Deep etching

[rooboy]

There are dozens of ways to skin a cat; how do DSLRUsers go about deep etching?

In case I have my terminology wrong, by deep etching I mean creating very, very accurate selections for use on different layers, for example, cutting someone out of an image to place them on a magazine cover.

My new job involves a fair bit of this tedious art form, and I'm pretty unskilled at it. The main tools I use are:

Magic Wand
Filter => Extract
Magnetic lasso (very slowly at around 300-400% view)
Occasionally Quick mask mode with a soft brush

Whichever method I start with, it ends up finishing with a lot of time using the elliptical marquee and cleaning up the selection. Am I missing anything obvious, and how do the good PS users go about making complex, exact selections?

[sirhc55]

I have been deep etching for a few years now and I always use the pen tool for accurate work - I am a bit slower these days but I could deep etch up to 100 images per day of varying complexity

[rooboy]

I have been deep etching for a few years now and I always use the pen tool for accurate work - I am a bit slower these days but I could deep etch up to 100 images per day of varying complexity

Do you use a Wacom or some sort of pen tablet for this type of work?

I know that practise is a large part of it, one of the guys I work with does it regularly for a magazine and uses the eliptical marquee tool almost exclusively, but does so very quickly & efficiently.

[rokkstar]

Patrick,

I deep etch all the time and the most accurate tool is the pen tool.
Mouse is as accurate as pen I've found here. The wand and lasso tools are just too random to produce accurate results.

Practice with the pen, because as Chris says, as soon as you're familiar with it it's just second nature.

[jethro]

Bezierre tool is the ultimate and the final. Make a selection of the path to smooth or do what you wish. Accuracy is essential. There are a myriad of variables in the process to which you have to embrace. Take it on, ask questions or leave it alone. Ps has some fantastic tools and ways. If you dont ask you dont learn. Dont be afraid say your bit pundits are only to happy to help
Jethro

[sirhc55]

I have been deep etching for a few years now and I always use the pen tool for accurate work - I am a bit slower these days but I could deep etch up to 100 images per day of varying complexity

Do you use a Wacom or some sort of pen tablet for this type of work?

I know that practise is a large part of it, one of the guys I work with does it regularly for a magazine and uses the eliptical marquee tool almost exclusively, but does so very quickly & efficiently.

I use both a mouse and tablet but to be honest I actually find the mouse more comfortable.

When I first started using the pen tool way back when, I found it very hard to master until I let my hand work with my brain, and like riding a bike, it became second nature.

[Viz]

I have to deep etch regularly, and my method is a bit brutal, but nonetheless effective if you want an element of speed. I use a mask on the layer I want to deep etch and use the polygon lasso with a slight feather on it, then I zoom in close (like 200%) and just keep adding points and closing the shapes once I have completed a segment (such as a cheek). then I can go back with the wacom and quickly touch up any flaws on the mask. Pen tool is of course more elegant, but deep etching hair or fine elements with a pen tool can be a b*aatch.

Edit:
And hi everybody, I'm new on this great forum

[beetleboy]

Paths all the way. I generally add a 0.5 pixel feather to the selection which gives a more natural looking edge. When it comes to masking hair etc I use a completely different technique to create an alpha channel either out of one of the colour channels (normally blue) or a desaturated version of the composite image.

Similar to Russell Brown's technique (20Mb Qtime video) I use levels/curves, burning/dodging and painting to create a complex selection and then refine it as a layer mask applied to my image so i can see the effect in real-time.

[christiand]

Hi Liam,

I downloaded and watched that video - amazing technique.
This is exactly what I have been looking for.
Thanks very much for sharing.

Cheers,
CD

[beetleboy]

No worries!

The good Doctor's method is very useful but it takes a little bit of trial and error to ensure a good clean haircut (so to speak!!). Working out how much to dodge or burn is the tricky bit but once you've mastered it the technique can be used for all sorts of situations.

We do a helluva lot of wine bottle photography and post production at the studio and I've even used this technique for a quick and dirty mask around a bottle! 99% of the time we use a clipping path but with a lot of designers using the CS2 package these days I foresee that EPS' or TIFF's with transparency channels are going to be the way of the future..which means no more tedious contouring! Woohoo!

[rooboy]

Thanks for all the replies - obviosuly a useful topic

Beetleboy, I'd seen this method of making masks in a similar format in Scott Kelby's Photoshop Channels Book. For hair it seems to be very useful but more limited in other applications.

I had a play with the pen tool this evening and am more confused than before. To those who recommend it, how do you use it? Click to make a new anchor point, then curve it to fit the outline, and repeat? I can see how much practise this would take to become proficient.

Cheers,
Patrick

[beetleboy]

That's pretty much it Patrick!

Play around with modifier keys while dragging points and you'll find extra options - the Command/Apple (sorry, don't know PC equiv) key is always under one of my fingers when I'm doing paths.

[Viz]

Once you master the bezier you will never look back. I have seen friends that make a really bodgy pointy version of their artworkand smooth it as a second pass. Once you get a feel for them, you know where to put the point, because the curve will change. I remember my first go at tracing artwork for a design class, it met laughter.