How to Use the Quick Mask Tool In Adobe Photoshop

How many times have you been working on an image in Adobe Photoshop and struggled over selecting just a particular section of the photograph? The simple solution to great masking is with the Quick Mask tool. This Photoshop tutorial will show you how.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Adobe Photoshop

1. 
   Using the Lasso tool I selected an area around the portion I wanted.

   Open your image in Adobe Photoshop. In the example image, I chose an image of several fruits, but I only want the front pear from this image. So first, choose any of the masking tools that works best to get an approximate selection of the area you want to mask. As shown.

2. 
   Red area in quick mask shows parts of the image not in the selection

   Now that you have an approximate area selected, it is time to use the quick mask feature to make this more exact. Hit the "Q" key on your keyboard. The screen will turn a red color. The red represents portions of the image not in the selection. Select the Brush Tool (B). You will notice your colors have changed to the default black and white. Brush in black to remove areas from the selection. This is basically everything outside the area you want selected. Try to outline your desired subject closely. If you slip up and accidentally brush over an area you want selected, just switch the brush color to white and add it back in. Hit the "Q" key again to return to regular mode and check your progress.

3. 
   Now the pear is ready for whatever I may decide to do with it, except eat it!

   When I have brushed in my mask exactly how I want it, I hit "Q" again to return to the regular mode and now have a perfect selection to do with as I please. I could cut the pear out and paste it into a new image. I could select the inverse and change the back ground. I could do anything I want with just the pear, leaving the other portions of the photo unchanged.

Tips & Warnings

• Use the "Q" key to switch back and forth often to check your progress.
• In the quick mask mode, to quickly change from black to white, click once on the directional arrows above the background/foreground colors
• You can quickly change your brush size by using the [ ] keys on your keyboard.

Resources

• Photoshop CS2 Killer Tips
• The Photoshop Anthology

[Miri]

on 2/12/2009 I needed this one! Thanks for great directions!