Before we begin, make sure you have a basic knowledge of Photoshop (working with Levels, Hue/Saturation, and Layers) and some idea of Layer Masks and how to create a Layer Mask using Photoshop's "Quick Mask Mode" feature.
Okay, so open your hairy image in Photoshop (
) and duplicate the layer so that you have the original layer underneath the layer that we're going to turn into our mask.[attachment=16618:01.jpg]
On the upper layer, go to Hue/Saturation and start dropping the Saturation and Lightness on all of the individual color channels. This is almost the same as running the Black & White filter or dropping the Master saturation, but I've found that controlling each color channel separately darkens everything just a bit more and it works better when trying to create your mask.
[attachment=16619:02.jpg]
Okay, after you've dropped the Saturation and Lightness of every color channel (Red, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, and Magenta), you may want to adjust the levels, just to help crush the Blacks and brighten the Whites a bit more. Adjust the Black and White arrows on the Levels graph until you think you've got a fairly good amount of solid Black and White in your image (don't go too crazy because it will start to pixellate the edges of your model).
[attachment=16620:03.jpg]
Then, using the Burn and Dodge tools, Burn the Shadows (this will darken dark gray areas of your image) and Dodge the Highlights (this will brighten the light gray areas of your image), bringing you one step closer to having a black silhouette against a white backdrop.
[attachment=16621:04.jpg]
After you have Burned, Dodged, and adjusted the Levels as much as you possibly can, take a Brush and paint in (with flat Black) any areas that Burning/Dodging didn't take care of. This might involve some zoomed-in scrutiny of the image, depending on how perfect you want your mask to look. You also have the original image on the layer below, so you can toggle the mask layer on & off to determine what spots need to filled in with black. You also might want to tweak the Levels again, just to brighten any remaining light gray areas and darken any dark gray spots.
[attachment=16622:05.jpg]
Now that you have a black silhouette against a white background, we're ready to create your mask. Invert the colors so that the model is white and the background is black and then Select All to select your entire canvas (*selecting the entire canvas is important when creating the mask, so don't just select a portion of the work area). With the entire canvas selected, Copy the selection (on mac: command-C, on PC: control-c... I believe
).[attachment=16623:06.jpg]
Now it's time to enter Quick Mask Mode. The button for Quick Mask Mode is located at the bottom of your Toolbar, just beneath the Color Picker. Click the Quick Mask Mode button.
[attachment=16624:07.jpg]
Select All to select your entire canvas again and Paste (on mac: command-P, on PC: control-P). Remember, it's important to Select All or else what you paste might not align properly to the original image. Once you paste the silhouette within Quick Mask Mode, you'll see how the black areas become a deep Red color (this indicates the areas that will be masked out).
[attachment=16625:08.jpg]
Exit Quick Mask Mode by clicking the button on the Toolbar again. You'll see that after you exit, the white area of your mask is selected.
[attachment=16626:09.jpg]
With the area still selected, hide your Mask layer by turning off the "Eye" in the Layers palette and select your original full-color image layer.
[attachment=16627:10.jpg]
Create layer mask on your original image layer (you may need to make sure this layer is unlocked and not set to "Background," usually double-clicking on the layer will allow you to unlock it by bringing up a "New Layer" window). To create the layer mask, you can go to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal All or click the "Add Layer Mask" button along the bottom of the Layers palette. The mask will drop out the background leave you with something like this (the White/Gray checkboard in Photoshop indicates a transparent background, if your Preferences are set to display transparency this way)...
[attachment=16628:11.jpg]
Find a new background and put it behind your model...
[attachment=16629:12.jpg]
If you notice that the hair has a "halo" around it isn't quite as crisp as you'd like it, you can duplicate the layer and paint Black onto your Layer Mask to isolate the edges of the hair on one layer, and the body on a separate layer. Set the hair layer's Blend Mode to "Multiply" and place it beneath the Body layer and above the background layer.
[attachment=16630:13.jpg] [attachment=16631:14.jpg]
Turn on all the Layers and you should get something like this...
[attachment=16632:15.jpg]
Is this a perfect extraction and will it work on all images? Absolutely not, but I hope this gives enough info to help folks who may have been struggling with cutting out hair (don't try to do it manually with the Pen Tool or Lasso, you'll go nuts!). If you're a perfectionist, you can go over the masks with a fine-toothed comb and fix any areas where this whole process didn't quite work properly, but often times, the above extraction will be sufficient.
I hope this was informative. Any questions or comments (if something is unclear or you need further explanation), just post a reply in the thread below.
Enjoy!!
