Mask difficult objects with Calculations in Photoshop 

I'm glad it was helpful.

Thanks Mtex. Your support is appreciated.

Thanks Johan. It's appreciated.

It's great to hear that you found it helpful. One of my goals for this channel is to decode Photoshop so we all understand it a little bit better. Thanks for the keyboard shortcut for Flow. I'm aware of it and actually use it myself but try to minimise the number of keyboard shortcuts so it's easier to follow for all :-)

@@hoitpham You're very welcome! Keep them coming! I could have guessed so that you already knew the shortcut and you have thought about it whether it would be in the tutorial or not. Have a great day!

Thanks for the support Julian. I’m grateful for all folks who’ve subscribed so far.

Thanks Craig. I’m glad you found the video helpful. Yes, the intention of my channel is to demystify Photoshop so it’s less intimidating. I plan to put out more ‘explainer’ videos, which hopefully does that.

Glad it was helpful!

Glad you found it informative.

Great to hear!

Cheers John. I’m glad it was helpful.

Thanks. For a channel that’s just started, it’s encouraging to know.

Great to hear it was helpful

Thanks Peter. Glad it was helpful.

Thanks Vladimir. Glad it was helpful.

I’m glad that the video sparked more creativity because it’s one of the objectives of this channel.

Thanks @10Q. I'm glad that you found it useful

Thanks for watching Dr. Great to hear.

Thanks Steve. I'm glad it was helpful.

Thanks Leo. Glad you found it helpful.

Great to hear, Bill and thanks for the suggestion on GCR and UCA. I don’t think many would’ve heard / used this technique before so, it’s something for me to think about.

Thanks Ashok. I'm glad you found it helpful. Thanks for watching.

Thanks. Your support is appreciated.

Cheers Jason. Before making the video, I wasn't sure whether anyone would be interested in the mechanics of Ps, so it's a pleasant surprise to see that people are interested. Good suggestion on blend modes. I'll see if / when I can fit it in. I've just started this channel and still working full time but hopefully with more viewers and support, I can transition to creating Ps videos full time and make tutorials quicker! I'm from Sydney and yes, I had a good chuckle at 'Aussie, Aussie, Aussie'... :-)

​@@hoitpham Yeah, look there's always going to be more viewers that just want to see how to get the end result without all the nuts & bolts so to speak. The good thing about the way you present things is that they still get to see that ... AND they're learning HOW it works and not just that it does work. I don't think you'll encounter too many people that will make a big deal of hearing about the mechanics of a process, besides, if they do get impatient they can always skip over those sections without it affecting the outcome of the tutorial. Nah, you're doing well mate. Keep explaining things the way you are and you can't go wrong. 👌 PS: If you really want to stand out from a lot of the other PS tutorial channels etc, go into detail about the lesser known tools in Photoshop (as you have here). Things like Apply Image and how it works; Variables; Analysis etc. All the good stuff 😁

Glad you enjoyed it

Thanks Daniela. I'm glad you found it helpful... and we're never too old to use Photoshop :-) Order of the channels: SHORT ANSWER: If you use the same photo in the same colour mode (i.e., RGB mode only) and you use the green and blue channels, it won't matter which channel you choose first IF you use the Multiply, Screen or Add blend modes but it WILL make a difference if you use Subtract. LONGER ANSWER: That's because the order of the luminance values doesn't matter if you multiply, add, or "screen" them together. I.e., if you multiply the luminance value of the first layer (say it's the blue channel and has a luminance value of 10) by the second layer (say it's the green channel and has a luminance value of 5), you will get the luminance value of 50 (i.e., 10x5). This will be the same even if you switch the order. I.e., Multiply the luminance of 5 from the green channel first by 10 (the luminance value of the blue channel) - it will still give you 50. The same applies when you use the Add and Screen blend modes. However, if you use the Subtract blend mode, it WILL make a difference because a luminance value of 10 (e.g., blue channel) minus 5 (e.g., green channel) will give you a result of 5. However, if you do it the other way - i.e., 5 (green channel) minus 10 (blue channel), you will get a luminance value of -5, which is obviously different to the 5 in the first calculation. You can test this out by using any image and switching the layers around in the Calculations dialogue box. Hopefully the outcome will match what I described above! CMYK: It is not necessary to always make a CMYK duplicate of your image. You can stick to RGB for both layers in the 'Calculations' dialogue box. I only used CMYK in the video because I wanted to: (1) directly target the yellows in the image, and (2) show that you can use an image which has a different colour modes for your second layer if that will create more contrast.

@@hoitpham Another excellent and long answer, I am sorry to have bothered you! Best wishes :)

When it's difficult to separate the foreground / background, an easier way is to replicate the hair by creating a brush and painting it in instead of trying to extract it from the original image.

Thanks Valentin. Your support is appreciated.

I'm glad the video helped.

In the menu option on the right hand side when you’re still in the Select and Mask screen, pls try going to Refine Mode and selecting “Color Aware” instead of “Object Aware”.

Hi, decontaminate colours is generally used when we want to hide colour fringes. E.g., because hair is light and thin, it can absorb the colour of the background, creating colour fringes. In this case, decontaminate colours is one way of removing the colour fringe. Just be wary that decontaminate colours can create unwanted artifacts, so use the "Amount" slider to adjust the amount until the effect is just how you want it.

Hi Daniela, thanks for the suggestion. I'll see if / when I can make this tutorial.

@@hoitpham I will patiently await for it :) :)

Cheers Keith. It's me who should say thanks for all the support. Thanks everyone :-)

Hi Andrew, not sure what’s not working for you or the version of Photoshop you have. Can try to help if possible. Commands for Mac and PC are usually displayed on screen. Thanks for watching.

@@hoitpham I look again as I might have it turn off, running the latest 24.3 and is up to date. I just turn on subtitles and you did say Command I, please keep to once Default Windows or MacOS keyboard, so it would worked if I press Ctrl I.

@@aurion61 thanks. Let me know how you go. Will try to help where possible.

@@hoitpham I managed to do it in the end, BUT you starting talking all about MacOS commands in the end in the of video, very frustrating indeed HTP?

@@aurion61 Control (Ctrl) on Windows is the same as Command (Cmd) on a Mac. I didn't see anywhere in this tutorial where the explanations for both operating systems weren't made clear though. It's like sometimes when watching tutorials on RU-vid the person explaining the tutorial has a different workspace setup on Photoshop than what you might have, and in cases like this you just have to improvise and try to read between the lines 😉

Thanks Simon. I'm glad the explanation helped. One of the reasons I started this RU-vid channel was because I didn't see too many Photoshop channels explaining these type of things.