Photoshop gurus... how do you get rid of the background?

[Dcclerk]

I guess that pretty much says it all. I, and apparently everyone who ever gives me pictures of DS, have an uncanny ability to be so mesmerized by my son while taking his pictures that we somehow miss the absolute crap that ends up in the background. Think unmade bed, clothes on the floor, dirty car, trash on the sidewalk... you get the picture-- wherever my camera is, so is a crappy background.

I know that a lot of announcement companies say that they will get rid of the background when they make up your announcements, so I'm wondering how they do it.

Anyone know?

[JElaineB]

I'm not a Photoshop guru, but DH is. He's asleep right now though so I can't ask him! But I belive you make something called a "path" or a "clipping path". If you look up that under Help there should be info on it. Hopefully someone else can tell you more, or else I can ask DH tomorrow.

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02

[Dcclerk]

Jennifer, if you wouldn't mind asking him, I would really appreciate it. I tried to figure it out and I found the Photoshop website to be singularly unhelpful. Thanks so much!

[papal]

Ooh.. just saw this post... let me try figure it out and get back to you. What version do you have? And are you on a Mac or windows?

[Dcclerk]

Thanks, Rashmi! I only have Photoshop Elements so maybe it isn't capable of doing it. And I'm on Windows, so I suspect we don't have a lot of overlap :)

[papal]

I have not seen Elements, but i think it shares a lot of features with photoshop. let me give it a try...

[californiagirl]

Entirely getting rid of a background is hard, and the companies that do it usually use extra software that makes it easier, but that isn't worth it to own just for occasional use. But if there's a nice sharp smooth border between the baby and the background, and/or you just want to get rid of particularly obvious, obnoxious things that don't overlap with the baby, it's not too hard.

But it's not a one-step kind of a process. You're probably better off with almost any of the Intro to Photoshop Elements type books, since they all cover this. (Say, doesn't Elements come with some tutorials? I bet one of them covers getting rid of things via cloning. I know my copy used to have a tutorial for doing silly collages, which covered getting rid of the background.)

[snp624]

Totally agree! I would use clone tool to remove small object in the background. I use pen tool to create path when I do this at work, but it's not simple. You actually have to draw a line with pen tool around an object. It's particularly hard if you are trying to make outline around a person with, say, curly hair. I know that there are special software you can buy as an add-on to photoshop, and it looks neat, but I think it's pretty expensive.

[Melanie]

I was FOREVER forgetting how to do this task and having to google to find a solution. The last time I found out that (In my Photoshop 7.0) you can go:
HELP
EXPORT TRANSPARENT IMAGE
(the follow the wizard!)

I couldn't believe it! I would have never looked under the 'help' menu for a wizard, but there it was! Easy as pie.

HTH

[JElaineB]

I asked DH, and he also said (as other posters below) that it is kind of complicated to do, depending on the background. He said if you have a fairly simple background you can try the Magic Wand tool that will auto-select areas. He has not used Photoshop Elements, so if that is what you have he is not sure if that is available for you. The help I was talking about is built into the program (the Help menu), not the website, so you still might try looking there. Sorry I couldn't be of more help!

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02

[Rachels]

Wouldn't the magnetic lasso tool help with this? I find it easier to outline stuff that way. But then, what do you do with it? Make it a layer, I'm assuming, but then what?

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

"We have a secret in our culture...it's not that birth is painful, it's that women are strong!!" - Laura Stavoe Harm

[snp624]

The magnetic lasso tool helps if the figure against simple background (similar color etc...). But if there are many things in different color (like my messy home :P), it doesn't pick up everything that you want to get rid of. Maybe I'm not playing with the setting enough, but I also find that it leaves some unwanted, jaggy edge around the figure.

If you make a clipping path, you can save the path, and choose "make selection". You'll see "marching ants" around the path you just drew. You can invert the selection and delete the background. (I would use mask to hide the background, instead of deleting it so that I can re-work if I'm not happy with the first result. I think mark feature is little confusing, so I'm not talking about it now since my explaining ability is somewhat limited... But it's great once you figure out!)

[Dcclerk]

Thanks, everyone, for your help. I used literally every single person's suggestions and played around with it for a long time. I'm not yet happy with the results, but I think if I printed on more forgiving paper like a linen cardstock, it would probably turn out pretty well. (I want to make thank you notes for DS's birthday.) This is not the picture I plan on using but I figured it was a good place to start.

Here is my attempt:

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/6579.jpg

Here is the before:


http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/6580.jpg