I've tried numerous tutorials and this one by far is the easiest and cleanest. I must say using some of the tips from the others adds to my approach. Thanks.
From now on this is going to be my go to method for difficult selections (not just for hair). Thanks very much for the best RUclips tutorial on masking I’ve ever seen.
My little Photoshop brain is just so pleased with this video. Everyone takes the easy way out and has the difficult subject on a no brainer background. Finally something that represents reality of the difficulties we encounter. Best I have ever seen and I seen too much of the no brainers. Thank you so much for your presentation. Someone said you talk too fast. May I just say that's why we have the ability to back things up and allow things to repeat themselves until (hopefully) things sink in. And if I may say one more thing, "just try it 10 times folks and it will be embedded in you forever" thanks again friend.
This is the best selection tutorial I had a problem selecting something but with this it's going to be easy, I didn't thought about doing multiple calculations to have different selections into 1
AMAZING! THANK YOU!! Finally someone who dared to use the "low contrast" background and putting in the work for us newbs. A lot of tutorials out there have titles similiar to this one. For example: "Difficult selections made easy" and then the models hair is all black and the studio background is white... Like I could select that using magic wand tool. Thanks again, You've really helped a lot!
thank U so much ... i did the 6th times and managed it with your very clear steps to cut out the hair of a picture for my school project - the same curly messy hair with dark background as your last illustration. Thank U so so so much for putting up this video ...
i know about calculation for contrasting subject and background but the way you applied it and combining selection parts and brushing modes are amazing technic. Superb bro. Amazing work.
sorry to be so offtopic but does someone know of a trick to log back into an instagram account?? I was stupid forgot the password. I would love any help you can give me!
@Marley Parker Thanks for your reply. I got to the site through google and Im in the hacking process atm. Takes a while so I will get back to you later with my results.
this is my 3rd day with photoshop... by the end of the video i checked out my picture and it turns out that i was painting all over my picture and not a layer like i was suppose to be... oh well haha.. best place for tutorials tho! i am so thankful i found your site.
Very good tutorial. I put your techniques to the test on a photo of Shakira and got what appears to be good results. It's going to take a lot of practice to get the hang of this (it's a challenging task) and I know not to get discouraged with results after leaving calculations. Making adjustments at the end with the brush as you did really makes things look OK. Thanks!
This is such a well-explained advanced tutorial. Great job! I'm definitely going to use Calculations more often. This would be excellent for fur against grass or even against snow. Again, great job, Nathaniel!
Subscribed thank you this was very helpful. Last tutorials I have watched on this today all have a flat background and all my I images are very busy so this is exciting to see how you do this with your difficult subject.
This is an excellent tutorial!! I gave myself a difficult challenge to insert myself, with my wispy hair, from my ugly light-beige wall to a forest background in a Harry Potter-esque vibe, and for being a complete newbie, it looks pretty darn good - because of you! :D
I love this tutorial, I always get hung up on one step on every tutorial and mess up. I have spent hours trying to get this right. On this one, it's the lasso tool and fill black.... Simple, but it doesn't want to work for me. However, the more I attempt this tutorial, I find that the Refine Tool has been changed. It's a bit hard.
I look forward to it. Your videos are my first stop when looking for advancing my photoshop skills - great content, at the right level I'm looking for delivered with the right amount of 'fun and style'. I agree with other comments that your delivery is fast and you have to concentrate to keep up but I appreciate that that means you can be more comprehensive in your tutorials - and there's always the rewind/rewatch option. Speaking of which i wondered if you had thought about adding links in the description to navigate the timeline (when appropriate - to enable viewers to jump to different spots quickly and accurately. And perhaps adding overlayed text to supplement your explanations e.g. for keyboard shortcuts you talk about or for 'step by steps' - i.e. extra visual cues on screen to aid the learning process. But thanks for content and keep it all up (and good job - as you Americans say ;-) )
A wonderful tutorial, but oh so quick and Oh so much to absorb. I've watched each one twice now and I'm just beginning to grasp what's being done. I'm off to try out the channels and the blending mode part to make the mask. I know I don't understand the painting white / black over the mask to refine the edges on the hair selection. What I'd need is a few written prompt notes to accompany the stages. Nonetheless an inspirational video, which I'd need to run on my laptop whilst trying it on my desktop. Thanks for posting it. Any printed notes please?
