Selecting and overlaying an area of ​​a photo is one of Photoshop’s most basic skills. If you want to change the color of your eyes or remove something that is disturbing in your photo, you must select only the area of ​​the image that you want to change and the other parts of the photo should remain unchanged.

There are dozens of ways to select an area of ​​a photo and overlay it in Photoshop, but in the 2016 version, Adobe brought many of them together: the workspace for selecting and overlaying them. 

Let’s take a look at how to use it. In this article, we assume that you know the basics of working with Photoshop.

Reach the selected workspace and masks

With an image open in your Photoshop program, there are several ways to get to the Select and Mask Workspace option. Select the layer you want to work with. Then:

• First select select and then select Select and Mask.
• For easier access, use the Control + Alt + R keys (on a Mac system Command + Option + R) on the keyboard.
• Click on the selection tool like the Lasso or Quick Select tool, then click on the Select and Mask option in the option section.
• Once you have selected the mask layer, click the Select and Mask button in the Properties panel.

This should take you to the main Select and Mask workspace where it will do most of the work you need to do.

 

Select and Mask Workspace section

As long as you are in the Select and Mask Workspace section, the image you see below is on your computer screen.

Let’s take a look at the numbered sections:

1- In the left part of the page, we see the Toolbar section. Instead of selecting all the items and Photoshop tools, you select a few of these items and are limited to selecting the Refine Edge Brush, the Brush Tool, the Orlando Tool, and under it, the Lasso () Polygon Tool. There are also hand tools for moving the image and zooming in on it.

2. The Tool Options section at the top of the page has all the available options for the tool you have already selected.

3- In the right part of the screen, you will see the Properties panel option. At the top you will see the View options. These sections review how to select and the masks you selected. Now, as you can see, each unselected area has a red overlay. Because I have not selected anything yet, my whole image has a red overlay.

4. Below that, you will see the Edge Detection option, which Photoshop controls the size of the edges and areas of the image.

5. The next item is the Global Refinements section, which sets features such as selecting a light shade or covering it with feathers.

6. Finally, the Output Settings option specifies how to return the selection we make to the Photoshop Workspace.

Here we talk about how to choose the best option every time we are in this program.

Selection Tools section

The most important thing in the Select and Mask Workspace section are the options we select. They are the options we use to create our photos.

The Quick Select Tool works like a brush, drawing any part you select. In the GIF below, by selecting the bird’s head and drawing my pen on a part of it, I was able to make the whole bird overlap and paint it red.

The Refine Edge Brush section tells you that part of the bird’s edges are colored. Follow the tips below to get rid of the edges of the photo and get better:

We use the Brush Tool section for hand painting. If the automatic parts of Photoshop do not allow you to remove the color of the edge of the photo, use a brush and hand painting, which can have a better result for you.

Automatically, when you use these three options, you draw to your liking. If you make a mistake while painting by hand, you can delete that part by holding down the Alt or Option key.

Finally, there are the Lasso Tool and Polygonal Lasso Tool options for selecting large parts of the image. If you use a graphics tablet, you can draw the shape more accurately, but if you use a mouse, what you draw may not fit properly and the lines you draw may be uneven.

 

View Mode Options section

One of the most effective features of the Select and Mask Workspace section is that it allows you to choose from different perspectives to see what you need most.

In the View section, you can use the Onion Skin, Marching Ants, Overlay, On Black, On White, On White, On Layers, and Black & White options, and select them, and you can see what each option does.

By pressing the F key on the keyboard, the image appears alternately on the screen. Depending on what you choose, each mode will give you a different perspective. I usually use overlap for most things.

Some View Modes have the option of changing color, blurring or sharpening. You can change this image to View Mode Options. If the Show Edge section is checked, Photoshop will specify the areas where the edges are intended.

The Show Original section shows what the original selection looks like. Controls high quality (Photoshop) for a more accurate preview, although it slows down the tools you use.

 

Edge Detection settings

You can also use the Edge Detection Options section to interpret the areas you have selected.

The Radius section indicates that the Photoshop environment is huge.