Photoshop Tips: Masking
In this video, I focus on a retouching technique known as masking, which involves isolating a portion of an image from the rest of a photo. Generally speaking, you use the masking technique when the image you’re trying to isolate has edges that aren’t well-defined. Though there are several different ways to mask an image, the process I use involves starting with the color channels palette, which will help you cleanly separate your image from its background.
A-M-P
Angela Perez is a fashion photographer and digital retoucher based in Boston, MA. Angela is also a professional instructor of Studio Lighting and Retouching, with four years of experience using Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. Check out www.angelamichelleperez.com to see additional work.
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May 30, 2013 at 10:04 pm, Raster to Vector said:
It’s a great tutorial ever, like this kinda of amazing post. Admittedly awesome not proactive. Thanks !!!
August 22, 2012 at 7:44 pm, John said:
This is amazing! Do you know how long I’ve been trying to do this that good? Wow Cs5 “auto mask doesn’t work near as good as you! haha and I love the cheat! Thanks for sharing:-) Your a true artist
July 17, 2012 at 10:37 pm, Ren D'vila said:
Hi Angela! vi tu trabajo en tu blog, it is so fabulous! 🙂
July 17, 2012 at 10:36 pm, Ren D'vila said:
Hi Angela! vi tu trabajo en tu blog, it is so faboulous! 🙂
May 09, 2012 at 3:54 am, B Seaton said:
absolutely brilliant love to see more of your tipsDavid uk
May 08, 2012 at 8:38 pm, Allen Freeman said:
There were only a few minor steps I saw that would have sped up the process just a little, like just take the select tool and go around as much of the white areas you want to darken and hit fill with black. Then only dodge and burn a few of the edges if they need it. Very well done Angela!
May 08, 2012 at 11:05 am, Cr_studio said:
Angela felicidades muy buen trabajo, segun veo en el poco tiempo que tiene en esto, creo que hace mucho, eres muy profesional.
May 08, 2012 at 10:29 am, Steven said:
Far too much silence for what is put as a beginners tutorial, although it is illustrative, it isn’t comprehensive as an ‘idiots guide’
May 08, 2012 at 1:53 pm, J Banke said:
I agree, Angela needs to practice or teach from a script, I lost interest and wondered what she was doing during the silence, I also found the incomplete sentences distracting.
March 11, 2012 at 11:08 pm, Laybackcpl said:
I will have to try this method. Masking hair has always been an issue for me in CS4. I am still learning the basics and it is always nice to see different ways of accomplishing things.
March 11, 2012 at 10:18 pm, Sylvia said:
Thanks for the share, found this really helpful 🙂
March 11, 2012 at 3:57 am, Johnnyseye said:
Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
March 08, 2012 at 10:08 am, Kristian said:
Thank you for sharing Angela. I always appreciate it when experienced people go out of their way to share their knowledge.
March 08, 2012 at 9:44 am, Josh said:
omg ,white background please …
March 08, 2012 at 4:20 am, Vito Michael Serini said:
WoW! What a long convoluted way to do something that should take 3 minutes or less
in Photoshop (CS5).
March 08, 2012 at 4:58 am, Lexdiamond20 said:
Really? Are there other ways to do it. I only use the quick selection tool now but don’t get results as good as this. Do tell please.
March 08, 2012 at 10:05 am, Kristian said:
You mean like the three minutes from 6:45-10:05. Oh, I guess that is 20 seconds over 3 minutes. Of course she was stopping to explain stuff. I feel fairly confident that she would have come in under your three minute mark if she hadn’t been pausing to explain things to the viewer.
Channels is a very effective way to mask certain images and can even be quicker than the new tool in CS5 in many cases. Add this to the fact that the channels method is just as functional using older versions of photoshop as well and it is very valuable information.
March 08, 2012 at 2:33 am, Keithdewey3 said:
Thank you so much for doing your tutorials! I can’t tell you how much I have learned from them and have them bookmarked so I can reference them often.