Remove the background from a clipart picture

DN
Posted By
Diane_Neuens
Oct 27, 2003
Views
796
Replies
4
Status
Closed
I do not remember how to select only part of an image so that the background disappears. For example: I have a clip art picture of a dog set against a doghouse. I want only to get the dog as a selection and then copy it into Word on top of a yellow box. I have tried doing a clipping path but it doesn’t work. Most probably because I don’t have a clue what I am doing. I have reread 4 of my school books but they assume I can remember how to make paths, save them and do a clipping path (if that is what I should do) I have been out of school for eons and can’t remember how to do this. What I need are instructions saying: First do this, then do that, then do this, etc. I am using Photoshop 6 (win 2000)although I have Photoshop 7 (Win 98) at home (in case you think one is easier than the other).

So can anyone tutor me on the step-by-step procedure I should use to remove the background from a clip art picture and then copy it into Word as a stand-alone piece of art?
Thanks for any help!
Diane
Related Tags
background clipart picture remove

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KN
Ken_Nielsen_
Oct 27, 2003
"it doesn’t work. Most probably because I don’t have a clue what I am doing."

Start by learning to use the pen tool. It takes a few weeks to become familiar with it, so be patient, and remember that it is at the heart of Photoshop. You will be glad you took the time to learn it. Once you learn it, you will be able to knock out backgrounds anytime anywhere – very useful indeed.

Items you outline with the pen tool now have a path, that you created, that can be designated as a clipping path. Saving the file as an EPS with then give you a file that will always have the background ‘knocked out’ when you place it in another program like InDesign or Illustrator. Or, you can specify the path to become a selection which you can then invert and delete the background that way in Photoshop.

There is a lot you can do with paths and the pen tool, too much to mention here, but it will surely do what you requested here.

Start here:

<http://www.iland.net/~england/pen1.html>
BG
Beth_Garst
Oct 27, 2003
The easiest way may be to use the lasso tool. This is easier if you use a tablet instead of a mouse, but if you blow the imge up really big and and have a steady hand you should be able to "draw" a selection around the dog. Hold down the alt key with the lasso to subtract from the selection, the shift key to add to it. Once the dog has been selected, simply copy and paste it into a new file and save it as a .tif or .jpg to bring into word.
KN
Ken_Nielsen_
Oct 27, 2003
Yes, for sure, no matter what method you use, get a wacom tablet and dump the mouse.

My only objection to using the lasso tool would be that you are often saving nothing as you go, whereas, the pen tool path becomes an integral part of the image, saves with the image and is always available and its shape can be easily changed whenever you want. With the lasso tool, you may be able to do most of your image and then flub up and loose all the work and have to start over. If you do use the lasso tool, be sure to become familiar with saving alpha channels so you can at least save your selections.

With the lasso tool, backgrounds that you delete are not truly ‘clipped away’ so you will still have a white opaque square background the size of the image to contend with if you are placing them in other applications.

Only an eps or tiff with a clipping path will truly ‘clip away’ the background and give you an image with transparency all around the outlined image when placed in other applications.
JM
John_Mensinger
Oct 28, 2003
The last thing you want in your Word document is a clipping path. MS Office simply isn’t that Postscript-friendly.

First duplicate your background layer, then hide the original background. The methods you choose to make your selection around the dog could be any or many…lasso, pen, layer mask, quickmask. Make your selection and delete all the unwanted pixels around the dog.

Layer 1 should now contain only the dog. With the Background still hidden, choose Image > Duplicate, and select "Duplicate Merged Layers Only." Now close-crop your duplicate of the isolated dog and Save As… PNG format.

In Word, choose Insert > Picture > From File…

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