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No Pixels More Than 50%


mcolbourn

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Hey All,

First time post here:

I'm using Photoshop CS6, trying to make a selection using a quick mask and a brush. Normally I would put the quick mask on, paint in my selection using a brush preset and then turn off the mask, invert the selection, and use refine selection to make it a new layer.

Now when I turn off the mask, I get the error "no pixels are more than 50% selected". I've seen on other forums that feathering can be a problem, but as far as I know the brush preset I'm using has no feathering. In fact, I just reset the tools and tried again and it still gives me that error. I've definitely selected the correct layer because there's only one to select.

Any advice?

Thanks! M
 

MrToM

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Yeah this is one of those 'Friday afternoon after a long lunch down the pub' decisions made by Adobe......the term 'Selection'.

Fact is, making a 'Selection' doesn't actually 'select' anything at all, its just defining an outline, (shown by the marching ants), within which any further adjustments or filters, painting or erasing etc etc, will be applied.....or in other words, what you do next will only happen inside that boundary of marching ants.

One other thing to note is that there is no 'Select' tool as such...its called a 'Marquee' tool.....and yet Adobe then refer to a 'Selection' when issuing a warning.......I guess their minds were a little fuzzy when that was passed.

Anywho...
The tricky bit comes from making that boundary other than directly with a tool.....like your example of the quick mask.
Adobe, for whatever reason, decided that any pixel with a transparency less than 50% will NOT be included in the marching ant boundary....but that is not to say that should you use COPY that those pixels will not be copied.

To clarify that, the marching ants are not DISPLAYED around any pixel with less than 50% transparency.......note the word DISPLAYED.

You can try this for yourself just to see how confusing Adobe have made it.
On a new transparent layer and with a large soft black brush, click in the middle of the layer.
CTRL + Click the layer thumbnail to 'Select' the pixels on that layer...
...NOTE the marching ants don't go all the way to the edge......they DISPLAY only around those pixels of 50% transparency or greater.
CTRL + C to copy the pixels.........you'd expect just those in the boundary to be copied but you'd be wrong...
On a new Layer CTRL + V to paste in the pixels...turn off the original layer and the difference should be nothing....the new layer should be identical to the original.

Confused?...Join the club.

If you want to know 'why' this is the case ask Adobe....otherwise, just ignore the warning and carry on.

[/soapbox]

Regards.
MrTom.
 

mcolbourn

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Here ya go:

Screen Shot 2014-12-31 at 6.36.02 PM.pngScreen Shot 2014-12-31 at 6.36.36 PM.png

It's hard to see, but in the first one, I've colored in the girl in the middle using the brush in quick mask mode, and then the second photo is what happens when I exit quick mask and hit inverse selection
 

MikeMc

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First work on a duplicate layer (Control J)

Then use quick selection tool, output that to a new layer with a mask, then hit Q and play with your mask with your brushes
 

MrToM

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...did you use a grey color for the brush you should use black...
I think colleague has hit the nail on the head and this is probably the cause.

Whilst its not absolutely necessary to use 100% black anything less than 50% will result in the warning in your screen shot.

The 'Marching Ants' around the border indicate that nothing could be shown from the quick mask as ALL of it has more than 50% transparency.....as stated in the grammatically confusing warning message.

If you INVERT that 'selection' and copy and paste you should find that all the pixels within your quick mask are copied correctly......complete with their respective transparency inherited from the quick mask not being 100% black.

Regards.
MrTom.
 
Last edited:

IamSam

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OK. Proving colleagues theory...........

Here I have used my quick mask mode and the Brush Tool with the color set to black to select the girl.....

Screen Shot 2014-12-31 at 7.18.53 PM.png


Here I have exited the quick mask mode, this is the selection I'm left with.....

Screen Shot 2014-12-31 at 7.19.14 PM.png


This is the selection after I inverse the previous selection..

No warning!
Screen Shot 2014-12-31 at 7.19.32 PM.png


In the Quick mask mode, If I use the Brush Tool with the color set to gray to make the selection....

Screen Shot 2014-12-31 at 7.34.10 PM.png

When I exit the Quick mask mode......

Screen Shot 2014-12-31 at 7.34.31 PM.png

When I try to inverse.......

Screen Shot 2014-12-31 at 7.34.50 PM.png
 
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ALB68

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With Quickmask...it is imperative to paint the mask on with BLACK. It works kind of a like in a layer mask, except Black adds, white takes away. Enter Q to activate and paint, then Q again to show the selection. Regardless of what the foreground color is, when you invoke the shortcut the colors switch to black and white.
 

IamSam

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"Regardless of what the foreground color is, when you invoke the shortcut the colors switch to black and white."

The quick mask mode?
 

IamSam

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In CS6, when you enter the Quick Mask mode using the Q keyboard shortcut, the foreground and background should default to black and white, however, if you enter the QMM and then change the foreground color to gray, then that's the color the QMM will use for the mask. It will also stay the same color the next time the QMM is used until it is changed back to black.
 

ALB68

Dear Departed Guru and PSG Staff Member
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In CS6, when you enter the Quick Mask mode using the Q keyboard shortcut, the foreground and background should default to black and white, however, if you enter the QMM and then change the foreground color to gray, then that's the color the QMM will use for the mask. It will also stay the same color the next time the QMM is used until it is changed back to black.

You are correct. My assumption is that one wants the selection to be opaque. If painted with gray it is transparent or has partial transparency. I stand corrected.
 

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