Coming Extraction

Making selections is often the least fun part of working in Photoshop. Sure, CS3 will have the new Quick Selection brush and Refine Edge tool, but even those are of limited help to the beleaguered retoucher pulling a brown-haired person off a brown-toned background. This year's PMA brings word of a new version of a program that should attempt to help you out in those difficult selection circumstances, and will be of especial service if you find yourself making selections often.

Vertus Fluid Mask 3.0 arrives in the next month or so, and will cost the same as the current version: $199. Fluid mask comes as a standalone or a plug-in, and works by dividing your image, much like a jigsaw puzzle, into lots of tiny segments. Give the program an idea of which you want to keep and which you want to discard, refine with some of the smart blending and edge decontamination tools, and you've got a cut out that you can use. The latest go-round boasts a an interface that seems a lot easier to navigate and presents very helpful tips as you work.