Hello, I was asked yesterday morning to take a few pictures of a high school senior who was in a serious auto accident several months ago and did not get her senior pictures done. Since I did not have any kind of a portrait backdrop, we went over to the city park and I got some really good shots. To complicate matters. I found out just today that all senior pictures that are submitted to the yearbook must have a solid background and furthermore, the deadline for submission is this Wednesday. Im using Photoshop 7 and so far I have chosen a picture of this girl, cropped a 4x6 of her head and shoulders and have sucessfully used the magnetic lasso tool to select her out of the background. Would someone be kind enough to direct me in isolating her from the city park background and somehow, pasting this image onto a dark background so I end up with what the school yearbook requires. My thanks in advance, Jackson
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emergency help needed
- Thread starter Jackson
- Start date
AppleCider
Power User
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Hi, and welcome, Jackson!
Probably your best bet for this photo is using the extract tool. Here's a tutorial that gives a good explanation on how to use it.
A couple of things to keep in mind:
Make a copy of your background layer, hide the background layer, and use the extract tool on the copy. The extract tool does just that; it extracts everything but what you've told it you want to keep, and it's GONE. You'll end up with the (cute) girl against a transparent background.
You don't have to paste anything
Make a new, layer underneath your newly extracted layer, fill it with a solid color, and you're done! You can now trash the background layer if you want.
Good luck, and if you have trouble, don't be afraid to ask for more help. The extraction tool can be kinda tricky.
Probably your best bet for this photo is using the extract tool. Here's a tutorial that gives a good explanation on how to use it.
A couple of things to keep in mind:
Make a copy of your background layer, hide the background layer, and use the extract tool on the copy. The extract tool does just that; it extracts everything but what you've told it you want to keep, and it's GONE. You'll end up with the (cute) girl against a transparent background.
You don't have to paste anything
Make a new, layer underneath your newly extracted layer, fill it with a solid color, and you're done! You can now trash the background layer if you want. Good luck, and if you have trouble, don't be afraid to ask for more help. The extraction tool can be kinda tricky.
Julie, thank you very very much for your reply. I should probably give you some background on my photoshop knowledge. Healing brush, some basic color adjustment, cropping, sharpening and saving. I'm probably not even classified as a regular beginner yet.
When you say to "make a copy of my background layer and then hide the background layer",.... this is embarresing but I don't have any idea where to start or exactly what you are referring to. Sorry, but at my level, some sort of instruction set, where I can just follow a list of exact instructions would be ideal for me. From what I've seen and read, what I'm trying to accomplish is one of the more basic photoshop proceedures. I really have tried several things outside my normal scope and unfortunatly run into a dead end very quickly every time. Every instruction I try to follow assumes a basic level of understanding that, unfortunatly, I don't have. Thanks again for your time, Jackson
When you say to "make a copy of my background layer and then hide the background layer",.... this is embarresing but I don't have any idea where to start or exactly what you are referring to. Sorry, but at my level, some sort of instruction set, where I can just follow a list of exact instructions would be ideal for me. From what I've seen and read, what I'm trying to accomplish is one of the more basic photoshop proceedures. I really have tried several things outside my normal scope and unfortunatly run into a dead end very quickly every time. Every instruction I try to follow assumes a basic level of understanding that, unfortunatly, I don't have. Thanks again for your time, Jackson
S
Stroker1
Guest
I have one question:
What is the background colour going to be?
You did say dark, but that's not enough. With those very nasty whispies in there, the background colour will make a difference. So far I've had some luck with a nice shade of green sampled from the background.
What is the background colour going to be?
You did say dark, but that's not enough. With those very nasty whispies in there, the background colour will make a difference. So far I've had some luck with a nice shade of green sampled from the background.
S
Stroker1
Guest
Grr! I'm hating my server right now.
Here is a quick 5 minute job, slightly sized down just to see how well that will help hide bad going ons:
Here is a quick 5 minute job, slightly sized down just to see how well that will help hide bad going ons:
Stroker, A BIG thank you for taking time to help me out! When you have time, could you possibly outline the steps that I can follow so that I can learn to do what you did? This is a free job I'm doing for Kim, (the girl in the park), as they are close family friends. I got up early this morning worrying about this project and was extremely happy to find that you had taken time to lend your support. Jackson
S
Stroker1
Guest
No time for images right now. Really in a crunch. So I'll do my best to explain with plain ol' text.
Start with copying the subject a few times. Gonna need several copies to work with and one left as a back up. Add a background with the appropriate colour.
Add a Layer Mask to one and paint away. Almost all of the background, along the face, shoulder, and some of the hair. Don't paint out the whispies -- these will be done seperately.
Make a selection of some of the whispies. Prolly best to break the whispies into two chunks, but we'll deal with only one for now. Okay, so make a selection of the whispies with green in the background where the leaves (needles?) are. Use Quck Mask or any of the Marque tools. Save this selection in an Alpha channel.
Still on the subject with the selection, hit ctrl + j to copy the selection to a new layer. Add a Curves Adjustment Layer, make no adjustments, click "Okay", and clip it to the chunk you just copied to a new layer. Go back to the Curves Ad-Layer and manually pump up the contrast in each channel seperately.
