Feathering Photoshop Magnetic Lasso in Photoshop

This a tutorial on feathering and how to use the feather. Step 1 : I have opened this image in Photoshop. I intend to place the dancers on another background.

Step 2 : In the Layers/Channels/Paths pallette double click on the Background'. This will cause the New Layer dialogue box (shown on the left) to open. Click ok in the New Layer dialogue box.

Step 3 : Notice that Background has changed to Layer 0 (zero). The purpose of the exercise is to make the Background layer editable by transforming it into a layer. A background cannot be edited.
Step 4 : Click the Magnetic Lasso Tool.
Step 5 : Click the Zoom Tool (above) and you will find the magnifying glasses with a plus and minus sign on the top panel. The one with the plus sign zooms in and the one with the minus sign zooms out. You can use the [ ] (bracket) keys. [ is for zooming out and ] for zooming in.
Step 6 : I have used the Zoom tool to Zoom in on the image.

Step 7 : I used the Magnetic Lasso tool to click points. If you click a point wrongly, just hit the DELETE key on your keyboard to remove it and continue.

Step 8 : When you come back to the first point you have clicked the selection will turn into a column of 'marching ants'. See above.

Step 9 : Go to Select>Feather.
Step 10 : From the Feather Selection dialogue box which pops up I have chosen 2 pixel as the feather radius. You can put any value in the box. It will depend on how much you want to feather or soften the edge of the image. Click ok.
Step 11 : Press CTRL+J on the keyboard. This will cut and paste the selection to another layer - Layer 1. Click off the 'eye' icon on the layer thumbnail on Layer 0.
Step 12 : The background of the image has been removed. Now let us look at it on a white background.
Step 13 : Open a new white layer and Press SHIFT on the keyboard and simultaneously drag it onto the image.
Step 14 : Keeping the SHIFT pressed while dragging the new white layer onto the image layer makes it land exactly in the middle. Remember this trick.
Step 15 : Press ALT on the keyboard while dragging one of the corner handles of the white layer and it will increase proportionately till it covers the entire image layer.
Step 16 : Click the Move Tool and click Apply when the Apply Transformation dialogue opens.
Step 17 : Go to Layer>Arrange>Send To Back.
Step 18 : Here is how the dancers transplanted on the white background look. There are no jagged contours. The feathering has eliminated them. You can easily change the background by dragging any other picture behind the dancers.
Step 19 : I have zooned in on the dancers to show how smooth the edges are. If I had not feathered them they would have appeared jagged.
Step 20 : Click off the 'eye' icon on the white layer and the dancers again appear on a transparent background.
Step 21 : I have opened this image in Photoshop on which I will transpose the dancers.

Step 22 : Click on the Dancers (Layer1) to select it.

Step 23 Now drag the dancers to the highway image keeping SHIFT key pressed.

Step 24 : Since the image of the dancers is of higher resolution compared to the highway image they appear large. It has to be resized.

Step 25 : Drag the image to one side till you can see a corner handle.

Step 26 : If you cannot see the the corner handles look at the top panel. The Show Tranform Controls should be ticked. In Photoshop7 it is called the 'Bounding Box' and is found in the same place. Ensure that it is ticked.

Step 27 : Keeping the ALT ket pressed on the keyboard resize the image. After you are done click the Move Tool on the left panel or any other tool.

Step 28 : When you click the Move Tool or any other tool after resizing, this dialogue box pops up. Click Apply.
The finished image. I have added a realistic drop shadow. To learn how to add a drop shadow and manipulate it. Click here.