Hi! I'm into lay-outing and I'm just curious about things that i dont know yet on extracting the subject from the background (for effects). How do you guys do it?

I usually use the plain old quickmasking, lasso and eraser tool. Kinda take 70% of my editing time.:Angry: Is there a much quicker way? Tnx...

hi there ali..

I do it the hard way and select it through lasso also. Magic wand comes in handy sometimes.
CS3 has the magnetic lasso tool which makes it easier(?) to make a selection because is looks for edges. It basically works the same way but you can just guide it around your subject rather than picking the points yourself.

CS2 also has the magnetic lasso. i use it then refine the selection in quickmask, then feather. i think CS3 has the true "Refine Selection" tool.
if the background is already plain enough and has high contrast with the subject, then the magic wand becomes useful.

I use the Channels Bar...

Thanks for the hints guys... appreciate it a lot.:)

will be looking for more hints so i can reduce my editing time to at least half. I've got 3 wedding sets to edit due date within 2 months.:Scared:

just to add.. if you will shoot for this purpose maube its best to shoot subject over greenscreen or bluescreen like in videos. and make sure there is a separate light for the background (no shadows) this is only good if the subjects are people or stuff hehe.. :Grin:

hi ali, i do digital album layout for a living aside my digital photography, by the way how long you can finish 1 (40 pages album)? in my case i can finish it in 4-8 hrs depends on the style of the layout.

for the tips, in photoshop either 7, cs or cs3, in the tool bar their is one tool ur missing? its the pen tool where you can manipulate like ur only making a drawing, following the curves without a hassles, unlike the lasso tools or magtnetic tools its hardly to control the curve lines, try to use the help how can you master the pen tool..... pen tool is a great tools in photoshop if you know how to use it.

http://www.geocities.com/caranzophotography/awed03.gif

Pen tool + Extract filter... Head over to Russell Brown's website for a video tutorial.

and one more thing, i think you can buy photoshop for dummies? if you only want to have a copy or just try try search in the internet?

try also david tong's recommendation.....

Corel Knockout 2.0

i use vertus fluid mask 3.. it's a great photoshop plugin.. i think they have a downloadable demo in their site..

and one more thing, i think you can buy photoshop for dummies? if you only want to have a copy or just try try search in the internet?

try also david tong's recommendation.....

Bought Photoshop for Dummies at Fully Booked (5/F together with the other photography books) in Bonifacio High Street about a month ago. It was around 1000p if I remember right.

CS3:
quick select tool (it's paired with the magic wand)

and then refine edge :)

ahhh.. pen tool... never tried using it for extracting objects. will try later after work. tnx guys.:)

For Roland:

Thanks for the tips.. by the way I'm just a novice when it comes to editing. Just started last august. I worked on my very own wedding album. I render 2-4 hours of editing everyday after arriving from work (I work in a call center), and normally I'll be able to complete up to 3 pages. It took me 3 - 4 weeks to edit our whole 40 page album. Haven't printed the album yet.. perhaps this month (Fans digital, Hidalgo). I'm working on 1 of 3 albums right now due oct and november and will use those albums for our portfolio.

you can check a few pages of our album in http://www.alikit26.multiply.com

here's some of the pages of the album that i've worked on. I would appreciate comments on these. thanks :)


http://images.alikit26.multiply.com/image/11/photos/79/500x500/1/2-3.jpg?et=hpON%2CbarA%2C0tpqqc1u4Pnw


http://images.alikit26.multiply.com/image/5/photos/79/500x500/6/12-13.jpg?et=jktuSpjnbEBB7MriVPYdMw

i use channels. then calculate. levels. and whatever is needed to get the selection mask right. but the most important are the 3 mentioned.

Pen Tool is still the best. Powerful, and flawless, once done properly. :D

in photoshop, i use fill-and-extract, then use eraser tool for outliers..

hi ali, can you publish you works her in this forum? so that we can assist you if ever we have a comment? i have a problem opening the multiply.com coz the site was block by our IT department.

Many ways to do it...Lasso, Magnetic Lasso, Pen Tool...My preference is the pen tool :)

pen tool and layer mask. I always use a layer mask to extract my subjects, in this way, you can undo any unwanted extractions.

i will try to upload some of my layouting projects when i get home. apparently multiply was also blocked by our IT dept.. :)

by the way, Im still trying to perfect the use of the pen tool. A photographer friend (Dhynn Villacarlos) helped me out. I m able to extract most of my subjects in just a few mins now.

Have a great one!:)

hi ali try to check this layout ive done yesterday for friend, i use pen tool to extract my subject.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1439/1383791910_e9a579fc8a.jpg

Note: this is not a hi-jack of this thread, please be considerate, i just show to ali what his looking for.

Nicely done Roland! the edges are smooth enough... Congrats!

