As a designer we should know some quick and efficient techniques to extract some particular objects or design element from an image.
Photoshop Extraction :- First example
This is an image of a model with clean white background and we want to extract the model.
We can extract this with the help of photoshop extraction tool like“pen tool”, but it will be very time consuming technique. So we can’t follow it.
So now go and grab the “magic wand tool” and click on white background to select it, to add selection area hold “shift key” and click on the portion which you want to add in selection.
Now we want to extract the model so we have to select her, go to select menu and choose “inverse” so it will invert the selection.
Our selection is done, but still it is not perfectly selected, because it has very sharp edges selected around it, and some pixel is not selected on edges and some unwanted pixels are selected, so to deal with this problem I’ll click on “refine edges” button, up here in option bar.
This is refine edge panel i’m changing the view mode from “black & white” to “on black”.
Because of black background we can see what the problem with edges of the model is.
Now start painting on edges of the model and see how it is subtracting some unwanted white color pixels from the selection.
It have removed rough edges and made them softer.
Let me change view mode to “black & white”.
Keep in your mind that black means “transparent” and white means “opaque”.
Here some part of the model has been transparent so I need to remove it for that select “erase refinements tool” and correct the selection.
But this is not a big issue, so we can deal with it later.
You can see here some transparent pixels around the edges of the model in some specific portions.
So now change the setting of “output” option. select “new layer with layer mask” from drop down list.
Press ok
You can see here in layer panel a new layer is created with layer mask.
Now see these transparent pixels here. To deal with it just duplicate the layer by pressing CTRL + J.
And you can see our problem is solved.
You can see with the help of this cool trick we have extracted the model very nicely.
Next Extraction Technique.
In this technique we will talk about “luminosity based selection”.
See here is an image of smoke, in smoke some portion is full opaque while some portion is half transparent. So we want to extract the smoke with proper transparent pixels.
In previous technique we have done our selection with “magic wand tool” but here it will not be the proper technique in the case of smoke.
So here we will gona use the “channels palet”.
In channels panel hold CTRL key and just click on “RGB channel” on the top of the channels panel, it loads all the brightness value as the active selection. It has selected entire white background.
Now go to select menu and choose inverse.
Then press CTRL + J to create a new layer of selected portion.
You can see here a new layer is created of selected area.
But it looks very flat.
So to maintain it’s density select layer and press CTRL + J for around 4-5 times.
And merge all duplicate layers.
Now you can see, with the help of this trick how perfectly we have extracted the smoke.
This is called “luminosity based selection” technique.
Let’s move to our next example.
Here is a model and we want to extract her hair very quickly.
If we use the “pen tool” in this particular image then it will be time consuming process but if we do not need to waste more time on this, we can do this very nicely and quickly with the help of “refine edge” option.
Grab the “quick selection tool” and select the model roughly.
Click on “refine edge” option.
Select view mode “on layer”.
And start painting around edges of hair .
You can see how it is refining the selection around hair.
Look some unwanted pixels are also removed from the selection.
I’ll take out this selection as “new layer with layer mask”.
Look here a new layer is created with layer mask and the model is extracted very nicely.
Take a duplicate of layer and so that we can deal with some transparent pixels around edges of model.
So these are some cool and quick tricks for extraction in photshop cc.
In next video we will talk about how to work with “Brush tool” in photoshop.
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