As a Photoshop user, clipping is an essential process. It allows you to separate objects from their background and create creative designs. Over the years, Photoshop has introduced a variety of tools for selecting and clipping objects. This tutorial will give you a comprehensive overview of the most important selection tools in Photoshop, including the latest AI-based features. In the end, you will be able to effectively use the tools to enhance your designs.
Main Insights
- Photoshop offers numerous tools for selecting and clipping.
- Each tool has its specific strengths and applications.
- With the latest AI tools, you can achieve impressive results more quickly.
- Understanding the tools allows you to choose the best method for each situation.
Step-by-step guide
Getting to know selection tools
First, you should familiarize yourself with the basic selection tools in Photoshop. I will start with explaining the Rectangular Marquee tool, which is suitable for square or rectangular objects. Click on the Rectangular Marquee tool in the toolbar.
If you want to make a round selection, use the Elliptical Marquee tool instead.
To select, for example, a soccer ball, make a selection while holding down the left mouse button and pressing the space bar. This way, you can move the selection afterwards.
If the selection is not perfect, you can right-click and transform the selection to adjust it. You can move the corners or adjust the aspect ratio. Additionally, you can zoom into the selection to ensure precise work.
Optimizing the selection
Once you are satisfied with the selection, press the mask icon to clip the object. In this example, we successfully clipped the soccer ball. To return to the original layer, duplicate the layer. This way, you keep the original image and can continue clipping.
Now, let's look at the tool for selecting individual rows or columns. This tool is mostly used by web designers and is not as frequently used in everyday image editing.
I recommend using the Lasso tool to make a rough selection. Simply drag over the desired area to create the selection. After creating the selection, you can move it again or adjust it with transformation tools.
Magnetic Lasso tool
The magnetic lasso tool is another useful selection tool. It automatically detects object edges and allows you to click in the background to create a selection. If the selection is not optimal, you can manually adjust the edges.
The magic wand tool is one of the oldest tools for selecting similar color tones. For example, when selecting a white background, simply use the magic wand. It automatically selects similar pixels when adjusting the tolerance.
Quick Selection tool
The Quick Selection tool is particularly useful for quickly selecting objects, as Photoshop automatically recognizes which parts of the image you want to select. Simply drag the tool over the area you want to select. To remove parts of the selection, press the ALT key to subtract from the selection.
If you're satisfied with your selection, click on the mask icon.
To further edit your masks, you can also use the "Select and Mask" feature to increase the contrast and adjust the edge of the object more precisely.
Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Photoshop
Photoshop has now integrated the capabilities of Artificial Intelligence. With the Object Selection Tool, you can simply click on the object you want to select. Photoshop will then do the rest for you and automatically select the object. I personally like to use the menu -> Select -> Subject. After that, the subject is usually perfectly selected without me having to do anything else. A truly helpful AI function, which is only available in the CC version (not in the old CS6 version).
If you have a poor edge or the selected area is not perfect, you can return to the "Select and Mask" feature. Here, you can move the edge or adjust the mask density to ensure that everything is properly extracted.
Selecting Color Range and Focus Areas
Another method for selecting objects is the Color Range selection. With this feature, you can click directly on a color in the image and Photoshop will try to select that color for you. Increase the tolerance to include similar shades.
A very useful trick is the "Focus Area" feature. With this, you can specifically select the area in the image that is in focus. This feature is very helpful when dealing with blurry backgrounds.
Finally, this technique shows how the combination of different selection tools leads to an excellent result when you apply the right approach and experiment with the functions.
Summary
Clipping objects in Photoshop can be greatly simplified by understanding and correctly applying the available selection tools. Photoshop offers numerous options, from classical selection tools to modern AI-assisted options. By understanding the properties and capabilities of each tool, you can optimize your workflow and achieve amazing results.
