But when you’re working with more delicate areas like hair, it’s something you might spend time on using a handful of tools to get it right.
Sometimes you might get it in one go, like if you’re using the Pen Tool to cut out something with a hard edge. Layer MasksĪs you’ve likely noticed by now, selections are a constantly evolving part of an edit. But if not, we can output this selection to a Layer Mask where we can make some final adjustments with the Brush Tool. One such option is the Refine Edge Tool, which gives us the ability to simply paint around an edge and have Photoshop try and make a more precise selection around the finer details.īy using Select Subject to get a rough cutout of the subject, and then the Refine Edge Tool within Select and Mask to paint the details back in, we’re pretty close to having an almost perfect selection of the subject and their hair!įor some images, this might be enough. Select and Mask has a variety of tools that help us control what to included and not included as part of a selection. That’s where Select and Mask comes in, allowing us to further refine our selections to get smooth and seamless cutout. This is especially true with soft and detailed areas like hair. While the smart tools in Photoshop do work really well under the right circumstances, they’re not always perfect. Using automated tools will usually only get us part of the way there. This makes it easier for automated tools like Select Subject (or Select Focus Area) to identify what you want selected. Our example image was taken with a relatively shallow depth of field, leaving the subject in focus and the background out of focus. As with most selection tools, it will have an easier time if the subject is clearly separated from the background, whether it be by color, focus, or contrast. Designed to be easy and automatic, Select Subject will try to identify and select what it things is the subject in a photo. Combined with Select and Mask, we have a versatile suite of tools that will allow us to cut out anything in Photoshop! Select Subjectįor today’s example, we’re going to focus on one of Photoshop’s newer selection tools, Select Subject. Options like Select Color Range, Select Subject, and Channels are all fantastic option when you need to cutout something more complex. So how do we get accurate selections of soft details in an image?įortunately, we can make also selections using the light and color information in a photo (as opposed to visually recognizing the edge and tracing it with a tool). The Pen Tool likely won’t work in these situations, and even if it would, it would take hours to do what should take minutes. But when something has a soft and detailed edge, like a wild head of hair, things get tricky. When something in an image has a hard, defined edge, like a mug or a car, we can turn to super accurate tools like the Pen Tool to make quick work of the selection. Hair continues to be one of the most challenging things to select and cut out in Photoshop.