People and clipping paths

[jjlphoto]

I'm working on a post production estimate for about 40 files of individual people shot on a white seamless backdrop. Client wants an actual clipping path around each person, not just a dropped out to pure white background. I've heard about some software like MaskPro, EZ Mask, AutoMask, Snap, KnockOut. And of course Photoshop. I have concerns about hair, of course. Could I try to make an ordinary selection around fine things like hair, drop the background to 255/255/255 white, and then do a global clipping path around the general shape of the hair? Open to suggestions and comment about software and technique.

Thanks in Advance!

[Mark D Segal]

I think the end result of what you are proposing would look "cut-out" and unnatural. There are a number of good techniques for masking hair. The best source of wisdom on this is in Katrin Eismann's book "Photoshop Masking and Compositing" where she describes these techniques in considerable depth and detail. You may also find some free tutorials on the internet by doing a search with Google inputting for example "masking hair with Photoshop". You will likely find a lot of good advice. It's a bit involved to lay out properly in a forum posting.

[jjlphoto]

Thanks Mark. I can futts around with feathered selections and degrees of transparency quite well if I am the one placing the shot onto a known background. The clipping path give me concern as the subjects are not hard edged like a piece of furniture. Perhaps I need to turn a selection into a Path? Is that possible?  I'll check out Katrin's info as well.

[jmwscot]

Thanks Mark. I can futts around with feathered selections and degrees of transparency quite well if I am the one placing the shot onto a known background. The clipping path give me concern as the subjects are not hard edged like a piece of furniture. Perhaps I need to turn a selection into a Path? Is that possible?  I'll check out Katrin's info as well.

The tool I use is the extract tool in Photoshop. It's not in CS4 but you can download the free plug-in from Adobe here:Adobe Download
The Russell Brown Show gives a demo of the technique:Extracting Backgrounds

John

[jjlphoto]

Just watched that Russel Brown one and another:
http://tv.adobe.com/watch/the-russell-brow...ng-backgrounds/
http://tv.adobe.com/watch/the-russell-brow...emoving-fringe/

I need to find out why the clients wants a clipping path as it seems that is a poor choice for people shots.

[smahn]

I need to find out why the clients wants a clipping path as it seems that is a poor choice for people shots.

They probably want to be able to drop the subject onto any background of their choosing. See if they can work with a TIFF with transparency. In which case you'd make all your image adjustments, flatten the file, mask your subject, turn the mask into a selection, inverse, press the delete key to delete all but your subject, then save.

[stamper]

Note the dates of the last two posts. Hopefully after five years he has found a solution?

[bill t.]

In technological arts clients often need saving from themselves.  They probably wanted an image with a normal mask.  But they used the words "clipping mask" because they were once involved in a shampoo ad that used them.  The problem gets worse when the client contact is a producer or designer, or even worse, a stylist.  Always get the phone number for the actual Photoshop serf.