Auto Selections in Photoshop with difficult backgrounds

New ai Selection Tools in Photoshop with Difficult edges.

Last week, I made a tutorial showing the quality of the edges in the updated ai selection tools in Photoshop. The results are very good. See the Photoshop selection tutorial here. As we did last week, we compare the results with the current Photoshop 2025 with the new selections in the public beta.I received a number of comments suggesting that I try it on more difficult backgrounds. Last week’s, tutorial was focusing of difficult subjects with fine details and sharp edges, which I think are just as important because 1/2 my selection time it cutting out difficult images on easy backgrounds (they were staged that way when I photographed them, to help in the process). Even with a perfect background, complex images can still be tough. It’s not just a matter of the magic wand tool.

This week, we are looking at complex backgrounds. Watch the video above for a full explanation and quick walk through of each selection. We also closely examine the results against different colored backdrops on the video

Here is the first one. I photographed this with the model (Meghan). It’s a typical outdoor snapshot without any lighting modifiers. I didn’t brighten the image or adjust it in any way (that would make it easier to separate the background).

Choose Select subject

Add a layer mask and put on white background

Note, there are other steps to get a cutout, also using select and mask, so these aren’t completed masks. For this test, we aren’t doing the whole workflow, just the initial selection, so we can clearly see the comparrision.

On the left is the current Photoshop 2025 on the right is the Photoshop beta.

How to get Photoshop beta

Here are the results of the other tests. You can see original backgrounds on the video.

This one I broke from the difficult background, because I never had luck with spokes, even using color range or other tools. It always requires touch up.

Look how clean the spokes are!

Another example, this was against a colorful background.

This one is worth seeing close up.

I hope this helped you see the results a bit better. I’m quite excited about better selection tools in Photoshop, as it will save me a lot of time.

Note, with the new tools, the results still aren’t perfect. They still require a little work from us, but they are a lot better and do save its a lot of work.

Great to see you here at the CAFE

Colin

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