Having trouble with CS5's Edge Detection tool

[Albobo]

I've watched like 3-4 videos on it which seem to do it perfectly (one of them had a pretty complex background), yet when I follow exactly what they advise I get blurred edges on my selection with speckles and pieces of my original selection get covered. I try to brush over it with the Edge Detection tool but that seems to create MORE of it.

If I try to eliminate it on the hair using the sliders, then the harder edges (like clothes and skin) get more blurred and cut off.

Here's what a cut out with highlights of what I mean: (green arrows point at some places where this blurring / covering up happens; the red part is what you ignore)

img709.imageshack.us/img709/4213/edgedetectionproblem.jpg

So why can't I make that perfect selection with Edge Detection like all the tutorials can?



**edit - I hotlinked the image for you - Gaussian**

[Steve]

There's no way to comment on what you did or didn't do without the image.

[X_Rogue_X]

PS sees edges as transitions from dark to light - it only sees pixels and has no idea whether a dark spot is a picture hanging on a wall or someone's hair (which I can see in your photo). Also, just because a background (and again, PS has no idea which is the foreground or background) is complex, doesn't mean that it will be difficult to define an edge. So...

You might try to use one of the individual channels (red, green, or blue) for your mask. Choose the one with the highest contrast, and try to refine it as much as you can.

Even so, it may require that you break out some individual selection tools before you get something you're happy with.

[Albobo]

That's a bit disheartening.

Could you elaborate on the channel masking part? Seems useful, but I'm not quite sure what you're saying to do.

[Steve]

That's a bit disheartening.

Could you elaborate on the channel masking part? Seems useful, but I'm not quite sure what you're saying to do.

You'll get a whole lot more help if you post the image in question.
The people here can try to edit it for you and tell you what and how they did it.

[Albobo]

Sorry, I thought you had posted that about not being able to see the image in my OP.

The image is at the bottom of my other thread:

photoshopgurus.com/forum/general-photoshop-board/27041-whats-better-airbrushing-face-gaussian-blur-filter-reduce-noise-filter.html

[Steve]

Hmm!
I'm not sure I could have found a connection between:

img709.imageshack.us/img709/4213/edgedetectionproblem.jpg

and

photoshopgurus.com/forum/general-photoshop-board/27041-whats-better-airbrushing-face-gaussian-blur-filter-reduce-noise-filter.html

Complete links would have been helpful.

With that said the image is to small and to dark to be able to do any reasonable edit on.
Post the out of the camera JPG or RAW and we'll see what can be done.