Photoshop - Refine Edge Tool
When selecting a subject or object the edges can often be hard to cut out "cleanly." The magic wand tool will cut out objects cleanly if there is not too much fine detail surrounding the edges of the subject.
Cutting out a person that has "frizzy" hair is often one of the most challenging tasks. Either the selection leaves a lot of "remnants" of the background mixed in with the foreground detail or too much of the foreground subject is erased. For example, too much hair is left out of the selection giving an unnatural look to a person's head - I call this look "helmet head." It looks like the subject is wearing a helmet - the details in the strands of their hair is lost and gives unnatural look to the person's head.
The refine edge is an important tool and step to create natural looking selections.
Cutting out a person that has "frizzy" hair is often one of the most challenging tasks. Either the selection leaves a lot of "remnants" of the background mixed in with the foreground detail or too much of the foreground subject is erased. For example, too much hair is left out of the selection giving an unnatural look to a person's head - I call this look "helmet head." It looks like the subject is wearing a helmet - the details in the strands of their hair is lost and gives unnatural look to the person's head.
The refine edge is an important tool and step to create natural looking selections.