photoshop idiot help

[andrew_parker]

why doesnt software come with handbooks anymore, 1'm tired of pressing F1.
Can someoe help, Phtoshop: is there an idiot proof tool for copy and pasteing i need to get rid of large chunks and so far have only found a pipette and pencil to help

thanks Andrew

[Avarond]

What exactly are you trying to do? You can draw a selection box around something and copy it and paste it like normal. Or there are numerous other ways to replace areas. Without knowing what you want to do im not sure what to suggest.

[Rob Larsen]

As Avarond stated, more details will help us help you. You may also get more responses in the Post Processing and Printing forum.

As for copy and paste, you may be interested in checking out what the "clone stamp" can do for you. See the help file for that one. As a quick tip on it, hold down the Alt/Option key to select your source and then paint into your target.

PS is a great and very powerful tool -- an easy and lightweight tool it is not. For simple tasks you can find better new-user friendly products. But, if you are up to exploring the full potential of what can been done in photo editing, I suggest you start with Photoshop Elements as a primer on the PS concepts and then graduate to the full PS when/if you feel the need.

Welcome to the forum Andrew!

[andrew_parker]

thanks for tips.......the thing i want to do is remove a person standing infront of a brick wall

[Rob Larsen]

Some hints on possible approaches....

I suggest selecting the person and then copying that selection to a new layer (suggestion... learn the layer concept soon if you want to stick with PS). Some tools that you can use to select your subject are the Lasso tools, Quick Mask, and the Extract Tool.

Once you have your extracted subject on it's own layer you can import your background onto a layer below and then position your subject with the Move tool.

There are some good PS books that are not as dry as the online help and manual. A good one is The Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby. I still suggest using PS Elements to learn the basics if the tool is overwhelming you.

Happy editing!

[McShred]

Books are located at Barnes and Noble in the Photoshop section. $25 dollar investment will bring you many smiles during post.

[Whaler]

I agree! What I do is download usually in PFD format, print, and take it to your local Kinkos and have them bind it $2-3. Then I can sit in front of my PC with the manual in my lap. Photoshop???? That's a tough one, they've got books an inch thick just on the subject of curves.

[MediaMagic]

thanks for tips.......the thing i want to do is remove a person standing infront of a brick wall

Are you wanting the brick background to be complete sans subject?

If you are wanting to move the subject to a new background, Rob covered that. The best way for me is the extraction tool. I get the cleanest results (after fiddling with it of course) that way.

Now, if you are trying to preserve the background and just get rid of the subject... Use of the clone tool will allow you to draw out the person and replace with bricks, but, you have to do it in extremely small steps and select new clone areas constantly to get them to line up and look natural. This is MUCH more easily accomplished with a graphic tablet as opposed to mouse drawing (I'll never go back to the mouse for PS techniques). It's tedious but you can get results that are virtually undetectable.

You can also select, copy, and paste other areas of brick into new layers and move them over the subject, but that's difficult to get get a staggered mortar pattern to match. I guess it would depend on the wall itself.

[DAMphyne]

Get the Photoshop Bible by Deke McClelland, Wiley Publishing

[MediaMagic]

I searched all through the Photoshop menus and I couldn't find "Idiot Help" anywhere. Is that a special add on package?

[PhotosGuy]

These might help:

Healing Brush and the Patch tool tutorials:
http://www.eyesondesign.net/pshop/healing/brush.htm
http://www.graphicsguy.org/graphicsguy/gg10-02/gg10_02.html
http://www.digitalretouch.org/download/healing/patch_tool.pdf