Mask difficult objects with Calculations in Photoshop

[@vince2nd]

Where were you last week when I needed you?! Google you're failing at spying on me!! Quite literally the best masking video I've seen on this platform.. real old school, none of that quick mask shit. Can't remember the last time I heard someone say alpha channel and calculations and explained it in detail. Real old school Adobe professional!

[@TheCobra65427]

I've heard for years that calculations are the way to make precise masks, but every time I tried, I made a mess. Great explanation with enough remedial info to keep my eyes from glazing over. Glad I found your channel. Thank you.

[@hoitpham]

I'm glad it was helpful.

[@alksaki]

Appreciated the Behind-the-Scenes explanation of how PS works with each function, mode, calculations. Thank you!!!

[@RickLincoln]

Years ago I began a journey of improving my photographic compositing skills by studying Katrin Eismann's "Photoshop Masking & Compositing". It was a deep dive and worth every moment I spent pouring over the book and experimenting with what I had learned. Your excellent video provides a visual, easy to understand and well paced masking tutorial on one of the methods in Eismann's book. You are both excellent educators and I am grateful for what you share with the photographic community. I have "subscribed".

[@OmairX]

its been more than 15 years of using PS and still dont know couple of things which you explained. Simply brilliant!!

[@pembrokejones3969]

I've been using Photoshop since 1992 and yhis is one of the best tutorials I ahve ever seen. Clear, concise with just enough background info to deepen the understanding of the process. Liked and subscribed!

[@mtexaneel3769]

I too hit the "like" button even before starting the video and at the end I am just as happy I ran into this channel. Thank you.

[@hoitpham]

Thanks Mtex. Your support is appreciated.

[@robmasters3569]

I should have added to my last comment that you have just taught me an absolute wealth of techniques I had no idea about and I've been using Photoshop on and off for quite a few years. Damn good job sir. Yes please, do continue to release videos. I hope to one day be as good as you and be able to have my own channel where I can pass on and share knowledge with others. And I stand by my first comment......I would love to see you create custom brushes for creating hair, eyebrows/eyelashes and animal fur. ps. I particularly loved the part using the laso tool to reduce halo as I've always done it across the whole mask and didn't think to just try it on small areas at a time so this will greatly improve my affectiveness with this technique. Thank you again.

[@coelho2825]

Awsome tutorial. Thank you. Just a personal note: I believe people that search/view this type of "advanced" Ps features, are quite familiar with shortcuts. The entire clip would become more fluid without you mentioning them every 30sec for a half an hour. Anyway, thanks a lot!! Cheers.

[@Daniel_Zalman]

Simply brilliant. A first class tutorial on a subject that is quite challenging in photoshop.

[@johancoetzee6540]

Your video comes as an absolute revelation🎉 and your technical knowledge of the inner workings of Ps is a rare find. Please continue sharing your invaluable knowledge that may otherwise stay hidden behind quick fix buttons and sliders. I am an instant admirer 😳

[@hoitpham]

Thanks Johan. It's appreciated.

[@markbradley8955]

You are Brilliant!!!!!! I'm 55 been using PS for my pictures please don't stop doing your tutorials you made that so simple..... I used it on one of my pictures it was amazing Honestly you have saved me hours thank you so mush looking forward to watch your videos

[@flyfisher8475]

One of the best tutorials I have ever seen. You really know how to explain a complex subject. Easy to follow. Perfect pace. I can't praise enough. Thank you,

[@KaiserSaucy]

This is an absolutely cracking tutorial. Not only for the pro advanced stuff, which you explain beautifully, but also just for continually mentioning so many helpful basics & keyboard shortcuts, some of which I know & use a lot, but many of which I have done for years in completely different (usually more time consuming) ways. Just so, SO helpful that you’ve been so thorough & complete throughout. Thanks a million 👏👏👏

[@illawallaroo]

Life-changing!! I have never, ever even begun to grasp channels hitherto. This was a brilliant tutorial. Thank you!

[@teolita]

This tutorial is an absolute-hidden gem. Thank you

[@hoitpham]

Glad it was helpful!

[@timeslikethese6379]

Most complete explanation of calculations I've seen. Excellent work. Subscribed.

