Software updates happen so often these days that you can sometimes miss great new features when they’re added. If you do any kind of masking with people and hair, then you really must see this technique.

I do a lot of masking, particularly on the hair of my subjects. Unfortunately, it’s always been one of the more onerous tasks if you’re aiming for accuracy, and I’ve used many different techniques over the years to perfect masking and selecting hair. Until very recently, I almost always used the Pen Tool because of the precise control it afforded. I have tried lots of other methods, but invariably, I always came back to the Pen Tool for the majority of the work I had to do. However, recent updates in Adobe Photoshop have made hair selection so much easier. 

In this video brought to you by PiXimperfect, Unmesh Dinda takes it a step further by introducing a couple of new buttons that make selecting hair even easier. All the magic happens inside the Select And Mask panel, which was already incredibly good for selecting hair. Now, it’s even better with a couple of new buttons added. I’ve tried this multiple times, and it works extremely well. A couple of points to note: these features are only available on recent editions of Photoshop, and the hair selections work best if your subject has a solid color background. However, the video also shows you how to deal with hair on a busy background. 

Give it a look, and let me know your thoughts in the comments below.