We can always find a way of extracting the subject out of its background. One problem I faced though, is that when pasting it on the other background. I can't make it appear as if it wasn't pasted. Anybody can tell on how to do it nicely aside from bluring the the edges and matching the background with the subject in terms of lighting?

like i mentioned before i shot this with a white wall outside the window easy to use the select wand tool thingamagigg in photoshop to eliminate it and put a shot taken the night before of "lights" from traffic.. this shot was done daytime and made to look like evening..

http://jamiemarcelo.smugmug.com/photos/163298187-M.jpg

excellent job jamie!! :)

thank you sir!

heres another one hehe before and after:

http://www.jamiemarcelo.smugmug.com/photos/118386286-M.jpg

http://www.jamiemarcelo.smugmug.com/photos/118390609-M.jpg

@Jamie
So Clean... nicely done...

here's a pretty quick way to remove backgrounds with photoshop... it's also probably the easiest way to do this. http://blog.thembid.com/index.php/2007/08/22/removing-backgrounds-quickly-in-photoshop/

@Jamie
So Clean... nicely done...

thank you! :Grin:

pero notice the balck car? in the window you can still see part of the red ferrari..

there's a lot of techniques.... (Adobe)

you can use your pen tool, lasso tools. magic wand tool to create selections or use your magic eraser tool for plain backgound, or simply use extract form filters, or download a extracting plug-ins for much easiers way.....etc.....etc.....etc

pen tool , quick mask...extract filter....

sad there no shortcut of selecting a subject from its background.....


@ jamie marcelo share some tips naman....

For Mac users. Select magic wand. Then Alt/Option left click outer areas until desired areas to extract is covered. hope this helps. :Grin:

pen tool , quick mask...extract filter....

sad there no shortcut of selecting a subject from its background.....


@ jamie marcelo share some tips naman....

shortcuts kasi for me are probably quick keys (which i do not use) if i were to give a Tip it would be "tiyaga" i use the polygonal lasso tool and i zoom (if im in the mood to go real clean).. and if the image is a bit feathered before i delete background i put a feather.. dependng on image size, inverse and delete BG :Grin:

Just to make sure that I don't spend too much time in the selection tools... I usually shoot the subject/s utilizing a single-color background (e.g. white or beige, background that I could easily select by way of the magic wand). Makes my work (life) a lot easier and less complicated too!

shortcuts kasi for me are probably quick keys (which i do not use) if i were to give a Tip it would be "tiyaga" i use the polygonal lasso tool and i zoom (if im in the mood to go real clean).. and if the image is a bit feathered before i delete background i put a feather.. dependng on image size, inverse and delete BG :Grin:


haha shortcut for me means there's no easy way to select the subject from it background :Dyah your right tyaga lang talaga cguro :)

there's a tool in cs2/cs3 called color range. it's under the select menu. it allows you to select a color and certain shades close to the chosen color.

just use this tool (color range) to select the background, then mask it out.

and it also helps if the backgound is just a single color. it's alright if it's not evenly lit, as long as it's in only one hue of color.

white bg or green bg is my quickest way to extract the subject

I did not read the entire thread so I don't know if someone already posted this tip... In Photoshop CS2 & CS3 there's a filter called EXTRACT... does wonders on plain backgrounds. I use it all the time, it's easy and very very quick. :D

can you use a chroma green background and turn it into white during post process?

just to add.. if you will shoot for this purpose maube its best to shoot subject over greenscreen or bluescreen like in videos. and make sure there is a separate light for the background (no shadows) this is only good if the subjects are people or stuff hehe.. :Grin:

yeah, you may use CHROMA KEY:)

Hi,
Noob here... What I do when I wanna bring out the subject is either blur the BG, or desaturate it. Blurring can be done in Picasa. It's rather a very quick way but it doesn't offer much control. As for desaturating the BG, I use GIMP. duplicate the layer and erase the BG for the first layer. After that, desaturate the bottom layer completely. You can adjust the levels along the way if you want to. I'm not sure if the seasoned photogs here would agree on the way I do things though. Whatcha guys/gals think? IMHO working with your pics in Picasa is the quickest. Just my 2.5 burst clicks. :Grin:

how do you exactly use the pen tool ?

not that hard, but not that simple, Joy...

Hope this helps you :)

Tutorial with Exercise (http://www.oit.umass.edu/workshops/tutorials/images_publishing/ai_2.html)

Danke !!...
i'll try it later at home !

One of my attempts extracting in photoshop. It's so much work, but good thing I have a tablet.

Picture of the moon was cut out from a picture with black sky and the tree with the owl was realy a lot of work to extract. I used masking and using the blur tool to blur the edges of the mask.


http://www.robinkuijs.com/images/robin/moonlight_scene2.jpg

nice work Robin...impressive!

how about if you're subject is wearing a gown and the some part of the dress is transparent? how do you extract that?

