Photoshop & Premiere CS6 Tutorials

There are many new tools in Photoshop CS6 Extended that help to enhance the productivity and efficiency of the
creative professionals workflow. In this tutorial...

What is a layer mask/alpha channel?

When you select part of an image, the area that is not selected is masked, or protected from editing. So, when
you create a mask, you isolate and protect areas of an image as you apply color changes, filters, or other effects
to the rest of the image.
Masks are stored in alpha channels. Masks and channels are grayscale images, so you can edit them like any
other image with painting tools, editing tools and filters. Areas painted black on a mask are protected, and areas
painted white are editable.

Quick Selection Tool:Cutting an object from a photo

1. In Photoshop start by selecting the Quick Selection tool

2. In the options bar you can customize the size, hardness, spacing, angle, and roundness of the brush to your
specific needs. You also have the option of switching between 3 modes: New, Add To, or Subtract From.

Note: New is the default option if nothing is selected. After making the initial selection, the option changes
automatically to Add To.
When creating a selection, press the right bracket on the keyboard (]) to increase the Quick Selection tool brush
tip size; press the left bracket ([) to decrease the brush tip size.

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 3. Now paint inside the part of the image you want to select. The selection grows and auto interprets the
contours of a shape as you paint. The tool can be quite effective, and in many cases all thats required for a
complex selection are a few clicks.

Note: You dont need to be perfect! The edge can be further refined after the initial selection is made. If the edge of
your selection requires further refining, which it most likely will, continue following the steps below.

4. Refine Selection Edge: After your selection is made, in the options bar click Refine Edge, or choose Select >
Refine Edge (CTRL + ALT + R).

Note: Refine Edge is an option for any selection made using any selection tool (Lasso, Magic Wand, Rectangular
Marquee, etc.).

5. From the View pop up menu you can choose how your selection is displayed for edge refinement.

Note: Simply pressing F while the Refine Edge option box is open will allow you to quickly scroll through these view
modes, and pressing X will temporarily disable all view modes.

6. Smart Radius automatically adjusts the radius of your selection for hard and soft edges. Use the radius
slider to then control the radius of the selection edge.

Note: Smart Radius is an extraordinarily powerful option, and is highly recommended for refining selections with
complex edges. This option isnt necessary if your selection edge is uniform or if you want to manually control
edge refinement, which is rare.

7. The Refine Radius and Erase Refinements tools can be used to brush over selection edges and either
add or subtract fine details to your selection.

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 8. Smooth, Feather, Contrast, and Shift Edge are all pretty self-explanatory (if not, shift sliders and observe
effect).

9. Decontaminate Colors replaces color fringes with the color of fully selected pixels nearby. The strength of
color replacement is proportionate to the softness of selection edges. Adjust the amount of
decontamination with the slider.

Note: Because this option changes pixel color, it requires output to a new layer or document. Retain the original layer
so you can revert back to it if needed.

10. Output To: choose whether the refined selection becomes a selection or mask on the current layer, or
produces a new layer or document.

Note: To export a masked image to Premiere, follow the steps below.

11. Select Output To: Layer Mask

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 12. In Premiere create a new project, give your project a name and a directory and click OK. Under the
Sequence Presets tab select HDV HDV 720p24 and click OK. Your new project is now ready.

13. Back in Photoshop save your masked image as a PSD in the same file directory as your new Premiere project.

Note: Some image formats dont support alpha channels, including JPEG. In order to save an image with a mask or
transparency it needs to be in a compatible format, some of which include TIFF, PNG, BMP, and PSD.
Its also important to keep all your assets for a Premier project organized, and preferably in the same directory.

14. Now import your masked image into Premiere. In the Project panel right click, then select import, or go to
File-import (Ctrl + I).

15. After you select your image to import, an option box will appear. Under Import As select Merge All Layers
(should be selected by default) and click OK.