Subbed! Reeeally nice demonstration of the technique, and it's definitely nice to hear the shortcuts you're using - such as Alt+Backspace and X. Thanks!
I would have liked to see you stick with that first image and bring it to perfection. Any tutorial can teach you to get as far as yours did. Almost everyone needs to watch an expert get to the finish line. EDIT: the Calculations method was pretty cool! That makes this tutorial worthwhile. Finish those photos and it would be perfect.
Sir can you please make a tutorial on black hairs because in this tutorial the women have white hairs and these are easy to make contrast with levels or calculations but how to make contrast or to select black hairs. Its quite a difficult job. Please if you can make a tutorials on it so i will be very thankful to you. Apreciated in advance.
it worked but then I tried again with a white background, with a forest at the top..(was image of a fox with snow at bottom in a forest) and it didn't work in selecting the bottom portion of the fox where the white snow is. Could you possibly add any suggestions? Thanks!
You are amazing! although may I send you a flower file where unfortunately I can't use calculation neither other solution to obtain such a good cut out result ? Best regards.
Hi! Great tutorial! learned so much.Quick question please. Is there a specific reason you used the brushes w/overlay & soft light modes to really push the contrast? Could you also have used dodge/burn just as easily?
Another great tutorial! How do you make your UI interface (Layer bands, adjustment icons, etc) so large. Mine on a 27" Retina iMac seem so much smaller and difficult to see...
HELP!!! I need to make a shortcut(or is there one that exist) for the clone stamp tool. When the clone stamp tool is selected, and I want to switch between "Current Layer and Current and Below" This would save so much time Please help!!!!
Seems strange. You can double click on a Channel's thumbnail to access the options for that channel, but the fastest thing to do would be to select the channel and hit Cmd/Ctrl + I to just flip the colors and then when you load the channel it will select what you want.
Holy COW!!!! what is this? This is freaking awesome mate i nice!!!! very very nice thumbs up even u speak faster i understand the way u explain the details hahahahaha BIG HELP honestly
hey, i need some advice here... (asap) im trying to select kind of silver to white hair from a light gray bg, and i have no idea how to create that contrast. pls help me :/
Finally! A video tutorial on selecting difficult hair from a complex background. Your legit bro.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I've tried numerous tutorials and this one by far is the easiest and cleanest. I must say using some of the tips from the others adds to my approach. Thanks.
From now on this is going to be my go to method for difficult selections (not just for hair). Thanks very much for the best RUclips tutorial on masking I’ve ever seen.
My little Photoshop brain is just so pleased with this video. Everyone takes the easy way out and has the difficult subject on a no brainer background. Finally something that represents reality of the difficulties we encounter. Best I have ever seen and I seen too much of the no brainers. Thank you so much for your presentation. Someone said you talk too fast. May I just say that's why we have the ability to back things up and allow things to repeat themselves until (hopefully) things sink in. And if I may say one more thing, "just try it 10 times folks and it will be embedded in you forever" thanks again friend.
Arguably the best hair extraction tutorial on RUclips
This is the best selection tutorial I had a problem selecting something but with this it's going to be easy, I didn't thought about doing multiple calculations to have different selections into 1
AMAZING! THANK YOU!! Finally someone who dared to use the "low contrast" background and putting in the work for us newbs. A lot of tutorials out there have titles similiar to this one. For example: "Difficult selections made easy" and then the models hair is all black and the studio background is white... Like I could select that using magic wand tool. Thanks again, You've really helped a lot!
Haha. Thanks for the kind words!
thank U so much ... i did the 6th times and managed it with your very clear steps to cut out the hair of a picture for my school project - the same curly messy hair with dark background as your last illustration. Thank U so so so much for putting up this video ...
i know about calculation for contrasting subject and background but the way you applied it and combining selection parts and brushing modes are amazing technic. Superb bro. Amazing work.
that is a great combination for using chanle alpha to get great hair selection. good tutorial !
