removing Character from back ground

[richie244]

Hi guys
I am trying to basicaly cut the main character out of a picture from the very cluttered back ground and transplant it to a plain back ground. I have both Adobe Photo shop CS2 and Corel paint shop pro X to my disposal. How ever i do not have an overly steady hand to draw arround and cut out the image. Please help. Sorry if this is in the wrong place as you can tell I ma very new to photography but have to say I am very impressed with the work I have seen by some of the guys on here.

[stupot]

can you post the picture so we can get a better idea of what you are trying to do?

the polygon lassoo tool is useful, zoom in lots and click for each point of your selection. if its a larger image feather it 1 or two pixels.

you could also do some reading up on layer masks...

[richie244]

I would post the image how ever not sure how so you may have to bear with me as dont have a URL for it

[richie244]

Have found a thread which does exactly what I want to do but doesnt explain how it was done. It is "Challenge : remove / change the back ground started by shortie in copetitions on 26 jan 06. If any one can say how this is done pleaaase tell me.

[danedel]

clone stamp/healing brush in CS2 are my usual tools...

[richie244]

would that not meen tracing arround the object? this is what i find difficult do i have to buy a tablet?

[philbyuk]

you could try the extract tool..may work for you

[tomnackid]

I would use quickmask with a slightly soft brush (not too soft) so as not to get a hard edge around the subject. Using quickmask is a bit less intimidating since you don't have to worry about putting points in the wrong place or trying to move your mouse around and messing up the selection. Just paint the mask over what you want to select using the painting and erasing tools until you get it right. If you don't have a tablet you hold the shift key and paint straight lines between 2 points. Just follow a curve by making very short straight segments until you have the object outlined then fill it in, touch up and change it into a selection. Even with a tablet I often find this method easiest. The Extract function takes a bit of getting used to but works best for subjects that are fuzzy.

[PhotosGuy]

Tutorial - Create a layer mask from image detail
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=100077

[DavidW]

If you use Windows (unfortunately there's no Mac version), you could try the free GrowCut plugin (http://research.graphicon.ru/growcut/gml-growcut.html).



David