Cloak looks not as stern as always but Jesse Jane as Dagger looks wonderful!

For getting a whole figure out of the backround I use Extract under filters. For details like the center cutout on Dagger- I use the pen tool to make a nice smooth workpath of the outine of the design. Then go into Quickmask, get about a 3 pixel paintbrush and on the path menue use Stroke Path with Current Tool. That usually makes a nice edge that I can then fill in the rest via paint bucket or by hand. Then exit quickmask, invert the selection if needed and maybe layer via copy if I need it on a new layer ot just want the original layer untouched.

Gouge

You know, a way that I have been doing edges for a while is to mask off the area that I want to color, and then airbrush it or whatever, and then draw a same-color line around the edge (usually on another layer). After you get through with drawing the line, you can combine the line layer and the color layer, and the edges look sharp enough.

Step 1 - a pair of legs:


Step 2 - select and airbrush a colored band on the leg (do this on a separate layer):


Step 3 - On a separate layer draw a nice clean line around the airbrushed part (same color). The airbrushed part is not visible here:


Step 4 - Merge the colored band layer and the line layer, and you now have a band with nice clean edges!

Definitely turn off the feathering, because you want those edges to be sharp. Be sure to work within an active selection, and check how your edges hold up as you progress by using a neutral background. If you see a problem developing fix it right away.

In this image it looks as though you were missing edge detail. If that's the case you need to replace it. I suggest you work in greyscale and then add color on an upper layer. Another good trick is to work 30 to 40 percent larger than what you will post at. So if this is the original size reduce it when you create your jpeg and some of the problems may be obscured by the averaging your software will do.