Cutting out images from background

There are a number of ways to cut out an image from a background.  We can use some of the basic tools in combination in photoshop to cut out an image. The Magnetic Lasso can be used for this. The problem with it is that you cannot zoom into the image. Therefore the selection can be wrong in bits and parts. But we will use the Magnetic Lasso Tool and also get around the problem of not getting an accurate selection.

The Magnetic Lasso Tool.

The Quick Mask.

The Erazer Tool.

The Brush Tool.

Step 1 : I have opened this photo. I will cut out the girl's image from the background.

Step 2 : Click on the Magnetic Lasso Tool. Set a Feather of 2 pixels in the top bar.

Step 3 : Begin clicking and dragging with the Magnetic Lasso. If you get a dot wrong, press DELETE to delete the last dot. If think the entire selection went wrong you can press ESC and start all over again

Step 4 : As soon as you come back to the last point the selection turns in a column of 'marching ants'.

Step 5 : Click the Edit in Quick Mask Mode button. CS4 has only a single button. In earlier versions there are two.

Step 6 : As soon as you click the Edit in Quick Mask Mode button, the area outside the selection of  'marching ants' is covered with red.

Step 7 : Zoom into the image with the Zoom Tool.

Step 8 : Click the Brush Tool.

Step 9 : After zooming in use the Brush Tool to paint in the portions left out.

Step 10 : Use  the Erazer Tool simultaneously to paint out portions wrongly selected.

Step 11 : Both the Brush and Erazer Tools work in the same manner. Clicking in the top panel reveals the brush. Set the Hardness to 100%. To increase the brush tip press ]  (right bracket key). To decrease the brush press [ (left bracket key).

Step 12 : I can paint out the strands of hair with the Erazer.

Step 13 : After fine tuning the selection click the Edit in Standard Mode button.

Step 14 : The selection has been finetuned.

Step 15 : Press CTRL+J. The selection separates into Layer1.

Click off the eye icon in the Background layer to see the cut out portion.

Step 16 : The girl's image has been cut out cleanly.

Step 17 : Set the image on a new background.

Step 18 : Go to Image>Adjustments>Match Color.

Step 19 : The Match Color dialogue box opens.

Step 20 : Change the Source to the background image. Click OK.

The finished image.

Other Photoshop tutorials are here.

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