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Extract versus marquee tool
- Thread starter DaveD
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Tom Mann
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The Extract plug-in was replaced by the non-destructive "Refine Edge" technology in Photoshop CS5. The "refine edge" tool is a big improvement.
If you are stuck with an old version of PS, and can't or don't want to upgrade, the extract tool can be made to produce considerably better results than many of the other masking methods from that generation of PS, but not as good as third party masking plugins such as Vertus' Fluid Mask, onOne's ReMask, and several others. There have been several threads on this topic in the forum in the last 6 months.
HTH,
Tom M
If you are stuck with an old version of PS, and can't or don't want to upgrade, the extract tool can be made to produce considerably better results than many of the other masking methods from that generation of PS, but not as good as third party masking plugins such as Vertus' Fluid Mask, onOne's ReMask, and several others. There have been several threads on this topic in the forum in the last 6 months.
HTH,
Tom M
ArtofRetouching
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They still have the awful Magic Eraser and Background Eraser Tool, if you like to punish yourself.
Will they ever put the amateur tools into Elements, and empty out Photoshop for the professionals? I would take the time to clean out my Menu Items list, if they would let me empty out 70 of the 80 Tools in the Tools Pallete. Until then, it just seems like an exercise in futility.
Will they ever put the amateur tools into Elements, and empty out Photoshop for the professionals? I would take the time to clean out my Menu Items list, if they would let me empty out 70 of the 80 Tools in the Tools Pallete. Until then, it just seems like an exercise in futility.
ArtofRetouching
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Color Range, with a manual cleanup using Quickmask. After creating a mask, I would apply it to the layer. If it has something more complicated like flowing hair, I would follow up with your recommendation of Refine Edge (Otherwise known as Mask Edge. Way to confuse there, Adobe).
While this is not the tutorials part of the forum, if nobody minds me pointing to a tutorial, the video below is 18 minutes, but covers both topics of Color Range and Quickmask. I created it for one of my beginner students, so it goes slowly and easy to follow.
http://www.theartofretouching.com/blog/masking-simplified
While this is not the tutorials part of the forum, if nobody minds me pointing to a tutorial, the video below is 18 minutes, but covers both topics of Color Range and Quickmask. I created it for one of my beginner students, so it goes slowly and easy to follow.
http://www.theartofretouching.com/blog/masking-simplified
Tom Mann
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ArtOf brings up an extremely important point when it comes to masking: One often gets much better results, and it almost always is faster to combine two masking tools than to try to milk the absolute ultimate performance out of one tool.
For example, ArtOf suggested starting with a global tool (color range), and then improving that selection using "Refine Edges".
Another very helpful approach is to intersect (Boolean AND) a previous selection with a new, very roughly drawn selection. To give a specific example, suppose you need to extract one object from a scene, but there are two similarly colored objects in the scene. Rather than spending time endlessly tweaking what you might get from the color range tool, use it to select both objects and then run a quick lasso around the one you want with the selection mode set to "intersect".
I also do the same thing using external masking programs such as onOne's ReMask or Vertus' FluidMask to work on areas where they work well, and then use, say, the pen tool or the Polygonal Lasso to quickly knock out sections with well defined, more or less straight edges.
Also, don't forget that if you have a couple of selections in the form of masks / alpha channels, using "lighten" or "screen" to combine them is the equivalent of "Add to Mask", and "multiply" is the equivalent of intersecting the corresponding selections, etc.
One can't be married to any one particular technique - your life will be much easier if you use the best tool for each part of the job and know how to quickly combine the results.
HTH,
Tom
For example, ArtOf suggested starting with a global tool (color range), and then improving that selection using "Refine Edges".
Another very helpful approach is to intersect (Boolean AND) a previous selection with a new, very roughly drawn selection. To give a specific example, suppose you need to extract one object from a scene, but there are two similarly colored objects in the scene. Rather than spending time endlessly tweaking what you might get from the color range tool, use it to select both objects and then run a quick lasso around the one you want with the selection mode set to "intersect".
I also do the same thing using external masking programs such as onOne's ReMask or Vertus' FluidMask to work on areas where they work well, and then use, say, the pen tool or the Polygonal Lasso to quickly knock out sections with well defined, more or less straight edges.
Also, don't forget that if you have a couple of selections in the form of masks / alpha channels, using "lighten" or "screen" to combine them is the equivalent of "Add to Mask", and "multiply" is the equivalent of intersecting the corresponding selections, etc.
One can't be married to any one particular technique - your life will be much easier if you use the best tool for each part of the job and know how to quickly combine the results.
HTH,
Tom
ArtofRetouching
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OnOne "Perfect Mask" is a rebranding of "MaskPro". Topaz has "ReMask". I've never tried "FluidMask". "Refine "edge" is a fine tool, when it does not make me wrestle it to the ground.
While they all have their pluses and weaknesses, I can't say I am a super fan of any of them. Depending on the image, I often find them all to be bottomless pits of my time. Then they generate results that are only so-so. The best results I have found in studio seems to be shooting against simple white. I have yet to decide if I work efficiently, or if I am just lazy.
While they all have their pluses and weaknesses, I can't say I am a super fan of any of them. Depending on the image, I often find them all to be bottomless pits of my time. Then they generate results that are only so-so. The best results I have found in studio seems to be shooting against simple white. I have yet to decide if I work efficiently, or if I am just lazy.
Tom Mann
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"The best results I have found in studio seems to be shooting against simple white. I have yet to decide if I work efficiently, or if I am just lazy."
Nope, you are definitely being efficient. The problem is that in the Wild West of the internet with lots of photographers who don't shoot in the studio, and yet want to swap backgrounds and do other things to their photos, one has to deal all sorts of extraction situations.
T
Nope, you are definitely being efficient. The problem is that in the Wild West of the internet with lots of photographers who don't shoot in the studio, and yet want to swap backgrounds and do other things to their photos, one has to deal all sorts of extraction situations.
T
ArtofRetouching
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I was at a shoot like 2.5 months ago. I told the photographer to "Put the camera, here." You know the first thing he did was slide it over 6 inches, so half the models hair was floating between pipes and shadows behind her head. Added 45 minutes of cloning work... 6 times. (rolling eyes)