Select and Mask People in Adobe Photoshop AI,
Therefore, Photoshop has significantly advanced its AI-powered selection tools, making it incredibly easy to select and mask people for various editing purposes. Here’s a breakdown of how to use these features, especially the “Select People” functionality within the Object Selection Tool, and how to refine your masks.
Select and Mask People in Adobe Photoshop AI,
Key AI-Powered Selection Tools for People:
- Object Selection Tool with “Select People” (Photoshop 2025 and later): This is the most direct and powerful tool for selecting people.
- How it works: It uses AI to automatically detect and identify people in your photos. It can even distinguish individual people in a group and select specific parts of a person (like hair, facial skin, upper clothes, etc.).
- Why it’s great:Therefore, It saves a tremendous amount of time compared to manual selections and provides a fantastic starting point for masks.
- Select Subject: This is a more general AI-powered selection tool that identifies the most prominent subject in your image. While it works for people, the “Select People” feature offers more granular control.
- Refine Edge/Select and Mask Workspace: Therefore, This is a dedicated workspace for refining selections, especially crucial for intricate areas like hair or fur. While not AI-driven in its entirety, it works in conjunction with AI selections to achieve precise masks.
Select and Mask People in Adobe Photoshop AI,
Step-by-Step Guide: Select and Mask People with AI in Photoshop
1. Open your Image:
- Therefore, Launch Photoshop and open the image containing the person(s) you want to select.
2. Choose the Object Selection Tool:
- Therefore, In the Photoshop toolbar, select the Object Selection Tool (it often looks like a solid square with a dotted line around it, or you can press ‘W’).
3. Activate “Select People” (if applicable):
- Therefore, In the Options Bar at the top of the screen (when the Object Selection Tool is active), look for the “Select People” button. Click it.
- Note: If you have a recent version of Photoshop, simply hovering your cursor over a person in the image while the Object Selection Tool is active will often highlight them, and you can click to select the entire person or specific regions.
4. Select Your Person (or parts of them):
- For an entire person:
- Therefore, If using the “Select People” button, Photoshop will display thumbnails of detected people. Click on the thumbnail of the person you want to select. You might then see an option to “Select Entire Person.”
- However, Alternatively, simply hover your mouse cursor over the person in the image. Photoshop will highlight them. Click to create a selection.
- For specific parts of a person:
- Therefore, When hovering over a person, Photoshop might highlight different regions (e.g., hair, clothes, facial skin). Click on the specific region you want to select.
- However, If you clicked on a person’s thumbnail after using the “Select People” button, you’ll see a list of detected regions (e.g., Hair, Facial Skin, Upper Clothes). Click the desired region(s).
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5. Refine Your Selection (Using Select and Mask):
- Therefore, Once you have an initial selection (the “marching ants” will appear around it), you’ll often see a “Select and Mask” button in the Options Bar or the Contextual Task Bar that appears. Click it.
- This opens the Select and Mask Workspace. Here’s how to use key tools:
- View Mode: In the “Properties” panel on the right, under “View,” choose a view mode that helps you see the selection clearly (e.g., “On Layers” to see it against your actual image with other layers, or “On Black/On White” for better contrast).
- Refine Edge Brush Tool (R): This is crucial for refining tricky areas like hair. Brush along the edges where you need more detail. Photoshop’s AI helps here by intelligently detecting and separating foreground and background pixels.
- Brush Tool (B): However, Use this to manually add or subtract from your selection. Set the mode to “Add” or “Subtract” as needed.
- Global Refinements: Experiment with sliders like:
- Smooth: Reduces jagged edges.
- Feather: Softens the edges.
- Contrast: Sharpens the edges.
- Shift Edge: Expands or contracts the selection.
- Decontaminate Colors: However, This option can help remove color fringing around the edges, especially when selecting hair against a contrasting background.
Select and Mask People in Adobe Photoshop AI,
6. Output Your Selection:
- Therefore, In the “Properties” panel of the Select and Mask workspace, under “Output To,” choose how you want the selection to be applied. Common options include:
- Layer Mask: However, This is highly recommended for non-destructive editing. It creates a mask on your current layer, revealing the selected area and hiding the rest. You can easily go back and refine the mask later.
- New Layer with Layer Mask: In other words, Creates a new layer with the selection applied as a mask, leaving your original layer untouched.
7. Click “OK”:
- In other words, Once you’re satisfied with your selection and mask, click “OK” in the Select and Mask workspace.
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Why use AI for selection and masking?
- Speed: AI dramatically speeds up the initial selection process, especially for complex subjects like people.
- Accuracy: AI algorithms are trained on vast datasets, leading to highly accurate and intelligent selections that often surpass manual efforts.
- Efficiency: By getting a great starting selection, you spend less time on tedious manual work and more time on creative adjustments.
- Granular Control: The “Select People” feature, with its ability to select specific body parts, allows for highly targeted adjustments.
By leveraging Photoshop’s AI-powered selection tools, you can achieve professional-quality cutouts and masks of people with remarkable ease and precision.
