The Canon Magazine 63
MAKE TRICKY SELECTIONS WITH EASE
STEP BY STEP REPLACE A BACKDROP
Get to grips with the powerful Select and Mask command and make complicated cut-outs with ease
01 USE SELECT SUBJECT
Go to Select>Select Subject. If it needs tweaking, grab
the Quick Selection tool from the toolbar and either
paint to select missing areas, or hold Alt and paint to
subtract parts of the initial selection. The tool will
seek out and snap onto edges as you paint.
03 INCREASE THE RADIUS
This will better the selection along hard edges, like the
body, but not the hair. Get the Refine Radius tool from
the toolbar on the left and paint over the hair to up the
radius. This helps the command seek out and exclude
the parts of the background showing through the hair.
05 REPLACE THE BACKGROUND
Grab the Move tool and drag the image to the second
image of the blurred backdrop. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+T if you
need to resize. The edges look rough in places, so next
go to the Layers panel, right-click the black and white
layer mask thumbnail, and choose Select and Mask.
02 ENTER SELECT AND MASK
Once you have a decent selection, you can go to
Select>Select and Mask to improve it. Go to the View
dropdown on the right and choose the view that offers
the most contrast from the original backdrop. Here
the ‘On Black’ view clearly shows us the nasty edges.04 CHECK THE HAIR
Check ‘Show Edge’ in the options to the right. This
shows the radius, which is the area of refinement
along the edge of the selection. Make sure the radius
covers all the gaps and details. Then, uncheck ‘Show
Edge’, choose Output: Layer Mask and hit OK.06 FURTHER REFINEMENTS
This time check ‘Decontaminate Colors’, tweak the
strength of the effect with the slider, then hit OK.
This’ll create a new layer and improve the edges by
bleeding in the colours of the hair. Finally, hit Cmd/
Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E to create a new merge layer.NEXT MONTH
CREATE HDR
PANORAMICSWhen using Select
and Mask, try
hitting the ‘f’ key to
cycle through the
various different
views that you
have on offerQUICK TIP!
THE SELECT
AND MASKCOMMAND
Select and Mask is
ideal for isolating tricky
subjects with curly hair
or furry edges. The key
feature is the Radius
control, which lets you
expand or contract the
area along the selection
edge in which the tool
seeks out pixels similar
to those in the backdrop
that you are trying to
remove. You can use the
Radius slider, or paint in
the radius by hand using
the Refine Radius Brush
tool. The ‘Decontaminate
Colors’, ‘Shift Edge’ and
‘Contrast’ sliders can be
useful for fine-tuning the
result, but don’t bother
trying to improve the
edge with the Smooth
or Feather, they won’t
work in this instance.