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Photoshop selecting an object along its contour. Creating an outline of an object (shape) from a selection in various versions of Photoshop. How to create an image outline in Photoshop

The most common operation in Photoshop is selecting objects to replace the background or transfer to another photo. In Photoshop there is great amount selection methods that can be combined with each other to achieve a better result.

From this lesson, you will learn how to select a method for a given specific situation and select objects in Photoshop as efficiently and quickly as possible.

Good highlighting starts with the right choice tool. The very first group of buttons in the toolbar is dedicated to selecting objects.

The arrow in the lower right corner means there are additional variations of these tools. If you click and hold the mouse button on one of them, a list of additional tools opens.

At the beginning there are simple selection shapes “Rectangular area”, “Oval area” and stripes one pixel thick. Most often, the first two are used.

Holding down the SHIFT key while drawing produces a clean square or circle.

Regular Lasso(Lasso Tool) draws a line along the trajectory of the mouse. As a rule, it is quite difficult to hit the edge of an object with the mouse, so this tool is suitable for rough selection when precision is not important.

(Polygonal Lasso Tool) draws a selection using straight lines. Suitable for highlighting objects with right angles. For example, boxes, buildings, pencils.

Double-clicking closes the selection, so be careful.

(Magnetic Lasso Tool) works in automatic mode. Just weigh on the edge of the object, the computer will recognize its shape and the line will be “magnetized” to the edge of the object.

If the line is not laid correctly, press the Backspace key on the keyboard to remove the last links and lay the line along a new course. Also, this button works with the rectangular selection tool.

(Magic Wand Tool) automatically recognizes spots of the same color and selects them.

The magic wand is suitable for objects lying on a plain background; one click on the background will recognize it and highlight it.

The sensitivity of the magic wand (tolerance) is adjusted in the options panel. The higher the value, the more the wand “sees”. Sensitivity that is too low will leave a white halo, as in the picture above, and sensitivity that is too high will capture the edges of the object.

(Quick Selection Tool), works in a similar way, but more effectively selects multi-colored objects. The tool lives up to its name and indeed selects an object faster than all others.

Select the optimal brush diameter and draw inside the object. The brush will grab it in parts, trying to guess the boundaries of the object.

Even if the Quick Selection Tool has grabbed the excess, holding down the ALT key allows you to remove pieces of the selection back.

Absolutely all of the above tools can be combined with each other. It is this technique that allows you to achieve High Quality discharge.

  • Hold SHIFT adds the next selection to the existing one.
  • Hold ALT subtracts the new selection from the old one.

When working with lasso tools, you can always modify an existing selection by adding a new one or subtracting from an old one.

In addition, each new selection can have its own shading. This allows you to select an item with blurred edges, as in the picture above.

The feather value can be set before drawing (in the options bar, as in the image above), or after drawing by pressing SHIFT+F6 (or right click mouse - Feathering).

How to quickly select an object in Photoshop

TO quick ways selections include all of the above automatic tools, and especially the Quick Selection tool. Additional functions will also help you cope with complex tasks.

Color Range

If the picture contains several objects of the same tone, use - Highlight/Color Range... This function, unlike the "magic wand", allows you to capture all elements at once and see how the sensitivity setting affects the selection.

Click the eyedropper on the desired area and adjust the "Scatter" so that your subject has maximum contrast to the background.

Improved automatic selection

However, it is important to understand that the speed of selection always affects the quality. If you want to make it as simple as possible and save time, make an automatic selection, for example with the magic wand tool.

And then, manually refine what the tool could not correctly recognize by holding down the SHIFT or ALT keys to add or subtract pieces.

Quick mask

High-speed methods of extraction include a quick mask. Take a black brush and go to quick mask mode (Q key). Paint the desired area with the brush, changing the size and hardness of the edges. Painting with gray shades allows you to create a translucent highlight.

In the "Quick Mask" mode, you can use not only brushes, but also lasso tools by filling them with black.

