Unmesh Dinda 0:00
Let's assume that you have your subject on
a clean background and you had no problem
cutting it out.
But when you put your subject on a new contrasting
background, the hair just doesn't look right.
Something is wrong with the hair.
That's when we can use Blend Modes to easily
fix that in no time.
Now, keep in mind, there are many other ways
to do it.
If this method does not work for you, please
refer this video.
Not all images are the same and there is no
one technique that will work with everything.
And as a bonus, we will also learn how to
create interesting backgrounds and shadows.
So, without any further ado, let's get started.
Back in the magical land of Photoshop, and
if you want to go ahead and download this
photo and follow along, you already know what
to do.
Check the links in the description.
So first, let's start with a nice selection.
And by the way, we're going to go through
the entire process.
If you want to go to just the technique, please
skip to this duration - 08:08.
Thank you so much.
So, for the selection, we're going to use
Select and Mask.
So select any selection tool from here and
then let's choose Select and Mask at the top,
just click on that.
Now once we are in the Select and Mask dialog
box, determine what's going to be in the background,
what is going to be the background color.
To have the most contrast, let's change the
view to white - On White, right, and let's
decrease the Opacity.
If the Opacity is zero, everything will show
up irrespective of whatever you have selected
or not.
If the Opacity is at 100, only the selected
areas will show up.
Right now, nothing shows up.
Why?
Because we have selected nothing.
So let's keep the Opacity somewhere in the
middle, something like 57 and then select
the Quick Selection tool at the top and then
just paint over the subject.
Just paint over the areas which are definitely
going to be inside the selection.
Avoid painting on the messy areas of the hair.
So once we have the basic mask in place, we
can always check it by changing the view.
We can change the view, of course, to On Black,
and increase the Opacity.
As you can see, there are some areas extra
which are selected.
So, with the same Quick Selection tool right
there, you can hold the Alt key to change
that to minus and then paint on the areas
which you do not want.
This is perfect.
So let's subtract the additional extra areas
right there.
Now, let's add back these areas.
All right, now we might have to clean this
with the brush.
So have a look at the bottom right there,
the third one, this is the brush.
So, if you just simply paint, it's plus, it's
adding to it.
If you hold the Alt key or the Option key,
it will subtract from it.
There is no intelligence going down here.
It's just erasing that or in other words,
masking it out.
All right.
Now that we have done for the critical areas,
we're going to use a special tool called the
Refine Edge Brush tool, the second one.
So, let's select that and then just simply
paint on only those areas.
You can change the view back to white and
see what it looks like.
You can increase the Opacity if you want to,
and then just simply paint.
See, it's simply getting back easily.
All right, now I'm also going to paint on
the eyelashes.
As you can see, these are also not perfect.
Let's see if that fixes it.
Yeah, it pretty much fixes that.
Now, we need to adjust this with a brush.
So, let's select the brush and erase these
areas.
Alright, so now we have a pretty nice selection.
Let's change the view to black and let's check.
But there is a problem with the hair, right?
And we're going to fix that later.
But anyway, the masking is perfect.
If you change the view to Black and White,
you'll be able to perfectly see the Mask.
I might have to use the Refine Edge tool and
just paint over here a little bit.
And there we have it, a very nice mask.
Once you're happy with it, you can of course,
change the output to Layer Mask at the bottom
right here, and hit OK.
Now we have a mask.
Now, let's create a background.
And this is where the challenge comes in.
When you choose a contrasting background,
the hair just doesn't match.
So let's create a Solid Color Adjustment layer.
Click on the Adjustment layer icon and then
simply choose Solid Color and let's choose
the red color.
Something like this.
Let's go for Saturation of 93.
This kind of works for us, and hit OK.
And we're going to keep it beneath the subject.
As you can see the hair just doesn't look
right.
It even looks worse than black.
Now, to make the background kind of interesting,
let's add a spotlight effect, it's very easy
to do.
So, simply create a Gradient.
Click on the Adjustment layer icon and then
choose Gradient.
We're going to click on in here once, just
single click, and choose a Gradient where
there is Color to Transparent.
The second one is Foreground to Transparent
and we can choose that.
If none of that exists, just make sure the
top slider has Opacity zero on the right hand
side and 100 on the left hand side.
Now, we can totally remove this slider and
have just one color right here.
So let's choose a brighter red, something
like this.
This works.
This looks nice.
Hit OK once you are satisfied.
Hit OK again.
Now, we want this as a spotlight.
You can keep it in any style you want, you
can actually move it up and down.
But I want a spotlight so simply change the
style from Linear to Radial.
And we're going to keep it right there as
a spotlight, something like this.
And let's increase the scaling because we
want it to be big.
Alright, 240 looks nice.
245, all right.
We can move it if we want to.
I'm going to keep that that and hit OK.
Now, before we move forward with fixing the
hair, it's very important to fix the hard
edges first, because we're going to make a
couple copies of the layer and it can be problematic
later.
