Select and Mask - Decontaminate Color

[rona46503049]

Please please please add the Decontaminate Color check box back to Photoshop, in the Select and Mask selection. tool.

The Decontaminate Color option is vital to my workflow of cutting out people, especially at the shoulder and hair areas of an image. This tool was at it's best at 2015 photoshop and 2017. This tool is not avaliable in 2019. I am concerned that 2017 will soon go away and this tool will loose it's usefulness. The ability to change the views is great too and not there in 2019.
Please return the Select and Mask tool to the level it was at 2015&2017 and the tool will be perfect. I feel that the 2019 Select and Mask is not useable to it's best potiental.

     Ron Acord - Professional Photographer

[Earth Oliver]

It's still there, but might be hidden in the output settings dropdown thing.

[rona46503049]

Can you confirm the Photoshop version your screenshot is from? In 2019, there are no extra settings(that I can see). If you are in 2019 please do a full screen shot for me. Two screenshots for me if it is a process to get there.

[Earth Oliver]

I'm using 20.0.6 and i'm 100% certain that Decontaminate has never been removed. It's possible you have a bad installation. or perhaps your on the wrong type of layer?
Wait, are you asking for decom inside Select and Mask or the old Refine Edge? If you want access to the old tool, you need to go Shift Key>Select>Select and Mask

[Earth Oliver]

Is there a reason why you're not sharing a screenshot which has the missing Decontaminate?

[rona46503049]

Here is a screenshot of the 2019 UI I am working with, once you have your selection, then click Select & Mask.
Sorry for the thread out of order. I could post a screenshot from the last reply. I also dont see how the layer is apply. If you hit enter, the selection just remains. I do see that you are on Refine Edge. Decontaminate Color has been on the Select and Mask unitl my current version in 2019. It may still be there, but I can not find it. Did it move?

[rona46503049]

It may also be important to note that I am in Windows 10.

[Earth Oliver]

That's not the right Select and Mask UI. You need to re-install Photoshop.

[davescm]

Hi

Decontaminate colours is still there in v20.0.6 on Windows 10

Your last screenshot does not show your Select and Mask workspace

Dave

[davescm]

All that said, decontaminate colours is horrible and destructive. A much more controlled, and non-destructive, way is to add a new layer, clipped to the masked layer - set it to colour blend mode and brush with colour picked up from the image by Alt clicking

[Kukurykus]

I also noticed decontaminate gives bad effect. I tried to do it the way you described but I think I failed. Could you please explain it a bit better? Is the new layer just empty layer or duplicate of bottom layer clipped to that bottom layer that uses the user mask made from selection? Then the blend mode of top layer you change to colour? I also don't understand what you mean in the last sentence "brush with colour picked up from the image by Alt clicking".

[davescm]

Hi,

@Kukurykus The new layer is an empty layer, clipped to the masked layer, and with its blend mode set to color. The idea is to brush over the colour contamination with wanted color taken from the masked layer but without overwriting the luminosity. That wanted colour will vary as you work around the edge, hence the advice to Alt-Click with the brush to pick up the wanted colour

Dave

[Kukurykus]

I was able to reproduce it - thanks a lot! That might be useful for me to imitate it by a script, differently for each few pixels of the edge, so accordingly to met colour on given part of image.

[davescm]

I'd be interested to see how a script manages the issue. The trick is to making it look natural is to vary the amount brushed to remove contamination without brushing into areas that don't need it. It sounds an interesting scripting project 🙂

Dave

[Kukurykus]

That's exactly what I want to achieve. There are images with single hair around the face, and the unintelligent decontamination use the colour of skin for them, so these adjacent parts are painted with skin (or some extra elements on the head) pixels. That I want to avoid - taking over the predominant colour instead specific for such areas.

Anyway that is what I will do not now, but next month, so there is still much time before I start this project 😉

[Earth Oliver]

Dave, it's a little confusing, but if you look in the upper left of his screenshot, you can see the Select and Mask tools... something probably went wrong with the install.

[davescm]

Sorry, as Earth Oliver spotted, you actually are in the Select and Mask workspace , but the panels are not normal. Try going to the top right and resetting the Select and Mask workspace.

Dave

[JJMack]

It is in CC 2019.  In the menu Select  press and hold the Shift key then click on Select and Mask to open Refine Edge Mask which is still in Photoshop.

[Kukurykus]

Oct 02, 2019

[jane-e]

Please please please add the Decontaminate Color check box back to Photoshop, in the Select and Mask selection. tool. ... This tool is not avaliable in 2019.

By @rona46503049

Hi Ron,

If you don't see Decontaminate in CC 2019, then use the scroll bars to navigate to the bottom of the Select and Mask Workspace. Expand "Output Settings" if necessary.

I agree with Dave about the use of Decontaminate Colors. You might try his method.

~ Jane

[Gevanni]

Do you get tool behavior like this?

If so, just disable "Use Graphics Processor" or "Use OpenCL" in the Preferences>Performance...