Photoshop Tutorial: Isolating Fuzzy or Wavy Hair
Almost anything can be isolated in photoshop so that it can be placed in almost any environment.�¯�¿�½ There are many ways to do this, such as using the selection tools or the pen tool.�¯�¿�½ However, when it comes to such things as hair, it becomes extremely difficult to preserve the natural feel and look.�¯�¿�½ There are many ways to do this, but I have found that this technique created the best results.�¯�¿�½ Using this technique will alow anyone to confidently isolate portraits of people with wavy or fuzzy hair.
This technique however requires that the background be a solid color.�¯�¿�½ It is possible to do it with a multi colored background, but it becomes more tricky and difficult.�¯�¿�½ For sake or length and simplicity, I will only cover what to do with a solid colored background.
Step 1.�¯�¿�½ Channels
Look at the Channels tab and look for the the channel with the most amount of contrast and texture.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Once you find the channel you want, duplicate it.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Using the “levels” or “curves” adjustment, adjust the channel so that there is a high level of contrast.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Don’t push it too far or else you will lose a lot of the fine detail.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Push it enough so that the white is truly white and the darker blacks are truly black.
Step 2.�¯�¿�½ Color
After that is done (There should still be detail visible on the face, etc.), select out the parts of the portrait you want to keep minus the hair and color it black.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Then color the face black with a soft edge brush, this will create a nice transitition between the hair and the face.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Once that is done, change the brush type from “normal” to “overlay”, decrease the opacity and gently go over the hair, slowly making it darker and darker.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Try and get it to near black as possible.
Step 3.�¯�¿�½ Selection
Once that is completed, click on the top most channel.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ It will either be called RGB or CMYK depending on which setting you are working on.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Then hit Ctrl+Alt 4 (PC) or Cmnd + Option 4 (Mac).Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ You should press 5 instead of 4 if you are working in CMYK.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Once, it is selected, return back to the layers palette.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Double click the background layer to unlock it.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ After that, click on the “Add Mask Layer” icon to create a layer mask.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Go to Image, then Adjustments, then Invert, to invert the selection and presto!Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ The person is isolated with their wavy or fuzzy hair.
Step 4.�¯�¿�½ Finishing Touches
Zoom in on the hair and inspect it.�¯�¿�½ Clear away any unwanted or unnatural looking strands of hair by adding or removing from the mask layer.�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½ And, because all this is done using a mask, the original image is preserved!
To make the hair look a little more natural, duplicated the layer with the mask and put a gaussian blur of about 0.5 and place it underneath the original layer.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Placing the background image between these two layers and setting the layer setting to “multiply” will also help in making the hair look more natural.