That means, go to the Red channel, run your Eyedropper thingie over the subject to get the range, then move the upper range up some and the downer ranger down some. You don't have to move the points a lot, but enough to make the ranger wider. Repeat this in the G and B channels. Once you've done that, go back to RBG in the Curves Ad-Layer and widen the range one last time.
By the time you are done with that, you should have some very nice contrast between the hair and the background with a bit of fuzziness.
Remember that selection you made? Load it, and ctrl + shftt + c (copy merged), start a new Alpha channel, and ctrl + v (paste). Invert the selection in the new Alpha channel with ctrl + i (Image > Adjust > Invert). You should now have a solid base to Layer Mask the whispies.
Copy (ctrl + v) the new layer mask in the Alpha channel. Go to the Layer Mask on the subject. Now, in order to paste into the Layer Mask, hold alt and click the Layer Mask. This will show the raw Layer Mask. Then paste it in (ctrl + v).
Repeat the whole process for the whispies with the lighter yellow-green background.
I also added another Curves Ad-Layer to brighten the subject (clipped to the subject so as not to affect the background).
All-in-all, it's a pretty good technique. I've been meaning to add this to Tech-Slop (Whispies 2), but I have't gotten around to it yet. If you give me permission to use this picture, I might be able to knock out a better tutorial by the end of the day. Please...!
Gotta go, but I'll keep checking back to answer questions and to see if you will give me permission to use the picture for my tutorial.
Start with copying the subject a few times. Gonna need several copies to work with and one left as a back up. Add a background with the appropriate colour.
Add a Layer Mask to one and paint away. Almost all of the background, along the face, shoulder, and some of the hair. Don't paint out the whispies -- these will be done seperately.
Make a selection of some of the whispies. Prolly best to break the whispies into two chunks, but we'll deal with only one for now. Okay, so make a selection of the whispies with green in the background where the leaves (needles?) are. Use Quck Mask or any of the Marque tools. Save this selection in an Alpha channel.
Still on the subject with the selection, hit ctrl + j to copy the selection to a new layer. Add a Curves Adjustment Layer, make no adjustments, click "Okay", and clip it to the chunk you just copied to a new layer. Go back to the Curves Ad-Layer and manually pump up the contrast in each channel seperately.
That means, go to the Red channel, run your Eyedropper thingie over the subject to get the range, then move the upper range up some and the downer ranger down some. You don't have to move the points a lot, but enough to make the ranger wider. Repeat this in the G and B channels. Once you've done that, go back to RBG in the Curves Ad-Layer and widen the range one last time.
By the time you are done with that, you should have some very nice contrast between the hair and the background with a bit of fuzziness.
Remember that selection you made? Load it, and ctrl + shftt + c (copy merged), start a new Alpha channel, and ctrl + v (paste). Invert the selection in the new Alpha channel with ctrl + i (Image > Adjust > Invert). You should now have a solid base to Layer Mask the whispies.
Copy (ctrl + v) the new layer mask in the Alpha channel. Go to the Layer Mask on the subject. Now, in order to paste into the Layer Mask, hold alt and click the Layer Mask. This will show the raw Layer Mask. Then paste it in (ctrl + v).
Repeat the whole process for the whispies with the lighter yellow-green background.
I also added another Curves Ad-Layer to brighten the subject (clipped to the subject so as not to affect the background).
All-in-all, it's a pretty good technique. I've been meaning to add this to Tech-Slop (Whispies 2), but I have't gotten around to it yet. If you give me permission to use this picture, I might be able to knock out a better tutorial by the end of the day. Please...!
Gotta go, but I'll keep checking back to answer questions and to see if you will give me permission to use the picture for my tutorial.
Welcome aboard, Jackson!
This is a difficult challenge, indeed for you (or anyone, for that matter)! It's no easy task when one has to remove a busy background and your's has been made even more difficult with Kim's "whispies". Every situation calls for a different approach and a different solution, but from reading what has been posted thus far, Stroker's approach seems best. The only problem that I foresee is that you may find it too complicated or difficult based on your PS experience. Don't feel intimidated and don't be shy to give it a try and when you're stuck, post your queries again.
Another solution? Reshoot beautiful Kim on a plain background and save yourself a lot of aggro!?!?!? [innocent]
Good luck!
This is a difficult challenge, indeed for you (or anyone, for that matter)! It's no easy task when one has to remove a busy background and your's has been made even more difficult with Kim's "whispies". Every situation calls for a different approach and a different solution, but from reading what has been posted thus far, Stroker's approach seems best. The only problem that I foresee is that you may find it too complicated or difficult based on your PS experience. Don't feel intimidated and don't be shy to give it a try and when you're stuck, post your queries again.
Another solution? Reshoot beautiful Kim on a plain background and save yourself a lot of aggro!?!?!? [innocent]
Good luck!
G
Guest
Guest
Welcome to the board Jackson 
It seems that you have all the answers you need. I might give this one a try too
It seems that you have all the answers you need. I might give this one a try too
G
Guest
Guest
Ok, gave it a try
Looks great Gauss! You did a great job!
