From the book
From the book
From the book
Refining a mask
The mask is pretty good, but the Quick Selection tool couldn’t quite capture all of the model’s hair. The mask is also a little choppy around the contours of the shirt and face. You’ll smooth the mask, and then fine-tune the area around the hair.
- Choose Window > Properties to open the Properties panel.
- If it isn’t already selected, click the mask on Layer 0 in the Layers panel.
- In the Properties panel, click Mask Edge. The Refine Mask dialog box opens.
- In the View Mode area of the dialog box, click the arrow next to the preview window. Choose On Black from the pop-up menu.
- In the Adjust Edge area of the dialog box, move the sliders to create a smooth, unfeathered edge along the shirt and face. The optimal settings depend on the selection you created, but they’ll probably be similar to ours. We moved the Smooth slider to 15, Contrast to 40%, and Shift Edge to -8%.
- In the Output area of the dialog box, select Decontaminate Colors. Choose New Layer With Layer Mask from the Output To menu.
- Select the Zoom tool in the Refine Mask dialog box, and then click the face to zoom in so you can see its edges more clearly.
- Select
the Refine Radius tool (
)
in the Refine Mask dialog box.
Use it to paint out any white
background that remains around
the lips and the nose. Press
the left bracket ([) to decrease
the brush size and the right
bracket (]) to increase it. - When you’re satisfied with the mask around the face, click OK.
- With Layer 0 copy active, click Mask Edge in the Properties panel to open the Refine Mask dialog box again.
- From the View pop-up menu, choose On White. The black hair shows up well against the white matte. If necessary, zoom out or use the Hand tool to reposition the image so that you can see all of the hair.
- Select the Refine Radius tool in the Refine Mask dialog box. Press the ] key to increase the size of the brush. (The options bar displays the brush size; we used 300 px at first.) Then, begin brushing along the top of the hair, high enough to include the spikes. Press the [ key to decrease the brush size by about half. Then, paint along the right side of the head, where the hair is a solid color, to pick up any small, fine hairs that protrude.
- Select
the Erase Refinements tool
(
),
hidden behind the Refine Radius
tool in the Refine Mask dialog
box. Click once or twice in
each area where background
color shows. When you erase
an area, the Refine Mask feature
erases similar colors, cleaning
up more of the mask for you.
Be careful not to erase the
refinements you made to the
hair edge. You can undo a step
or use the Refine Radius tool
to restore the edge if necessary. - Select Decontaminate Colors, and move the Amount slider to 85%. Choose New Layer With Layer Mask from the Output menu. Then click OK.
- In the Layers panel, make the Magazine Background layer visible. The model appears in front of an orange patterned background.
)
The mask appears against a black background, which makes it easier to see the edge of the white shirt and the face.
)
A new layer, named Layer 0 copy, appears in the Layers panel. You’ll use this layer to add the spikes to the mask of the hair.
)
As you paint, Photoshop refines the mask edge, including the hair, but eliminating most of the background. If you were painting on a layer mask, the background would be included. The Refine Mask feature is good, but it’s not perfect. You’ll clean up any areas of background that are included with the hair.
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