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Author Topic: Cutting out images  (Read 6755 times)

andybuk99

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Cutting out images
« on: February 08, 2007, 04:26:19 am »

Hi all.

I never really get involved with cutting out images but a client wants me to do it on the next job. Can anyone point me in the direction of tutorials etc or any advice would be appreciated.
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framah

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Cutting out images
« Reply #1 on: February 08, 2007, 10:07:57 am »

Whether you use left handed or right handed scissors is entirely up to you. I prefer left handed ones myself.  

Seriously, what are you talking about?
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Jonathan Wienke

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Cutting out images
« Reply #2 on: February 08, 2007, 12:41:26 pm »

Add a layer mask in Photoshop. Select the layer mask in the layers palette. Paint the layer mask with the brush tool. Black is transparent, white is opaque. The size and hardness of the brush will control the sharpness of the edge. You usually want a little bit of fuzziness to the edge to avoide a "cut and pasted" look. Do the rough  mask with a 100-pixel brush, or maybe larger, at 100% hardness, and then touch up the border with a 10-pixel brush, 50-75% hardness.
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framah

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Cutting out images
« Reply #3 on: February 09, 2007, 02:56:51 pm »

Or you could do it like Jonathan suggested.
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Lightbox

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Cutting out images
« Reply #4 on: February 09, 2007, 08:07:44 pm »

Depends on the subject being cut out and style of photography as to what techinque is best. I'm assuming you will be using a white background. If you have a hard edged subject like a packaging box, using the wand tool is usually fairly accurate. Click on the white background, and the tool should select your subject, this can be fine tuned by changing the tolerance in the options bar. The wands selection can also be added to or trimmed back, holding down shift and clicking adds to the selection, holding down alt, or option on a mac subtracts from your selection. You can also change to the lasso tool to add or subtract messy areas where there are lots of little parts selected that you either want or dont.

I usually start with the wand to make a quick selection, then switch to Quick Mask Mode, then I refine my selection, using the brush tool at various settings, using a softer brush where the edge of the subject is blurred or you want to include shadows.

You can also cut objects out fairly quickly using Paths, however I still find myself in Quick Mask Mode afterwards anyway. Paths have their advantages because you can save the cut out subject and its associated path as a file, for use in graphic design later on where you want a transparent background.

Hope this info is of use and you understand the techniques, with time you will become very proficient and fast at cutting out objects.


The following product was shot using a white backdrop, cut out then placed into a new document using a white background.




First of all use the crop tool on the original image to define the size of the subject in the final image. The Wand Tool will cut out the above product with ease as it has a hard edge, you can then go up top to "Select" then choose "Feather", experiment with this amount depending on image size and subject edge hardness. Then switch to Quick Mask Mode and using a soft brush, include any shadows that you may want.

Once you are happy with your selection, exit Quick Mask Mode and you will have a line of marching ants around your selection. If you are going to be making a small image out of this, then go up to "Select" and hit "Save Selection", give your selection a brief name, I just use 3 letters.

Then Go up to "Image" and "Resize". Resize the image to the final output size, once this is done, go back up to "Select", and choose "Load Selection", choose your selection form the drop down box. Then go up to "Edit" and choose "Copy", now open up a new document and input settings for this, change the document size to match that of your subject, this also depends on how tightly you have cropped it and how big you want your subject to be in the new document.

Once you have the new document open, go up to "Edit" and "Paste", your subject will appear as a layer, and you are free to move it about. From here you can adjust the image to suit.

This sounds like a long process, but it doesnt take that long, use the keyboard to speed it up, and also if you have many subjects that all need the same process, set up some actions that only require a simple press of a key to achieve a string of events.
« Last Edit: February 09, 2007, 08:37:26 pm by Lightbox »
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andybuk99

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Cutting out images
« Reply #5 on: February 10, 2007, 05:19:10 am »

Thanks for the responses.
The images will be used by designers so a clipping path will need to be supplied.
I have a approached a couple of on line services that are quoting £2.50 an image, I have supplied them with some samples and am awaiting the tests.
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Lightbox

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Cutting out images
« Reply #6 on: February 10, 2007, 07:36:04 am »

Good luck with the job.

I have only been using photoshop (CS2) for a year now, I bought a book to teach me the basics, and then spent a while adjusting my images using these techniques. I think the best way to learn photoshop is to be thrown into a situation where you are asked for a certain outcome. This way you are forced to do research And try new techniques. I'm not too sure whether you enjoy your time on computer, but I suggest spending the time learning the above technique, too see if it will suit your work flow and make it worth your time for the job. Through learning to cut out subjects, I have learnt untold amounts about layers, masks and selections, something which you can only really pick up through experience, when learning it really helps to have a purpose to what you are doing.

Anyway, I do hope you at least try to cut out an image, it really does help you to understand the way photoshop works, and will give you new direction in tryed techniques, enjoy,

cheers Shaun.
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Ron Santos

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Cutting out images
« Reply #7 on: February 15, 2007, 10:57:49 am »

Hello,
     Here is a link to Photoshop.  I have used it for 5 years and I still don't know everything thats possible, but it gets the job done.  http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/

Ron.
http://www.batterybank.net
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thechrisproject

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Cutting out images
« Reply #8 on: February 15, 2007, 11:35:03 am »

Quote
Thanks for the responses.
The images will be used by designers so a clipping path will need to be supplied.
I have a approached a couple of on line services that are quoting £2.50 an image, I have supplied them with some samples and am awaiting the tests.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=100148\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

The company I work for outsources all our clipping path stuff, but I'm not sure to whom.
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Ben Rubinstein

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Cutting out images
« Reply #9 on: February 15, 2007, 01:02:49 pm »

Is no one going to mention 'Extract', the tool designed for this job in photoshop? It's in the filters menu.
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Jonathan Wienke

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Cutting out images
« Reply #10 on: February 15, 2007, 03:13:56 pm »

Probably because it only works well in very limited circumstances, and is useless for images not shot with an evenly-lighted, solid color background.
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Ray

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Cutting out images
« Reply #11 on: February 15, 2007, 05:59:12 pm »

Quote
Probably because it only works well in very limited circumstances, and is useless for images not shot with an evenly-lighted, solid color background.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=101098\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

This unevenness of background seems to make the process very tedious. I have a few images which I intend cutting out, when I have the time and inclination, but I'm definitiely put off by what seems to be a very fussy and time-consuming process. Some years ago, I tried a Photoshop plug-in called 'KnockOut 2', produced by Corel, which was designed specifically for this job, but I didn't find it at all easy to get good results quickly. The claim was that individual strands of hair could be easily cut out.

I'm susrprised in the meantime there is no KnockOut 3 available. This facility of being able to quickly and accurately cut out complex objects could be very, very useful. I guess there are some insurmountable problems here.

Does anyone have experience with this program? Is it possible to do a better and/or quicker job using this plug-in, or is it just another one of these programs which emulates what any experienced Photoshop user could do with normal techniques.

Here's a cut-out using mostly the magic wand. The background was even, though, so this was a relatively easy job.

[attachment=1855:attachment]  [attachment=1856:attachment]
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