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[ 63 ]- Work in Context
If the reason for your selection/mask is to put
your subject on a different background image,
this is perhaps the most important tip: Drag the
subject onto the new background before mak-
ing a selection. That way, every decision you
make is in the context of the background, and
you’ll avoid spending too much time making a
selection and mask, only to find out that on the
new background some of the selection work
you did wasn’t necessary.
6. Select in Pieces
This technique has saved me so much time! When I used to use Refine
Edge (now Select and Mask), I tried to select both hard and soft edges
at the same time and it never really worked very well. Now I make my
selection in pieces.
After placing a Camera Raw smart object, I duplicate the layer,
giving me two exact copies of the same photo.
Then I hide one of the layers by clicking on its Eye icon in the Layers
panel and make a selection of areas with “hard” edges—in this case,
the subject’s body. I delib-
erately don’t include her
hair in the selection.
Then you can work on
the other layer, making a
selection of just the hair.
That way in Select and
Mask, you can use a much
higher Radius because you
don’t have to worry about
having a negative impact
on the hard edges of the
subject (more on Select
and Mask later).
©Dave Cross
Woman: ©Dave Cross; Gym: ©Adobe Stock/.shock