Smoothing an image in Photoshop. How to quickly and easily smooth edges in Photoshop after cutting

Greetings. One of the frequently asked questions on my site is “How to smooth edges in Photoshop after transferring an image?” or “How to blur edges in Photoshop?” I want to give you some advice on this matter.

Firstly, if you transfer an image to an image, then make sure that they both have approximately the same quality. You can also transfer an image from good quality to the image from poor quality. The quality of an image depends on the number of pixels it consists of, and the more pixels, the better quality images. Know that if you transfer a good image onto a bad one, the size of the good one will be much larger than the bad one. This can be explained by the fact that good image more pixels. But they seem the same in Photoshop because you changed the size of the window and moved this photo further away, or Photoshop did it for you for your convenience. But in any case, you will have to edit the size of the transferred image; this can be done using the “Ctrl + T” transformation. Never transfer a small image to a large one. If you enlarge it, it will look both ugly and unrealistic, since grain will be visible in the transferred image, but the large one will remain of good quality.

Secondly, high-quality image transfer depends on the quality of the selection of the transferred object. So check out our highlighting tutorials and highlight with quality. But if something suddenly goes wrong and you still have sharpness at the edges, then don’t worry, we’ll help you here!

One very interesting way will help us cope with this task. It is based on the work of the Blur tool. Like all other tools it is located in the toolbar. If you don’t have it, then you can open it and many other panels in the “Window” menu, which is located at the top, by checking the box next to the item you are interested in. The Blur tool appears as a small blob in the toolbar and is in the same slot as the Sharpen and Smudge tools. You can open a cell and find out what tools are in it by right-clicking on it.

This tool has only two main settings. These are: “Blending Mode”, with this setting you can create blur effects, and “Blur Intensity” using this setting You can adjust the blur strength. The “Blending Mode” setting has the same principle of operation as the already known “Blending Mode” in the “Layers” window. But in this tutorial we will need the blending mode to be “Normal” and the intensity to be “50%”.

In this image we see a clear edge on the transferred image. To get rid of it, we first need to combine the layers with the background and the image transferred to it. To do this, click on the transferred image in the layers window, thereby coloring it in blue. And press the key combination “Ctrl + E”. After which our layers will merge into one. Now let’s zoom in on our image by moving the lever in the “Navigator” window in order to better see the places where we need to get rid of the sharp outline. You can also use the “Zoom” tool to zoom in; it looks like a magnifying glass. By tapping it on the image, you will get closer to the location you need.

Now we're ready to work on sharpening the edges. Having selected the “Blur” tool and set the above parameters, we begin to move it along the edge of the transferred image. Then we zoom out and look at the result. We no longer have a clear edge, and for more effect I decided to add a shadow cast by the girl. I did this using the Burn tool.

There is another way to get rid of a clear edge. Let's go back to the moment before we merged the layers. Take a soft-edged eraser and move it along the edge of the transferred image. How to make an eraser with soft edges is described in the article “How to make a fire man?”.

We have completed our task today and can proudly say that we have mastered the rough edges. I wish you good luck and only smooth transitions in your life!

Good day everyone. my dear friends and guests of my blog. Today I would like to tell you how to smooth edges in Photoshop after cutting, because if you don’t do this, then these imperfections are too obvious, especially after an oval selection or a rectangular lasso.

Simple smoothing

Let's start, perhaps, with the very simple way. Open two images (where you will cut and where you will paste). In my case it will be the bride and the beach.

At the end, you can also do a little shading. To do this, again go to the menu “Selection” - “Modification”, but now select “Feathering”. Here you need to set the dimensions of the shading itself. But don't bet too much. See for yourself how much is enough for you. For example, 6 was enough for me, but someone may need 15. Experiment. You can always go back.

Edge refinement

Well, now the method is a little more complicated, but more effective. We have already encountered this function when . But today we will need it for simple smoothing.

As a result, we get a very nice image, without any corners or gaps. Everything is smooth and neat. This is what we wanted. Well, of course, you can do further processing of the image, but more on that in another article. But the most important thing is that you now know how to smooth the edges in Photoshop after cutting.

Well, this is where I will end my article for today. But if you still want to improve your knowledge of Photoshop or learn it from scratch, then I recommend that you watch these cool video tutorials. Everything is very well told accessible language and will be understandable to any level of user. The course is truly finger-licking good.

Best regards, Dmitry Kostin.

When processing photographs in Photoshop, there is often a need to select an object and move it to another background. Creating high-quality selections of small details such as hair or fur using conventional selection tools is quite a difficult task. And this is where the selection editing tool comes to the rescue. Refine Edge.

Tool Refine Edge first appeared in Photoshop CS3, and starting with Photoshop CS5, it has undergone major improvements. The tool's options have several improvements and new features that make it much easier to separate small image details from the background.

