This article will show you how to separate an image from the background in Photoshop. The main difficulty here is that the pixels in the image are partly in the foreground and partly in the background. In Photoshop, when you cut a pixel in half, you end up with the same pixel, but half (50%) transparent, so it is very important to choose the right matte color underneath those pixels.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Free Pen Tool
Step 1. Select the "Free pen" tool
Step 2. Draw the image with the selected tool
(Make sure the Outlines button is clicked in the upper left corner of the screen.) Leave no gaps when sketching the image (draw a line over the image rather than the background).
Step 3. Press Ctrl and click on the outlined line
It will display labels, by dragging which you can correct the outline line (so that it accurately outlines the image). To insert new marks, simply click on the corresponding segment on the line. When finished, right-click on the line and click Make Selection.
Step 4. Cut the image and paste it on a new layer (Ctrl + C and then Ctrl + V)
Now you can replace the background with the one you want.
Method 2 of 2: Quick Selection Tool
Step 1. Find and select the Quick Selection tool
Use it to highlight the image.
Step 2. A similar tool can be found in free image editors such as GIMP
In this program, such a tool is more precise, since you can define the area of the image to be selected.
Advice
- If your background is colored with a different color from the image, you can make that background transparent and then remove it.
- Do not forget that you can use several tools at once to select a particular area of the image.
- Practice on an image with a simple, monochrome background.