Photoshop Help

I was looking through all the SG desktops and I wanted to know the easiest way to take the girl from the picture and get rid of the background because I'd like to make some desktops. Help!

It's really quite easy.. here i'll give you an example
We'll use a pic of Al just for the eye candy



Step 1: Use Erase tool and erase all unwanted background

Step 2: Once all back ground has been removed, seamlessly recreate any necessary body parts so as to retain the authenticity of the photo

Step 3: Brand as necessary

Step 4: Sit back and bask in the mastery of your work.

It might take you a while to get the hang of it, but trust me i've been doing this for years.. it does get easier.

Good answer.

Amitabha that is the funniest thing I have ever seen but I think he wanted a serious answer.

Well the easiest way would be to use the magic wand tool or to mask the area you don't want. I prefer to do it the right way which is the long way, zoom in close select the polygon lasso tool and manually make a selection around the girl, make your selection inside the line rather then on it to avoid an outline of the background. Then feather the selection by one point and finally hit ctrl+J. this method takes some time but the results are far superior.

You use the polygon?

I don't really like the regular lasso tool I find I have much better control with the Polygon, and that magnetic lasso tool is the most frustrating piece of $#!& I could never possible get a clean selection with it.

The magnetic Lasso is your friend!

trust me on this I worked for a homewares website and all i did all day long was cut things out of pictures.....and after you get use to using it...it works fabulous

ugh lasso tool.

i'm a bezier-whore.

the pen tool does wonders. (yes, i realize you end up converting it to a selection but the results are always better for me)

of course all that clicking might get annoying but after doing it a few thousands times you get really fast.

i've found that the results are always much cleaner and editable. and, you always have the ability of future editing (clipping paths!) since it's vector. (psuedo)

Couldn't use Photoshop proper without it.
Learn to use the Bezier Tool folks. And you'll love it.



[Edited on Aug 20, 2003 by Rise_Robot]

For exporting paths to Illustrator the pen tool is great but for selecting its kind of overkill. Everyone’s going to have their favourite method and if you have a hundred objects to select you're not going to be using the lasso or paths. Still for beginners its probably best to start with the lasso tool, Paths and Points can be very intimidating if you're just learning how to select.

Personally though I hate the pen tool and whenever I can I’ll avoid using it.

you can aslo you the piant brush like the magic wand by change the settings. reall best thing to do is go to a book store and buy a how to book for adobe photoshop
beginner and intermediate.

The Pen Tool is definitely your friend, and mine. I will occasionally just go in and use Extraction to take the image that I want out, but its nowhere near as clean as the Pen.

I cut wide and then edit at the pixel level.
I should be put in a padded room.

Theres a lot of ways. If you need fine detail use the pen tool, make a path then turn the path to a selection. Hit delete and presto!... Select inverse to delete the background. Lassos are cool for not so accurate cut outs and the eraser if your feeling lucky! ...

If your anal like me you'll want to use the pen tool.

LOVE THE PEN TOOL

seriously, it's a basic you need to know

use the swab thingy!!!

jeezus! i didn't even know there was an extraction command in PS. thank you thank you thank you. this is gonna change my life, cause i can't get the hand of bezier tools. not in PS or illustrator. they're just crazy. whenever i try to use bezier, everything ends up looking like i drew it with a spirograph!

The pen tool will be your best friend, one day. Heed the wise words being thrown your way on this thread.

Master the pen tool, and you master your own destiny. Maybe.

I tend to do that bezier thing, convert it to a selection, then get down and dirty with the airbrush and paintbrush in the quick-mask mode. Need those levels of transparency for frizzy hair and the like. A good tip is to never delete anything, but to create layer masks instead, masking out areas of the background rather than deleting them. You never know when you might need some element of it back. Ditto for using adjustment layers instead of making adjustments to the original image.

yeah, the pen tool is awesome! look at the magic i have created:



p.s. lasso sucks ass.

[Edited on Aug 21, 2003 by miko]

Yep, on Filters, right up top (at least in PS7).. Pen can be tricky, but just like when you were learning to write, it takes practice to make it work right.