the main Select menu and you can also find a button for this - in the Options bar of all the selection tools.
So if I choose the Quick Selection Tool, I can click on the Select and Mask button in the Options bar.
Select and Mask - opens into its own workspace that temporarily covers - the normal Photoshop interface.
There's a lot going on in this workspace.
We'll take a look - at some of the settings and tools that you'll use most often - in Select and Mask.
We'll start in the upper right - with the View menu, where you can see the different ways - that you can view the image as you edit the selection.
Each of these - has a single letter keyboard shortcut, which makes it very easy to switch - between the different views.
The Overlay view, - which is what it's currently set to shows you the non-selected areas - as a colored overlay.
The default color is red, - which doesn't really work for this image since it's so close - to the background color in the photo.
So I'll click on this Color swatch and in the Color Picker - I'll choose a different color.
I think that a bright green - will work better.
And if I zoom in for a closer view now, I can see the areas - where the selection can be improved.
Most of these are in the hair where you can see some of the original pink, - orange background showing through.
But there's also a small part - by her neck and shoulder that needs to be fixed.
The On Layers view shows you the image - with the underlying layers visible as a preview of how it would look - as a finished composite.
Now let's take a look - at some of the other settings in the Properties panel.
For the Refine mode, - you can move the cursor over each choice to see an explanation of what it does.
I have mine set to Object Aware since that works best - for refinements to hair.
The Edge Detection Radius - sets the size of the area where edge refinements will be applied.
On some images, - you can see significant improvements just by adjusting this slider.
I usually turn Smart Radius on as that will automatically - adapt the radius to different types of edges.
One of the most useful sliders - in the Global Refinements is Shift Edge.
This will contract or expand - the edges of the selection.
If I zoom in for a closer view, you can see how I can move - the Shift Edge slider to increase or decrease the pink, orange fringe - along the edges of her dress.
Let's make some improvements to this.
I'll tap V on the keyboard - to go back to the Overlay view and first I'll fix the small area - by the shoulder and the neck where we can see some of the original - background showing through.
I'll go to the Toolbar, - and I'll choose the Quick Selection Tool.
If you need to resize - the Brush cursor for this, you can do so by tapping the left - or the right bracket keys.
Now remember that the green overlay - indicates the non-selected areas.
So in this case I need to click - the Subtract button in the Options bar so that I can subtract that small area - from the selection.
I'll carefully brush over that area - with the Quick Selection Tool.
And you can see - that that's done a good job to remove that from the selection and we can no longer see - that pink background showing through in that area.
Next, let's work on the hair.
In the Options bar, - I'll click on the Refine Hair button to see if this helps.
If you don't see the Refine Hair button, make sure that you have - one of the selection tools active.
As I do this, keep an eye on the hair - as it modifies that area.
So there was some improvement - on the outer edges of the hair, but there are still places where the pink, - orange background is visible.
To fix those, I'll go to the Toolbar, and I'll select - the Refine Edge Brush Tool.
This tool tells Photoshop - to have another look at the areas that you brush over - and do a better job with the edges.
So I'll brush over the parts of her hair where I can still see - some of the pink, orange background peeking through there.
And this is working pretty good - to remove those but still preserve - the delicate edges of her hair.
And we just have a few more to do here, down here by her cheek - and maybe right over here.
I'll zoom out and I'll tap Y on the keyboard - to switch to the On Layers view for a final look of the dancer - over the new background.
And I think - that this is looking pretty good.
In the output settings, there are several ways - that you can output the changes you've made to the selection.
Since I know that I want to hide - the background of the original photo.
I'll choose Layer Mask and then I'll click OK - to apply the changes that I've made and return - to the main Photoshop workspace.
In the Layers panel, - you can see the new Layer Mask that was just created from the selection.
The unselected areas - are filled with black on the Layer Mask, which hides the original background - of the dancer photo.
If I Shift-click on the mask thumbnail that turns it off so that we can see - the entire dancer image.
I'll Shift-click - on the mask thumbnail again to turn it back on - and reveal the circle design.
We've only touched the surface - of the different ways that you can refine a selection - in the Select and Mask workspace.
Now that you've had an introduction - and know your way around a bit, you can start to use - this essential feature on your own projects. -
