Create Awesome Selections: Selection Brush + Refine Tool Tutorial for Affinity Photo

[@TheSureShannonShow]

Thank you for making this tutorial. I have a clearer understanding of using the selection tool now. You are a good teacher.

[@TechnicallyTrent]

Glad it was helpful!

[@joanna-000]

Thank you. Your way of explaining things and getting right to it with clear examples is brilliant.

[@joanna-000]

Thanks!

[@TechnicallyTrent]

Thanks for the donation, Joanna...I appreciate it!

[@littletoysmaker]

Thanks for the Tutorial

[@TechnicallyTrent]

Thanks so much for the donation, @littletoysmaker, I appreciate it!

[@nadineappletini]

That is an amazing trick I wasn't aware of. I always used new layer only. But new layer with mask to bring back parts of the image makes so much more sense. Thanks a lot for sharing!

[@Bob-The-Guy]

Exceptional tutorial!

[@stevefield9967]

Thanks for that mate it's made me rethink my way of going about making selections.

[@cremecut6659]

Thanks, as always. A couple of new concepts I hadn't discovered yet.

[@scottybreuer]

That bleeding edge feature is pretty neat!

[@ptysme]

Really good tutorial, moving from Photoshop I'm super happy with the simplicity of Affinity Photo. Think Abode almost put too many tools in to confuse people. Your videos make the transition easy, thanks. 🙂

[@TechnicallyTrent]

Glad it was helpful, @ptysme!

[@traceygarner4882]

great tutorial i had know idea what all the settings meant thank you

[@Hectorfuentest]

Excelent video, as always!

[@TechnicallyTrent]

Thanks!

[@ianbrowne9304]

Interesting ; thank you for sharing some new ways to look at the tool that never really works for me as it does "as seen online" . The blue/cyan background makes it easier than if we have more similar colours/tones/texture --- like a nature photo , or , if this model was first photographed in front of your final background . I feel your first demonstration with red and blue shows how well the tools works with sharp edges of colour/tone/texture . I will have look for similar videos of yours ; I would like to see the tool demonstration used with a less perfect foreground/background

[@wyzewun247]

Great tutorial. I'm not sure if it's just me but I've noticed that the pixel personna in Affinity Designer does a far better job of removing background that Affinity Photo. I always have to do more work cleaning up artifacts in Affinity Photo. All the same, thanks for the extra sauce!!!

[@MARK-r6c3k]

Great Video. Thanks allot. I'm thinking of Replacing Photoshop with this new Program. What you did here is almost exactly the same as doing it in PS. Good to know. 🙂👍

[@TechnicallyTrent]

Hi @mrk4510, thanks for watching!

[@gandolfred]

Good job. I learned some of the details of working with this tool. Thank you. ✌✨

[@unishow]

Thank you for using a visually larger Graphic User Interface when making videos! Not all of us are able to watch videos and design on large monitors. I'm working on a laptop and so many other tutorials are almost useless because it's difficult to see which icon or menu item they are clicking on because the GUI is microscopic. Thanks for the useful video...both in content and in how it was made.

[@TechnicallyTrent]

Thanks for the comment! Yes, I usually try to make the images as big as possible :)

[@sharynwillis8920]

Thanks heaps for this video, me and refine argue continuously. Now to try again :)

[@HaveBowWillTravel]

Would like clarification on using the paint brush to fix problems. When I try it it comes through as a solid color

[@TechnicallyTrent]

Hi @HaveBowWillTravel, can you let me know which part you are trying to use the paintbrush for? If it is after you have created a mask, it sounds like you may be painting on the image itself and not the mask. You'll want the mask layer (the black and white layer) to be the one that is selected. Also, the type of brush you use will determine whether it is solid or some type of texture. If you enable the brushes via Window -> Brushes, you can see what brush you are using. Do you have one of the Basic -> Solid brushes selected?

[@AllenReinecke]

Great tutorial! You always seem to reveal new features/effects when explaining each slider in detail, even though I've watched many, many videos on AP! 👍

[@TechnicallyTrent]

You're very welcome!

[@danfenixcinema8342]

Excellent man, thanks !

[@BigRockNor]

Excellent!

[@roychavez519]

Hi, I just watched the video and liked, but I love to shoot animals in the habitat, which is a pain to separate the animals from the surroundings, and selecting the subject away from the surroundings is not easy, what do you suggest. I will appreciate your help. Thank you very much. Rc.

[@TechnicallyTrent]

Hi @roychavez519, currently the Selection Brush and Refine tools are the best options within Affinity. You can try using background removal tools in other software like Canva if you have a subscription. Supposedly, Affinity is working on a better "object selection" tool (according to one of their earlier statements this year). But I have no idea what the release date would be. I'd also love to see that feature.

[@swaha55]

Thank you for this video. Very helpful. But I find when I have the subject in the Refine mode before I click on Apply if I move the selection brush over the edge of the subject that looks sloppy and then hit apply it makes it worse. I do not know what I am doing wrong. Also if I click apply and then want to go back and work on the subject again to make some corrections I missed it just screws up the image. Can you go back and refine a subject more than once?? Also sometimes I have trouble with the layers when I am trying to put text behind the mask. I would love a tutorial on how to work with layers specifically to create a mask for the selected subject and place the layers in the correct order to bring the subject in front of the text. Sometimes this works easily for me and sometimes I just cannot get the text behind the subject. I must be doing something wrong.

[@TechnicallyTrent]

Hi Swaha! Yes, the tool can be a little hard to use at times. If you use it to create a mask, you can do touchups on the mask with a brush later. I have a video with more detail on masks here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sGW6hn2JZdGKoMU Thanks for the suggestion about working with layers. I agree it can be tricky to get them indented in the right order sometimes...I'll try to see how I can work this into an upcoming video!

[@RomanticPhotographic]

One thing worth addressing is the effect of the feathering. Yeah, everyone pretty much understands feathering, but few people have an appreciation for what it does when you make a selection this way. I got trapped quite a few times when I increased feathering to keep that soft edge but discovered that it made a halo around the foreground subject. I'm still not sure how to use that feature correctly.

[@AllenReinecke]

Agreed! A hard edge makes a selection look unnatural in many situations. I think the grow/shrink option helps (?) but can't remember the video where that was used

[@TechnicallyTrent]

True, feathering can be hit or miss!

[@trafferz]

So helpful. Leader on my Hero board.

[@trypersistence]

Great video and professional, concise content, brother. (fist bump)

[@TheHornoxx]

...gut!

[@micbab-vg2mu]

nice - In one dat I switched from Adobe to Affinity products - and I am happy - the mone that I saved I invest in AI tools.

[@antonioruotolo6014]

Excellent, but could be even better with a more step by step approach.

[@izakniemann5734]

Affinity delivers terrible results in removing backgrounds, especially where hair and finer details are at play. Just terrible! I hope they will up their game when it comes to this function.

[@TechnicallyTrent]

Yes, it can be quite tricky. Hopefully it will become easier with future updates!