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how to erase the background of a picture
- Thread starter aligator
- Start date
What efforts have you made so far?
Have you tried a Forum search, or a Web search?
Have you looked in your User Manual or tried the online help (F1)?
How experienced are you with masks, lassos and marquees?
You are certainly not the first person to want to do this.
Perhaps you should make some attempt on your own to find the answers that have been given MANY times prior to your asking...
Have you tried a Forum search, or a Web search?
Have you looked in your User Manual or tried the online help (F1)?
How experienced are you with masks, lassos and marquees?
You are certainly not the first person to want to do this.
Perhaps you should make some attempt on your own to find the answers that have been given MANY times prior to your asking...
Hi aligator,
There are several ways to remove a background in Photoshop. There's the Magic Eraser, Extract, Background Eraser, and Magnetic Lasso, just to name a few.
If you could tell us what type of image it is or maybe post a screenshot of it then I could provide you with more info.
There are several ways to remove a background in Photoshop. There's the Magic Eraser, Extract, Background Eraser, and Magnetic Lasso, just to name a few.
If you could tell us what type of image it is or maybe post a screenshot of it then I could provide you with more info.
J
Josh
Guest
Madster, I think everybody should be totally free to ask what he or she wants. Don't reply if you have nothing else to say than read your manual or visit Google. If you think that some people ask the same question over and over...
...why not write a tutorial
You know, nobody orders you to help others.
Aligator, lots of people use masks.
Open an image (image should not be locked; double click on it if it's the background image, which will unlock it), click on the mask symbol (A) and select the mask by clicking on it; you'll notice a double border (B), which means that the mask is active (very important!). Now paint with a black brush on those areas that have to be invisible.
If you make a mistake, don't worry; just paint with 'white' over the area that has to be corrected. Just make sure that the mask is always active and that you paint on the mask and NOT the original.
Easy way to select black and white; click on the black & white symbol in your toolbar (C). You can switch your background/foreground by pressing 'X' on your keyboard.
...why not write a tutorial
You know, nobody orders you to help others.Aligator, lots of people use masks.
Open an image (image should not be locked; double click on it if it's the background image, which will unlock it), click on the mask symbol (A) and select the mask by clicking on it; you'll notice a double border (B), which means that the mask is active (very important!). Now paint with a black brush on those areas that have to be invisible.
If you make a mistake, don't worry; just paint with 'white' over the area that has to be corrected. Just make sure that the mask is always active and that you paint on the mask and NOT the original.
Easy way to select black and white; click on the black & white symbol in your toolbar (C). You can switch your background/foreground by pressing 'X' on your keyboard.
When a mask is active (see the mask icon at the left of the small thumb in the layers palette; a brush would mean that the layer itself is active), the fore-and background colours automatically switch to black and white as a mask is in fact just another greyscale image with a few special functions.
J
Josh
Guest
You know Erik, I use Photoshop since 2 years now, used thousands of masks and for some unexplainable reason I've never noticed this! 
Thanks!
Thanks!
Aligator,
There are so many techniques that your question is rather an open ended one. Different techniques work better on different images. If you could post an image for us to sample you would get more direct answers.
Here's a 'meta-site' which has assembled links to tutorials for making complex masks and precise selections with Adobe Photoshop. Techniques for using channel masks, alpha channels, quick mask mode, layer masks, grayscale masks, marquee selections, plus various random selections tips and tricks
http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/photoshopmasks/
There are so many techniques that your question is rather an open ended one. Different techniques work better on different images. If you could post an image for us to sample you would get more direct answers.
Here's a 'meta-site' which has assembled links to tutorials for making complex masks and precise selections with Adobe Photoshop. Techniques for using channel masks, alpha channels, quick mask mode, layer masks, grayscale masks, marquee selections, plus various random selections tips and tricks
http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/photoshopmasks/
Yikes!
YIKES!!! Did Madster wake up on the wrong side of the bed? [stuned]
As a new person to photoshop, I understand that it gets a bit overwhelming. You get to the point where you just want someone to tell you the answer.
This is a great forum to get directions/examples/support. We'll just chalk the grinches editorial up to the pressures of the holiday season.
P.S. Can someone tell me how to do all the stuff I don't know how to do? My brain hurts.
YIKES!!! Did Madster wake up on the wrong side of the bed? [stuned]
As a new person to photoshop, I understand that it gets a bit overwhelming. You get to the point where you just want someone to tell you the answer.
This is a great forum to get directions/examples/support. We'll just chalk the grinches editorial up to the pressures of the holiday season.
P.S. Can someone tell me how to do all the stuff I don't know how to do? My brain hurts.
Muscles hurt when you train them. Pain is usually a sign of making progress.
Never panic.
Must say that I understand both views. I suppose Madster did like I did. Don't suppose I asked ten questions on PS on a forum. I figured it out with tuts, articles, some books and a lot of trial and error. I came from Photopaint 9, and Photopaint had a histogram tool, and an incredibly easy transparancy tool. It took me months to find how to get similar results in PS. Just like it took me months to find out that there is also a rotate/scale etc under the Edit menu, allowing to edit layers instead of the whole image under Image. I suppose she wants to say that muscles need training, and that all you find out yourself goes deeper and helps you to gain self-confidence.