[@studiotjeerd4403]

Wow! This tutorial is truly the best I've seen about calculations and always wondered how and when to use it. I've been working with PS since 2000 or so and never got the explanation you gave in this tutorial. The use of both RGB ánd CMYK in seperate files of the same image is to me mindblowing! As being a teacher myself as well, I must/will compliment you with the ease you're teaching us, every single step. And one tip from my side (which you might probably know): to select the flow of the brush, you can use SHIFT with the number keys (above the letter keys) to key in the amount of flow you want. So, as in you tutorial, if you want to have a flow of 5% you van key in SHIFT + 0 + 5. Thank you so much for this great tutorial! Both thumbs up! You've got a new subscriber!

[@hoitpham]

It's great to hear that you found it helpful. One of my goals for this channel is to decode Photoshop so we all understand it a little bit better. Thanks for the keyboard shortcut for Flow. I'm aware of it and actually use it myself but try to minimise the number of keyboard shortcuts so it's easier to follow for all :-)

[@studiotjeerd4403]

@@hoitpham You're very welcome! Keep them coming! I could have guessed so that you already knew the shortcut and you have thought about it whether it would be in the tutorial or not. Have a great day!

[@laxmankeni8247]

Excellent teaching in easy language. Thanks !

[@FJWoods007]

A mini masterclass. Excellent.

[@daniloledezma]

HI...your tutorial is so good, well done. Easy explanation. Superb. THANKS

[@craigoakley]

Well done. It is evident that you invested much time in making this excellent video. Very nicely presented that never had me stop and go back because you went too quickly through a step. You have a new subscriber!

[@gerarddesilva5193]

Brilliant! Thank you for sharing.

[@jameshaveron4961]

Thanks very much. I have used Calculations in the past without understanding the mechanism. You explained this very well. 🙏

[@billbarraclough9653]

Brilliantly explained

[@RFVisionary]

👍🏻 This is an exceptionally knowledge-building Photoshop tutorial. The explanations for using the different image formats, color levels and blend modes produce a lot of "aha effects". With this newfound understanding, my masking efforts will be more professional, better, and faster in the future. Thanks very much. Post liked! Channel subscribed!

[@deluxe67x12]

Terrific tutorial! Thanks for the explanation of calculations, and how some of the blend modes work. Also, the reminder that you still have to get your hands dirty and do some manual touch-up.

[@craigcannon4958]

You are a gifted and thorough teacher. Outstanding and masterfully done tutorial on making a difficult subject easy and palatable to absorb. Photoshop is an intimidating program to understand, but your ease and style of teaching is inspiring. I'm so happy that I have come across this video and am looking forward to further exploring your portfolio of KZbin videos. Bravo, bravo, and bravo.

[@hoitpham]

Thanks Craig. I’m glad you found the video helpful. Yes, the intention of my channel is to demystify Photoshop so it’s less intimidating. I plan to put out more ‘explainer’ videos, which hopefully does that.

[@Li.Siyuan]

Love how I got several extra very useful bits of info that nobody else has ever given me whilst getting the main info. Liked and subbed.

[@brunobrys4960]

Brilliant tutorial! I will be an avid subscriber...Thanks so much!

[@seniorcaptain6117]

Excellent tutorial!!

[@oconnor8615]

you make the complicated things simple, fully understood 🎉

[@rene.rodriguez]

That was amazing. Liked and sub’d. I would love do see a hair brush tutorial from you. Thanks for sharing!

[@cyrohan21]

This is the best photoshop tutorial I’ve ever seen.😮😮👍👍👍👍

[@hoitpham]

Thanks. For a channel that’s just started, it’s encouraging to know.

[@MrBalou06]

Great demonstration Photoshop does not do all automatically. Learned a lot ! Thank you so much for the tutorial

[@julianmor9191]

Great stuff! Excited to be one of the 1st 500 subscribers! Please keep making more, you are a very clear teacher and your review at the end is helpful for retention and review when I get stuck

[@hoitpham]

Thanks for the support Julian. I’m grateful for all folks who’ve subscribed so far.

[@curutzangler]

Thanks for the tutorial. This is the best tutorial about calculation. I'm using ps since 5.5 version and today I understand what calculation can do. Thanks!

[@itismohan]

amazing Explanation sir

[@asadullah786]

that was an amaizing mask trick...... instant subscriber now

[@joelhinkson4503]

This is a well defined and informative tutorial. Thanks so much!

[@hoitpham]

Glad you found it informative.

[@SeanE]

love your details on explanation.

[@And-rc9yy]

You explained this so well. I didn't think it would be something I would use but I followed it with the downloaded image. I subbed. thank you.

