AV News 184 - May 2011
Double check to ensure that the 'Decontaminate Colors box' is ticked, this is
most important as it prevents background colours influencing your required
fine detail. Do not close the 'Refine Mask Adjustment Palette' just yet. On the
left side of this palette is an icon showing a brush, click on this icon and
choose the option named 'Refine Radius Tool'. This tool is a brush that can
be changed in size
simply by using the
bracket keys on the
keyboard. Using this
brush work your way
around the radius of
the selection which will
be
easily
visible,
loosely brushing over
fine detail edges (in
this
example
the
whiskers and hair)
when satisfied click the
OK button on the
adjustment palette.
After just a few seconds a new masked layer with the intricate details
suitably masked will appear in the layers palette. Using this method the 'Refine
Mask Tool' magically differentiates between what you want to include and
exclude on the fine detail edge, it's quite remarkable. You may need to tweak
an odd setting or two to get the precise result you desire, but you'll quickly
discover which settings work best for your particular image. The 'Refine Mask
Palette' also offers other useful controls for adjusting edge smoothness and
feathering, these permit edge settings varying from 0 to 250 pixels which can
be used to make very soft edged masks.
This latest facility is a great improvement over previous Photoshop masking
techniques and it offers good control of very fine detail which previously was
difficult if not impossible to obtain without resorting to third party masking
software. Having spent your small fortune on the latest version of Photoshop
you may want to fully utilise such facilities. But, if you need to mask images
regularly, especially very complex and difficult images then you may wish to
consider a third party plug-in specifically designed for this purpose. Some of
the most difficult subjects to mask successfully are soft edged and translucent,
smoke and steam for example, glass, or perhaps a bride's veil or dappled
subjects such as sky showing through the leaves and branches of trees. In
these instances specific masking software such as Re-Mask 3 by Topaz Labs,
Mask Pro 4 by onOne software, or Fluid Mask 3 by Vertustech all offer
excellent solutions. Of those listed and tested my personal preference is Fluid
Mask 3.
This Photoshop plug-in is available as a fourteen day free trial download
from http://www.vertustech.com/fluidMask/free_trial.html but be warned,
this masking software is so good you may like me end up buying the license.
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