PS101 Group A - Selection Tools & Masks

05/13/2007 03:21:20 PM · #26

Super quick selection with magnetic lasso. Plus I learned how to change where the path goes...

05/13/2007 03:30:10 PM · #27

Originally posted by levyj413:

Quickmask ROCKS. It's my #1 tool for selections. I typically set a largish brush with low hardness, brush out the area I'm interested in, then make a smaller brush and zoom way in (like 300%) and edit at the pixel level.

The low hardness is key to begin with, and then you can make the line harder as you get closer to your precise selection. Anywhere you don't go back will just be less precise, which is often not even visible.

Bingo! That's the way to do it.

btw, "Low Hardness" is synonymous with "Softness" ;-)

05/13/2007 03:33:03 PM · #28

How do you "delete" part of your selection with quick mask? Like if I selected too much and want to go back and "unselect"

05/13/2007 03:39:04 PM · #29

Originally posted by slickchik:

How do you "delete" part of your selection with quick mask? Like if I selected too much and want to go back and "unselect"

Use the eraser tool while in quickmask mode.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

05/13/2007 03:43:20 PM · #30

Here's another one I thought I'd post in each group:

One method for fixing up hair is to use a special brush for either erasing, or for quickmasking in the first place. I use the "Dune Grass" brush (for MANY things) and it can be adjusted in a zillion ways. Brushes can be used for burning, dodging, history brush, eraser, clone stamp and other things, so the many settings available for the brush in this palette make it very useful!

chalice

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

05/13/2007 04:26:36 PM · #31

Just getting started today.

05/13/2007 09:22:17 PM · #32

Quick mask does ROCK!

Very quick and easy to get a selection plus that "Dune Grass Brush" did wonders for the tail.

I spent just a few quick minutes doing this. If I spent more time I am sure I could do better...(I don't think there is a need for me to obsess over getting this squirrel just right.)

Edit to add: I am so impressed with the hair on the tail!!

Just look at the difference with the same amount of time spent!!

Message edited by author 2007-05-13 21:23:49.

Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) for Nikon

05/13/2007 09:24:43 PM · #33

I feel like I have learned so much already, LOL!!

levyj413

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max

05/13/2007 10:10:43 PM · #34

Originally posted by slickchik:

How do you "delete" part of your selection with quick mask? Like if I selected too much and want to go back and "unselect"

This is the key difference between actually deleting and using a quick mask.

In case anyone's a bit lost, think of "painting" in quick mask. Where you paint in black, you select that entire pixel. Where you paint in white, you ignore that entire pixel. Where you paint some shade of gray, you get more or less of that pixel.

So when you paint in white where you decide you do want to include a pixel, go back and paint black or some shade of gray. A keyboard shortcut to flip between your foreground and background colors is "x".

By the way, you can change the quick mask in two ways: to show you what's been selected or not and to set the masked color to something you like (pick something that stands out against the image).

I tend to have few pics with blue in them, so I use blue, but if you just double-click on the quick mask icon, you can then choose whatever color you want. Just remember the color is simply showing what will be selected when you exit quick mask; it's not really coloring anything in the image. Oh - you can also set the mask's opacity to decide how much of the image to show through.

Also, in this screen shot, I'm showing where the buttons are to enter (red) and exit (green) quick mask. I tend to use those more than "Q" as the keyboard shortcut. The colors aren't really there; I just put them there for labeling purposes.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the selection tools work in quick mask, but they don't "paint" or select in the eventual selection. Rather, they affect the mask itself. So, for instance, if you want to color in a rectangle in the mask, select it with the square marquee and then either select white and click with the paint bucket, go to edit->fill and choose white, brush over it with white, or whatever. But simply selecting a section in quick mask won't fill in that section.

At some point (maybe next?), after using quick mask we're going to be creating a layer mask, where you make the selection "permanent" and can then further refine how much of a layer you're going to show (actual image layer or adjustment layer).

