Stumped-- Easy Way To Remove people into a Solid Background?

[zendianah]

So.. Here is is.. Another GREAT question from a Newbie, that I would LOVEEE answered cause I have 8 books in front of me and they are giving me info on a program I dont have but may need. That was long...beathe..

Program I have - Photoshop CS2.
Program a couple of books tell me to get :
Corel Knockout
Mask Pro.

Question:

How do I get a clean cutout in minutes as opposed to hours using Photoshop CS2? Is this possible or do I need a program such as Mask Pro?
http://www.ononesoftware.com/detail.php?prodLine_id=4

 

[gmarquez]

Does CS2 have a tool called "The Magic Selection Brush"? If so, that, along with "feather selection" may do what you want, but it will take practice. Do a google search for "Magic Selection Brush" and "photoshop", there should be some online tutorials on how to use it. Hope that helps.

 

[Big Mike]

It depends on several things...like how well the subject contrasts with the background...or how complicated the shape/outline is. For example, it's much easier to extract a bald person than it is to extract someone with frizzy hair.

I like to use a layer mask because it's flexible...you can paint it on or off as much as you want, without doing anything to the actual image. There are many ways to go about creating the layer mask. This is what I have been doing lately...

First I make a curves adjustment layer and adjust the curve so that the contrast between the subject and the background is more defined. Then I make the initial selection. If either the subject or the background is fairly uniform, I'll use the magic wand and just click the areas I want to select. Sometimes it's easier to use the magnetic lasso and trace around the subject. You could also use select/color range...or other techniques. Either way, it may be helpful to use an adjustment layer to make the subject more 'selectable' (this makes it looks silly but we will trash the adjustment layer later).

Once I have the general area selected, I create the mask. Sometimes I feather the selection a little bit so that the edge is not so hard. Oh, don't forget that the mask should be on a duplicate layer...always work with a duplicate layer and leave your base layer alone.

Now I want to fine tune the mask. To make this easier, I create a Solid Color layer and set the opacity to about 20-30%. I drag this layer under the masked layer so that the edges of the mask are now clearly visible.

Then I make the layer mask the active layer and use the paint brush to paint the edge of the mask on or off as required. I zoom right it and use a small brush where it's needed. I change the size and or hardness of the brush as well as changing the opacity. I use black to paint the mask on and white to paint it off. You can use a grey tone, which should be the same as changing the opacity of the brush.

This part may take a few minutes or a long time...depending on the complexity and the level of preciseness that you want to get to.

Once the mask is done, you can drag & drop the subject layer (with mask) onto another background or drag a new background into this image, under the subject.

 

[Moxi]

This is a cinch in PS. I always make sure my Tools window is open.....then click on Magic Wand. As gmarquez said you can set the tolerances for it to clip tighter or closer to the subject. If its a solid background youll have no problems at all.
When your background is selected using the Magic Wand tool you can then go to Edit/Clear or Edit/Fill, or put a new background layer behind it.
Good luck.

 

[zendianah]

WOW... Thank you for the detailed responses . I appreciate that!! You guys ROCK!