This literally saved my life in the middle of some illustration work where the feedback I was getting was 'jaggy edges'. No idea how I missed this lesson in school. A saint and a miracle worker, this guy.
Ctrl Select Layer doesn't select the pixels in a layer, but rather the whole layer, so when I make the channel mask, it fills the canvas with black on the Channel Mask...???
If instead of filling straight away, you go to paths page and click the make work path from selection button (4th from left) you can get a path which can be enlarged without further blurring. You can hold alt and press it to access tolerance, adjust this for better results. Once you have the path, go to pen tool, and on the points that should be hard corners but are a bit rounded, hovver over them, hold alt and click, this converts the point to a corner. Once satisfied, transform the path to the size you want and in the paths section control click to generate selection and then fill as before.
I cannot thank you enough! This was exactly what I needed and it was just simply put together. Thank you! Not all heroes wear capes! (I don't know if you are wearing one or not, but you should be!)
Omg thank you SOOO much, this was extremely helpful and straight forward. So many of these tutorials people prattle on and don't get to the heart of the matter. This helped so much, my logo looks 100 times better than it did before.
Hey! I’m curious, how would you alter this process if you were doing an image that wasn’t one color? The specific example I can think of is the hair on somebodies hair or a situation like that. Thanks for the great video!
This is an awesome technique. I've been messing around with ways to fix edges for years, usually by creating a path or copying details. I had never even thought to think of doing it this way and it's perfect for things like logos. Awesome job, thank you!
Using the pen tool to get rid of pixelation and jagged edges is still good though. Vectors are better than trying to work with pixels. If an image is hard to select even with alpha channels and levels, pen tool is still my go to.
@@jg2283 For sure, but it can be quite time consuming doing that and often it's just not really worth that time. If I need to get a quick icon out for example, the effort of using the pen tool is a waste of time.
@@lemster101 yeah but this method isn't always gonna be doable. For anything that doesn't have a transparent background already you'll still have to make selections manually lol quick selection tool doesn't always work right
@@jg2283 This uses masks though. Doesn't require transparancy in the source doc. I've been using this method for decent success ever since watching this video. The main downside I have is that it rounds off any sharp edge and that intricate details get lost, so I've not found it as useful for logos but for icons and things it's been great. But yeah, pen = always better. Just rarely faster, so it's a balancing act.
@@lemster101 What I mean is this method just has you control click the layer thumbnail to select it before applying the alpha channel mask and layers which selects everything. This method is assuming you already had whatever object you wanted cut out
I'd give you 2 likes if i could haha Simple and to the point. Perfect tutorial. Just one tip for others: you can simply select a color and press alt+delete to fill the selection with the current foreground color.
Thank you for posting this, it has really helped me be able to clean up hand drawn ink drawings as well as work with bird and tree silhouettes from my photos.
How can I turn my finished low resist graphic drawing into a high resist graphic drawing. If I transfer drawing from photo shop will that automatically change it for me?? Keep the drawing but make all edges smooth??
When I create the channel mask the image goes completely black, and the channel mask layer is all black. I have a simple pure black and white image like the tutorial, why would the channel mask do this? thanks
Hey Mr, 6 years later and I am struggling, When i create a new layer and try fill in the centre of my outline it just fills the outside in black and not the inside, any idea what it could be?
Worked for me. You have to listen very carefully because some of the important steps he kind of blows through; be sure and pause after every step and listen carefully. MID: you may want to create a script to make sure you highlight ALL the points, and talk a bit slower.
Thank you so much! this is a life saver :'D. had an image with very pixelated edges and now it has very smooth edges! it saved me hours of redrawing it ~
Make sure your shape is selected by Command Clicking on Mac like he said in the video. (You can also use Magic wand to select your shape.) You should be able to make the channel mask after making the selection.
@@simonblitzer THANK YOU!! This was frustrating me to no end -- I knew I was missing something but without a Mac, I couldn't tell what hitting the command key was doing.
6 years later, and here are 2 more ways you can smooth edges in Photoshop! ruclips.net/video/CXyrDVO1_7I/видео.htmlsi=zhyCVVC8rkJGNHAh
hi from 2025
This literally saved my life in the middle of some illustration work where the feedback I was getting was 'jaggy edges'. No idea how I missed this lesson in school. A saint and a miracle worker, this guy.
You just saved me SO much time by not having to re-export EPS files and fill all the boundaries again. Thank you!
Ctrl Select Layer doesn't select the pixels in a layer, but rather the whole layer, so when I make the channel mask, it fills the canvas with black on the Channel Mask...???
