As I’m writing about Refine Edge in Photoshop right now, I thought I would share this information about this great feature that has been around for a number of years.

Refine Edge option in Adobe Photoshop improves the quality of selection edges, letting you extract objects with ease.

First, you need to create a selection. You can use any selection tool.

Next, click Refine Edge in the Options bar, or choose Select > Refine Edge.

Then, adjust the options in the Refine Edge dialogue box.

Here are the available options:

View Mode – This option allows you to change how the selection is displayed. As you move the cursor over the options a tooltip appears describing what each option does.

Show Radius – displays the selection border where edge refinement occurs.

Show Original – displays the original selection for comparison.

 

Adjust Edge

Smooth – Reduces irregular areas in your selection border to create a smooth outline.

Feather – Blurs the transition between the selection and the pixels around the selection.

Contrast – Increases the contrast on the edges of your selection.

Shift Edge – Moves selection borders inward with negative values or outward with positive ones.

These are just some of the most often used options in Refine Edge. More on Refine Edge you will find in my new book that’s coming out soon…