Newark727 From United States of America, joined Dec 2009, 1175 posts, RR: 0 Posted (3 months 3 weeks 6 days 3 hours ago) and read 1427 times:
Like many of you (I assume,) I edit my images before submitting them here with Photoshop, in my case CS5 for Mac. When I apply additional sharpening to an image as a JPEG, I try to only apply it to the airplane itself, and usually I can select off the rest with something like the magic wand tool, but sometimes there's a lot of contrast and clutter behind the aircraft and I can't do it quite like that. So I have to try and use the magnetic lasso tool to get the airplane, however since I first learned the program back when it was CS2, I've never been comfortable with this method- it is always picking the wrong edge, and the need to constantly keep the mouse around the edge is tiresome. It has a degree of configurability, so I might be able to fix some of that? I was wondering if any of you had experience or advice with this. Thanks.
KFLLCFII From United States of America, joined Sep 2004, 3262 posts, RR: 33 Reply 1, posted (3 months 3 weeks 6 days 2 hours ago) and read 1408 times:
While you're tracing the object, frequently click the mouse to "lock" the location of the selection before it gets a chance to jump off it. Conversely, you can also set a higher Frequency number so it does this on its own too. You can also adjust the Edge Contrast to a lower number so the tool becomes less "tolerant" to selecting objects adjacent to your desired selection.
I will say this though, using any tool for selecting the "edge" of an object usually prevents the outlined edges themselves from receiving sharpening, while only applying inside the selection. It has been my experience that using the Polygonal Lasso tool to roughly outline the entire object does a much better job to include the edges, and also saves the time and hassle as noted above from trying to use the Magic Wand or Magnetic Lasso. 99 shots out of 100, the little bit extra included in the selection but outside the object getting some sharpening is going to make no difference to the final product at all, because it's usually sky, shadow, or flat fuselage.
"About the only way to look at it, just a pity you are not POTUS KFLLCFII, seems as if we would all be better off."
Silver1SWA From United States of America, joined Mar 2004, 4538 posts, RR: 26 Reply 2, posted (3 months 3 weeks 5 days 23 hours ago) and read 1377 times:
I don't use any of the selection tools to select the aircraft only. I duplicate the layer and then use layer masking to control which part of the photo the effect is applied. The added benefit is being able to adjust brush and layer opacity for added control.
[Edited 2013-01-26 11:19:45]
ALL views, opinions expressed are mine ONLY and are NOT representative of those shared by Southwest Airlines Co.
Newark727 From United States of America, joined Dec 2009, 1175 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (3 months 3 weeks 5 days 21 hours ago) and read 1344 times:
Quoting Silver1SWA (Reply 2): I don't use any of the selection tools to select the aircraft only. I duplicate the layer and then use layer masking to control which part of the photo the effect is applied. The added benefit is being able to adjust brush and layer opacity for added control.
vikkyvik From United States of America, joined Jul 2003, 8223 posts, RR: 28 Reply 4, posted (3 months 3 weeks 5 days 20 hours ago) and read 1337 times:
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I don't use magnetic lasso. Instead, I just use the Polygonal Lasso tool and trace around the aircraft. I used to be very picky about tracing around the aircraft very carefully. Then I realized it doesn't really matter. So I just do it quickly and get it reasonably traced.
"Two and a Half Men" was filmed in front of a live ostrich.
I second the notion. I use Polygonal like you said, or if it is selective sharpening to a part of the aircraft, just the regular lasso. If it is a very "congested" area that needs precise sharpening, I duplicate the layer like Ryan said.
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ckw From UK - England, joined Aug 2010, 530 posts, RR: 18 Reply 7, posted (3 months 3 weeks 5 days 18 hours ago) and read 1308 times:
Depending on the subject, sometimes it is easier to duplicate the layer, sharpen the whole thing then erase what you don't want sharpened - you can also control the strength of the erase.
The ting with PS is there never seems to be one answer - most experienced users I know have a whole arsenal of tricks which they apply to images according to the content.
Silver1SWA From United States of America, joined Mar 2004, 4538 posts, RR: 26 Reply 8, posted (3 months 3 weeks 5 days 17 hours ago) and read 1300 times:
Quoting ckw (Reply 7): Depending on the subject, sometimes it is easier to duplicate the layer, sharpen the whole thing then erase what you don't want sharpened - you can also control the strength of the erase.
Well this is pretty much the same thing I do, except I use layer masks instead of erasing because you can apply/un-apply if needed.
ALL views, opinions expressed are mine ONLY and are NOT representative of those shared by Southwest Airlines Co.
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