[@CarlosRodriguesdeLarcher]

I push the "like" button even before watching it, because I know it's going to be good!

[@JohnBerthoty]

One of the best select explanation vids I've seen!

[@hoitpham]

Cheers John. I’m glad it was helpful.

[@dilawarhussain3773]

This tutorials is a must watch.. brilliant

[@leonciocastillo6433]

This is great! Thanks.

[@TwistedRealm]

Thank you for this tutorial. The moment you explained your use of CMYK and RGB channels to extract different sets of colour data, I had half a dozen ideas of how to use these as the basis of some architectural edits I need to do on a series of images (to output as architectural fine art) - which I was going to do purely in Lightroom, but have now decided I will do with some advanced masking and calculation blends instead. And I mention this because, as you can imagine too, mixing both calculations and alpha channel blending for architecture, output options are almost limitless. Plus half the work is done via the alpha channel creation anyway, as these will be monochromatic images. So again, thank you, it sparked an alternative creative process for me to play with!

[@hoitpham]

I’m glad that the video sparked more creativity because it’s one of the objectives of this channel.

[@JohnJohnson-bo5sv]

Thank You so much for this and especially for including the file to follow along, that deserves a Like n'Sub

[@aloislemberger8365]

This is the best video I've seen on this topic. Thank you!

[@billgreenwood1000]

Hello mate. Nice tutorial. Technical, but easy to understand. Good mask making and selections are the foundation of all colour correction and composition tasks. Have you thought about maybe showing how custom CMYK separations (GCR & UCA) can help create different channels (shapes) which can help refine some areas of colour? It's a trick that's helped me out many times in the past. Loved the maths bit. I'm 30+ years of Photoshop and I've never learned those before. Bill

[@hoitpham]

Great to hear, Bill and thanks for the suggestion on GCR and UCA. I don’t think many would’ve heard / used this technique before so, it’s something for me to think about.

[@Bob4golf1]

Best primer on PS I''ve heard yet! I hit the SUBSCRIBE button!

[@kidglove55]

Awesome job explaining this process. I will be working on this as soon as possible. I really love masking and this way seems so much better.

[@johnclyde3703]

Thank you for this very detailed tutorial!

[@SheilaMacd]

An excellent tutorial and very thorough and well-thought-out - thank you! This answered several question I have had about cutting out images especially hair. I did know how to use Calculations but you filled in many gaps in my knowledge. Appreciate all the work you put into this tutorial. I'll look out for more of your videos. Thanks again!

[@yomismo1945]

I understood everything perfectly, you have very good pedagogy to explain the topics. Thanks for your help. Very instructive!🙏🏽

[@hoitpham]

Great to hear it was helpful

[@JoseMendoza-cq5jf]

Excellent technique. 🥰🤩🤩

[@Anchorfeet]

I've always extracted subjects using calculations but the level to which you explained everything is next level! Definitely will be incorporating these techniques from now on. Thank you!

[@hoitpham]

Great to hear!

[@imscratchingmyass]

appreciated. Thanks!

[@bala1000mina]

Thank you so much for the detailed and informative tutorial! Very helpful! God bless you and good luck!

[@vortac2k9]

Fantastic tutorial. Thank you!!

[@callievh]

My goodness! This is excellent! Subscribed!

[@HesamJahanbakhsh]

very nice😍❤

[@black-and-light]

Great tutorial! Better to know „how“ than only relying on AI! Thank you for this great video

[@hoitpham]

Thanks. Your support is appreciated.

[@alexandrugrecov8964]

The best !

[@cyberspider78910]

How much you can learn from this video ? Tons...and Tons...in Japanese we call this thing a mastery and master a Sansei....Subscribed...

[@veselinvasilev9362]

Thanks a lot!

[@Chickboom34]

Wow! Nicely done! Thank you.

[@BubbleGendut]

Excellent 👍 well explained

[@DalsPhotography]

I am just astonished at this master class you gave to us! I am old, I started when I was already old with Photoshop, and I understood your tutorial perfectly well, even though I am a native spanish speaker! Blessings and please carry on! Best from Uruguay. (Subscribed) One question, if both channels are present in the same photo (lets say green and blue as the most contrasted) which do we use first? and is it necessary to go to CYMK all the same? Thank you!

