Removing someone from their background, wispy hair or not, is usually pretty easy (Clone Stamp, copy & paste over them etc). It’s removing/changing the background of someone with wispy hair where it can get tricky, and that’s what I presume you want to do.
I use a variety of techniques, having multiple layers of the subject with different masks and blending modes. Which techniques I use mainly depends on the colour of the original background, the colour of the new background and the colour of the subject’s hair. It tends to be easiest when the original has dark hair on a pale background. I have one layer set to multiply or darken with the mask loose around the hair, and a layer on top set to normal, where the mask eats into the hair a little.
What colours are your subject’s original and new backgrounds, and hair?
The original background is a pale green/turquisey colur. The new background is bright yellowy mustard colur and
their hair is dark brown/black.
Good, that should make things a lot less difficult than they might be if you were taking a blonde on a black background and putting her onto a blue sky. You might get some better suggestions, but in the meantime you can try mine. Post back if you have trouble.
I do this myself for a cover shot every two months, and each time I learn a new technique.
Where will I find the info on your technique? Apologies if I’m being thick!
build a mask, paint brush, smudge…bit of work, but better than automated 5 second solutions.
Option click on the Green channel, type "q", press "~", than "d", "b"…
Paint face black, type "q" and click on the "make layer mask icon" [o]
This is just a start for inspiration.
There are lots of ways to do this, but generally it depends on the complexity of the original background. There are two issues in masking out hair: removing the background with partial selections of borders and decontamination of edge colours. These issues have been well worked out with greenscreen/bluescreen backgrounds with a variety of plugins. If the original background is complex, your best bet is to get a plug in like Corel’s Knockout. If it is simple and extract is not working well, consider copying the channel that has the most contrast and running levels or curves on that copy and using this as a selection. To get a realistic look if your background is complex is a several stage process and fairly time consuming.
I have been using Procreate’s Knockout 2.0 photoshop plugin for a few years now, and after I learned it’s relatively easy useage, I love it. It adds an option in the ‘filters’ menu to extract objects. It is easy to learn and produces flawless transparent knockouts when you get the hang of it. Well worth the money. It is ages beyong Photoshop’s built in ‘extract’ tool.
I recommend it.
Other than that, I suggest utilizing layer masks as much as possible and painting in hair whisps… as sometimes the best way to get a job done right is to muscle up and do it yourself. A wacom tablet helps a lot in this process because of the varying degrees of line thickness, opacity and feel.
Hope this helps
Plan ahead (I know it’s not always possible, especially with management taking the driver’s seat of art direction as of late.) If possible, do your shots in a studio or on set with a white, or easily knocked-out background in contrast with the color of hair.