Now there's a thought for you Jackson... why don't you post your original picture and let us all have a "go" at her? I realize that the image will be too large to post here directly, but if you put it on your website and provided us all with a link, we could work with the hi-resolution file. [excited]
You did a great job! Now there's a thought for you Jackson... why don't you post your original picture and let us all have a "go" at her? I realize that the image will be too large to post here directly, but if you put it on your website and provided us all with a link, we could work with the hi-resolution file. [excited]
AppleCider
Power User
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Great idea, Wendy! It's always better to work with the original, if possible. Since this is an emergency, and I'd guess time-sensitive, we're glad to help. Jackson, it would help if you'd tell us the preferred background color
WOW! all the help is unbelieveable. This is obviously a very help oriented community. I don't have a website so does anyone have an alternative method of posting the original? Sorry for the delay in replying but we just got in from St. Louis. Thanks again, Jackson
PS I'd prefer the background to be a dark green/blue, (typical boring portrait style)
PS I'd prefer the background to be a dark green/blue, (typical boring portrait style)
AppleCider
Power User
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Jackson, do you have any FTP space available? Usually your ISP gives you some, certainly more than enough to put a Photoshop file on it. Just upload the file into your ftp space; depending on the size, you might want to zip or stuff it. Then post the url here. (for example: http://mywebspace.com/nameofpsfile.psd) You don't need a web site, just a place to put the file itself.
It's about 6:40 or so, here in the midwest and the high school opens up in an hour or so and I'll call the school and see if they will take one that you'all did for me. I'll just have to use the one that either Stroker or Gusian did with the green background. I know nothing about FTP exept that I just looked up the definition. I'm willing to try just about anything but FTP is foreign to me and I don't know where to start. The only thing I can do at this point is to email with a picture attachment, and I do have DSL if that helps. As you can tell, I'm not very computer savy. You all know my basic situation and capabilities, (or lack thereof) so I'll be open for your suggestions. Thanks again, Jackson
Jackson, you might want to find out what resolution and format the highschool wants that picture in. I'm not sure what size they're printing these things, these days, but it might be possible that Gauss' picture will suffice for you. In that case, he could always email the larger size of the example that he posted to you.
Hang in there!... I know that Gaussian checks in on a regular basis and he's bound to be by soon...
Hang in there!... I know that Gaussian checks in on a regular basis and he's bound to be by soon...
G
Guest
Guest
Oops, don't have the original anymore [confused]
I might try to redo the whole picture again...that is, if I find some time
I might try to redo the whole picture again...that is, if I find some time
Thanks Gaussian, I spoke to the high school yesterday afternoon and after pleading my case, they,ve given me until noon on Monday. I see in my email that someone has provided me with a method of posting the original full resolution photo. Hopefully, this will work and I'll post a reply with a link to the pic. I've been working 12 hour shifts at my regular job so that is the reason my replies aren't always so prompt. I remain very much in debt to all of you and deeply appreciate your kindness. To give you a short background on the subject, she was a very accomplished tennis player and started playing at around age 5 or so. Her father began being contacted through third parties about college scholarships when she was just a sophmore. At the end of her sophmore year she was driving to a town about an hour away to see a friend, and on a curve of a 2 lane interstate, when she swayed out of her lane and into the path of a truck and a horroble accident happened. She was air-vac'd to St louis where she nearly lost her life en route because of the blood loss and other complications. She was in the hosp for nearly 2 months and is still doing rehab due to her left leg and arm being broken in multiple locations. To everyon's amazement, she still wanted to play tennis this year and made the high school team although her abilities will never approach those of her pre-accident days due to limited strength and mobility. Needless to say, her scholarship possibilities have all dried up and but I am humbled by this young lady's fighting spirit. She has been a shining example, especially to my daughter, who is a junior on the tennis team and together her and Kim made it all the way to state in tennis doubles competition before losing in the quarterfinals. Sorry for the long story but this young lady is a winner in my book and is a great example to everyone here that knows her. I'm attaching a shot or two to go along with this story and as you might see, her left leg and arm and some facial scars are clear evidence of her horrific ordeal. Again thanks to all and I will try to post a link of the original portrait shot. Jackson
PS.... Kim is far right and my daughter is far left and this was taken when their team won the district championship in St. Louis 2 months ago.
PS.... Kim is far right and my daughter is far left and this was taken when their team won the district championship in St. Louis 2 months ago.
What an incredible and motivational story Jackson! Thank you so much for sharing it with us. Kim is indeed and shining example of perseverence and a true winner in my books as well!
Since you now have until Monday, you can be assured that the good folks here will help you out! Look forward to getting your original picture.
Since you now have until Monday, you can be assured that the good folks here will help you out!
Look forward to getting your original picture. I guess someone from the forum sent me a file called pictranet. After trying to open it I get a missing DLL file message. The best I can do at his point is to email this pic and if it comes back, I'll downsize by 10% until it goes through. Sorry but I have VERY limited web skills. If someone is willing,email me at trident888@hotmail.com Jackson