I have no idea if there is an equivalent in PSP, but what Refine Edge does is it allows you to modify the selection (or the mask). You can blur it or sharpen it, grow or contract it, and smooth it (which is similar to blur, but not as obvious, I don't know how to explain it).
So I think it's closest to blurring the masked layer (or feathering the selection). I assume you keep your layers and masks in PSP, too? So what you could do is after you mask and before you resize down, you can slightly blur the mask - this way the cutout doesn't turn out quite as sharp.
But it's really just a tiny bit - if you blur it too much, it will look weird, too. It takes some experimenting (and depends on how much bigger the original is than the finished icon).
My usual process is doing that stamp layer thing and blur at the very end. I hate stamping, but I haven't found a better way for removing the pesky artifacts yet.
I always have trouble with it. Too sharp, too soft - sometimes I have trouble seeing the difference. It looks different in my graphics program, on imgur and on the DW page, so I'm never quite sure if I've got it right!
Phew, IKR? I've been getting "too sharp" concrit for the longest time until it turned into "too blurry". /o\
Even though I'm still never sure what is too sharp and what is too blurry, I think I learned something trying to get it right, at least. :) Now I just do it so it looks right on my screen in PS while I make the icon. If it looks bad on another monitor, well. Tough luck. :)
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Re: LIYM
Date: 2017-05-07 03:54 pm (UTC)I have no idea if there is an equivalent in PSP, but what Refine Edge does is it allows you to modify the selection (or the mask). You can blur it or sharpen it, grow or contract it, and smooth it (which is similar to blur, but not as obvious, I don't know how to explain it).
So I think it's closest to blurring the masked layer (or feathering the selection). I assume you keep your layers and masks in PSP, too? So what you could do is after you mask and before you resize down, you can slightly blur the mask - this way the cutout doesn't turn out quite as sharp.
But it's really just a tiny bit - if you blur it too much, it will look weird, too. It takes some experimenting (and depends on how much bigger the original is than the finished icon).
My usual process is doing that stamp layer thing and blur at the very end. I hate stamping, but I haven't found a better way for removing the pesky artifacts yet.
I always have trouble with it. Too sharp, too soft - sometimes I have trouble seeing the difference. It looks different in my graphics program, on imgur and on the DW page, so I'm never quite sure if I've got it right!
Phew, IKR? I've been getting "too sharp" concrit for the longest time until it turned into "too blurry". /o\
Even though I'm still never sure what is too sharp and what is too blurry, I think I learned something trying to get it right, at least. :) Now I just do it so it looks right on my screen in PS while I make the icon. If it looks bad on another monitor, well. Tough luck. :)