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prman13
prman13
Inspiring
July 9, 2018
Question

Trouble with videos—How to Select and Mask

  • July 9, 2018
  • 3 replies
  • 197 views

I would like to learn how to "Select and Mask" a photo (in one layer only—listed as "Background" in the History window)—such that I can remove the white background and replace it with the transparent background (image is a curved red arrow) so that I can paste it onto another photo. Trouble is, when I go to the tutorial videos, the instructions are predicated on using Photoshop CC. Olivia says, "Go to the Select Menu and choose "Select and Mask," and then goes about her business.  Since I have Photoshop CS6, there is no Select and Mask option. So following the tutorial is meaningless. There must be a way to accomplish this, but the tutorials all seem to be predicated on Version CC.  I am not going to buy another version of Photoshop just to be able to keep up with these tutorials. There must be a better way to learn the program to do what I want with my CS6 version than feeding the upgrade kitty at Adobe. Are there any solutions out there?  I tried the Select and Mask tool, but that doesn't seem to isolate the image of the arrow by itself. Rather, it jumps to the border of the entire background photo.

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    3 replies

    davescm
    Community Expert
    davescmCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 9, 2018

    Can you post an image.

    From your description, using the pen tool to create a path, then making a mask from the path may be the best option in this case.

    Dave

    Theresa J
    Community Expert
    Theresa JCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 9, 2018

    Watch the first video tutorial on this page. I think it is exactly what you are looking for. Use masks to hide layers in Photoshop  You don’t need the Select and Mask task space to create a mask from a selection. I understand your frustration about tutorails. It is unfortunate. If you search for Select and Mask you get tutorials specific to the Select and Mask task space, when all you need is a tutorial that explains how to create a mask from a selection. I hope this tutorial solves your challenge.

    Conrad_C
    Community Expert
    Conrad_CCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 9, 2018

    Select and Mask is a somewhat recent addition, that's why you aren't finding it in Photoshop CS6.

    There is an older version of the feature in Photoshop CS6 called Refine Edge. After you have made an initial selection, you'll find the feature by choosing Select > Refine Edge. Or as long as a selection tool is active, you can click the Refine Edge button in the options bar.

    It's different enough from Select and Mask that you should probably search for videos specifically about CS6 Refine Mask, and not for Select and Mask.

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