Comments | psp9_fun: Help erasing the background?

heartthepretty in psp9_fun

Help erasing the background?

Apr 03, 2007 23:43

Howdy y'all,

Something I've never been very good at is erasing a background from a picture. I guess what I'm trying to do is a blend, and I've looked at this tutorial for some help. My problem is that my image isn't like the snake - the subject being easily discernable from the background - and I'm hoping for some tips on how to do a better job ( Read more... )

Comments 5

irreparable April 4 2007, 04:57:17 UTC

You can either use the background eraser tool to get rid of the background or the magic wand tool to select areas that you want to delete and thereby get rid of the background. The background eraser tool is in the same box as the eraser and the magic wand is in the box with the select area tool.

heartthepretty April 4 2007, 05:02:25 UTC

Yeah, I do usually use the background eraser tool, but I'm horrible with it - it leaves my edges looking jagged.

So I finally figured out how to use the magic wand tonight from looking at that other tutorial, and it did fairly well along the left and right edges, but the parts in between their heads is what's giving me the most trouble right now. Nothing I'm doing seems to work well there. :(

irreparable April 4 2007, 09:08:48 UTC

Ahh, well. In that case you need to use the triple magnify and go in with a teeny tiny eraser, 5px should do it and carefully delete each pixel to get the edges clear. There's also layer masks, but I truly suck at that and I've found better results with the teeny tiny eraser.

rahalia_cat April 4 2007, 06:14:55 UTC

The edges around their hair are still quite crisp. Is that the actual size you're working with, or are you working with a much bigger format?

My suggestion is to decrease the opacity of the eraser. If you're placing that image onto another one (ie: the HP image is a new layer), then do so and use the main eraser, set quite soft and with the opacity at around 12. Work carefully around those edges and you should get a decent result when you re-size. It'll take some time because, of course, you won't be removing large thick chunks of the background. Use the eraser at 100% opacity until you get as close as you dare to the people, then switch to around 12% for the edges.

Hope that helps!

heartthepretty April 4 2007, 06:22:57 UTC

Yep, that's the size of the image I'm using, not larger.

I've been playing with the magic wand and it's just not working out for some reason, I don't know. Looks like I will have to stick with the eraser, though I've never tried messing with the opacity like that. I'll give it a go. Thanks! :)