[@hoitpham]

Thanks Daniela. I'm glad you found it helpful... and we're never too old to use Photoshop :-) Order of the channels: SHORT ANSWER: If you use the same photo in the same colour mode (i.e., RGB mode only) and you use the green and blue channels, it won't matter which channel you choose first IF you use the Multiply, Screen or Add blend modes but it WILL make a difference if you use Subtract. LONGER ANSWER: That's because the order of the luminance values doesn't matter if you multiply, add, or "screen" them together. I.e., if you multiply the luminance value of the first layer (say it's the blue channel and has a luminance value of 10) by the second layer (say it's the green channel and has a luminance value of 5), you will get the luminance value of 50 (i.e., 10x5). This will be the same even if you switch the order. I.e., Multiply the luminance of 5 from the green channel first by 10 (the luminance value of the blue channel) - it will still give you 50. The same applies when you use the Add and Screen blend modes. However, if you use the Subtract blend mode, it WILL make a difference because a luminance value of 10 (e.g., blue channel) minus 5 (e.g., green channel) will give you a result of 5. However, if you do it the other way - i.e., 5 (green channel) minus 10 (blue channel), you will get a luminance value of -5, which is obviously different to the 5 in the first calculation. You can test this out by using any image and switching the layers around in the Calculations dialogue box. Hopefully the outcome will match what I described above! CMYK: It is not necessary to always make a CMYK duplicate of your image. You can stick to RGB for both layers in the 'Calculations' dialogue box. I only used CMYK in the video because I wanted to: (1) directly target the yellows in the image, and (2) show that you can use an image which has a different colour modes for your second layer if that will create more contrast.

[@DalsPhotography]

@@hoitpham Another excellent and long answer, I am sorry to have bothered you! Best wishes :)

[@peterwilson9699]

Thanks! Very good indeed! And very WELL spoken!

[@hoitpham]

Thanks Peter. Glad it was helpful.

[@Steve_I_See]

Very nice explanation - thank you.

[@hoitpham]

Thanks Steve. I'm glad it was helpful.

[@000aleph]

Thank you

[@leoliu8403]

Nice tutorial,very simple way to explain color theory.

[@hoitpham]

Thanks Leo. Glad you found it helpful.

[@kimseyla7885]

Very good

[@dr.lopuckdds2603]

incredible explanation on masking

[@hoitpham]

Thanks for watching Dr. Great to hear.

[@10q58]

Amazing and very well explained tutorial !! thank you so much !!

[@hoitpham]

Thanks @10Q. I'm glad that you found it useful

[@izonozi]

G'day Hoi, Awesome tutorial mate, one of the best I've ever seen and I've seen a few over the years. Like a few others here, I've been using Photoshop since around early 2000 (still using CS6 actually) and it's a treat to come across stuff like this that delves into the lesser known features of the program. Thanks so much for making this so in-depth and including the "stats for nerds", as good as it is to simply see how to do something in Photoshop it's also good to 'understand' what is doing what behind the scenes. Another area I believe you would give an exceptional tutorial in is all of the different blend modes: what they do; how they work and when to use them. Something to consider for a future vid maybe? I think I read in another one of your vids that you're Aussie? I'm in Melbourne myself. 😉 That being the case, I'll sign off in the most Aussie way I can think of: Aussie Aussie Aussie, Hoi Hoi Hoi 😁

[@hoitpham]

Cheers Jason. Before making the video, I wasn't sure whether anyone would be interested in the mechanics of Ps, so it's a pleasant surprise to see that people are interested. Good suggestion on blend modes. I'll see if / when I can fit it in. I've just started this channel and still working full time but hopefully with more viewers and support, I can transition to creating Ps videos full time and make tutorials quicker! I'm from Sydney and yes, I had a good chuckle at 'Aussie, Aussie, Aussie'... :-)

[@izonozi]

​@@hoitpham Yeah, look there's always going to be more viewers that just want to see how to get the end result without all the nuts & bolts so to speak. The good thing about the way you present things is that they still get to see that ... AND they're learning HOW it works and not just that it does work. I don't think you'll encounter too many people that will make a big deal of hearing about the mechanics of a process, besides, if they do get impatient they can always skip over those sections without it affecting the outcome of the tutorial. Nah, you're doing well mate. Keep explaining things the way you are and you can't go wrong. 👌 PS: If you really want to stand out from a lot of the other PS tutorial channels etc, go into detail about the lesser known tools in Photoshop (as you have here). Things like Apply Image and how it works; Variables; Analysis etc. All the good stuff 😁

[@dianekern1040]

"breathtaking "

[@vladimirnikolov5114]

A very well made tutorial, thank you!

