2/19/2016

PSE 2018 Using the Refine Edge Tool 1

PSE 2018 Using the Refine Edge Tool

In this exercise we will use the Refine Edge Tool to fine tune a selection made with one of the other selection tools in Photoshop Elements 2018. However, the steps are the same for more recent previous versions of PSE.

1. Open the desired image in the Expert Editor. 2. Duplicate the background layer by pressing Ctrl+J.

3. Make a selection using the Quick Selection Tool, for example. Remember PSE 2018 introduced the Auto Selection Tool, which I will post a tutorial for in the future.

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PSE 2018 Using the Refine Edge Tool 2

4. Select the Refine Edge Tool, by clicking on Select > Refine Edge. Note, in more recent versions of PSE, there is a Refine Edge button right on the Option Bar for the Quick Selection Tool.

5. Review the Preview Options as shown below.

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PSE 2018 Using the Refine Edge Tool 3

a. Marching Ants – Traditional view of a selection. b. Overlay – Good one to choose for black and white. c. On Black – Good for light objects. d. On White – Good for dark objects. e. Black and White – As a Mask f. On Layers – Transparency shown g. Reveal Layer

The first four are generally the most useful. In this exercise, we’ll use the Marching Ants preview for the most part.

6. To optimally use the Refine Edge, work with the image significantly zoomed in. Here I will use 200%.

7. The Edge Detection section has certain options: a. Radius – Adjust the size of the refinement area around the edge. b. Smart Radius – Automatically adapts radius to image edges.

In this example we’ll set the Smart Edge on, and set 1.6 as the selected radius. 8. In the Adjust Edge section, the Smooth slider removes jaggies at the edges that appear.

In this example, the edges are already quite smooth, so I chose to position about mid-scale.

9. Feather is used to soften or fades out the edges. In this example, we’ll keep it at zero for this subject.

10. Contrast, adjust the edge contrast at the selection’s edge. For this image, we’ll leave it set on zero.

11. The Shift Edge moves the edge in or out. For this image, I chose to move it to the center position.

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PSE 2018 Using the Refine Edge Tool 4

In the Output section, the Decontaminate Colors options will remove the background color pixels that may be bleeding through at the edges. This example does not really have this problem, but we’ll put a checkmark there anyway and keep the slider in the midscale position.

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PSE 2018 Using the Refine Edge Tool 5

12. Now we are ready to output the selection. The figure below shows the available options.

13. In our example, we’ll use New Layer with Layer Mask. But do not click OK yet. 14. Before clicking Ok, we will go around the edges where objects like wisps of hair are not

well selected with the Refine Edge Tool selected. Doing this can often dramatically improve our selection. Doing this will take some practice, however.

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PSE 2018 Using the Refine Edge Tool 6

15. Now click OK, and our selected image is copied onto its own layer with a mask.

16. To get a feel for the selection, turn off the Background, and Layer 1by clicking on the eyeball as shown below.

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PSE 2018 Using the Refine Edge Tool 7

At this point we have our selection and its mask in position to do any number of things. For example, we could add a new background between Layer 1 and the selection layer. However that is beyond the scope of this exercise.