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Posted on 06/10/07 1:43:43 PM |
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tooquilos
Wizard of Oz Posts: 2886 Reply  |
Removing Background
Im having a terribly frustrating time trying to remove the children from this background. Everything is fine, till I get to the hair and no matter what I try, cant seem to get it right. Could anyone suggest a way I can successfully remove them? BTW..I have tried Steve's method with using the smudge tool, but to no avail. Anna  |
Posted on 06/10/07 2:26:39 PM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 3973 Reply  |
Re: Removing Background
Hi Anna, The best way of extracting hair is by using the ‘Channels’ method. It’s a rather advanced technique whereby you make a duplicate of the channel with the highest contrast and then increase that contrast to the point where you have only black and white. Then you can make your selection from that spare channel. If used well on a fairly resolution image you can extract single strands of hair using this method. It’s a rather long winded technique so I’ll e mail it to you. The best book on the subject of masking in Photoshop is by Katrin Eismann. She goes into this particular area very deeply but explains it so perfectly even I can understand it. If you do try this method it might be easier just isolate the parts of the hair that you want to extract then paste it into a duplicate document. That way you won’t have the faff of extracting everything else using this technique. |
Posted on 07/10/07 11:52:01 AM |
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tooquilos
Wizard of Oz Posts: 2886 Reply |
Re: Removing Background
Thanks Gordon. Had a look at the book on Amazon and have ordered it. Anna 
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Posted on 07/10/07 1:16:34 PM |
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Neil O
Cartoon Contractor Posts: 389 Reply  |
Re: Removing Background
what is the name of this book Gordon? Neil _________________ "I haven't failed.... I've found 10,000 ways that don't work!" Thomas Edison |
Posted on 07/10/07 4:09:05 PM |
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mguyer
Incisive Incisor Posts: 799 Reply  |
Re: Removing Background
Gordon is right on track on this one. |
Posted on 07/10/07 5:36:18 PM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 3973 Reply |
Re: Removing Background
Neil, The book is called Photoshop Masking and Compositing by Katrin Eismann. It has some fairly advanced masking techniques but is well worth having on your bookshelf. It makes a very interesting read even if you do find the techniques daunting. Marty I might be on track but I failed miserably to extract the image cleanly. I think it was because the image as posted was fairly lo-res and very low contrast. But the channel technique is an amazingly powerful way of creating a mask. Gordon |
Posted on 07/10/07 5:36:38 PM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 3973 Reply |
Re: Removing Background
Sorry - double post |
Posted on 07/10/07 5:47:10 PM |
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2bfree
Twilight Trickster Posts: 81 Reply  |
Re: Removing Background
If you do not wish to wait for the book here is a link to her tutorial. www.graphic-design.com/Photoshop/remove_backgrounds |
Posted on 07/10/07 6:20:32 PM |
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Neil O
Cartoon Contractor Posts: 389 Reply |
Re: Removing Background
Thanks, Gordon and Joe! Greatly appreciated. Neil _________________ "I haven't failed.... I've found 10,000 ways that don't work!" Thomas Edison |
Posted on 08/10/07 02:55:52 AM |
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srowden
Detail Devil Posts: 114 Reply  |
Re: Removing Background
Also Scott Kelby has a channels book check it out. http://www.amazon.com/Photoshop-Channels-Book-Scott-Kelby/dp/0321269063 |
Posted on 08/10/07 03:51:40 AM |
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Abby-Helen Artfield
** Posts: 70 Reply |
Re: Removing Background
Gordon, Thank you for the Katrin Eismann recommendation. I went right to Amazon and ordered Photoshop Masking as that has been a hard one for me to grasp. Abby-Helen |
Posted on 08/10/07 05:46:11 AM |
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dave.cox
Marquee Master Posts: 518 Reply  |
Re: Removing Background
Hi Tooquilos. I agree that the channels method is the best way to select hair, and Katrin's book is excellent. Here is a cut out that I did for you, using th channels method. 
The key is to get a much contrast as possible. The best contrast for your image appears to me to be in the red channel. I copied the red channel to a new channel. With the new channel, adjusted the level of that channel to increase the contrast by setting the white slider to 174, and the black slider to 38. From there I used dodge and burn to dodge the darks to black, and the highlights to white. When using dodge and burn to do this, you want to set the brush mode to highlights when dodging, and to shadow when burning. This will keep the brush from over shooting into the wrong area. Also, set the brush exposure to 30 to 40%. You may need to paint over an area multiple times. Concentrate only on the areas where you need the selection made, which is the edges of the hair. The area outside of the head can be selected with the lasso tool, and filled with black. Also select the area inside the face, and fill with white. Don't worry that you are destroying the image, The is all being performed on a layer that is only for making a mask. Once you have the areas painted so that you only see white and black in your channel, you can control click (windows) or command click (Mac) on the channel to load your selection. I hope that this quick tutorial will help until you can get the book. Regards, Dave |
Posted on 08/10/07 11:44:37 AM |
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tooquilos
Wizard of Oz Posts: 2886 Reply |
Re: Removing Background
Thank you Dave. What you achieved is great. Will sit down soon and give it a go. Anna |
Posted on 08/10/07 1:56:32 PM |
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tooquilos
Wizard of Oz Posts: 2886 Reply |
Re: Removing Background
Been on this for hours now and the conclusion we have come to is to leave it as is LOL This technique is wonderful for images with stronger definition and I have learned so much with this exercise but I just dont think its going to work successfully with this particular image. |
Posted on 08/10/07 2:28:35 PM |
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powerslave
Custom Cobber Posts: 136 Reply |
Re: Removing Background
Thanks to everyone who helped
Thats a picture of my Mum and Uncle that tooquilos posted Cheers all |
Posted on 08/10/07 4:51:06 PM |
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rufus
Destructive Demon Posts: 243 Reply  |
Re: Removing Background
Hi tooquilos, This Russell Brown movie should help. http://av.adobe.com/russellbrown/AdvancedMasking.mov rufus |
Posted on 08/10/07 8:07:00 PM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 3973 Reply |
Re: Removing Background
Another book that you might try is The Photoshop Channels Book by Scott Kelby. One of the sections in there shows how to mask black hair from a dark background. Another lifts a humming bird's blurred wings from its background. Amazing stuff! Dave that is an excellent extraction - I couldn't get anywhere near that. |
Posted on 09/10/07 00:23:05 AM |
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dave.cox
Marquee Master Posts: 518 Reply |
Re: Removing Background
Thanks, Gordon. Even with the tutorial, mastering this technique is not easy. But it is such a good technique, it is worth staying with it until you figure it out. I went through 4 different tutorials before I started to get the hang of it, and I still don't have it mastered. Even with a good contrast, you need to finesse the selection. When painting white or black, it takes a light hand, and a low opacity brush. |
Posted on 09/10/07 01:54:55 AM |
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maiden
Golden Gif Gagster Posts: 471 Reply  |
Re: Removing Background
I had a go at the technique described in the video linked by Rufus and it does a pretty good job with some tweaking.  |
Posted on 09/10/07 02:26:23 AM |
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powerslave
Custom Cobber Posts: 136 Reply |
Re: Removing Background
Thats excellent Maiden! We will have a look at the video from Rufus im downloading it now
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