The refine edge tool is NOT working!! [2012] [LOCKED]

[ricklat]

This thread is now locked. It is from 2012 and things have changed.
Please start a new thread if you have a similar question.

Hi everyone. I'm trying to get the refine edge tool to work. I selected my image using the quick select tool, then I click refine edge. When I move my cursor around the edge pressing the mouse button to make my adjustments the image is being erased instead of picking up the hairs. I do not have my refine edge brush set to "-", it is set to "+". I dont have anything else in the refine edge menus selected, it is at default. I even tried to enable Smart Edge and other features in the refine edge menu, but it still doesnt pick up my hairs instead it removes my "line"....very aggravating. I've used this tool before and I never had a problem....Please help with any info or advice! I've searched the entire internet and cannot find anything that resolves this issue...thx

[Trevor.Dennis]

Hi rick, and welcome to the forum

Refined edge is a wonderful thing, but can take some getting used to.  I found it frustrating when first started using it.

Before clicking on Refine edge, it can be useful to enter Quick mask for a quick visual indication of how well you have done with Quick Select.

OK, Refine Edge... Start with the radius tool.  Nudge it up until most of what you are after is contained in the selection, then nudge it back as far as you can without loosing your edge.  Then hit Smart radius.  You might need to wait a moment for each adjustment to take effect.

Other controls depend on the image.  If there are no fine elements like hair, then Smoothing is very effective.  If there is hair, then little or no smoothing is best.

Feather obviously softens the edge, and can make for a more realistic composite to a new background.  Contrast can give a very harsh edge, so use with care.

When painting in features, take note of the symbol in the brush.  It sounds like you might have a minus symbol (it happens sometimes) in which case the Shift key should put that right.  The Alt (or Opt) key will remove unwanted parts of the selection, but I find it works best with a small brush size.

Shift edge will remove a thin halo, as will Decontaminate colour when there is something like a blue sky showing through whispy hair.

Bottom line, Refine edge is not perfect, and does not always work.  It has an annoying habit of removing, or rendering semi-selected, areas you want included.  When that happens, click OK, and fix with Quick mask.

[KenThomas]

Great tips for using select and mask - not the refine edge tool.  But great tips other than that.

[Noel Carboni]

Russell Brown calls the places you brush over "Areas of Transition", which is as good a definition as I've seen, and yes, you can end up having it erase things that are already there.

Have a look at this video for a really good set of techniques for using the Refine Edge tool.  Note Russell's advice:  "Less is More"

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/the-russell-brown-show/masking-basics-in-photoshop-cs5/

-Noel

[ricklat]

Ok I looked at the video and it didnt help me resolve my problem. The part where he explains how you can simply move the radius slider (in the Edge Detection box) to automatically grab the hair doesnt work for me, it just turns the edges white like in the pics above...I'm stuck

[Reidlucier]

I get the same problem! I watch all the tutorials online and their selection comes out perfect. And I'm getting crap results. Even on easy backgrounds to extract from.  I end up trying to get it the best I can, click OK, than using a soft eraser brush to go around the photo. Kind of defeats the whole purpose of the Refine tool.  I would love to know why. I thought maybe my Photoshop had a bug, but it does the same thing with the photoshop at work. 

[KenThomas]

Me, too -- my refine edge is just adding more mask rather than "refining" -- I'm at a loss.

[defaultw47pgw94t4f5]

I have the same issue

[roy vincentc7756838]

did you figure it out? I just did right now. Just hold down SHIFT while using the refine edge brush

[ricklat]

Thank you Trevor and Noel For your quick responses.

@Trevor: I made sure that my brush was set to and not minus. Maybe I have another setting incorrectly set?? Here are pics of my problem.

@Noel: Thank you for the video, I havent watched it yet, but 'having it erase things that are already there' is kinda whats happening to my image, even though my brush isnt set to minus. I will look at the video and also will post pics of my issue in case anyone else is having this problem as well:

Here is my quick selection:

Here is what happens when I use the refine edge tool. It turns my "Areas of Transition" white:

Then my new layer looks like this:

Maybe I have a setting set wrong??   I will look at the video Noell and post any findings, thx again guys

[Spice Master]

This exact this happened to me but in After Effects.  I only thing i found to to work  is deleting the whole roto brush outline and strarting over.  

Dear adobe, 

Make your programs more simple......Take a lesson from the late Steve Jobs, start with the user experience first and build the experience around that.  

Sincerely,

everyon to ever open an Adobe program

[Spice Master]

you did not answer the question at all your response should be removed

[Spice Master]

 the first response should be removed!!!!!!!!! bc it doesn not answer the question at all

[davescm]

The problem with re-opening a 7.5 year old thread is that the tool to which it refers has developed and changed quite significantly over that period. Similarly raising an After Effects issue on a Photoshop thread is unlikely to get you help.

If you are having issues with the tools , raise the issue on a new thread in the forum for that application. Other users will try and help you, or direct you to the relevant link for raising bugs/feature requests that will be seen by Adobe developers.

Dave

[garymak]

I have the same issue! It simply doesn't work.  Doing a Google search I get the same "Just use the Refine edge brush" as if a) you could find it in the first place and b) it actually works the way Adobe claims it does.  Given all the other things that seem to be required to do first, I'm suspecting there actually isn't a "refine edge tool" as such so much as a series of steps...  I'm reminded of the famous Monty Python skit about "teaching kids to play the flute." As John Cleese instructs, "Here's a flute.  You blow here, and move your fingers there.  That's how you play the flute."  Hysterical. But not so funny when it comes to Adobe...

[jane-e]

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@garymak wrote:

I'm suspecting there actually isn't a "refine edge tool" as such so much as a series of steps

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Hi Gary,

You've replied to a 10-year-old thread and things have changed. Please start a new thread and tell us what the issue is that you are having. We need something more than "It simply doesn't work" so we can better assist.

~ Jane