How to Cut Out a Subject with the Pen Tool Photoshop | Day 26

Welcome to Day 26 of 30 Days of Photoshop! Today Aaron shows you how to master the Pen tool by cutting a gingerbread man cleanly out of its background, the go-to technique for anything with a solid, well-defined edge. Automatic tools like the Magnetic Lasso and Quick Selection tool struggle when an edge isn't clean or high-contrast, but the Pen tool gives you total, editable control. We'll cover creating straight and curved paths, editing points after the fact, and turning a finished path into a clean cutout with a layer mask. CHAPTERS 00:00 Why the Pen Tool Beats Automatic Selections 03:11 Pen Tool Basics: Paths and Selections 06:25 Editing and Repositioning Path Points 08:02 Drawing Smooth Curves with the Pen Tool 10:30 Tracing the Gingerbread Man's Edge 12:22 Handling Angles and Reactivating Paths 15:12 Refining Detail and Smoothing the Shape 16:51 Turning the Path into a Cutout THE STEPS 1. Grab the Pen Tool, set it to Path mode, bump the thickness to about 3 pixels, and turn on Rubber Band and Auto Add/Delete in the options bar 2. Click around an object to create straight-line path segments, closing the path back at your starting point 3. Rename your saved work path in the Paths panel, then Command/Control-click its thumbnail to load it as a selection 4. Hold Command/Control and drag any point to reposition it, or hover and click to add or remove points 5. Click and drag instead of just clicking to create curved segments, using Command/Control to reshape a curve or Option/Alt to break a handle into a sharp corner 6. Trace the subject's actual edge, holding spacebar to reposition your view and Command/Control to fine-tune points as you go 7. At hard corners, click without dragging for a sharp point, then click and drag again to resume curving in the new direction 8. Right-click the finished path, choose Make Selection, then click the Layer Mask button and invert it with Command/Control+I to cut your subject cleanly out of its background Download the Sample Image: https://phlearn.com/30-days-26-cut-ou... Join the 30 Days of Photoshop Challenge: https://phlearn.com/30-days-of-photos... PHLEARN PRO: Want to keep leveling up your compositing and selection skills after the challenge? Check out PHLEARN PRO at phlearn.com/pro ――――――――――――――― What is PHLEARN PRO? ● Instant access to over 1,000 Photoshop and photography tutorials ● New tutorials added every week ● Download sample images and project files to follow along ● Ask questions and get feedback from a community of creatives Use code PRO26 for a discount on your first month of PHLEARN PRO Follow PHLEARN: Instagram:   / phlearn   Facebook:   / phlearn   Twitter:   / phlearn   #Photoshop #PenTool #30DaysOfPhotoshop