Remove alpha channel from selection

[DonPenny]

When using the refine feature with selection and applying a mask the resulting mask is grayscaled. This might be nice for most cases, bot not in mine. Is there an option so the selection is 100% just the pixels which are shown in the UI? Best case would be an option to remove the Alpha of the selection or whatever causes this.

Or can I maybe apply a treshold to the mask layer?

Regards

[Dan C]

Hi @DonPenny,

Welcome to the forums

So that I can better understand your query here, could you please provide a screen recording showing the steps you're taking, and the unwanted result you're seeing?

If you're unsure how to take a screen recording, please check out our FAQ linked below - 

Many thanks in advance!

[DonPenny]

Hey Dan,

thank you! Sure no problem I want to get round edges but not the greyscaled mask or the alpha channel in selection in general. Just true or false, selected or not selected.

Regards

Edited December 19, 2020 by DonPenny

[Dan C]

Many thanks for that!

You don't need to use the Refine option after creating your selection, as this is adding a 10% border to your selection which is why you're seeing semi-transparency in the mask.

After creating your selection with the Selection Brush, simply click on the mask icon beneath the layers panel and this will generate a mask with a clean edge.

I hope this helps

[DonPenny]

4 hours ago, Dan C said:

Many thanks for that!

You don't need to use the Refine option after creating your selection, as this is adding a 10% border to your selection which is why you're seeing semi-transparency in the mask.

After creating your selection with the Selection Brush, simply click on the mask icon beneath the layers panel and this will generate a mask with a clean edge.

I hope this helps

Hey Dan,

first of all thank you for your answer! I would like to use the refine tool to round the edges, but as far as i can tell, with a border of 0% it does not work. Is there maybe a way to apply a treshold to the mask? This would work fine too I guess

[NotMyFault]

Hi @DonPenny,

if you want a "perfect" mask with only 0 / 1, you have several options which might work better than "classical" masks:

1. Start with a new (empty) mask layer, and paint the mask using a sharp round brush (fill, opacity and hardness all set to 100%, color 100% white ).

2. Use a suitable vector shape with fill color set to white, atop you pixel layer. Then sent it to "mask to below"

3. Use the pen tool to create any shape you need. You may "convert to curves" a vector shape from step 2 for additional fine tuning.

Regards,

Timo

[Dan C]

13 hours ago, DonPenny said:

first of all thank you for your answer! I would like to use the refine tool to round the edges, but as far as i can tell, with a border of 0% it does not work.

No problem at all, happy to help!

This depends on what you mean by 'round the edges' of your selection. If you're looking to simply make the selection smoother, try selecting 'Soft Edges' on the context toolbar before creating the selection with your selection brush. As can be seen from the mask created below, the left was selected without Soft Edges, the right was selected with it enabled - 

As you can see, the edges of the selection are slightly blurred, which provides a much softer edge to the selection.

Is this they type of thing you're looking for, or have I misunderstood your question here?