The "Select And Mask" Feature In Photoshop Doesn't Work Well
There are pros and cons with the new Photoshop CC 2015.5. A pro has been the legacy healing brush and faster overall performance. There's some nice new tools baked in, but one of the tools that just does not work very well is the "Select and Mask" feature.
Having to do composite work on commercial jobs, I usually use the select>color range function as well as channels or luminosity masks. However, the refine edge has really help helpful when getting feathered selections.
With the new Select and Mask engine, the refine edge functionality that I had been used to in previous versions has not worked as well at all. It seems to work okay on simple tasks where the separation is obvious. The issue becomes obvious when you compare the previous version of Photoshop and how well the refine edge feature worked when you really push it. I thought it was just me trying to get used to the new layout, but it was actually the algorithm itself. It has also been slower in my experience.
I searched the web and came across this forum where a few people have this issue:
I then proceeded to ask the Facebook community as well. It seemed to be unanimous in response.
Even with multiple attempts, it just doesn't work. This was after a few minutes of re-doing the selection.
Photo by Bella Kotak
My suggestion would be to keep the previous version of Photoshop version installed so that you can still have the best of both worlds like I have done in times when it is needed.
