**Created for the Post-Processing mentoring group, however ANYONE is welcome to read and follow along**
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Using the Pen Tool for Selections & Masking
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The Pen tool is an often overlooked method of obtaining quality selections in Photoshop. WHY does the pen make a great selection tool? It's hard to describe, so let's cheat (for just a moment) and use a pre-defined vector graphic for some immediate gratification:
1. Open up an image. Anything will do for this example. No need to be selective.
2. Click the "Box", "Ellipse", or "Custom Shape" tool and use it to draw a shape right in the middle of your image. I used a footprint; you can use whatever you like.
3. Notice that a new layer (with two icons) was created. The first icon represents a "Color Adjustment Layer" and the second icon is nothing more than a mask that reveals color only in the area specified by the vector object you just drew.
4. CTRL+Click the new layer. You should notice the "marching ants" selection around the borders.
5. Now, click your Background layer (the one with your source image) and press CTRL+J (duplicate) on your keyboard.
6. You should now have a NEW layer. It will be in the shape of your vector object but will contain a copy of your background image. Hide the other layers if you want to see only your new layer.
---The point to those last 6 steps was to illustrate that vector shapes can be used as selections. All you have to do is CTRL+Click them. Even text layers can be used this way.
---Now, you may be wondering HOW THE HECK does this all relate to the PEN TOOL??? Let's take a look:
1. Open up an image again. If you'd like to follow along with me, use this image:
(it's a cropped but otherwise un-edited photo of a flower and it needs YOUR help to look good!!)
2. Zoom in until you can comfortably see MOST of the flower on your screen.
3. Select the PEN tool (P) and place a point RIGHT ON THE EDGE of one of the flower's petals. Now, keep dropping points along the edge of the flower and you will start to see a vector shape emerging.
NOTE 1: At some point in time, you're going to run into a problem: the color of the vector shape makes it hard/impossible to see the object you are trying to mask. No worries. Just go to the Layers window and change the opacity of your vector mask to something lower (I like 5-10%). Now you can easily see through it.
NOTE 2: If you're zoomed in really close, you may have to move the photo so you can see the rest of the flower. No worries, just select the HAND TOOL by pressing "H". Drag the picture to where you want it, then reselect the PEN tool. You can also zoom in and out at any time using CTRL+ and CTRL-.
5. Keep adding points until you completely surround the flower. Don't worry about making small mistakes, and don't worry about adding too many points. As you'll soon discover, too many is better than too few.
6. Once you've surrounded the flower, a new layer will appear in the Layers window. Just like before, it will be a color adjustment layer and a mask.
7. Did you make any mistakes while creating your vector? NO WORRIES!! Zoom in and find a the areas that are "off". Use the DIRECT SELECTION TOOL (A) - it looks like an arrow - and click the edge of your vector. All your points will reappear. Click the points that are out of place and carefully drag them into position.
NOTE 3: This is the time where you will discover that more points are better. After all, 30 points can make a believable circle, but 3 points always makes a triangle.
8. Once your vector looks good, you can CTRL+Click it to obtain a selection. If you used my flower photo, duplicate your selection to a new layer (CTRL+J) and you now have a flower-only layer that you can edit without affecting the rest of the photo (or vice versa).
You can get pretty fancy/crazy with this selection technique. You can create multiple vectors (multiple layers) and select them as a group using SHIFT+CTRL+CLICK to add them to a single composite selection. Or, you can remove a vector from a selection using ALT+CTRL+CLICK. That really goes a little beyond the scope of this tutorial, but it's food for thought.
By the way, if you were wondering what MY final product was, you can find it here:
I'm interested to see what YOU came up with!!
Message edited by author 2005-07-13 18:22:38. |