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t295/dvdrhy/IMG_4281.jpghi guys, i'm new and don't know much about the jargon used here... i have been dabbling with photoshop CS on my mac for some time now but my work is really still quite rough compared to a lot of pictures that i've seen around... i'd like to submit a photo for your scrutiny and hope you can help me learn more about the vast world of digital photography... thanks
:)http://digitalphotographer.com.ph/forum/hi%20guys,%20i%27m%20new%20here%20and%20don%27t%20 know%20much%20about%20the%20jargon%20used%20here.. .%20i%20have%20been%20dabbling%20with%20photoshop% 20CS%20on%20my%20mac%20for%20some%20time%20now%20b ut%20my%20work%20is%20really%20still%20very%20roug h%20compared%20to%20a%20lot%20of%20pictures%20that %20i%27ve%20seen%20around...%20%20i%27d%20like%20t o%20submit%20a%20photo%20for%20your%20scrutiny%20a nd%20hope%20you%20can%20help%20me%20learn%20more%2 0about%20the%20vast%20world%20of%20digital%20photo graphy...%20thanks%20%20:%29
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21280289@N06/2087971993/

@david
i think it lacks contrast. i edited it a little, using only the basic auto-contrast & auto-levels command + some sharpening. here:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2111/2088298075_2f1934322a_o.jpg

The quickest (yet effective) way to extract subject from the bg is simply by using a soft eraser.

this will be very hard when you're dealing with hair.

a dark gradient from top to bottom would work.. maybe you could make the colors pop out more..:)

@david
i think it lacks contrast. i edited it a little, using only the basic auto-contrast & auto-levels command + some sharpening. here:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2111/2088298075_2f1934322a_o.jpg

@vin
ei thanks vin it does look better and more animated... how d'ya do that? forgive my ignorance... hehehehe..... but thanks so much for the critique...:Grin:

@vin
ei thanks vin it does look better and more animated... how d'ya do that? forgive my ignorance... hehehehe..... but thanks so much for the critique...:Grin:

you're welcome david. just use auto-levels & auto-contrast in photoshop. it should be enough, but can be made better with more complicated commands.

wow...been wanting to know how to do this. so many ways to do it pala.

I guess I'm an old dog using old techniques and rarely use filters or add-ons. What I usually do is use the pen tool in conjunction with the quick mask and/or magic wand. I use the pen tool to make a path outline of the subject that needs to be isolated. I work in 100% or even 200% zoom. Once I complete the path, I convert it to a selection which I then save. In most cases, this is sufficient. In other cases, such as the need to include grass blades or hair strands, I use the magic wand or quick mask to include the additional elements which I add to the saved selection. I then apply feathering, copy the full selection and paste it on a new layer or document. If I notice some fringing, I use Layer-> Matting... -> Defringe.

It's not really very quick (but could be with practice and experience) but it results in a cleaner image isolation.

For quick-and-dirty jobs, I rely on the quick mask and use a paintbrush with a small-to-medium diameter and work in 200% zoom for the fine areas, while using large diameters to quickly cover large areas.

I hope this helps. :)

I started with quick mask and pen tool and if the pic permits, a help from the magic wand tool.

Select > Color Range is also a helpful selection tool.

If I need something sharper, I use the channels method. I duplicate the image to another layer then bump up the contrast then go to the channels (create a new alpha layer) to see which will produce a better selection then burn / dodge the wanted/unwanted selections then I load the final alpha layer selection and delete unwanted. Then I go back do add more layers if I'm dealing with hair.

*I learned the above from a Linda published Vid.

For those with sharp edges i usually use the pen tool. I make a path around the object i wanna drop out, when im done, i soften the selection and add a layer mask.

For objects with soft edges (eg. hair) i use the channels, figure out which channel has the most contrast, dublicate and lighten/darken the parts you want to dropout. When you're done, convert it to a selection and ad a layer mask to it.

There are time that i use both techniques especially when there is poor contrast between the subject and the background or there is a mixture of sharp and soft edges. For example i need to drop out a person from the background, i duplicate the layer and drop out the person's head first using the channels technique, with that done, i duplicate again the original layer and dropout the person's clothes using the pen-path tool.

always remember to soften your selection so that when you paste your extracted image on a new background, the edges would merge with the new background. Even when you just want to superimpose the image on top of a collage of other pictures, its always nicer when the edges are soft unless you're going for the "scissor-cut" look.

Sometimes i add a glow or drop shadow to the extracted image to hide some edges that i couldnt quite perfect.

Also, its always better to use the layer mask rather than deleting the background because you can always unmask you mistakes and tweek it using the paintbrush tool rather than starting all over again. You can also never tell when your client might ask you to include that small stool she was standing next to when you took their wedding picture. Get my point?

There are other quicker ways like the extract tool of PS, but the 2 i mentioned above are cleaner looking. I also use vertus, but i lost the serial number so i cant use it anymore.

I hope i was able to help.