Corel KnockOut 2 is a Photoshop plug-in for Adobe Photoshop, Corel PHOTO-PAINT, or Corel Painter, that lets you isolate and separate a detailed object from an image. It will preserve edge detail such as hair, transparent objects or blurred edges as well as shadows. KnockOut 2 handles both RBG and CMYK images.

Masking is an important aspect of digital photography especially if you are creating digital art pieces where you are compositing objects from separate photographs. It is frustrating and tedious to try to smooth out the rough edges on your detailed objects that can result from the use of traditional masking tools.

Corel KnockOut 2 is a great solution to alleviate these issues and create cleaner objects while preserving fine image details.

It will take you a bit of practice to get used to the method KnockOut employs if you are used to creating masks using the magic wand, lasso or other Photoshop/Corel masking tools. In the past you would just define the border of your object from outside of the edges you wanted to define. With KnockOut, you draw a "mask" just outside of the object you want to isolate. Then draw a second area or "mask" just inside of the object. This defines the "transition area" of your object and ultimately the area you want to "knock out" of your image.

The program determines what the differences between the two masking areas is, and then separates the two images by producing a knocked-out foreground with the original background removed and the mask stored in an alpha channel. After processing, you can determine if your knocked-out area needs to be refined by displaying it against different background colors or another image. You switch between views of the original and the current knocked-out image, and can then make refinements and reprocess until you are satisfied with the results. You can refine your selection by defining the transition complexity, which specifies the number of colors that enter the transition area during processing.

Generally this is all that will be needed to create excellent objects from areas with simple or straightforward edges. However, for more detailed objects there are several tools included that allow you to refine and perfect your objects edges.

The Feathering Tool - The feathering feature allows you to soften the transition area of your graphic when foreground and background colors are very similar. This will help you to avoid jagged areas around the edges of your objects.

The Syringe Tool - This tool helps you to fill in transparent areas in your transition area. These transparent areas can occur when the inside object selection line does not flow through a specific foreground color that appears in the transition area. For example, strands of hair in the transition area can become transparent or disappear since the colors in the strands were not defined as part of the foreground. You can restore these areas by withdrawing a similar color from the foreground and injecting it into the transparent strands. After injecting these areas and reprocessing the image, the strands of hair will become visible.

The Touchup Brush and Touchup Eraser - Use these tools to recover foreground colors that were removed during processing of your "cutout" or remove unwanted background colors that remain after processing.

The Pushpin Tool - Use this tool to designate single pixels in the transition area as foreground detail or as background detail. This allows you be as precise as necessary to create beautifully detailed objects. This tool is useful for preserving detail in a foreground object that is mainly transparent.

The Shadow Feature - This feature allows you to knock out the shadow of an object allowing you to create realistic images complete with the appropriate shadow. The shadow tools work exactly the same way as the knock out tools but are only used for knocking out shadows.

In general, I was very impressed by the masking capabilities of this software. I found the split screen view which allows you to see the original image as well as the canvas you are working on to be quite useful and the documentation was straightforward and to the point. If beautifully detailed objects are what you need to create stunning composites, or precise areas are needed for selective adjustments to your photographs, Corel KnockOut 2 is the ultimate masking tool that will get the job done!!