In this tutorial we will look at all the tool settings Refine Edge in Photoshop cs5 and at the same time I will show you how to use this tool when selecting hair.

So, for example, I opened an image of a girl in Photoshop, on which I want to change the background. Double-click on the background layer to unlock it and in the dialog box that opens, click OK. Then we create New Layer (Shift + Ctrl + N), move it under the fo new layer and fill it with some color (or open an image with a ready-made background).

Using any selection tool, you need to select the object whose edges you want to refine. Separating a girl from the background along the contour of her body is not difficult, but her hair... Using a tool Feather (P) I selected the girl exactly along the contour of the shoulders, and the section of hair as close to the edge as possible.

Activate tool Refine Edge can be done in several ways: through the menu Select > Refine Edge, using hotkeys Alt + Ctrl + R or using the button "Refine edge" in the settings panel of any selection tool ( Wand, Lasso, Quick selection etc).

After activating the tool Refine Edge, a dialog box opens with settings options, which we will look at in more detail.

1. View mode

Chapter View Mode allows you to select the type of preview of the selected area.

1 . View. Click on the down arrow and select from the list that opens one of seven ways to view the selected area that you want to use. The viewing mode depends solely on the image itself and your desire. The main thing is that you can clearly see the boundaries of the selected area. While working, it is recommended to use different viewing modes to better view the result of your work:

Marching Ants. Shows the selected area on the image as an ant trail.
Overlay. Flips the selected area in Quick Mask mode.
On Black. This option displays the selected area against a black background, which is useful if the selected area is light and does not contain a lot of black.
On White. The opposite of the previous option.
Black & White. Displays the selected area as an alpha channel. The selected area is displayed in white, and the mask is displayed in black. Transitions between these areas are reflected in shades of gray.
On Layers. Mode for viewing a selected area on a transparent background.
Reveal Layer. Shows the image without the selected area.

2. . Displays the border of the selected area where edge refinement is performed.

3 . Show Original. Reflects the original selection for comparison.

Attention! Check the Show Radius checkbox only when defining the boundary of the selected area for which edge refinement is being performed. In other cases, the checkbox should be unchecked. Check the Show Original checkbox to view the original selection only. In other cases, the checkbox should be unchecked. More details in the next section.

2. Edge detection

After selecting the viewing type, go to the section Edge Detection, put a tick Show Radius and increase Radius, moving the slider to the right to add trimmed hair to the selected area. At the same time, we try to capture as little of the background as possible.

1 . Radius. When you move the radius slider to the right, part of the image that was outside the original selection will begin to be added to the selected area. In this case, the radius increases in all directions from the original edge of the selection by the number of pixels that you determine when moving the slider.

2 . Smart Radius. Automatically adjusts radius for sharp and soft edges. That is, if I need to increase the radius in fuzzy areas (in my example, this is hair), and in the area of clear edges (in my example, these are shoulders) leave the radius small, then I need to enable the parameter Smart Radius. Depending on the image and type of edges Smart Radius can work both for good and for harm. If the border of the selected area has equally sharp or fuzzy edges along its entire length, or if you need more precise control over the radius setting, then the parameter Smart Radius should be disabled.

3. Tools in the Refine Edges dialog box

After I set the radius, you can see that there are strands of hair left that were not included in the edge detection area. I will manually include the remaining curls of hair using the tool, and the area of the body contours that I initially precisely selected using the tool Feather (P) I will remove it from the refinement area using the tool. In the screenshot below green The area processed by the tool is circled Refine Radius, and in blue - the tool Erase Refinements. You can quickly switch between these two tools while working by holding down a key Alt. You can change the brush size using square brackets ([ or ]).

1. Tool Scale (Z). After activating this tool, hover your cursor over the image and it will take the form of a magnifying glass with a plus sign inside. Click on the image to enlarge. To reduce the size, press and hold the key while clicking Alt(a minus sign will appear inside the magnifying glass).

2. Tool Hand (H). Allows you to move the enlarged image to the desired direction.

3. There are two important tools in this group: Specify radius (E) And Erase clarifications (E). With these tools we do not add or subtract anything from the selected area, but simply adjust the boundaries, which are analyzed by the Photoshop program.

Tool Refine Radius Allows you to fine-tune the border area where edge refinement is performed. By moving the brush of this tool over the areas where it is necessary to refine the edges (hair, fur, etc.), we tell the program which pixels should be selected when detailing the selected area. When a tool is active, a plus sign is visible in the center of the cursor.
Tool Erase Refinements allows you to exclude areas that do not need edge refinement. For example, precisely selected areas (in my example these are the shoulders) or an extra background included in the selected area. When the tool is active, a minus sign is visible in the center of the cursor.

