Step 1. Duplicate the Layer.
- Open horses.jpg.
- Duplicate the layer with Layer--Duplicate Layer.
- When working with photographs, you should make it a practice never
to modify the original image. You may as some time want to get back to
it. Always work with a copy of the original.
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Open the file horses.jpg.

Duplicate your background layer. Never modify your original image.
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Step 2. Select the Baby Horse.
- Attempt to select just the baby horse using whatever tool you want.
Do not select any part of the grass or the mother.
- So far in class we have been selecting objects which are fairly easy
to select. In real photographs, often the objects are not easy to
select using just one tool.
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Step 3. Quick Mask Mode.
- Deselect with Select-Deselect.
- Switch to Quick Mask mode by clicking on the Quick Mask mode below
the foreground/background colors.

- You should also notice the name of the file changes to reflect that
you are in quick mask mode.

- Everything should be red in quick mask mode. If not, grab you paint bucket and fill
in everything with black.
- Quick mask mode allows you to select by painting instead of using
the selection tools.
- Make sure the foreground and background colors are set to Black and
White.

- Choose a hard edge brush, not a soft edge brush.

- Paint with white to select an area. This should erase the red
area in quick mask mode.
- Paint with black to deselect an area. You will actually paint the
area red in quick mask mode.
- Paint a little bit with white. Switch back to normal mode to see
your selection. Switch back to quick mask mode.
- Paint (select) just the baby horse.
- Switch back to Normal mode to see your selection.
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In Quick Mask Mode.
Painting with white should erase the red.

Switch back to Normal mode to see your selection.
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Step 4. Combine Selection Tools and Quick Masks.
- Make sure you are in Normal mode.

- Deselect the baby with Select--Deselect. Sorry, but we need the
practice.
- Quickly and roughly select the baby horse again with a regular
selection tool.
- Switch over to Quick Mask mode and clean up the selection.
- Using a combination of regular selection tools and Quick Mask mode
is often the quickest way to select an area.
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The baby selected. |
Step 5. Save the Selection.
- After making a complex selection, you often want to save the
selection so that you don't have to select it again.
- Save the selection with Select--Save Selection. Call the name of the
selection baby. Leave the other settings alone. Click OK.
- Deselect the baby once again with Select-Deselect.
- You can now get the selection back with Select-Load Selection.
Change the channel to baby and click OK.
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Save your selection as baby.

Whenever you need the selection back, you can load it.
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Step 6. Artistic Filter the Background.
- Often in Photoshop you find yourself saying, "I want to select
everything but this area." A good way to select this type
of area is to first select the area you do not want and
then select the inverse of that area.
- Make sure you are working in the Background Copy layer, not the
Background layer. We don't want to change the original.
- Select the baby horse if not already selected. Load the baby
selection.
- Select everything but the baby horse with Select-Inverse. You should
now have everything but the baby horse selected.
- Apply an Artistic filter, such as the Fresco, to the background
area. Filter--Artistic--Fresco.
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Applying an Artistic Fresco filter to the background. |
Step 7. Hide the Edges of the Selection.
- Often when working with selections, the dancing ants (the edges of
the selection) get in your way. I want to make various changes, but I
don't want to deselect every time I want to see what the changes will
actually look like.
- Hide the edges of the selection with View--Hide Edges (Control-H).
- This keeps the area selected without seeing the dancing ants.
- Try applying different Artistic filters or perhaps a texture filter
to just the background with the selection edges hidden.
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Step 8. Blurring the Background.
- A very common photographic need is to make part of a photograph
stand out from the rest of the photograph. A common way to do this is
to blur everything but the area you want.
- Go back to your Background Layer. Duplicate the layer again to get
another copy (Layer--Duplicate Layer). Move this layer on top so that
you can see it.
- Reselect everything but the baby. Select--Load Selection--baby. Select--Inverse.
- Blur the background with Filter--Blur--Gaussian Blur. Adjust the
Radius so that the background is out of focus but not blurred beyond
recognition.
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Duplicate the Background Layer and Move the new copy to the top.

Blur the background, but leave the baby in focus.
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Step 9. Make the Baby Stand Out More.
- One way to make a part of your image stand out is also to drop a
shadow behind it or put an outer glow on it..
- If I try to just drop a shadow on one of my Background copy layers,
I will see nothing. You are dropping a shadow behind the entire
picture, not just a part of it.
- In order to put a layer effect on just the baby, I need to get just
the baby into a new layer first.
- Select just the baby. Copy and Paste the baby to create a new layer
with just the baby in it. Make sure this new layer is your top layer.
- Put a layer effect on this new layer. I chose Layer--Effects--Outer
Glow. I changed the color of the glow from yellow to white.
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Copy and paste just the baby to create a new layer with just the baby in
it.

I put a white Outer Glow on the baby.
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