Message edited by author 2007-05-13 22:58:36.

levyj413

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max

Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) for Nikon

05/13/2007 10:17:49 PM · #35

Originally posted by Art Roflmao:

btw, "Low Hardness" is synonymous with "Softness" ;-)

Yep, but everyone always says things like "choose a soft" brush when the PS setting is actually "hardness."

Speaking of which, to select brush size and hardness, click on the little triangle to the right of the brush image and move the sliders to suit your needs. I regularly go back and forth between large and small brushes. If you're using a tablet pen, you can use pressure to automatically make the brushes larger (more pressure = bigger brush)

Message edited by author 2007-05-13 22:22:10.

bvlindalou

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II

05/13/2007 11:08:33 PM · #36

OK, I did the lasso....hated it.....now I'll work on the mask

chalice

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

05/13/2007 11:23:31 PM · #37

I used the pencil with the mask technique. The edge was hard (rather than soft) but I moved in (to 1 pixel) and out regularly to come as close to his fur as possible. The end result, though, is rather ragged looking as I may have been too rigorous in eliminating pixels.

05/14/2007 03:26:44 AM · #38

Class dunce here What do I do when i am in Quickmask mode?

05/14/2007 03:49:04 AM · #39

Originally posted by joynim:

Class dunce here What do I do when i am in Quickmask mode?

In Quickmask mode, you are "drawing" the mask with a pencil or brush. You draw the mask over the areas you want to protect from whatever action you are going to perform on the image, then go out of QM mode and everything EXCEPT the mask will be selected. In the case of extracting the squirrel, you can use QM mode to draw the mask over the squirrel, then exit QM mode (which would select the background) and invert the selection to select the squirrel and then copy/paste, etc. Hope that helps explain it.

I am noticing a variety of good info on the topic in each of the 4 group threads, so I would encourage everyone to peak in on the others to pick up tips & info we may not have covered.

05/14/2007 04:59:26 AM · #40

Thats what i thought I must be doing something wrong as I cant get the brush to work!

05/14/2007 05:06:38 AM · #41

Originally posted by joynim:

Thats what i thought I must be doing something wrong as I cant get the brush to work!

Is the brush's opacity at 100% Foreground set to black?

05/14/2007 06:37:44 AM · #42

Opacity was at 10% I am getting white when I paint is that right? When I use the eraser it's balck is thast right?

Message edited by author 2007-05-14 06:39:32.

05/14/2007 06:46:43 AM · #43

Ok trying again and cannot get the colours at all again!

suemack

Canon EOS-20D

05/14/2007 07:06:47 AM · #44

Remind me what version of ps you're using Charlie

05/14/2007 07:08:39 AM · #45

CS2

suemack

Canon EOS-20D

05/14/2007 07:17:12 AM · #46

You shouldn't be using your eraser at all, just the brush tool (100% normal). Set your foreground/background to black and white (hit D to do this). Hit Q (quick mask) Brush with black paint to apply the mask, if you make a mistake, hit X (reverses your foreground/background colours) and paint with the white.

05/14/2007 07:25:37 AM · #47

Getting too tired now I will work on it in the morning :)

05/14/2007 05:03:19 PM · #48

Using quickmask was great much easier! I have to say the tip about Alt zoom and spacebar are very handy ;)

Edit to add found out why I couldnt do anything in quickmask my mode was not in normal!

Message edited by author 2007-05-14 17:05:02.

05/14/2007 05:06:37 PM · #49

Originally posted by Art Roflmao:

Here's another one I thought I'd post in each group:

One method for fixing up hair is to use a special brush for either erasing, or for quickmasking in the first place. I use the "Dune Grass" brush (for MANY things) and it can be adjusted in a zillion ways. Brushes can be used for burning, dodging, history brush, eraser, clone stamp and other things, so the many settings available for the brush in this palette make it very useful!

How do i find those brushes?