So, let's zoom in and check if the hard edges
are okay.
So, if I simply change the background to black
just momentarily, let's change it to black.
As you can see, there's a thin line, and we
need to remove it now.
So, how do we remove it?
Well, there are lots of ways.
So first of all, hold the Ctrl or Command
and click on the Layer Mask, right there.
Now, we need to take it a little in, push
it a little in.
So, to push the selection in, go to Select
and then Modify - Contract.
Let's contract it by, let's go for 1 pixel.
Hit OK.
So it's inside by one pixel.
Now we need to fill the outside with black.
So press Ctrl + Shift + I / Command + Shift
+ I to invert the selection, because right
now, it is selecting the subject.
We want everything else.
Take the brush, make sure the foreground color
is black, come to the Mask and you can just
erase it.
Now, if you want to hide the marching ants
momentarily, you can always press Ctrl or
Command + H. It's still there, it's just hidden.
Don't paint on the hair, only on the hard
edges.
And also paint there a little bit.
There you have it and simply remove it.
It's essential to do that beforehand.
Not all areas need it, just some areas.
There we are.
Yeah, everything else looks nice.
You might have to fill in these areas.
So change the color to white.
And by the way, the selection is still active.
So press Ctrl or Command + H, as you can see,
the selection is still active.
And I want to fill the inside, so, let's again
invert the selection.
Ctrl + Shift + I / Command + Shift + I to
invert it.
Now this time, take the brush, white as the
foreground color, and we're just going to
fill this area, that's it.
Ctrl or Command + D to deselect that, and
there you have a nice starting selection.
We can now delete the black, we don't need
it.
This was just for reference.
Now, to mask the hair properly with Blend
Modes, we need to understand a little bit
concept right here.
Have a look, zoom in and observe what the
hair should be doing.
If you have a look closely, the hair is dark,
right?
So the hair should be darkening things.
But have a look, it's brightening the reds.
And why is it doing so?
Because hair, previously, was in a light gray
background and it's so thin that takes the
color from the gray background and the thin
strands of hair turned into gray, and that
is problematic.
Instead, it should have been darkening the
reds.
Why?
Because it's dark hair.
If it was a bright blonde hair, it might have
been brightening it.
So just figure out what the hair should be
doing and what it is doing right now.
Right now, it is brightening it.
We don't want that.
What we want is that since this is dark hair,
it should have been darkening it, right?
And what is the Blend Mode that darkens?
Multiply.
If it should have been brightening it, you
should have changed that the Screen.
But in this case, since it's darkening it,
let's select the layer and let's name it Subject
Multiply and change the Blend Mode from Normal
to Multiply.
You'll instantly see the change.
There you go.
Have a look, every strand of hair shows up,
see how nicely.
Now let me zoom out and let me show that to
you again.
So this is normal.
Around the edge, things are getting brighter.
It shouldn't happen, it should darken.
And that is why let's change the Blend Mode
simply to, have a look at this area as well
when we change, to Multiply.
At the top, see how detailed it is.
Isn't that amazing?
But the problem is, apart from the edges of
the hair, everything starts to darken the
background.
We do not want that.
We just want it in some areas.
So what do we do?
Let's make a copy of Subject Multiply - Ctrl
or Command + J, and this should be Normal.
Change that back from Multiply to Normal and
you can name this Subject Normal.
Now, we need to mask the Subject Normal out
from the edges so that the Multiply can take
over just the edges of the hair.
Right?
Making sense?
So all you gotta do is, this already has a
nice mask, we don't want to disturb it.
So what if you want to create multiple masks
for just one layer?
Well, put it inside a group.
So, put the Subject Normal inside a group
by making sure it is selected and then press
Ctrl or Command + G.
Now here's an advantage of a group - it can
have a mask of its own.
So, with the group selected, create another
mask.
And you can also name this Subject Normal.
Now, select mask, take the brush, black as
the foreground color, you can decrease the
Flow to somewhere about 30% and then just
paint around the edges.
That's it.
That's what you got to do.
Easy, right?
Softly and gently.
We don't want to get in.
If we get in too much, see, the red is going
to show up on the hair.
We don't want that.
So, let's just paint only on the edges and
be soft about it.
We do not want to go inside.
Let's increase the Flow just outside.
You can take your time to be as gentle as
possible.
Now, let's zoom in to the eyelash and see
what we can do here.
And there we are, have a look at the hair.
Isn't that fantastic?
It was so easy to do.
Now you can stop watching the video because
we have done the technique.
But, if you want to learn how to create some
textures in the background and some fantastic
shadows, stick around.
Now to create some interesting shadows we
need to make use of the multiple drop shadows
inside of the Layer Style dialog box along
with Drop Shadow Separation.
Let me show you how.
First of all, double click on the right hand
side of Subject Multiply layer.
This opens up the Layer Style dialog box.
Here, in mine, you can see multiple Drop Shadows,
but if you don't see in the yours, all you
got to do is to click on the '+' sign right
there.
