Add outline to subject in Photoshop

Published on March 17, 2023

Create an outline around your subject

In this blog I’ll show you how to add a outline / stroke to your subject in Adobe Photoshop.

Rather watch the video with instructions? Then click here or scroll down to the end of this page.

Step 1: Select and mask subject

Open the photo you want to edit. Then press CTRL+J to duplicate the background layer.

Navigate to ‘Select > Subject‘. Photoshop will then select the subject for you. If you want to use another method/tool to select your subject, that’s fine too!

When the subject is selected, create a mask. The subject is now masked.

Step 2: Add outline to subject

Click on the fx icon below your layers and select ‘stroke‘.

You can find the settings I used in the image below. Adjust the stroke size to change the thickness of the outline. I make the stroke white, but you can also use a different color. Click on the color box to pick a color.

As you can see in the image below, the stroke is pretty rough and jagged right now. In the next step I’ll show you how to fix that.

Step 3: Smoothen outline

Click on the layer mask and select ‘select and mask‘.

I increase the smoothness (smooth slider) and I select ‘decontaminate colors‘. This will make the selection smoother, and therefore the outline will be smoother too.

You can also use the quick selection tool to select or deselect certain areas. I want to deselect the eyelashes. Press and hold ALT to subtract.