Photoshop Image Masking Service
What is image masking in Photoshop?
Image masking is one of the basic image processing operations. It is used to remove the background of photographs which have blurred edges or hair portions. We can eliminate, extract or detach an object from the rest of the picture using the image masking technique.
At Clipping Path Specialist, we have a team of dedicated desktop publishing professionals who handle a variety of image processing services such as Clipping path, Image masking, Photograph retouching, Image manipulation, Photo enhancement, Image shading Website image optimisation and Raster to vector image. Even though masking an image is one of the most time-consuming job, our DTP professionals are highly qualified and can work very faster while maintaining the quality.
Clipping Path Specialist ensures that all your photo masking jobs are nurtured to give you high quality jobs at very low costs. Your masking requirements are handled by thorough professionals to give you unbeatable quality. We bring you the world class services at costs that would be more than welcome.
Masking an image is not an easy task. Effectively masking an image is both time consuming and strenuous. Our team of hardworking creative artists put their heart and soul into each Photoshop masking jobs they undertake. The level of difficulty in image masking depends on the picture to be masked as fine detailing is required.
Even though the complexity of the image masking takes up a great deal of time you can select the tool required for Photoshop mask accordingly. For example, hair masking is a challenge in image masking that is taken on by only the very best in the field. We have Photoshop tools and techniques to do the most laborious tasks and complete them to perfection.
Mask layers hold a distinct advantage over other forms of masking as they enable to effect a change, which results in the least amount of image distortion. This impressive masking technique can be applied to any object in a faded picture for a professional effect or to end up with an ultra sharp image for your portal. At Clipping Path Specialist, we review your image before deciding on the masking method to adopt to give an output par excellence!
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| Photoshop image masking example |
Softening cutout edges when using Photoshop clipping paths
Assuming your finished background needs to be white (if it's any other color, substitute white with the CMYK values of your chosen background color), return to Photoshop and the image you've cut out with your clipping path. Open the Paths Palette and while holding down the Command key (on an Apple) click the path you have saved. This will create a selection of your path.
Select Layer/New/Layer Via Copy. A new layer will appear in your Layers Palette containing a cutout of your image. Select the backgound layer. Click the Create a New Layer button at the bottom of the Layers Palette. Fill this new layer with white (or the color that'll ultimately appear behind your cutout in Quark or InDesign). Select the layer containing the cutout. Hold down the Command key and click the layer thumbnail to make a selection. From the main menu, go toSelect/Feather... and enter a value of 1 pixel. Click OK.
Now (with the cutout layer still selected) click the Add Layer Mask button at the bottom of the Layers Palette. This will soften the edge of the cutout object and anti-alias it with the new background, thus blending it in better. If you feel you want to soften the edge more, make the slection of the layer again (by Command/Clicking the layer thumbnail). Then go Select/Inverse, and after ensuring that the layer mask is selected (the black and white thumbnail to the right of the layer thumbnail), press the Delete key. This will mask off a little more of the feathered edge, and it's a nice way to fine-tune the image cutout.
Save the file as a Photoshop EPS file, remembering to also save the working Photoshop PSD file so you can come back to it if alterations are needed. Place it in InDesign or Quark, and in print the blue haze will be reduced or removed entirely, depending on your feather settings.
Here's an example of the image cutout placed on a colored background in the layered Photoshop file. The color values used are C0 M15 Y58 K0. Save this as a Photoshop EPS using the same Photoshop clipping path as before, and if the colored background in your layout program has the same or very similar values, the image cutout will blend in very well on top of it.
Photoshop clipping paths are great for creating cutout images, but there may be more complex areas of the image which is causing trouble - like hair, for example. Here's a tutorial on cutting out hair or other fine detail - but take note, the tutorial assumes that the background is very plain - it won't work as well on a detailed or busy background.
Resources & More Information
- Adobe Photoshop CC
- I use a Wacom Tablet
for day-to-day work. It takes a little getting used to, but it's great for clipping paths.
- Click to go to top of Photoshop Clipping Paths page
The BEST way to create a Photoshop clipping path
By Hand!
When it comes to producing high-quality Photoshop clipping paths, the truth is there is no quick and easy way to achieve a good cutout - you just have to do it properly... by hand. When creating clipping paths, the more you use the Pen Tool in Photoshop, the quicker and more proficient you'll become.
If you click and hold the Pen Tool in the Photoshop Tools Palette you'll see a list of all its subsidiary tools. The only ones you'll use are the Pen Tool, +Add Anchor Point Tool, -Delete Anchor Point Tool and Convert Point Tool. And you won't have to select them constantly from the Tool bar - you can flick between them by using the Command Key and Alt Key on a Mac. It'll become second nature if you persevere.
Experiment with the fantastic Convert Point Tool (and others) by pressing the Alt key and clicking on an existing anchor point. You'll quickly pick up how the tools work.
As you can see below, you should trace the image so that the path is roughly in the centre of the anti-aliasing. Anti-aliasing occurs when the computer blends the hard edges of an image object by using an average of the object color and background color in order to soften the difference between the foreground and background objects.
In other words, put the path half way between the brown and the blue!
This minimises the amount of blue 'ghosting' that might appear aroung the edges of the final image cutout. Once you have traced all the way around the image, select Save Path... from the Paths submenu (as explained above), and then selectClipping Path... You'll be asked for a 'Flatness' value. Leave this blank. Make sure the image is 300DPI actual size and CMYK. Save it as a Photoshop EPS file with default values, and place it in InDesign. Select View/Display Performace/High Quality Display in order to get the best on-screen redraw, and you'll see that the result is much more accurate with much less ghosting, and it has a smooth, accurate edge.
You may still get a 'haze' around an image, which the path has inherited from the previous background. This is where Photoshop clipping paths are limited. Because they are rigid, hard-edged vector shapes, they take no account of the fact that the object in question might be a little out of focus, requiring a softer edge.
A softer, or 'feathered' edge to your cutout can be achieved in the following way.
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