Hi, welcome back to the PhotoshopTrainingChannel.com,
I'm Jesus Ramirez.
In this video, I'm going to show you an easy background removal trick
for fast Photoshop vector mask.
In other words, I'm going to show you how to create vector mask with just one click.
There's going to be a lot of valuable information in this tutorial,
so make sure that you stick around to the very end.
So let's just get right to it. This is the image that I'm going to work with. If you
want to follow along, you can download this photo for my website. I'll place a link down
below in the description.
So I have this photo of this shoe. And if you're working in Photoshop 2020 you probably
already know that in the properties panel, under quick actions, you have a remove background
button. If you don't see the properties panel, you can go into window and properties.
The remove background button allows you to quickly remove a background. So I'm just going
to click on that button so you can see how that works. So once I click on that, Photoshop
analyzes the image using artificial intelligence known as Adobe sensei.
It makes a selection and it applies a Layer Mask which keeps the contents of the selection
and hides everything else. So this quick action removes the background with just one click.
But what if you want to use a vector mask instead of a Layer Mask? Vector mask use bézier
curves to create a mask. They allow you to be more precise and have sharper edges, especially
in manmade objects. Anything that is not organic.
So what if you want to use a vector mask and take advantage of this artificial intelligence?
Let me show you. I'm going to right click and delete the Layer Mask so that we can start
from scratch.
What I'm going to do is create a Photoshop action, record those steps and then I can
apply them just with one click or by using a keyboard shortcut. So I'm going to be able
to create a vector mask with just one click,
much like I did with the remove background button.
First, you can go into window and select actions to open up the actions panel. By the way,
if you're not seeing this, if you're seeing buttons, make sure that in this fly out menu
you have button mode disabled, like I do here.
Then create a brand new action by clicking on this icon. You can call the action whatever
you like, so I'll call it remove background and vector in parentheses.
I can store it in the set called the fault actions. I can give it a shortcut by using
on of the function keys. For example, if I use a function key like F4 while holding shift,
it will apply this action and I can give the action a color. And I'll simply select red,
and I'll click on record.
Photoshop is now recording every step that I make in this remove background action. First,
I want to tell Photoshop to use the artificial intelligence, Adobe sensei, to analyze my
image. To do that, you can go into select and then click on subject.
Photoshop will quickly analyze the image and make a selection around the shoe. I did a
really good job. Next we need to turn this selection into a vector. To do so, you can
go into the paths panel. If you don't see it, you can go under window and path. And
that will bring it up.
Next,
you can click on this icon here at the bottom.
This icon will make a work path from a selection.
But before you click on it,
you can hold Alt on windows, option on the Mac, and click.
That way you can see the tolerance.
The tolerance will determine how many points it will create
to follow that selection. Generally speaking, stick to three to five pixels. I'll use three
for now and I'll press okay. And Photoshop generated this vector along the edge of this election.
And you can see the steps that we've made here in the actions panel. Next we gotta turn
this work path into a vector mask. To do so we can go back into the layers panel, then
go into layer, vector mask, current path. And that will make a vector mask out of that
path. Next I can click on the stop icon and that completes my action.
So now I can use this action anytime I want to remove the background using a vector mask.
So for example, I can now click on this flout menu, go into the button mode, and you can
see my remove background button here with the keyboard shortcut.
And if I open up a new image, I can click on that action and Photoshop will remove the
background using a vector mask just with one click, much like their removed background
quick action that comes built into Photoshop. Remember you could also use the keyboard shortcut.
Now all press Ctrl Z, Command Z in the Mac several times to undo that. And now I'm going
to apply that vector mask just by using a keyboard shortcuts.
So I'm going to hold shift and tap on the F4 key on the keyboard. And again, Photoshop
performs that action. And by the way, I'm going to make this action available for you
to download on my website. It will be in the same page where you download the photo of
the shoe. Again, the link will be down below in the description.
Now, let me show you how to edit a vector mask. So let me go back into the image that
I was working with or originally and I'm going to collapse the actions panel. And to edit
a vector mask, what you want to do is select any one of these vector tools. I prefer the
curvature pen tool.
You'll see the line activate. If you don't see the points that you can individually click
and drag like I have here, you can always hold Ctrl, Command on the Mac, and click on
the actual blue line to see the points.
So I can see them in this case, but sometimes they don't come up when you select the tool.
But anyway, one of the things that you can do is select a point and then just simply
hit the backspace key on windows, that's the delete key on the Mac to the lead point.
If you hold shift and click on the vector mask, you can see the original image. Notice
that we have a nice smooth line here in the bottom of the shoe, so I want to make sure
that I keep that in my vector mask.
So what I'll do is I'll click on this point and delete it as well, and then I can adjust
this point to try to match that curve. And if I need to I can always add another point
and drag up just so that everything is as close as possible to the edge. I'll adjust
this point as well.
Another thing that you can do is you can double click on a point to create a sharp corner,
and you can double click on it again to smooth that out.
And you can see that just with a few clicks I was able to get a pretty good vector mask.
You will need to fine tune the mask, but by using this technique you will save a lot of
time. If you've made it this far into this video but you don't understand vector mask,
then I have a video that talks all about them.
So I'll place a link to it down below under the description so you can check it out. Also,
if you want to learn more about Layer Mask, I have another video that talks all about
those.
I'll also place the link to that video down below into the description.
If you enjoy this tutorial or you'll learn a new trick, don't forget to click on that
like button.
Let me know down in the comments below of you plan to create or download this action
and use it in your projects.
And of course, if this is your first time at the Photoshop training channel, then don't
forget to click on that subscribe and notification buttons.
Thank you so much for watching.