This keeps on adding a Drop Shadow.
Right?
See it added one extra.
Anyway, now if you want all of the shadows
to be aligned in one angle, keep Use Global
Light checked.
Now, let's zoom in.
I want them all aligned.
Now, here's how professionals create Drop
Shadows, by dragging it.
So, simply just drag it like this.
Easy, isn't it?
So let's zoom out a little bit and let's see
how we want the shadow to be.
So this seems to be a nice place.
Once you have dragged in to that area, you
can control the Opacity if you want to, increase
the Size to add the softness to it.
So, I want it absolutely soft and not that
much Opacity, just a touch, maybe 25 is fine.
Now, let's add one more Drop Shadow.
Let's check this as well.
Now, with this one, first of all, let's decrease
the Size to see where it is, and move it.
We want it a little closer like that, and
then increase the Size.
This is ok for this distance, and we're going
to decrease the Opacity.
Yeah, that seems reasonable.
Let's check one more and decrease the size
again to see where it exactly is, and this
time we're going to move it closer, like that
and play with the Opacity and Size.
You can move it further if you want to.
See how multiple Drop Shadows are helping
us.
Alright, so this size seems to be fine.
Once you're happy with everything, just hit
OK.
But there's a problem.
There shouldn't be so much shadow behind the
hair.
How do we fix that?
Well, just simply erase it.
But how do we erase it?
For that we need to separate the Drop Shadow,
and the way to do that is simple.
First of all, select the layer which has all
the Drop Shadows, and then go to Layer - Layer
Style, and then Create Layers.
Hit OK.
See, now it is divided, all of the shadows
that we added is divided into three layers.
Now, we can simply mask it out, mask out whatever
we want.
First of all, let's organize them by putting
them in a group.
So, select the first one, hold the Shift key,
select the last one, all of them are now selected,
then press Ctrl or Command + G.
Now, let's name the group Shadows.
This is just organization.
Alright, let's open the group and create a
Mask.
Select the first one, create a Mask and take
the brush, black as the foreground color and
simply just erase the hair area.
Similarly, do the same with the second one
and third one as well.
Create a Mask and erase the hair area softly.
The first one, it's gone mostly from the hair,
but we want some areas back.
So, we'll go back to this one and with white,
we will fill up a little bit of the area.
So, there has to be some shadows, right.
So this is fine.
This is looking fantastic.
Now let's add some texture to it.
Let's collapse this and have a look.
This is nice, isn't it?
But before we add some texture, this area
just doesn't look right.
It seems like it needs a little more shadows.
So let's open the Shadow layer and inside
of that, let's create one more and just black
selected and Flow at about 5%, we'll just
paint with a soft brush.
That's it, right here.
There we are.
Interesting.
To add some texture, you can bring in a photo
and change the Blend Mode to Overlay or create
your own.
Do whatever you want.
For this example, I'm going to show you a
simple trick.
So, just above the background, select the
top most background layer, so we had a color
fill in the bottom and top of that we have
a spotlight.
Just above that, we need to create the texture.
So create a simple new layer, and then go
to Filter - Render, this is interesting - Fibers.
Now, you can generate some interesting fibers
right there.
You can increase the Variance if you want
to and then just click on Randomize to see
what you like.
It just randomly generates fibers, textures
in other words.
Hit OK and then change the Blend Mode to whatever
you want.
Let's change it to Overlay.
If you think it's too much, you can always
decrease the Opacity.
You can keep it at about, maybe 20%.
Or this can be your background too, your choice.
But, a little bit of texture does go a long
way.
And for our Patreon members, I have something
special for you.
So, if you want to add some noise or grain
to it to make it interesting, I have an action.
So if you're a PiXimperfect Patreon family
member, you can download this PiXimperfect
- Realistic Grain action, and you can choose
whatever value of grain you want.
So, for this example, I'm going to choose,
probably 25 or let's go for a higher number,
40, for texture and play it.
It automatically adds some realistic grain
to your photo or maybe you want to add some
cinematic grain at the top, you can do that
too.
Maybe just a 20% grain at the top.
sSelect the top-most layer and play it.
It automatically adds these realistic grain
effects.
Alright, so that's how to use Blend Modes
to mask hair in Photoshop.
All you got to do is this, once you have created
the mask, the bottom one, set that to Multiply
and the top one should be Normal.
And in the top one, you can put it inside
a group and mask away the edges.
As simple as that.
And on top of that, you can add some interesting
backgrounds or maybe some textures.
That's upon you.
I hope this video helped you and if it did,
make sure to give us a like and also don't
forget to subscribe and not just subscribe,
ring the bell so that you, my friend, don't
miss any other future tip, trick or tutorial.
I would like to take this moment to thank
all these nice and amazing people for supporting
this channel on Patreon and helping keep PiXimperfect
free for everybody forever.
Thank you so much for all your support.
Thank you for watching.
I'll see you guys in my next one.
Till then, stay tuned and make sure that you
keep creating.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
