Photoshop Selection Tools

This is one of my assignments from my Game Design class. We were given the task of using the basic selection tools of Photsohop to cut out the following images. The objective was to get as clean a cut as possible with only the selection tools and Quick Mask.

Image 1

For this first image here I started out with the magic wand tool to get rid of the white background. I made multiple selections around the woman and from there i started using the quick mask tool to get into the major problem areas. It was a tedious process but I went in and masked out the majority of the white spaces in between the sections of hair. I made sure to use a brush with 0 hardness so as to prevent the cut from looking like a cardboard cut out. For the most part I used mainly used my tablet and my mouse to get the best results i could using Quick Mask.

 Image 2

This second image was much more difficult than the first one.  While there was less overall hair to deal with the outdoor background this image had made getting a precision cut more difficult. I tried to mix things up and use the Magnetic lasso but it required more patience than I was willing to give. I tried to used the marquee tools before I went back to the magic wand and Quick mask combination but my results weren't as good as with my first picture.