How to smooth edges in Photoshop

One of the first image editing that you want to master is to combine the two images together. So you'll have to learn how to select an image, remove the background, and smooth the hard edges of that selection to make the image look more natural.

Photoshop CC 2018 will help with this with the improved Select and Mask feature. This is how Select and Mask can help quickly select and smooth the edges of a selection in Photoshop.

How to extract an image using Select and Mask

The new Select and Mask option in the menu will take you to a separate workspace and provide control features to complete any selection. The workspace also replaces the Refine Edge dialog in previous versions of Photoshop:

1. Open images in Photoshop CC 2018.

2. Go to Select> Select And Mask .

How to smooth edges in Photoshop Picture 1

You can also use Ctrl + Alt + R (Windows) or Cmd + Option + R (Mac) as shortcuts. Or select a Selection tool like Quick Selection, Magic Wand or Lasso , then press Select And Mask in the Options bar on the top.

3. Now, the Select and Mask user interface will help create the correct selections with the tools on the left. The Properties panel on the right will further refine that selection.

How to smooth edges in Photoshop Picture 2

4. View mode options (eg Onion skin or Overlay) will help preview the selection and separate it from the background. Use the Opacity slider to see what to add or exclude from the selection.

How to smooth edges in Photoshop Picture 3

5 Choose Quick Selection brush from the Tools panel and click and drag over the area you want to select (It doesn't need to be too accurate because Refine Edge will handle the rest).

6. The Refine Edge tool helps include blurred areas such as hair or hair. Use the [] parentheses to increase and decrease the brush size when making selections.

How to smooth edges in Photoshop Picture 4

7. Use the Brush tool to improve the selection. Add and Subtract mode allows you to control what you want to select or ignore.

For many photos, you can stop here. But the 4 Global Refinement settings can also do wonders and make the selection better. Try these 4 sliders to smooth the edges of the image:

How to smooth edges in Photoshop Picture 5

1. Smooth: Shows a smoother outline for the selection.
2. Feather: Softens the transition between the selection and the background.
3. Contrast: When increasing this slider, soft edge transition effect becomes sharper.
4. Shift Edge: Move the soft selection edge inside or out to remove unwanted pixels.

When finished, go to Output to. Click the appropriate option for the selection. Click OK and Photoshop takes you back to the main workspace.

Hope you are succesful.