If instead of filling straight away, you go to paths page and click the make work path from selection button (4th from left) you can get a path which can be enlarged without further blurring. You can hold alt and press it to access tolerance, adjust this for better results. Once you have the path, go to pen tool, and on the points that should be hard corners but are a bit rounded, hovver over them, hold alt and click, this converts the point to a corner. Once satisfied, transform the path to the size you want and in the paths section control click to generate selection and then fill as before.
3 years later but daaaamn that paths thing indeed do be quite nice, adjusting every single point to be nice and round lol. very cool.
Can this be applied to a stroke only?
Photoshop's stroke feature is so handy but sucks the big one, it always looks jagged all the way to Hell.
This comment should be pinned
THANK YOU! BUT WHY CANT I SELECT A CHANNEL MASK? :(
Same
make it your background layer
Same issue
He says to hold control or command (mac) when selecting the layer.
@@jlugartec That did it
I cannot thank you enough! This was exactly what I needed and it was just simply put together. Thank you! Not all heroes wear capes! (I don't know if you are wearing one or not, but you should be!)
Omg thank you SOOO much, this was extremely helpful and straight forward. So many of these tutorials people prattle on and don't get to the heart of the matter. This helped so much, my logo looks 100 times better than it did before.
Happy to help!
Man, I've been dealing with low-res images for so long without knowing how to smooth them properly before I cut them with my plotter. You are my hero.
Worked better than i imagined, perfect for a logo that got ruined by a printer/scanner. Thanks mate 10/10 video.
Better than adobe's own way! Super good technique, thank you!
Hey! I’m curious, how would you alter this process if you were doing an image that wasn’t one color? The specific example I can think of is the hair on somebodies hair or a situation like that. Thanks for the great video!
Late to the party, but after making the selection you can invert it and hit backspace to delete the excess.
seeing the comparison between the blurry beginning and the smooth final results is so satisfying this tutorial helped me a lot thank you
Happy it helped! :)
Man, it's great that Cr1tikal makes photoshop tutorials, my favorite content creator n.n
Thank you so much for this video you helped me solve a problem ive been trying to figure out for MONTHS!
i can't find the channels tab (doesn't show as an option), does my image need to be expanded and transformed first or something?
You're an angel, sir.
Mine doesn't work at all in the Level window, it just doesn't get thinker on thinner.
thanks dude, this saved my life from my project deadline!
Happy to help!
Thanks... You just made me smarter
Sir you are an absolute genius thank you!
Happy to help!
perfect and straight to the point! thank you!
This is an awesome technique. I've been messing around with ways to fix edges for years, usually by creating a path or copying details. I had never even thought to think of doing it this way and it's perfect for things like logos. Awesome job, thank you!
Using the pen tool to get rid of pixelation and jagged edges is still good though. Vectors are better than trying to work with pixels. If an image is hard to select even with alpha channels and levels, pen tool is still my go to.
@@jg2283 For sure, but it can be quite time consuming doing that and often it's just not really worth that time. If I need to get a quick icon out for example, the effort of using the pen tool is a waste of time.
@@lemster101 yeah but this method isn't always gonna be doable. For anything that doesn't have a transparent background already you'll still have to make selections manually lol quick selection tool doesn't always work right
@@jg2283 This uses masks though. Doesn't require transparancy in the source doc. I've been using this method for decent success ever since watching this video.
The main downside I have is that it rounds off any sharp edge and that intricate details get lost, so I've not found it as useful for logos but for icons and things it's been great.
But yeah, pen = always better. Just rarely faster, so it's a balancing act.
@@lemster101 What I mean is this method just has you control click the layer thumbnail to select it before applying the alpha channel mask and layers which selects everything. This method is assuming you already had whatever object you wanted cut out
Thank you this tutorial is very easy to understand thanks so much
Glad you liked the video!
Super helpful and concise, thank you!
Glad you found the video helpful!
You rock. What a great tutorial. Many, many thanks!
Happy to help!
thanks for the tutorial but there is a problem, it doesnt let me create a new channel mask. do you know how to fix it the button is greyed out?
I loose track on how many times I came here, like every three months I have to something like this, thanks!!
Thanks! Quick ans straight to the point!
Brilliant thanks!!
Thanks! Helped me with jaggies on a great tattoo design
Glad it helped!
You save my life. Thanks!!!!
The literal easiest youtube video on photoshop techniques to follow! Thank you for this and I have definitely subscribed!
Tanks a lot! Very helpful.
No problem!
Really appreciated the fact that this video is just so simple and straightforward and simple 👍
and simple :)
I'd give you 2 likes if i could haha Simple and to the point. Perfect tutorial. Just one tip for others: you can simply select a color and press alt+delete to fill the selection with the current foreground color.
