easiest way to remove background from a person (including hair) without making them look like a helm

DD
Posted By
Diane Dusek
Oct 24, 2008
Views
299
Replies
3
Status
Closed
I use CS2 and only use it to convert photos or do the very basics (for ads I create). Sometimes I do use Photoshop to create the ads. I wish that I could say that I was an expert but I probably know only 5% what I need to know. However, there is a function that I would use all the time if it was available and was wondering if CS4 makes it easier to do the following:

I very often need to take the background away from a person. When I have searched Google to see if there is an easy way to do it, the only examples show a solid color background. That is not what I need to know. What I need to do is take a person out of a background without having them look like helmet heads. So often I receive camera-ready ads with photographs that have been revised. The creator uses the lasso tool and cuts a person away from the background and the head looks like a helmet. Does CS4 (or, for that matter, CS3) have an easier way to do that as compared to CS2?

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JJ
John Joslin
Oct 24, 2008
No. You had the Extract Filter in CS2 but that’s gone from CS4.

There are many techniques for extracting a person with a wispy outline. You may get some ideas here:

<http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.1de5f905.3bb80e5d/7>
P
Phosphor
Oct 24, 2008
Extracting wispy hair and making it look authentic is always a bit of a challenge. But the real work comes in knowing which techniques to use, in which order and combination, for a particular type of image.

I’m STILL working on getting good at it, after many years of practice.

And that link that John posted?

Just to be sure you don’t miss the whole thread, try this:

<http://www.adobeforums.com/webx?128@@.1de5f905.3bb80e5d>
GA
George_Austin
Oct 25, 2008
Phos, thanks for those references. I missed them the first time around but will have a look as time permits. In the meantime, Diane, here’s a quickie fix for softening the "helmet"—undoubtedly already addressed in Phos’s extensive set of tutorials:

Having selected the essence of your subject and finding hard edges proclaiming it as a cutout, copy the selection to a top layer, blur the copy via Gaussian blur, add a layer mask to the copy layer, and fill the mask with black so that only the unblurred substrate shows through. Then create a small soft brush and paint the edges with white, so that only the edges (hairy ones included) are blurred. You won’t preserve those isolated strands of hair and all the kinks, but you will get a nice soft transition to the background that is believable if not literal. The diameter, hardness, and opacity of the brush are at your disposal as well as the paint color which can be a shade of gray instead of white

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