Tools & Techniques

Stop Clicking Around: How to Actually Choose the Right Selection Tool in Photoshop
Tools & Techniques

Stop Clicking Around: How to Actually Choose the Right Selection Tool in Photoshop

I had a client ask me to cut out a model from a white studio background last year. Simple job. Twenty seconds, maybe. I watched the file come through, opened it, and instinctively reached for the Quick Selection tool out of habit. Four minutes later I was still cleaning up jagged edges around flyaway hair and quietly hating myself. The Object Selection tool with a quick mask refinement would have had it done in under a minute.

Stop Clicking Around: The Photoshop Selection Tools That Actually Matter (And When to Use Them)
Tools & Techniques

Stop Clicking Around: The Photoshop Selection Tools That Actually Matter (And When to Use Them)

Last month I was at my usual corner table at a coffee shop on South Congress, working on a product composite for a skincare client. The subject had been shot against a white background, so naturally I watched the person across from me (clearly also a designer, based on their setup) reach for the Magic Wand like it was a reflex. I felt that. I’ve been there. And I also know exactly how that story ends: jagged edges, blown-out halos, and 45 minutes of manual cleanup that could have been avoided entirely.