Select and Mask questions

[southwestform]

When working with Select and Mask:

1. Do you generally want a thicker edge in parts of the image where there is more detail in the background?

2. Do you generally want a smoother edge to get a better result? If you keep show edge turned on and drag the smooth slider until there are no jagged parts, will this result in good selections?

3. Is the Refine Edge tool an alternate way of working within this panel instead of using the Global Refinements? Can you use both or is it one or the other?

Thanks.

[Ussnorway]

as a rule of thumb you want thick edges for fine work i.e, zoomed in and smoother edges when zoomed out but the detail results will depend on the image; dof, iso, clipping etc all make the Mask behave differently

[southwestform]

1. Do you use the Radius option and Smart Radius option in addition to the Global Refinement sliders OR is it supposed to be one or the other?

2. Is the Refine Edge brush used in addition to the Smart Radius option and Radius option or is it designed to be used instead of it?

Thanks.

[Mike_Gondek]

Depends on the image roughness, resolution, and the results you are getting. Would have to see screenshots of where you are at, and a sample file using dropbox, google drive or similar.

Yes you use the Refine Edge brush in addition to smart radius if needed, the size of the brush can  also very important to the results.

[southwestform]

Thanks, I will upload something if you are willing to look at it if I still have questions.

After leaving Select and Mask I want to make additional changes so I go back to Select and Mask to use the Refine Edge Brush to go over some hair some more. It seems that I can continue doing this and it will just export additional layers with layer masks. Is there a downside to continuing to go back into Select and Mask and making additional refinements if you don't get the result you want initially?

Thanks.

[Ussnorway]

southwestform  wrote

After leaving Select and Mask I want to make additional changes so I go back to Select and Mask to use the Refine Edge Brush to go over some hair some more.

if the hair is a different colour to the background image then try the background remove brush... its able to be fine tuned but you mix it with a mask for best results

[Mike_Gondek]

Depends on what settings you have set whether each time you go back to select and mask whether your results get better, worse or unchanged.

You will learn much more about select and mask mask if you share an example image and/or screenshots that you are struggling with, and we can walk through that. As every image situation is different there is more than one technique to get select and mask to work for you. So forget about looking for one general answer short reply in a post that works everytime on all images, you need to build up a few techniques to add to your arsenal and select and mask will work much better for you.