Photographs have been edited since the early 1860s, which is shocking since the first photograph was only developed in 1814. These days it’s extremely easy to edit photos. You don’t need to physically alter the image anymore; with photo editing software, you can simply use image masking to achieve your goals.
Keep reading to find out more about the three things you should know about image masking.
1. Non-Destructive Technique
The main reason image masking is such an important photo editing technique is that it isn’t destructive. When erasing a background through any technique, it can be incredibly difficult to get it back if you make a mistake.
With image masking, you can easily hide the background without destroying it. This way, you can bring the background back if you want it.
This technique allows you to isolate your image from the background, which allows you to make changes to the image more easily. Using the same technique, you can also change small elements in your images, like changing the color of a shirt if you’re doing product photography.
2. Replacing the Background of Translucent Objects
If you’ve ever used a free background removal tool, you’ll know that translucent items don’t fare well. Well, with image masking, you can fix this issue.
Translucent items like glass or plastic show up more often than you might think in photographs. Simply think of the number of people that wears glasses.
Since image masking can separate all subjects of an image precisely, you can hone in on the translucent materials to ensure the new background you place in the image also shows up through the glass or plastic.
If you use a clipping path to remove the background and there are translucent materials in the image, the original background will still be visible. This is because these editing techniques focus on cutting out the image instead of masking the background.
3. Masking Isn’t Clipping
When it comes to removing a background, the main competitors are clipping paths and image masking. The battle of clipping path vs masking can be quite confusing as you end up with the same result.
Simply put, image masking is best if you’re working with complex images. Masking images gives you more control as you can use blending and color separation techniques to reduce the harshness of the cutout. This is incredibly useful if you’re trying to remove the background of more organic images.
Image Masking Made Easy
Image masking is one of the most important photo editing techniques to master. Not only will it help you gain a better understanding of a variety of photo editing tools, but you’ll also have smoother and more professional-looking images. Simply removing the background from an image might seem easy, but to do it well, you need to fully grasp how image masking works.
Feel free to check out our blog for more interesting photography tips and tricks.
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