In article <Agdlg.7363$>,
"John Smith" wrote:
Is there an online tutorial someplace that describes the best way to strip/delete/paint the background out of photos I’m preparing for a catalog?
For example, is it best to erase the background or paint as much as possible white? What’s the difference? What’s the best way to deal with the edges of the object in the photo? Again, paint or erase?
Neither.
If your goal is to prepare a job for printing on a professional printing press, to start with you should be working in Photoshop Elements, not Photoshop. When you are preparing a catalog or any other job for printing on a printing press, you need to work in CMYK, not RGB. Printing presses do not work in RGB, and Elements does not work in CMYK.
The best way to remove the background depends on the kind of objects and the program you will use to make the catalog.
If the objects have hard, sharp edges, and you are not using Adobe Indesign to make the catalog, the best way to remove the edges is to trace the object using the Pen tool, and then tell Photoshop to make the pen path into a clipping path. Save the image as an EPS file and place it in whatever program you are making the catalog in.
If the images have fuzzy, indistinct edges, or things like hair, put the image on a layer and create a layer mask. Paint in the layer mask to remove the background. Then, if you are using Adobe Indesign to create the catalog, save the file as a layered transparent .psd file and place that in Indesign. If you are using some other program to make the catalog, save the image as a TIFF and place it in your program you’re using to make the catalog.
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