How does one get X8 to feather an edge?

[Djard007]

I had no difficulty feathering edges of objects, using JASC PSP v9. I cannot get version X8 to render the effect at all. Hopefully some kind soul will correct the steps I tried below. Typically, the manual offers the WHAT and not the HOW. In a test, I painted a white circle inside a black square, against a white background. Maybe feathering does not work with B&W images.

1. Select Magic Wand tool.
2. Mode: Replace -> Match mode: Color (for shading as intimated in the "help" file, but I tried them all).
3. Tolerance: 8 -> Contiguous -> Feather 10 (for 720 x 720 pixel image).
4. Click on black -> marquee appears without any visible effect.

So I continued with the following steps:

5. Selections (upper text menu) -> Modify -> Feather.
6. Check "Preview on Image" -> set feather amount to 15. The "After" preview window shows feathering,
7. OK. The marquee appears larger, but still no feathering applied to the edges. There is no "Apply" in the upper menu.

What must I do to get X8 to feather an edge?

[LeviFiction]

Unless I'm misunderstanding what you're asking, Feather only feathers the selection, it doesn't feather the selected pixels. As far as I know this has always been the case even with PSP9. Feather never effected the pixels, only the selection. In order to see the effect of feather, you have to perform some effect on the layer. Such as using the paint brush, eraser, hitting the delete key, or anything from the Adjust or Effects menu.

Here's a video where I show two ways feather can be used to give a soft edge around something.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8FlFL ... NsYVU/view

[Djard007]

Thank you so much for sparing your valuable time to help me.

Do I understand correctly that you illustrated two methods of applying feathering to an edge: 1) choosing gray and painting around the rectangle with a brush that has the hardness set to zero, and 2) use two layers, where the object to be feathered is surrounded by transparency and the background layer is non-transparent because that is what you have. You had to have created a new Raster layer, painted the rectangle as your object then created a non-transparent layer as your background, painted white. I apologize for being a poor student, but I find applying your steps to my project impossible.

Of the two methods you kindly shared, the second appeals to me; since the tone of edges of the object I need to feather vary widely. But I can only get the effect to appear in the "After" preview window of the Feather tool. I apologize for being such a poor student. To help you help me, I include the steps I used below. Would you mind correcting where I fail? To replicate your steps, here is what I understand that I must do, which surely is impractical as my image is not surrounded by transparency like yours.

1. Remove the background from object to be feathered and make everything transparent, except for the object to be feathered.
2. Create a new raster layer as the background and paint it white.
3. Select Magic Wand tool -> select feather amount.
4. Select object layer -> click in area you wish to feather.
5. Selection (upper text menu) -> Modify -> Inside/Outside feather.
6. Select "Inside" -> set "Feather amount" -> OK.
7. Selections -> Invert.
8. Selections -> Select none.
9. Click on background layer in Layers palette -> hide the layer.
10. Merge all?

I still get no feathering. I know this is all simple for the expert, but for a beginner feathering is extremely complicated. I hope you have the patience to take me through the final step.

[LeviFiction]

So what you're missing in your steps there is between steps 7 and 8. I hit the "Delete" key to delete all of the pixels in the current selection.

[Djard007]

That worked! And I do not need to follow step 1 and 2.Thank you. Thank you Levi.

[Troy at TheGTAMblog]

If I may pop in on this, while learning how to use PSPx7, I found myself utilizing the Gradient Fill to feather one layer into another.

You use the same steps as the knowledgeable Levi has already stated about Editing the Selection; but as an option, use the Gradient Fill to Feather the edge of it. It will go across the 'entire image' (as it is a 'fill'); but all you have to do is feather along the 'edge' you want, then cut away the portions you don't want. This way, you can also make use of the Radial ("Sunburst") and Rectangular Gradients, too. You can even repeat the steps of feathering the Selection to tailor this further. You can also still use the Eraser and other Tools to tailor the Selection when applying this, before you even exit the Selection Editor (such as applying a large brush with low Hardness, etc).

I really wish we could just 'click two spots' in PSP and it would Feather that layer/selection/etc... Maybe I'll mention this in the Wishlist Thread... I hope that helps, though!

[Djard007]

Thanks for the option. Because the feather tool proved too restrictive and unsuitable for my project, I ended up using freehand selection, drawing strips along the edge then applying a gaussian blur. It worked nicely. I wish the feather tool or expand tool would work with Magic Wand on irregular shapes, like my painted hair outline (custom brush); but the inversion removes the subject's face. I'm quite disappointed with the feather tool. I thought applying a gradient but it seems labor-intensive, but I will try what you suggest. Thank you kindly.