Extratcting with Channel Mask using

STEP 1

Load the Girl stock image into Photoshop. We know the ultimate goal is to separate the girl from the rest of the image, but how do we start. Firstly let’s take a look at the image. After those thoughts above, it’s time to get down to business. To begin with, let’s take a look at the channels in the channel palatte and select the “Blue” channel as shown below

 The reason I chose the “Blue” channel here is because it provide the biggest contrast from the model to the background, comparing with the Red and Green channel.

STEP 2

Now we’re on the blue channel. The second thing we’re going to do is to increase the contrast as much as we can, while preserving the hair bits. To do this, we can make a duplication of the “Blue” Channel by right-click and choose “Duplicate channel”.

On the “Blue Copy” channel, go to Image > Adjustment > Brightness /Contrast and apply the following settings

STEP 3
Then hit Ctrl + L and bring up the level adjustments tool, apply the following settings. And you will have the following effect

STEP 4

Now we will have to use the power of the Quick Selection tool to select the light colour part of the girl’s body. To do this, simply grab the Quick Selection tool (W) from the tool box, set the brush size to 2px and tick “Auto-Enhance” option, make a selection of the white part as shown below.

Now we will have to use the power of the Quick Selection tool to select the light colour part of the girl’s body. To do this, simply grab the Quick Selection tool (W) from the tool box, set the brush size to 2px and tick “Auto-Enhance” option, make a selection of the white part as shown below. De-select the image when you’re done, if you see a white gap on the girl body, simply use a black brush to fill it

STEP 5

Now you will see around the girl’s body (which is in Black), there are some areas cover in dark grey color. We must get rid of them in order to make our selection better. To do this, simply use the Quick Selection Tool to make a selection around the girl, then press Ctrl + Shift + I and inverse this selection. Grab the Eraser Tool to gently erase those dark gray bits off. 

The reason we make the selection is that by doing so, we will not accidentally erase the parts on the girl’s body.

Here is the effect so far

STEP 6

Now we can go back to the layer palatte, go to select > load selection and choose the following

And you will see now the model is selected

STEP 7

Press Ctrl + J and make a duplication of the selection, and create a new layer in between and fill it with white

color, you will see we have now successfully made a pretty good selection for the girl model.



STEP 8
Now we can of course fine tune the image a bit by using the Sharpen Filter. Go to Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen and apply the following settings.Now we can of course fine tune the image a bit by using the Sharpen Filter. Go to Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen and apply the following settings

STEP 9
Now we have a perfect girl image, without any background and great to work on as a starting point. It’s time to use your imagination and creativity. I simply use some custom brushsets from qbrushes.com and add some patterns in the background, adjusted the color balance a bit.