Photoshop’s New Beta Makes Selective Editing Easier Than Ever

Photoshop’s ability to make precise selections has taken another step forward. If you frequently work with portraits or group shots, this new beta update introduces a significant improvement that simplifies editing specific areas of an image.

Coming to you from Glyn Dewis, this helpful video explores the latest update to Photoshop Beta, showcasing its advanced "Select People" feature. This tool not only identifies individuals in a photo but also breaks down their features into editable components like hair, clothing, and accessories. For example, if you want to adjust the color of a subject’s shirt or the brightness of their face, the feature allows for precise selections. Dewis demonstrates how this works by using a photo of himself and friends, showing how Photoshop applies custom masks tailored to each person. This level of customization ensures selections are specific to individual features, like identifying a beard for one subject or a hat for another.

The update also introduces a "Show More" option, which expands the available masks. You can now select detailed elements such as upper body skin, accessories, or even specific garments like coats. Dewis demonstrates this by editing the color of his shirt and jeans, using the Hue and Saturation adjustment layer to make subtle but impactful changes. The process highlights how much faster and more intuitive this tool makes precise adjustments. While the feature isn’t perfect—it sometimes misses areas or includes unnecessary sections—Dewis emphasizes that it’s still in beta and will likely improve over time.

If you’re working on group shots or want more control over selective adjustments, this feature could save you considerable time. Its ability to handle complex selections with ease makes it a valuable addition for anyone looking to improve their editing precision. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Dewis.

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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10 Comments

Pretty rad. I didn't see it mentioned, granted it's still in beeta, if those new AI maskings are going to be adaptive capable.

this has been in Adobe Camera Raw in a slightly simpler form for some time now

True, but, ACR can't perform automated AI masking tasks for batch editing purposes. You would have to manually click on a preset (or manually create masks) and then return back to PS…for each image. Imagine having to do that with dozens or hundreds of images.

With the new AI options being natively in PS, you can just create actions for full automation.

but in LR!

Yes. I'm aware. But, this topic is about PS, not LR.

Would you actually trust all those auto produced masks to be clean and accurate?

Yes, otherwise, I wouldn't be using them. I wouldn't be batting for them. AI masking has been around at least 3 years so they've pretty much have it down to near perfection. At worst, it's good enough to where no one can tell.

Much as I rate Glyn very highly as a YouTuber photographer, and always watch his videos and take note of his advice, when it comes to photoshop selection tools it’s quite a different story. I do a fair number of composite images using studio shot people, plants and various objects, so making clean selections is fundamental. Shooting with selections in mind is also pretty important. I’ve a number of figures all shot for composites taken against a reasonably lit 50% grey backdrop. All images shot on a 61MP Sony low ISO all pretty sharp. I used the 55mm Zeiss known for its sharpness. I’ve found selections made are just not accurate or consistent. Even when there is a clear contrasting edge photoshop often fails to find and select it properly. I find while it may select some edges of limbs perfectly others will be broken up. I’m at a loss to figure out why PS will pull a mask perfectly for the right leg and left arm but not the other two limbs. This has gone on for years and I hope with each new release that things will improve. Unfortunately I found this not to be the case. Rather than Adobe putting in all these ‘fancy’ masking tools, I’d rather they fixed the basics and get the object selection tool to select objects accurately and consistently. I’ve never been able to work out why these problems exist. My computer and hardware are way over spec for heavy photoshop use so the only cause I can see for my problems is flaky Adobe code. If anyone can cast any light on this problem I’d be grateful. I’ve just updated PS beta so fingers crossed.

Sounds like what you speak of is not the new AI features, but rather the old school method where it's trying to guess what you want. With the new people selection AI, it's targeting very specific parts of people so it's going to be much more accurate and consistent. Is it perfect, of course not. Nothing is. That's why there's the ability to adjust, feather, and refine the selections.

I suppose it all depends how pernickety you want to be. In my case there is nothing worse that seeing flaws in masks on composite images it’s just degrades the whole image. I’ve tried using every feature Photoshop has to offer and I said I find it consistently inconsistent with or without the help of AI.