Selecting detailed edges-image included

I haven't figured out how to best select detailed edges in PSE 7. I've been using the magnetic lasso tool. It seems the most anchor points should produce the best results but I still usually miss it somewhere. In the image below I selected the sky and Mt Rainier and you can easily see the spots that aren't accurately selected at the foothills and the mountain. After several attempts this is the best I came up with. Am I using the wrong tool? Would using a tablet help? Thanks for any responses.

Bruce - I wouldn't imagine a tablet would help directly - they're not designed to be more precise than your mouse or anything, just a different input method.

The magnetic lasso tool is pretty good but isn't perfect. In a case like this, perfectly selecting the edge would probably require zooming in close, and carefully selecting what you want all along the edge in multiple steps. It can be pretty time consuming.

Of course, it's possible that you don't quite need a perfect selection. Rarely in an image are transitions perfect edges, so feathering or soft transitions can help. If you feather your selection it will create a gentler transition all along the selected area and give a more natural blend. The amount of feathering, of course depends on how quickly you want to transition. In a hard edge case, a couple of pixels helps, but you'll still need a very good selection.

This is a suggestion based on Ps, not PsE, so not sure if the program has this feature... Once you've made a selection, try using Select > refine edge... (or Modify) and expand the selection a couple of pixels. Still need a good original selection, which yes, is time consuming. Hopefully others can add to our knowledge base on this?

Nice shot, too, btw- very seasonal image of the mountain and surrounding area.

Here's more info and tips on the topic of Halos

--P

It appears that what you are trying to do is to adjust the sky and the mountain separately from the foreground. I don't know is Ps Elements has layers but if it does I recommend doing it on a separate layer. You can select the sky just as you have done then press Ctrl>J to create a duplicate layer with just the selected area. Make your adjustments, create a layer mask and then use a soft brush set to 50% black on the layer mask to soften the transition from sky to foreground. You may also want to change the blend mode to multiply and reduce the opacity of your sky layer. This works great for toning down and adding detail to overly bright skies.

Thanks for the responses. I been on Tony Kuyper's site and I'm going to learn to apply his luminosity masks. Seems like a much easier and more effective approach than manually selecting.

Just saw this post, so I'm late in joining the discussion. When I need accurate selections in PSE6 I use the Quick Selection tool to get the bulk of my selection. Then I right-click the same tool and select Selection Brush. Then I zoom way in and work the edges. If you select too much, you can just hold down the alt key and it work as a 'deselect' tool.

This process can be a bit tedious, but I've been happy with the results.

This is one of the toughest things to do in PS. There are many methods. One is to use the magic want tool at varying degrees of tolerance while holding the command (alt?) key down for multiple selections. Zoom in and more precisely select the smaller areas as you go. Tony's masks select by tonality and are graduated. They're nice. Oh, also practice for a few years.....