Magnetic Lasso alternative?

L
Posted By
Lunaray
Jun 17, 2007
Views
2004
Replies
9
Status
Closed
I’m tired of fighting with the Magnetic Lasso tool to cut out a section of an image to place with another image or background, isn’t there an easier, more precise way for doing this?

Thanks all!

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L
Lunaray
Jun 17, 2007
I forgot to mention, I’m using 7.0!
PB
Paul Burdett
Jun 17, 2007
"Lunaray" wrote in message
I forgot to mention, I’m using 7.0!

The pen tool?
I
Infinitech
Jun 17, 2007
Lunaray wrote:
I’m tired of fighting with the Magnetic Lasso tool to cut out a section of an image to place with another image or background, isn’t there an easier, more precise way for doing this?

Thanks all!

Quick mask?

Infinitech
MR
Mike Russell
Jun 17, 2007
"Lunaray" wrote in message
I’m tired of fighting with the Magnetic Lasso tool to cut out a section of an image to place with another image or background, isn’t there an easier, more precise way for doing this?

Good suggestions from others re the pen tool, which is important for precise work with hard edges, and quickmask, which allows you use any of the normal paint tools to define a mask.

I generally do a rough cut with the lasso, paste to a new layer, and use the eraser tool to fine tune the edges. Or for finer work I create a layer mask for the new layer, and use the brush tool to paint black where you want it erased. Edges should generally be partially transparent to avoid a paper cut out appearance.

With the second method you can go back at any time if you erase too much: just press the X key, and paint white to get it back again.

The extract tool is important for tough jobs like extracting hair from a background. If you’re going to be doing much of this kind of work, it’s worth a few hours to practice using this tool. Press F1 and look for the keyword extract, as this command has moved around with various versions of Photoshop since it became available in version 5.

This only scratches the surface of how to composite objects. This is one of the oldest and most deeply developed functions in Photoshop. Many people have perfected techniques over the years involving using channels as masks, blurring channels to create a more natural edge (for example when replacing a sky), using a mask to make it look like one object is behind another, even though it is on a layer above. You can even have something like a picture of a car, with the windows being transparent allowing the background to show through.

What really makes all this work is the alpha channel concept, and the ability to have transparent edges, and transparent or semi transparent objects.

Mike Russell – www.curvemeister.com
L
Lunaray
Jun 17, 2007
"Mike Russell" wrote in message
"Lunaray" wrote in message
I’m tired of fighting with the Magnetic Lasso tool to cut out a section of an image to place with another image or background, isn’t there an easier, more precise way for doing this?

Good suggestions from others re the pen tool, which is important for precise work with hard edges, and quickmask, which allows you use any of the normal paint tools to define a mask.

I generally do a rough cut with the lasso, paste to a new layer, and use the eraser tool to fine tune the edges. Or for finer work I create a layer mask for the new layer, and use the brush tool to paint black where you want it erased. Edges should generally be partially transparent to avoid a paper cut out appearance.

With the second method you can go back at any time if you erase too much: just press the X key, and paint white to get it back again.
The extract tool is important for tough jobs like extracting hair from a background. If you’re going to be doing much of this kind of work, it’s worth a few hours to practice using this tool. Press F1 and look for the keyword extract, as this command has moved around with various versions of Photoshop since it became available in version 5.

This only scratches the surface of how to composite objects. This is one of the oldest and most deeply developed functions in Photoshop. Many people have perfected techniques over the years involving using channels as masks, blurring channels to create a more natural edge (for example when replacing a sky), using a mask to make it look like one object is behind another, even though it is on a layer above. You can even have something like a picture of a car, with the windows being transparent allowing the background to show through.

What really makes all this work is the alpha channel concept, and the ability to have transparent edges, and transparent or semi transparent objects.

Mike Russell – www.curvemeister.com
Thanks Mike, this is a lot of information to digest and experiment with and I admit it, I am just a novice. As it turns out, I stumbled on to a way to do what I was trying to do: I used the "Magic Wand" tool and "Invert" and it worked! When I say "Stumbled", I mean it literally; I tried all of the suggestions in this thread and I suppose that they must’ve inspired me to try some different things. Thank you all!

I just wish that I would’ve taken notes, I’ll probably want to do the same thing in a future project and I’ll be scratching my head thinking: now how did I do that? 🙂

Ray
E
edjh
Jun 17, 2007
Mike Russell wrote:
"Lunaray" wrote in message
I’m tired of fighting with the Magnetic Lasso tool to cut out a section of an image to place with another image or background, isn’t there an easier, more precise way for doing this?

