Selection and masking (especially hair): Topaz ReMask, OnOne Perfect Mask, other?

I'm looking for a cleaner and faster way to extract a person from an image, for background replacement or other masking needs. I just haven't been able to master this in Photoshop yet; I can't get reliable, repeatable results with Refine Edge (especially with difficult or cluttered backgrounds), and I'm not yet skilled enough to use some of the more advanced masking techniques.

Thoughts on these two commercial plugins? Do they work as advertised, and has anyone used both to give a comparison?

Alternatively, any advice on getting past this plateau in my Photoshop skill?

Right now we're making flyers for an upcoming stage show, and the wife had the bright idea to make individualized flyers with photos of each of the 12 cast members. The printer said it'll cost the same for the set, whether they're all the same or we have several different images. I have the flyer laid out, and have plenty of photos of everyone from past shoots... I just don't relish the thought of spending a dozen hours masking and moving people. "Yes, dear, I know it's a great photo. But she's got wildly flowing hair and is standing in front of a brick background ...please, don't make me do this"

I'll let you in a secret I've learned over time. If you aren't shooting green screen, or at least don't have a clear, monotone background, don't bother. It's not worth it. You'll want to toss your PC out the window. Plugins make the task easier, but still only up to a point.

If it's a totally historic shot that can never be redone, or you have to do this for an important project that had to be done yesterday, one can always find a way, even if bleeding from the nose.

No amount of photoshop skill can compensate for a subject that wasn't intentionally shot for background replacement. What a good pro would do is think ahead, and plan some shots that could be used in the future for anything. Never just shoot what people asked you to shoot, shoot everything you can possibly use, because in a week you're sure to get a call for a shot "they were sure they asked you to take".

^^^ This

In my opinion all masking plug-ins have learning curves that are just as difficult (or even more so) than using the native Photoshop tools.

PixelMagic wrote in post #16291717
^^^ This

In my opinion all masking plug-ins have learning curves that are just as difficult (or even more so) than using the native Photoshop tools.

Well yeah, plugins could help if you're already on the right track with how the subject was shot, but they don't actually do any magic that you can't do with photoshop.

I know I'm being a bit critical, it really depends on where you set your standards, as for certain projects "good enough" could pass by wholly unnoticed. I've had to do my fair share of photoshop magic that was only possible because again, I was shooting a lot on location and had resources from 10 different shots to make one "ideal moment".

Maybe the Deke McClelland Video: The Essential Approach to Masking in Photoshop

Another Layer Mask video: http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=a7J4GEKpgds

Thanks for all the advice. In this particular case, "good enough" will be good enough.

Some of the shots will be easier than others. Some of them are light colors against a clipping black background, which should be pretty easy. Some of them are dark colors against a clipping black background, which won't be easy. I can manually lasso or pen-tool or quick-select some of them since there's no hair involved. But there are a few that will be way more work than others.

The Topaz sales page shows a perfect selection of hair and translucent bridal veils, picked out from a background of bricks or other clutter. I guess if it seems too good to be true...

http://www.topazlabs.c​om/remask/_images/wedd​ingad.jpg

Help with Refine Edge in PS

Sorry to butt in,

When I extract a person from a plain background i still end up with a "halo" type effect around them, which is very noticeable when putting it on to a plain different coloured background, How can I get around this, I use PSE11?

First it depends on what you mean by "plain background." The ideal background for extractions would be white or grey; any other color risks color spills or fringing as you experienced. There are ways to correct the fringing but I'm not sure those tools are available in Photoshop Elements.

The best way to get advice is to post a specific image (preferably a raw file) and then someone could walk you through exactly how the edited it.

Pumba wrote in post #16296002
Sorry to butt in,

When I extract a person from a plain background i still end up with a "halo" type effect around them, which is very noticeable when putting it on to a plain different coloured background, How can I get around this, I use PSE11?

Thanks Pixel, Extracting from a pretty much white back ground as a mask, then putting on say a bright pink layer, I'll start my own thread rather than interrupt poor Nathans

I'm admittedly lousy with the pen tool; it's one tool that just hasn't "clicked" with me yet.

For this project, we got through most of the subjects over the course of a few hours yesterday - fortunately, the end result has some pretty heavy use of effects layers on the subjects, so our hamfisted masking is, well, masked. We're not going for believable background replacement. The one with the brick background is just gonna have to be "good enough."

I don't know what performance or flyer layout you have, but maybe you could cheat a bit by adding lots of grain or doing something like posterizing (etc) the person? That way you'd not have to worry about each stray hair. Of course, this works better for a rock or punk show or some edgy theater than a classic ballet performance, just thought I'd throw the idea out here

phantelope wrote in post #16301041
I don't know what performance or flyer layout you have, but maybe you could cheat a bit by adding lots of grain or doing something like posterizing (etc) the person? That way you'd not have to worry about each stray hair. Of course, this works better for a rock or punk show or some edgy theater than a classic ballet performance, just thought I'd throw the idea out here

That's exactly what we did. It's for the Halloween performance for our stage/variety/burlesqu​e troupe, so edgy and dark work just fine. A color fill layer, a heavy grain layer, and a levels adjustment layer all help to hide the imperfections. I'll post a sample when I can resize it; they're all still huge right now for the printer.

Still, I need to get better at general-purpose selection and masking. With the ones we shot on white and on black/gray, the selection was pretty easy. It all just comes with practice, I guess.

Nathan, I have had good luck with Topaz Remask. It is pretty easy to learn for quick and dirty masks. The good news is, they offer a 30 day trial of any of their plug-ins including the bundle. It wouldn't hurt to download and try it out. There are MANY youtube video's showings its proper use.
To me, it is great for the use you described. I use it for hair, just make sure you don't try to get every single hair isolated. It can do it, but as others have said it does leave halo's if you get too detailed.

The "hard" original:

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/nathancarter/8​136946863/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/nathancarter/9​780782934/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/nathancarter/9​780600892/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/nathancarter/9​780791306/