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Photoshop tutorial: 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

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 angelaperez.portfoliobox.net to see additional work.

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  • Keithdewey3

    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.

  • http://www.facebook.com/CreativeImages Vito Michael Serini

    WoW! What a long convoluted way to do something that should take 3 minutes or less
    in Photoshop (CS5).

    • Lexdiamond20

      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.

    • Kristian

      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.

  • Josh

    omg ,white background please …

  • Kristian

    Thank you for sharing Angela. I always appreciate it when experienced people go out of their way to share their knowledge.

  • Johnnyseye

    Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

  • http://vidadasylvia.blogspot.com/ Sylvia

    Thanks for the share, found this really helpful :)

  • Laybackcpl

    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.

  • Adam Sternberg

    While I use a slightly different method for masking this is an excellent tutorial for beginners learning the basics of the concept.