Good suggestions from others re the pen tool, which is important for precise work with hard edges, and quickmask, which allows you use any of the normal paint tools to define a mask.

I generally do a rough cut with the lasso, paste to a new layer, and use the eraser tool to fine tune the edges. Or for finer work I create a layer mask for the new layer, and use the brush tool to paint black where you want it erased. Edges should generally be partially transparent to avoid a paper cut out appearance.

With the second method you can go back at any time if you erase too much: just press the X key, and paint white to get it back again.
The extract tool is important for tough jobs like extracting hair from a background. If you’re going to be doing much of this kind of work, it’s worth a few hours to practice using this tool. Press F1 and look for the keyword extract, as this command has moved around with various versions of Photoshop since it became available in version 5.

This only scratches the surface of how to composite objects. This is one of the oldest and most deeply developed functions in Photoshop. Many people have perfected techniques over the years involving using channels as masks, blurring channels to create a more natural edge (for example when replacing a sky), using a mask to make it look like one object is behind another, even though it is on a layer above. You can even have something like a picture of a car, with the windows being transparent allowing the background to show through.

What really makes all this work is the alpha channel concept, and the ability to have transparent edges, and transparent or semi transparent objects.

Good advice. I must say that over the years I have never found any use for the Magnetic Lasso, which I think is kind of a cruel joke. It’s way too klutzy a tool IMHO.


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MR
Mike Russell
Jun 17, 2007
"edjh" wrote in message
….
I must say that over the years I have never found any use for the Magnetic Lasso, which I think is kind of a cruel joke. It’s way too klutzy a tool IMHO.

It’s just that there are so few metal cows in the world. —
Mike Russell – www.curvemeister.com
FS
Fat Sam
Jun 17, 2007
Mike Russell wrote:
"edjh" wrote in message

I must say that over the years I have never found any use for the Magnetic Lasso, which I think is kind of a cruel joke. It’s way too klutzy a tool IMHO.

It’s just that there are so few metal cows in the world.

Damn you.
I just sprayed my drink everywhere.
K
KatWoman
Jun 17, 2007
"edjh" wrote in message
Mike Russell wrote:
"Lunaray" wrote in message
I’m tired of fighting with the Magnetic Lasso tool to cut out a section of an image to place with another image or background, isn’t there an easier, more precise way for doing this?

Good suggestions from others re the pen tool, which is important for precise work with hard edges, and quickmask, which allows you use any of the normal paint tools to define a mask.

I generally do a rough cut with the lasso, paste to a new layer, and use the eraser tool to fine tune the edges. Or for finer work I create a layer mask for the new layer, and use the brush tool to paint black where you want it erased. Edges should generally be partially transparent to avoid a paper cut out appearance.

With the second method you can go back at any time if you erase too much: just press the X key, and paint white to get it back again.
The extract tool is important for tough jobs like extracting hair from a background. If you’re going to be doing much of this kind of work, it’s worth a few hours to practice using this tool. Press F1 and look for the keyword extract, as this command has moved around with various versions of Photoshop since it became available in version 5.

This only scratches the surface of how to composite objects. This is one of the oldest and most deeply developed functions in Photoshop. Many people have perfected techniques over the years involving using channels as masks, blurring channels to create a more natural edge (for example when replacing a sky), using a mask to make it look like one object is behind another, even though it is on a layer above. You can even have something like a picture of a car, with the windows being transparent allowing the background to show through.

What really makes all this work is the alpha channel concept, and the ability to have transparent edges, and transparent or semi transparent objects.

Good advice. I must say that over the years I have never found any use for the Magnetic Lasso, which I think is kind of a cruel joke. It’s way too klutzy a tool IMHO.

I never used to like it until I realized it’s great for certain edge situations and is very customizable
try changing the edge contrast settings
(also until recently I did not have the pen tool mastered)

I was going to say magic wand is very useful after roughly selecting the object, it can tighten up the edges
yes do I use inverse a lot too
and vary the tolerances!!!
use contiguous to make it behave different than select color range I think back in 4.0 or 5.0 they had a good select tutorial video showing that method

I am frequently using SELECT>color range
and the masks-so cool you can paint on them with a brush, make gradients etc one of my fave PS features
I never knew about extract or background eraser
so rarely use them

always used feather and expand contract selections to get smoother edges for difficult flying hair I tried the Russell Brown channels method (very good but requires many steps)
and some familiarity with channels and levels

always save the selections (or the masks) that way if you get better at them you can go back and edit your old images where you messed up a bit

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