I learned a lot answering questions because it means being confronted with unforeseen problems, and also to learn how to simplify answers into the most common everyday speech.
All questions are valid and merit an answer, but Mark himself says in his Beginners tuts to try and find help in the help and the manual too.
quote: Straightening the learning curve...
The time you spend doing the things i will suggest on this page will help you to get the most out of the new and, no doubt, exciting things that you will be learning from all of the Photoshop sites on the web that you go to. Not just mine.
Don't misunderstand me here though. I'm not saying that you shouldn't go out and try all of the cool effects tutorials out on the web. What i'm merely saying is that if you find yourself confused about something, or an effect doesn't work quite the way you thought it should, then do these things first before giving up on it or mailing someone for help.
Or as i like to think...
Try getting your feet wet in the pool of your own knowledge first,
before asking someone else to let you soak in theirs.?
Look in the Help Files under EDIT.
There is where you will find a whole lot of information on most of the tools and basic functions of Photoshop.
Open a picture or photograph.
With the image opened, browse around in the menus and try things out.
This will take you all of an hour or so, but believe me, the next time you try someone's tutorials you'll be much more comfortable & confident following the instructions they're trying to explain to you.
What i mean by browse is, have a look at the content of Photoshop's many menus.
Open the IMAGE menu and apply some functions.
Open the IMAGE/Adjustment... menu and apply ALL of the functions in that menu.
Open the LAYER menu and apply ALL of the functions in that menu.
So her point of view is also valid. There is no way around it: well-rooted knowledge comes from trying things out with the manual at hand. And by doing tuts. Some people usually answer with internet adresses. Fine by me, but I see no difference with Madster saying that someone should do a search on the net to find tuts. There is a very good series here on this site, for example...
http://www.photoshopgurus.info/beginners/masks-clipgroups.shtml
This explains the question that is asked here. The answer is on this site, beautifully explained and we're here to give further help if necessary. But it can really be discourageing to see that all this work that has been done is not even looked at.
This could be seen as the dark side of a board: taking the easy way, the way downhill. And I suppose this is what Madster tries to say.
Never panic.
Must say that I understand both views. I suppose Madster did like I did. Don't suppose I asked ten questions on PS on a forum. I figured it out with tuts, articles, some books and a lot of trial and error. I came from Photopaint 9, and Photopaint had a histogram tool, and an incredibly easy transparancy tool. It took me months to find how to get similar results in PS. Just like it took me months to find out that there is also a rotate/scale etc under the Edit menu, allowing to edit layers instead of the whole image under Image. I suppose she wants to say that muscles need training, and that all you find out yourself goes deeper and helps you to gain self-confidence.
I learned a lot answering questions because it means being confronted with unforeseen problems, and also to learn how to simplify answers into the most common everyday speech.
All questions are valid and merit an answer, but Mark himself says in his Beginners tuts to try and find help in the help and the manual too.
quote: Straightening the learning curve...
The time you spend doing the things i will suggest on this page will help you to get the most out of the new and, no doubt, exciting things that you will be learning from all of the Photoshop sites on the web that you go to. Not just mine.
Don't misunderstand me here though. I'm not saying that you shouldn't go out and try all of the cool effects tutorials out on the web. What i'm merely saying is that if you find yourself confused about something, or an effect doesn't work quite the way you thought it should, then do these things first before giving up on it or mailing someone for help.
Or as i like to think...
Try getting your feet wet in the pool of your own knowledge first,
before asking someone else to let you soak in theirs.?
Look in the Help Files under EDIT.
There is where you will find a whole lot of information on most of the tools and basic functions of Photoshop.
Open a picture or photograph.
With the image opened, browse around in the menus and try things out.
This will take you all of an hour or so, but believe me, the next time you try someone's tutorials you'll be much more comfortable & confident following the instructions they're trying to explain to you.
What i mean by browse is, have a look at the content of Photoshop's many menus.
Open the IMAGE menu and apply some functions.
Open the IMAGE/Adjustment... menu and apply ALL of the functions in that menu.
Open the LAYER menu and apply ALL of the functions in that menu.
So her point of view is also valid. There is no way around it: well-rooted knowledge comes from trying things out with the manual at hand. And by doing tuts. Some people usually answer with internet adresses. Fine by me, but I see no difference with Madster saying that someone should do a search on the net to find tuts. There is a very good series here on this site, for example...
http://www.photoshopgurus.info/beginners/masks-clipgroups.shtml
This explains the question that is asked here. The answer is on this site, beautifully explained and we're here to give further help if necessary. But it can really be discourageing to see that all this work that has been done is not even looked at.
This could be seen as the dark side of a board: taking the easy way, the way downhill. And I suppose this is what Madster tries to say.