FEATHERING IN PHOTO PAINT
At this point, I've finished cutting out the object from the background. I've activated the high-contrast layer and turned off the background copy, so you can see straight through from the object layer down to the high-contrast layer. I then zoomed in on the image and panned around, looking for artifacts. After finding and erasing a few, I'm now ready to create a mask from the object.
If you want to soften the edges, you’ll need to apply feathering. However, if you try to access the feathering option under the Mask command right now by going to Mask > Outline, you’ll notice it's grayed out. This is because a mask hasn’t been created from the object yet. To do that, go to Create and select "Mask from Object."
Now that we've created a mask, we can apply feathering. Go back to the Mask menu, select Mask > Outline, and you'll see that the feathering option is now active. Click on it to bring up the Feathering dialog box. You'll notice that the image changes because the preview icon in the lower left is activated, which alters the background to show the feathering effect.
The feathering effect creates a soft edge around the object. In the dialog box, you have several options for feathering. The "Direction" setting controls how the feathering is applied. By default, it feathers from the outside of the object to the inside, which is what we want, but you can choose other options by clicking on the drop-down menu. Your options are Inside, Middle, Outside, and Average.
Next, you have the "Edges" drop-down menu, where you can choose between Linear and Curved feathering. In most cases, I recommend using Linear, as it provides a smooth transition from transparent to opaque.
In this situation, a feather width of five is enough to create the transition we're looking for. You could use a higher value, but that would create a broader feather, potentially distorting the edge of the object against the background and revealing parts of the background that you don’t want visible. In this case, five works perfectly. Click OK to apply the feathering, and you’re done.