The Fluid Mask plugin is now available to download as a free trial for the Mac only at the moment.

I've given it a whirl and found it very impressive. There are the usual brush tools for applying mask areas by hand and a pen tool for adjusting bits pixel by pixel if you need to. I have to say it does a terrific job all on its own of calculating the edges of objects automatically and applying different masks to parts of the images you want to keep and those you don't.

Well worth trying out even if you do swear by the might of the Pen Tool.

Neil.

Sorry to dig up this old thread of mine, but I've just noticed a Windows version of this plugin has finally been released and they've reduced the original price of the software substantially. Still worth looking at if you can't handle the Pen tool.

Neil.

Hmmm....

$250. is the reduced price?

I think I'll just USE THE PEN TOOL!!!!!!!!

*looks at Neil's portfolio*

Nada

Who thinks Neil is just trying to increase his sales?

*raises hand*

I tried to used the pen tool... it scratched my monitor... and stained it with ink...

I use the magnetic lasso, and the magic wand if it is a starkly different back ground. Someone needs to rewrite the tutorial on the pen tool I understand it about as much as I would understand King Tut if he were talking to me.

How about we all use this pot to give us newbies some good pointers.

JJ Glendenning - Thank you everyone...

My hats off to masters of this site, the pen tool really does work after I read that tutorial written in Egyptian that is posted on here.

Just a couple of questions, what is the anti-ailiases (spelled wrong?)

When I should I feather and not feather?

*holds up skull

to feather or not to feather, that is the question!

To feather or not to to feather is indeed the question to ponder. With no clear answer I bow to the masters of PSC in hopes of a marvelous answer.

if you use the pen, once you're done with you cutout shape, press ctrl+enter, this will select your shape. Click on the layer where you wanna make the cutout in the layers palette, then click on the icon of a rectangle with a circle within, located in the layer's palette footer. Now you should have your layer "cutout", more precisely it's masked. On your layer in the layers palette, on the right of the small preview it should have appeared a chain symbol and a black/white thumbnail. That's your mask, you mask objects with 100% black and reveal them with 100% white, any shade of gray in the black/white spectrum will give you a different opacity for that mask. Now that your item is masked, you can work on the mask if the contours of it seem too hard, by clicking on the b/w thumbnail in the layers palette, start blurring the edges of your mask with the blur tool, see what happens. experiment.

you're welcome...

I like to use the channels pallete along with levels and the brush tool (paint with black or white)...to isolate tricky objects such as trees ...etc. The Pen will always be a great tool for most to use.

I find the quick mask and pen tool to be similar timewise, but depending on the image you are cutting out sometiems one or the other will work better (or faster). The pen tool has some great uses besides the cutout however. For instance,make an arced path and stroke it with a textured brush and it makes a convincing water wake or dirt being kicked up by a vehicle wheel.