Excellent tutorial! This is by far one of the most interesting Photoshop videos I have ever seen!
+Dennis van Mierlo Thanks, Dennis! Much appreciated!
This is 'THE' Best place for Photoshop Tutorials as far as I'm concerned.
another great tutorial Nathaniel !
'Bajillion Times'...lol love it :)
sorry to be so offtopic but does someone know of a trick to log back into an instagram account??
I was stupid forgot the password. I would love any help you can give me!
@Abraham Javier instablaster =)
@Marley Parker Thanks for your reply. I got to the site through google and Im in the hacking process atm.
Takes a while so I will get back to you later with my results.
@Marley Parker It worked and I actually got access to my account again. I'm so happy!
Thanks so much, you saved my ass :D
@Abraham Javier You are welcome :)
Bloody brilliant tutorial. Calculations, who would have known! You my friend, just earned yourself a new sub.
Thanks, Geo! Hope you love what you see on the channel!
Amazingly clear guide. I knew how to do this like 5 years ago and needed a refresher, thanks so much.
Im gonna need to watch this about 10 times before it fully sinks in, but awesome tut, Thanks :)
this is the best tutorial on how to cut out hair I found in a very long time, thanks alot!
Love it. Thanks so much! 👍
this is my 3rd day with photoshop... by the end of the video i checked out my picture and it turns out that i was painting all over my picture and not a layer like i was suppose to be... oh well haha..
best place for tutorials tho! i am so thankful i found your site.
Very good tutorial. I put your techniques to the test on a photo of Shakira and got what appears to be good results. It's going to take a lot of practice to get the hang of this (it's a challenging task) and I know not to get discouraged with results after leaving calculations. Making adjustments at the end with the brush as you did really makes things look OK. Thanks!
Great to hear!
This is such a well-explained advanced tutorial. Great job! I'm definitely going to use Calculations more often. This would be excellent for fur against grass or even against snow. Again, great job, Nathaniel!
Thank you so much! 👍
My PS skills become much better with your tutorials, great. Thnx
Subscribed thank you this was very helpful. Last tutorials I have watched on this today all have a flat background and all my I images are very busy so this is exciting to see how you do this with your difficult subject.
Glad you found it useful!
You were right... This is the tutorial to end all tutorials on hair selection.! Thank you!
This is an excellent tutorial!! I gave myself a difficult challenge to insert myself, with my wispy hair, from my ugly light-beige wall to a forest background in a Harry Potter-esque vibe, and for being a complete newbie, it looks pretty darn good - because of you! :D
Amazing! Thank you for the kind words and the comment!
this tut is best I've watched, thank you!
This is a pretty good tutorial. Your presentation skill is so good. Congratulation, and thank you!
Thank you so much!
Really great tutorial. I'm in outlining hell with hair and this has saved me
Haha. I like the way you have with words, Julie 😂
I love this tutorial, I always get hung up on one step on every tutorial and mess up. I have spent hours trying to get this right. On this one, it's the lasso tool and fill black.... Simple, but it doesn't want to work for me. However, the more I attempt this tutorial, I find that the Refine Tool has been changed. It's a bit hard.
If you Shift + Click on Select and Mask you'll get the older Refine Edge tool I used in this video.
Awesome. Love the more advanced tutorials on your channel. please keep it. get it? got it? good! (you should sell merch!)
I'm working on a couple of sick t-shirts. I want my merch to be really cool, not just some message plastered across the front of a shirt 😂
I look forward to it. Your videos are my first stop when looking for advancing my photoshop skills - great content, at the right level I'm looking for delivered with the right amount of 'fun and style'. I agree with other comments that your delivery is fast and you have to concentrate to keep up but I appreciate that that means you can be more comprehensive in your tutorials - and there's always the rewind/rewatch option. Speaking of which i wondered if you had thought about adding links in the description to navigate the timeline (when appropriate - to enable viewers to jump to different spots quickly and accurately. And perhaps adding overlayed text to supplement your explanations e.g. for keyboard shortcuts you talk about or for 'step by steps' - i.e. extra visual cues on screen to aid the learning process.
