Photoshop can be a big help in making and cleaning up selections. There are always many ways to do anything in Photoshop — I’m sharing my process. Depending upon the subject and surrounding background, I may use an entirely different technique. But you have to start somewhere.
Select subject
A major Photoshop selection tip starts with activating the Quick Selection tool. You’ll see options for Select Subject and Select and Mask. I use Select Subject as my first stop. If it looks pretty good I’m on my way.
After activating Select Subject, I’ll do a quick clean up with the Lasso tool. Holding down the Shift key will add to your selection and pressing the Option (Mac) or Alt (PC) key will subtract from your selection.
You can also get to the Select Subject command through the top menu, Select > Subject. Try the different possibilities and see how far AI has come in helping you to work faster.
Select and mask
When the selection looks pretty good it can be refined further with a powerful dialog box called Select and Mask. Use the Refine Edge Brush Tool to clean up your edges.
There are a lot of options to change the output. I suggest pushing them full stop to see what they accomplish for you.
One setting that is very important is the Feather setting. Feathering an edge will help it blend into your image and help relieve the ‘cut-out’ look that appears with many who are new to compositing.
Again, please be aware that selections can be made in many ways. This is one of many Photoshop selection tips, but I use it often.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
