Photoshop Elements

Hi there,

Was wondering which of the following tools will allow me to cut out and image from a background while maintaining a smooth edge without the edges being jagged on the image: Elliptical Marquee, Magnetic Lasso, or the Magic Wand Tool? Thanks.

 

Define smooth edge---If you are referring to a feathered edge then all the above mentioned tools will allow you to feather the edge.

 

Hi there,

I'm not exactly sure what the Feathered Edge Tool Does? Will it allow me to smooth out and eliminate the jagged edges on an image? If so, I'll give it a try. Thanks for your help.

 

There isn’t a specific feathered edge tool. It is a setting you can apply to tools like you have chosen. It causes the edge to not just stop but gradually disappear. You choose how gradual by how many pixels you tell it to feather. Look up “feather” in the Elements help file.

Feathering is for a quick and dirty job. If you just want to do a quick job with the magnetic lasso or magic wand and not have to refine the selection feathering is a good idea. The amount varies with the resolution of the image. If I want a selection to look good I blow up sections and use quick mask or one of the regular selection tools to get the selection exact. I seldom feather a selection.

Feathering is good for montages where you want the individual images to blend together. It even works sometimes if you want to replace a sky, but if you want to replace somebody’s head feathering makes it look artificial if you use it to make up for doing a sloppy job on the selection.

Keep in mind that the Shift key will add to a selection and the Alt key subtract. If Elements has a quick mask that is the best way to clean up a selection.