But thanks for content and keep it all up (and good job - as you Americans say ;-) )
A wonderful tutorial, but oh so quick and Oh so much to absorb. I've watched each one twice now and I'm just beginning to grasp what's being done. I'm off to try out the channels and the blending mode part to make the mask. I know I don't understand the painting white / black over the mask to refine the edges on the hair selection. What I'd need is a few written prompt notes to accompany the stages. Nonetheless an inspirational video, which I'd need to run on my laptop whilst trying it on my desktop. Thanks for posting it. Any printed notes please?
No written notes for this video. I'm hoping to start creating written accompaniments for upcoming videos at some point for sure.
have you done them yet?
great video :) awesome stuff, have not heard of the calculations, just channel before.Thanks for the tips
Best tutorial I've watched in a long time! Thanks
Very kind words. Thank you so much! 🍻
Subbed! Reeeally nice demonstration of the technique, and it's definitely nice to hear the shortcuts you're using - such as Alt+Backspace and X. Thanks!
Glad to hear! Thanks for the subscription!
I would have liked to see you stick with that first image and bring it to perfection. Any tutorial can teach you to get as far as yours did. Almost everyone needs to watch an expert get to the finish line.
EDIT: the Calculations method was pretty cool! That makes this tutorial worthwhile. Finish those photos and it would be perfect.
Great tutortial...Do you have any vids on touching up the background stuff behind the hair or even catching every strand of hair?
I'm sure I do cover touching up flyaway hairs in a few of my tutorials. I think I covered that in the tutorials I've done on the Healing Brush tool.
Nice Tutorial on difficult hair selection so far, Thanks
Great useful tutorial. Thanks
Can you do a tutorial on the blending modes?
Like a video series where you explain the groups and the individuals
I get this request a bunch. I actually put it on my tutorial list earlier today! Thanks for the comment! 🍻
I think the background eraser should do a good job as well in that last example since the studio background color is to sample. .
Thanks! New level of background removal for me.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Amazing! Thank you for sharing!
Amazingly good tutorial. Thank you so much!
Thanks! Most helpful tutorial on piecing together masks that I have come across :-)
Thanks, man! Glad you enjoyed it!
One word, Excellent!
Thank you so much for the kind words! 🍻
THIS!!! this is a quality tutorial!!
Thanks for share !!
Nice tutorial, Thanks Dear!
Thanks!
That's incredible amazing!!! Thanks for putting together this video
+Wid Alhasani Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
Sir can you please make a tutorial on black hairs because in this tutorial the women have white hairs and these are easy to make contrast with levels or calculations but how to make contrast or to select black hairs. Its quite a difficult job. Please if you can make a tutorials on it so i will be very thankful to you. Apreciated in advance.
ur best tut!!! thanks
insane tips, thanks !
very well done. thank you.
Vince Solomito, Thank you so much! 🍻
awesome tutorial. thx 4 sharing
Thanks for the kind comment!
awesome tutorial!
Thank you! 👌
Amazing tutorial ! I love it !
+Dan Ene Thanks, Dan!
I think that quick selection and refine edge would work for these photos.....i'm not sure though, just a thought
This is a really good tutorial, thanks!
Thank you! 🍻
awesome tutorial
+Sašo Goričar Thanks, man! 🍻
it worked but then I tried again with a white background, with a forest at the top..(was image of a fox with snow at bottom in a forest) and it didn't work in selecting the bottom portion of the fox where the white snow is. Could you possibly add any suggestions? Thanks!
that's was awesome. thanks a lot!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Now I'm Working on a source photo of a hazy-haired brunette with a black background, feeling stuck... :D
any options for calculations?
You are amazing! although may I send you a flower file where unfortunately I can't use calculation neither other solution to obtain such a good cut out result ? Best regards.