[@hoitpham]

Thanks Vladimir. Glad it was helpful.

[@tacticaldesigns8794]

I love the explanation that you give, as I love getting into the guts and learning how Photoshop processes things. But how does you technique improve your mask if I can do the same thing with the AI tools to select the hair and then go into Select and Mask and refine with the tools. I don't see the advantage here. Moreover, if the Yellow in the CMYK image has the best contrast, then why not select that and use that selection to create a mask in the RGB version of the image? I hope there is something I am missing here in your explanation, it is fascinating nonetheless and I'm sure I can use this understanding for the work I do, but I don't see any advantage to your technique when it came to hair.

[@ashokbajracharya4206]

Wow very good tutorial n easy to learn thank u so much.

[@hoitpham]

Thanks Ashok. I'm glad you found it helpful. Thanks for watching.

[@strippedlist]

you deserve over 100k subscribers....

[@hoitpham]

Thanks Valentin. Your support is appreciated.

[@allgamestotal6773]

woww. well done!!. i had a photo taken of a wildlife but unfortunately the subject color is almost same color as background. subbded!!!

[@hoitpham]

I'm glad the video helped.

[@WCollinsWhiteIII]

This is the best calculations tutorial I've seen. One issue I have though, At 23:30 Upper right under view. my real-time refinement is greyed out. Ps23, fast PC. Windows 10. I'm getting identical results as you are up to that point then it goes bad quickly. Many thanks for any assistance.

[@hoitpham]

In the menu option on the right hand side when you’re still in the Select and Mask screen, pls try going to Refine Mode and selecting “Color Aware” instead of “Object Aware”.

[@robmasters3569]

Would love to see you make custom brushes to create hair, eyebrows and eyelashes etc. and/or animal fur

[@dr.sandipmehta973]

gr8 video

[@hoitpham]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@eugenerim]

- This is important information/ - I understand You/ - Color model of the RGB, CMYK and Lab.

[@renzoodorico7848]

Excellent tutorial. Yes, please, I'd like to see how to create a hair brush.

[@edyokasta4167]

subscribed

[@Daniel_Zalman]

It would've been great to get the wisps of hair on the back of her head before the ear and neck region, but I think that would be nearly impossible, as the luminance and hue of the background in that region is almost identical to her hair's luminance and hue.

[@hoitpham]

When it's difficult to separate the foreground / background, an easier way is to replicate the hair by creating a brush and painting it in instead of trying to extract it from the original image.

[@Rattataww]

thanks

[@simoncullinan5369]

Fantastic work Hoy - not overdone & not underdone, but very clear. It’s a very welcomed change from ‘monkey see, monkey do’ kind of tutorial and I’m looking to seeing more of your insight! More than happy to subscribe and ring the notification bell 😃👍

[@hoitpham]

Thanks Simon. I'm glad the explanation helped. One of the reasons I started this KZbin channel was because I didn't see too many Photoshop channels explaining these type of things.

[@Daniel_Zalman]

Sir, when it the decontaminate colors option in the select and mask workspace a good option?

[@hoitpham]

Hi, decontaminate colours is generally used when we want to hide colour fringes. E.g., because hair is light and thin, it can absorb the colour of the background, creating colour fringes. In this case, decontaminate colours is one way of removing the colour fringe. Just be wary that decontaminate colours can create unwanted artifacts, so use the "Amount" slider to adjust the amount until the effect is just how you want it.

[@rgarlinyc]

Excellent, thnak upi - you got one more (I know big deal for me, not you! 😀) subscriber.

[@DalsPhotography]

Sorry to write again, is there a chance you can help us to understand Depth Maps in Photoshop?? Thank you again, I am watching the full class again LOL

[@hoitpham]

Hi Daniela, thanks for the suggestion. I'll see if / when I can make this tutorial.

[@DalsPhotography]

@@hoitpham I will patiently await for it :) :)

[@prod.odslav8935]

te amo que técnica foda.

[@stompfolks]

sens or ship ? need alot of coffee not to fall asleep during this tutorial

[@KaosK9]

899 Says Thanks!

[@hoitpham]

Cheers Keith. It's me who should say thanks for all the support. Thanks everyone :-)

[@HoseinJalili-f8o]

it was a littel confusing and longe

[@jmez927]

?????? Using levels instead of curves? My guess is you didn’t want to scare those who aren’t in the loop yet 😅