Refining pixel selection edges

Once a selection has been created, you can refine its edges to ensure your selection is as accurate as needed.

For very fine selection, e.g. of hair against a coloured background, use an adjustment brush as part of the refinement to 'brush-in' fine detail.

Settings

The following settings can be adjusted from the dialog:

Selection and Mask are ideal when applying adjustments and filters after refining the selection area. New layer and New layer with mask are suited to cutting out and compositing; colour 'decontamination' is also used for achieving high-quality cut-out results.

Refining selection along an edge containing finely detailed fur
Use the Foreground adjustment brush to select the interior (top left, brush strokes; top right, resulting selection), then the Matte adjustment brush to paint along the edge and individual hairs (bottom left). Use the Preview options to inspect the refined selection (bottom right).

Brush size can be adjusted mid-stroke with the [ and ] keys.

To refine pixel selection edges:
  1. Do one of the following:
    • From any selection tool's context toolbar, click Refine.
    • From the Select menu, select Refine Edges.
  2. Adjust the settings in the dialog.
  3. If you wish to adjust the selection edges by painting, drag on the preview.
  4. Click Apply.

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