Adobe Photoshop CS6 Top 100 Simplified Tips and Tricks by Lynette Kent

PAINT A QUICK MASK to make a detailed selection
You can select a rectangular or elliptical area with the
marquee tools or select free-form or geometric areas
with the lasso tools, or make other selections with the
Quick Selection tool. You can also use the Brush tool
in Quick Mask mode to make a detailed selection or to
adjust any previously selected area.
The Quick Mask mode is an editing mode in which
protected areas are covered with a translucent
colored mask. You paint directly on the areas you
want to select, adjusting the brush size as you work
to make the selection more precise. The quick mask
covers the area with a translucent red so you can see
what you are selecting. You can also specify a
different masking color if the area you are selecting
has a lot of red in it.
Using this masking technique, you are actually
masking the areas you paint, so you must invert the
selection before making any adjustments. The areas
you painted over are then selected, and the
remainder of the image is now masked.
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1 Click the Zoom tool and click and
drag to enlarge the area you
want to select.
2 Click the Default Colors icon to
set the foreground color to black
and the background to white.
3 Click the Quick Mask Mode
button.
4 Click the Brush tool.
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5 Click the Brush Preset drop-down
menu to open the Brush picker.
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6 Select a hard-edged brush.
7 Click and drag the Size slider to
adjust the size.
8 Paint over the areas you want to
select.
The painted areas are covered
with a red translucent mask.
Note: Press the left bracket key to
reduce the brush size as you work
in detailed areas.
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