Thank you sir, very helpful! Used it to smoothen outline of a character.
Happy to help!
What if the logo has color?
Thanks homie, this tutorial rocks
Glad you liked it!
Great tutorial! Thank you for sharing this!
Happy to help!
Thankyou so much ,this video helped me in a great way! ❤
Happy to help!
"-which looks disgusting", you got me there. XD But thanks for this man
Thank you for posting this, it has really helped me be able to clean up hand drawn ink drawings as well as work with bird and tree silhouettes from my photos.
Happy to help!
How can I turn my finished low resist graphic drawing into a high resist graphic drawing. If I transfer drawing from photo shop will that automatically change it for me?? Keep the drawing but make all edges smooth??
hello i have a question. When drawing with the pen tool, the edges appear as pixels. the edges seem smooth on most people how can i fix this
Great tutorial
Very helpful!!
Happy to help!
Nice one straight to the point I really appreciate your work, sir... 👍👍 And already subscribed also
What mode do you have to be in to do this? I have no option for layers next to channels
You're like that chill teacher who always says 'oh, exams are just a waste of time'.
I loved the breathing and mouth smacking, thanks!
This was brilliant, thanks!
When I create the channel mask the image goes completely black, and the channel mask layer is all black. I have a simple pure black and white image like the tutorial, why would the channel mask do this? thanks
THANKYOU sir , from PH.
Happy to help!
My man! Super helpful! Never could've fixed my logo and develop my new one. This is a life saver! Much love bro!
You're a hero.
Hey Mr, 6 years later and I am struggling, When i create a new layer and try fill in the centre of my outline it just fills the outside in black and not the inside, any idea what it could be?
Worked for me. You have to listen very carefully because some of the important steps he kind of blows through; be sure and pause after every step and listen carefully.
MID: you may want to create a script to make sure you highlight ALL the points, and talk a bit slower.
ok this is great but what if the image is not just black?
that was useful, thank you!
Glad it helped!
that is good guide, really good.
channel mask is grayed out how do I fix this!?
bro i cant believe ive never seen this video... this helped me SO much
Will this work a multicolor image?
It works fine so, but what if it's a colored image. can you also make a tutorial of that?
tysm!
Thanks Homie!
No problem!
trying to figure out why my photoshop doesnt look like your what adobe photoshop is this i can only change like the filters on mine
Thank you so much! this is a life saver :'D. had an image with very pixelated edges and now it has very smooth edges! it saved me hours of redrawing it ~
Venomic Ink Glad it helped!
Works great for upscaled images!
Thank you.
I used Curves instead of Levels, it gave me better result
AMAZING! Thank you
Happy to help! :)
Awesome, thanks man.
No problem!
Thanks so much
Thank you so much!! You've really helped me! :D
Happy to help!
Thanks for the clear and concise tutorial. I wish they were all like this.
did this followed it exactly how it is and it doesnt work.
This only works with single color?
Great Tutorial !
Glad you liked it!
Awesome guide, really helpt me smooth out hard edges on screenshot (had no AA).
thx man it helped me a lot
This worked wonderfully, thank you :)
Happy to help!
Super helpful dude thanks!
Hi, I cant make a channel mask, what do I do
Thank you.
Make sure your shape is selected by Command Clicking on Mac like he said in the video. (You can also use Magic wand to select your shape.) You should be able to make the channel mask after making the selection.
@@simonblitzer THANK YOU!! This was frustrating me to no end -- I knew I was missing something but without a Mac, I couldn't tell what hitting the command key was doing.
i cant click channel mask. is it because i made the image?
I just couldn't go without showing you how much this was helpful . Thank you brow
sorry this doesn't work past creating the mask in the channel layer. Anyone have a better solution?
it was actually nice
You have just saved me SO much time and effort. Thank you! 🙏🏻
youre a legend!! thank you!!
Happy to help!
Amazing hack, thank you!
Glad it helped!
Great. Thanks.
Thanks for this, exactly what I needed :)
Happy to help!
the ctrl doesnt select the png image ihave thus the mask turns fully black and i cant see anything to edit in the blur stage any solutions?
what this guy said
actually select the image, not the layer, like press the image preview itself
@@jamesthirkeld3771 thankyou!
@@jamesthirkeld3771 That doesn't do anything.
What's the difference between doing it directly on the layer and the way you do it? I did it with same results.
YOU ROCK BRO! Thank you
Happy to help! 👊
Channel mask button is greyed out... .
when i adjust the levels, it changes the color not the thickness. any tips? thanks!
This helps a lot!