Many things have troubled me this past year. Global warming, war, consumerism, my beard that seems to grow ginger past a certain length…..but right above those, at the top of the list is Adobes new Select and Mask feature. Why? Because it just doesn’t work! No matter how many times I try, how many sliders I change, it just doesn’t create the great selections I was used to with Refine Edge.
Now to be honest I never really used the Refine Edge for the body, I use the pen tool for those selections. But where Refine Edge earned its pay was when I got to the hair. And like it or not, Select and Mask just doesn’t seem up to the task. Frustrated and tired, I did what any angry Photoshopper would do in their moment of rage!!!……….I created a meme! But with a great meme, comes great responsibility, and other Photoshop users began to share their thoughts on Select and Mask too.
I will show you later in the post how to revert back to good old Refine Edge, whilst using selections in CC 2017, but first lets see what other Photoshop users thought. The comments on the post seemed to be unanimous, Select and mask doesn’t work. Here is a small selection from the meme.
As you can see the reviews are not glowing. Now before this sounds like a hate post towards Adobe, it is not. I love Adobe, and Photoshop! They have changed my life, and many other photographers and artists around the world. I have brand loyalty to Adobe and probably always will, whatever happens. But sometimes you have to speak up to be heard. And if we speak loud enough maybe these issues will be fixed, and we can go back to complaining about the Healing Brush haha.
As of yet, I am still to hear of anyone with anything good to say about Select and Mask. If you are one of these people though, please leave a comment. It would be nice to hear from the other end of the spectrum to balance out the views.
And now the moment you have been waiting for! Hold on to your hats, or your Wacom, whichever you prefer. As I reveal how you can magically change Select and Mask, back to Refine Edge in Photoshop CC 2017.
Simply make a selection as normal.
Click on the select menu on the top Photoshop menu.
Hold down shift, and click on Select and Mask from the drop down menu.
It will now load up as the Refine Edge tool.
Simple!
This was a trick I learnt from Daniel Luna, a brilliant Photoshop educator. Be sure to check his website and Facebook group The Digital Photographer’s Photoshop, for more helpful tips.
Again, I would love to hear from anyone who has positive things to say about the new Select and Mask feature, leave a comment in the box below. Also if there are any other faults you have noticed in the new update, feel free to leave them and we can look into it.
Happy new year guys!
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