+Robertine Daccord Glad you enjoyed the tutorial! I can't really take requests via email because I already have SO much work I am doing
I'm Brazillian, so, how can i boy your retouching tutorial package ?
Hello Kind sir, can you tell me what graphic tablet you are using :D ? will be kind if you replied..
Awsome tuts
Thanks, man! That is the Wacom Intuos Pro Medium sized tablet.
Hi! Great tutorial! learned so much.Quick question please. Is there a specific reason you used the brushes w/overlay & soft light modes to really push the contrast? Could you also have used dodge/burn just as easily?
Can u make a tutorial on polar coordinate ?
Another great tutorial! How do you make your UI interface (Layer bands, adjustment icons, etc) so large. Mine on a 27" Retina iMac seem so much smaller and difficult to see...
I scaled my resolution to make larger text in my Display settings on Mac.
good job man
wow bro it's really difficult. thanks
Glad it helped!
Hey man from where you got that intro music.bloody awesome just need that music. Please help me out on that
Yesss I need this!!!!
+Wid Alhasani Perfect!
Dude, 4 years later i find this video and i'm like : Wtf is this. Thanks for sharing, it's juste insane. I never saw that before.
Amazing tutorial!
Thanks, Johnson!
The best. Thank you 👍
excellent tutorial. I have CC 2015.5 and my calculations panel does not have "offset" am I doing something wrong?
That's strange. It should be there is you have either the "Add" or "Subtract" blend mode selected.
Equal opportunity! Ha! What a guy :D Love the tutorials man thanks, gonna buy your course when I get some cash.
Where can we find the rest of the redhead tutorial on how to get rid of the green around the ends of her hair??
Would you ever use the refine edge tool after using this method?
Fantastic tuto !! :-) Thank you so much :-)JF
very gj excellent tutorial
pretty good tutorial it plenty helps. i´ll subscribe to your channel and recomend
Great vid. Subscribed
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the video! 👌
HELP!!! I need to make a shortcut(or is there one that exist) for the clone stamp tool. When the clone stamp tool is selected, and I want to switch between "Current Layer and Current and Below" This would save so much time Please help!!!!
Hi Sir. Where can i get the pictures used in this tutorial? :)
Absolute Excellent, although it was like a 1st-year med student attempting to lean all there is about heart surgery in 15 minutes
I have a question: When I cmd+click on a channel, the dark(black) area is selected and not to white as it shown in the video. How I can fix that?
Seems strange. You can double click on a Channel's thumbnail to access the options for that channel, but the fastest thing to do would be to select the channel and hit Cmd/Ctrl + I to just flip the colors and then when you load the channel it will select what you want.
You are the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks! 🍻
at 10:40 i dont understand why ythe selection took the one done after the coloring and not the former one we did?
can you tell me where i can find the offset and scale option in cc 2017 ? i don't see the options anymore
Holy COW!!!! what is this? This is freaking awesome mate i nice!!!! very very nice thumbs up even u speak faster i understand the way u explain the details hahahahaha BIG HELP honestly
Glad you enjoyed it, Alvin! Thanks!!
very nice
that was awesome
Thanks Bro
+Harshad Harsha Thanks for the kind words!
When u left the green halo around the selections of Redhead image, I was heart broken, bcoz thats what is the tricky part.
you can solve this with a hue saturation layer very easy. ;)
Thanks a lot. :)
Hello. where can download the tutorial images, Thanks
wwhen i ctrl click then ctrl shift click i dont get the overall selection ???
thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you :)
Very helpful!
+AdamPikeDesign Thanks, Adam!
hey, i need some advice here... (asap) im trying to select kind of silver to white hair from a light gray bg, and i have no idea how to create that contrast. pls help me :/
aaaand to make things worse her hair's braided.
also nearly impossible bc the pic isnt extremely hd
I prefer topaz refine mask 5 myself. Its a lot less work and very accurate. Good video though.
+Mark Niebauer Topaz can be pretty freaking awesome!
thnks to help me.