Photoshop User - USA (2021-02)

SELECT SUBJECT AND REFINE HAIR

The fastest way to select anything in Photoshop CC

2019+ is to use Select>Subject. If there’s a person, animal,

or object in the image, it will automatically become

selected. Unlike other selection tools in Photoshop

that rely on changes of color or tone, Select Subject

uses Adobe Sensei, which is the name for Adobe’s AI,

to analyze the photo and recognize an object. Okay, it

gets even better. Choose Select>Select and Mask to

refine the selection. If the cutout contains hair or fur,

choose Refine Hair from the top Options Bar, which is

a brand-new option in Photoshop 2021.

EASILY CHANGE THE CONTENTS

OF SMART OBJECTS

A smart object is nothing more than a container. This

container can hold many things, including images, Illustrator

vectors, PDFs, video, and RAW files, and all of these can

be stacked in the Layers panel. A smart object can also

contain another smart object.

When you transform a smart object, you’re trans-

forming the container, and the contents will update (I’m

going somewhere with this). This means that you can

create reusable layouts. Once you size, transform, and

position a smart object, all you need to do is change out

the contents for a fresh design. Doing this is so easy,

you might have missed it: Right-click to the right of the

smart object’s thumbnail in the Layers panel and choose

Replace Contents. Navigate to the new image and choose

Place. The layout will now reflect the new image.

HIDE AND REVEAL LAYERS WITH MEMORY

If you’re anything like me, when you’re experimenting,

you end up with lots of layers, some of which are turned

on and some turned off. You know, the Goldilocks phrase

where you’re trying to get everything to look just right.

Now you want to do a quick check of a single layer so

you can see what it looks like without any other layers

visible. The problem is that if you hide all the other layers,

you can forget which ones to turn back on.

Here’s a tip you really should memorize if you don’t

already use it: Hold down the Option (PC: Alt) key and

This month we’re getting all tipsy. These are mostly hidden tips: You know the ones; they’ve been staring

you in the face the whole time, begging you to save time. Once you’re finished reading these tips, be sure

to go and read this column in all the back issues of Photoshop User, because there are so many tips that

will save you way more time than it actually takes to read them.

DUPLICATE LAYER STYLES

Layer styles are as useful as they are fun. You can do

something as simple as adding a stroke or changing the

color of the layer, or something as crazy as making things

look like they’re made out of melting steel or glowing

with radiation. Once you’ve put the effort into crafting

a custom layer style for a layer, you can easily reuse it

on another layer, or even multiple layers. Yes, you could

create a preset, but this is even quicker.

To duplicate a layer style, hold down the Option (PC:

Alt) key, click on the name of the layer style in the Layers

panel, and drag-and-drop it on the layer to which you

want to copy it. As simple as that, the layer style is now

duplicated. If you want to move it to another layer and

not copy it, just drag it without holding any modifier key.

COLIN SMITH

PHOTOSHOP TIPS

PHOTOSHOP USER

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FEBRUARY 2021