4. Edge Adjustment

Processing the edges of the selected area with tools Refine Radius And Erase Refinements, uncheck Show Radius, change View viewing on On Layers and go to the section Adjust Edge. Now some of the hair around the edges looks translucent. Moving the parameter slider Shift Edge right to move the edge of the selection outward. As you move the slider, the edges of the hair begin to appear more clearly. Here you need to focus on the result and the main thing is not to overdo it when shifting the edge of the area in order to prevent the remnants of the old background from appearing. To see the result better, use the tool Scale (Z).

1 . Smooth. Allows you to smooth out curvatures at the border of the selected area so that they are less jagged. If you increase the value too much, you risk losing detail (especially when highlighting hair and fur).

2 . Feather. Blurs the edges of the selected area. Also leads to loss of detail.

3 . Contrast. Sharpens the edges of the selected area.

4 . Shift Edge. Shifts the borders of the selected area inward when the slider is moved to the left of center, and outward when the slider is moved to the right of center.

5. Conclusion

After moving the edge of the selected area, go to the section Output. Check the box and move the slider Effect (Amount) to the right to remove the light halo and replace the color border around the edges of the selected area with the color of the nearest fully selected pixels. Here you also need to focus on results. Then select the output option: .

1 . Decontaminate Colors. Reduces ghosting around the edges of the selection and replaces the color in the edge refinement area with the color of the nearest fully selected pixels.

2 . Effect (Amount). Adjusts the level of color purification.

3 . Output To. In the drop-down list, select the option to display a refined selected area:

Selection. Photoshop processes the refinements and displays the result as a selected area (ant track). Inactive with enabled feature Decontaminate Colors.
Layer Mask. Adds a layer mask to the active layer based on the result of the edge refinement. Inactive with enabled feature Decontaminate Colors.
New Layer. Removes the background and outputs the result to a new layer containing only the selected element.
New Layer with Layer Mask. Adds a new layer with a layer mask based on the result of the edge refinement.
New Document. Creates new document with a layer containing only the selected element.
New Document with Layer Mask. Creates a new document with a layer containing a layer mask in accordance with the result of edge refinement.

Final Settings

After clearing the color, you can return to the section Adjust Edge and, if necessary, adjust the parameters: Smooth, Feather, Contrast And Shift Edge. In my example, I did not adjust these parameters and left everything as is. Click OK and, if necessary, adjust the result using a brush on the layer mask. We are happy with the result:

Conclusion

The Refine Edges tool makes selection much easier complex objects, but unfortunately this tool also has its drawbacks. The tool works well in cases where the selected object has a good contrast with the background and, alas, edge refinement algorithms do not cope with the task in cases where the object is in the same tonal and color range as the background. In this case, it is better to use the hair drawing technique described in the lesson Two ways to select hair in Photoshop.

Lesson prepared by: Vladimir Nesterov

As you know, in graphic editor Photoshop can do a huge number of things. All of them are aimed at satisfying the modern needs of users not only at the amateur, but also at the professional level. Users will be able to use the same tools entry level those who are just starting to get acquainted with Photoshop, others are those who have certain skills.

I would like to devote the topic of this material to the question of how to smooth edges in Photoshop. The question is quite popular and often arises among users, so you should pay due attention to it, especially since there is nothing complicated about it.

Smoothing

I think many people are familiar with the situation when a selected area has sharp edges, and it would be nice to somehow smooth them out. So, it’s quite possible to do this, you just need to use the smoothing and feathering algorithms. The smoothing option aims to smooth out the jagged edges of the pre-selected area. The result is smooth transition between the border of the selection and the border of the background itself. In order to activate the smoothing algorithm, follow these simple sequential steps:

to get started, select one of the following commands: , Polygonal Lasso, Magnetic Lasso, Oval area or a Magic Wand;
Now pay attention to the horizontal Toolbar, which is located in the program header. There you will see a small box labeled “Smoothing”, check the box next to it;
now just create a selection in the image window.

Nuances that should be taken into account when performing these actions: the smoothing algorithm can be applied exclusively to the above tools. In addition, the checkbox must be checked before you begin to create a selection, if the area is already selected, this command will not apply to it, so first you will need .

Feathering

The shading algorithm is very similar to the previous one. This effect allows you to blur the edges, thereby creating a smooth transition between sections of the selected area and those adjacent to it. It is noteworthy that this type of edge blur leads to a decrease in detail at the edges of the selected area. By the way, the tools to which you can apply feathering are the same as in the case of smoothing.

After you decide on one of the tools listed above, in the Toolbar header you will notice the “Feather” item. You must vary the degree of blur yourself by setting the value in pixels. Next, you need to select the “Selection Brush” tool, select a soft brush and create a selection in the image window.

As you can see, with these simple rules you can easily smooth edges in Photoshop. I hope everything works out for you!