ADJUST A SELECTION with the Refine Edge tool

The Refine Edge floating panel is accessible in the Options bar when working with any selection tool. Using Refine Edge, you can clean up selections, soften or feather the edge outlines, and remove edge artifacts, or jaggies. The panel offers various previewing options, showing the selection on a white or black background, against a red overlay, or on an empty layer to help you see the edges of the areas you are selecting and the changes you are making. 

You can use the Refine Edge panel with any active selection, regardless of the tool used to create the selection. The Refine Edge tool is particularly useful when selecting very irregular edges, such as animal fur. Whenever there is a selection in the image, the Refine Edge button appears in the Options bar. 

With the subject selected, you can use the tool to fine-tune the details in the edges of your image to get the best selection possible. 

 

1 Open an image and make a selection using any of the selection tools. 

A The foreground subject is selected. 

Note: Depending on the image, you might select the background and then invert the selection to show the subject matter in the selection marquee. 

2 Click the Refine Edge button in the Options bar. 

The subject appears against a solid background. 

3 Click the Zoom tool in the Refine Edge panel and click in the image to enlarge certain areas. 

Note: Click the Hand tool ( ) in the Refine Edge panel and click and drag to move around the image. 

4 Click and drag the Radius slider to refine the edge selection. 

5 Click and drag the Contrast slider to remove edge artifacts and to sharpen edges. 

6 Click the View drop-down menu to select another view mode. 

7 Click and drag the Smooth slider to create a smoother selection outline. 

8 Click and drag the Feather slider to create a softer-edged transition. 

9 Click and drag the Shift Edge slider to adjust the selection edges. 

10 Click Decontaminate Colors ( changes to ). 

11 Click and drag the Amount slider to replace the color fringes with the color of the subject. 

12 Repeat steps 4 to 11 to make the best selection possible. 

13 Click the Output To drop-down menu to have the selected area appear as a selection or a mask on the current layer or placed on a new layer. 

14 Click OK to save the selection. Your refined selection appears on the image as a new layer or as a new layer with a layer mask. 

TIPS

Try This! 

You can use a keyboard shortcut to quickly change the preview mode when using the Refine Edge panel. Press F to cycle through each preview mode. Press X to temporarily view the original image. 

Did You Know? 

Moving the Radius slider improves the edge of the selection and helps in areas with more detail. Increasing the Contrast amount sharpens the edges of the selection. The Smooth slider removes jagged edges of a selection, and the Feather slider adds a uniform blur to the selection edge. 

Important! 

Clicking the Decontaminate Colors option in step 10 ( changes to ) requires the selection to be placed on a new layer or document because it changes the colors of pixels.