Many photographers are advised that Photoshop's Pen Tool is a powerful way to make accurate selections.
But the Pen Tool can seem clumsy and unintuitive if you haven't used it before. Here is a simple tutorial which will guarantee precise selections.
Step 1:
Choose the Pen Tool in Photoshop's tool palette.
The keyboard shortcut is "P".
Step 2:
Open Google (or your search engine of choice) and type
"Quick Mask Tutorial". Choose a link that makes sense to you.
Read, learn and apply.
Step 3:
Laugh heartily at all the poor saps trying to achieve good selections with the Pen Tool.
Seriously, though ...
The Pen Tool has its place. It is principally used in the Prepress and Graphic Design industries, for cutting out product photos and placing them on a different background, or no background at all. It is the best tool for this purpose.
Professional photographers may also be required to perform this kind of work from time to time. But in the course of most photographic editing, Quick Mask is much better.
The Pen Tool has two major drawbacks:
1. It's difficult to learn.
If you're not familiar with vector editing (such as in programs like Adobe Illustrator) then it is fiddly and unintuitive to learn. With perseverance, you'll get there, but in my opinion, there is no need just yet.
2. It doesn't allow precise feathering.
This is the big one. The Pen Tool (just like the Marquee and Lasso tools) requires you to create your entire selection, then apply a uniform feather if desired. There is no capacity for varied feathering around the selection. When using Quick Mask, on the other hand, you can vary the softness of your selection as often as you need to, simply by changing brush size as you go along.
Ironically, when pressed, the Pen Advocates admit that they often have to enter Quick Mask mode after creating their Pen selection, in order to fine-tune it. This workflow suits their needs, and in time, may suit yours.
But if you are a budding photographer or retoucher who is climbing the steep learning slope of Photoshop, then you have come to a fork in the trail. To your left, Quick Mask; to your right, Pen Tool. My firm advice is - follow the Quick Mask path. It will take you much higher, and the view is spectacular.
If you have a question about this tutorial, or any Photoshop question, please visit me at my "Ask Damien" Facebook page.
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