Dynamic Learning Photoshop CS3
Page 3

See the Quick Selection tool in action!

Use the video that accompanies this lesson to gain a better understanding of how to take advantage of using the Quick Selection tool. Click here to view the video training file for this lesson.

Select like a pro with the Quick Selection tool

Accurate selections in Photoshop are essential. If you do a good job using the selection tools, editing and retouching looks natural. Do it badly, and the image could look contrived. In Photoshop CS3, you can take advantage of new tools to make accurate selections more easily.

The new Quick Selection tool allows you to paint a selection on an image. Photoshop automatically completes the selection for you with very accurate results. Of course, this won't work for every selection, but it will do the trick for many types of selections.

Once Photoshop has completed the selection, you can then refine it-or any selection, for that matter-with the new Refine Edge feature.

In this next exercise, you'll make the background transparent and change the color ofthe little girl's shirt using this new selection tool.

Choose File > Browse, or click on the Go to Bridge button in the upper right of the options bar.

Locate the ps01lessons folder, and double-click on the image named ps0103.psd. An image of a young girl appears.

Choose File > Save As. In the Save As dialog box, navigate to the ps01lessons folder and type ps0103_work in the File name text field. Leave the format set to Photoshop and press Save.

In the Tools palette, click and hold on the Eraser tool to reveal the Magic Eraser tool. Using the Magic Eraser tool, click on the white background behind the little girl.

You just eliminated the background, essentially turning it from white to transparent, using the Magic Eraser tool. This is not a new tool, but many users have yet to discover its possibilities.

Now, select the Quick Selection tool from the Tools palette and paint over the little girl's shirt. Watch as the selection is created with your cursor movement. If you accidently select the area beyond the shirt, choose the Subtract from selection button in the options bar and paint over the area that should not be selected. You can make the brush size smaller by pressing the [ (left bracket key) or larger by pressing the ] (right bracket key).

Brushing a selection with the Quick Selection tool.

Choose File > Save.

 

Keep this image open for the next part of this lesson.

Making selections with the new Refine Edge feature

After making a selection, you can click on the Refine Edge button in the options bar. This opens a Refine Edge dialog box full of options to improve your selection. In this section, you will use these options.

With your ps0103_work.psd file still open, click on the Refine Edge button in the options bar. The Refine Edge dialog box appears. You can click on the Preview buttons at the bottom of the dialog box to choose the preview method that works best for the image. In this example, the preview was left at On White.

A. Standard. B. Quick Mask. C. On Black. D. On White. E. Mask.

Click and drag the Contrast slider to approximately 40, or type 40 into the Contrast text field. Press OK.

Use the Refine Edge feature to add contrast to the selection.

With the selection still active, locate the Layers palette. If it is not visible, choose Window > Layers, then click and hold on the Create new fill or adjustment layer button and select Hue/Saturation. The Hue/Saturation dialog box appears.

Choose the Hue/Saturation Adjustment layer.

You can drag the Hue slider to the left or right to change the color of the shirt. Don't worry if your selection is not perfect. In this example, drag the slider to approximately +113 to change the color of the shirt to green, then press OK.

Choose File > Save, then choose File > Close.

 

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