When you click on the quick mask icon again, you will have a selection that you will need to invert (CTRL+SHIFT+I).

Selecting with a layer mask

This method is not related to the selection tools, but has a huge advantage over the previous one in that it makes it possible to easily edit the selection as you work, add parts of the shape and remove them. Therefore, I decided to talk about him too.

Drag your image onto another background without cutting it out so that it is the second layer. Click on the layer mask icon.

Painting on the layer with black will hide the image, and painting with white will show it again. You can paint over areas using either a brush of varying softness or lasso tools.

Another advantage of this application method is the ability to make translucent selections, for example, by painting with a gray brush. It is much more convenient to paint with brushes on a layer mask; using pressure on the handle, you can adjust the transparency, and the strokes are much more accurate.

Video tutorial: 4 ways to make selections in Photoshop

How to select a complex object in Photoshop

Complex selection objects often include hair or objects with a large number of small details. Such objects are very difficult or even impossible to identify with standard tools.

If the edges of an object are blurred, automatic tools may not be able to cope, and a manual line may not be straight. In this case, it is better to use the Pen Tool, which will be discussed below.

Two ways to highlight hair

Levels. Create a new layer and set it to black and white (CTRL+SHIFT+U). Click - Image/Correction/Levels... Adjust the side sliders so that the person's hair is in maximum contrast to the background, as shown in the image below.

Paint over the light parts of the girl with a black brush to create a solid silhouette without gaps, as in the screenshot below.

Now, select the black silhouette with the “Color Range” described above, and the second layer can be deleted.

Edge refinement. For example, let's take a photo of a horse's mane. Select the body with the Quick Selection Tool or any other convenient tool. For precise selection of the mane, press - Select/Refine Edge...

Now you need to run a brush-like tool along the edge of the mane. And set the optimal settings. It is possible to see the quality of the selection on a black and white background. This is especially convenient when transferring an object to another background; you can see mistakes in advance (for example, a colored halo) and correct them.

If you erased too much or not evenly, go over the mane again while holding down the ALT key on your keyboard.

If the selection captures part of the background along the edge, for example, a white halo around an object. Click - Select/Modify/Compress...

In the window that opens, set the number of pixels by which your selection should be reduced. The same can be done for extensions selection area.

Border creates a selection only along the border of the object to the thickness specified in the settings. This function is convenient to use when drawing shapes.

Smoothing rounds the sharp corners of the selection, making it more rounded.

Blurs the edges of a selection.

Selection with the Pen tool

The Pen Tool allows you to make precise selections of objects with rounded and sharp corners. Take the Pen and click on the edge of the selection if you press and hold left button mouse, you can get a curved line.

A short click creates sharp corners, and holding allows you to bend rounded lines without errors. As you draw, you can edit the line using the following keys:

  • Holding CTRL allows you to move anchor points and change the angle of curvature.
  • Holding ALT adds anchor points and allows you to make sharp corners
  • Holding SHIFT makes the curvature at angles that are multiples of 45°.

When your pen drawing is ready, close it, right-click on it and select "Select Area..."

The resulting selection can be used in your work, and the vector path can be deleted.

Video lesson: selecting a complex object

How to move a selected object

As a rule, an object is isolated for transfer to another image or for editing separately from the background. There are several ways to transfer an image to a different background:

The easiest way to transfer is to copy (CTRL+C and CTRL+V). Or click - Edit/Copy. And on the other image - Insert. The selection is imported as a new layer.

There is another way. Using the Move Tool, simply drag the object onto another image and release it.

And finally, the most correct way is to press - Layer/New/Copy to new layer...

How to resize a selected object in Photoshop

Almost always, after transferring a selected image to another background, it needs to be scaled. You can make the image as small as you like, but if the size is already small, then when stretched it will be blurry and in a lower resolution. In this case, it is better to reduce the background rather than the main object.

Click - Editing/Transforming/Scaling...(or CTRL+T). A frame will appear around the object.

Be sure to drag the corner while holding SHIFT on the keyboard, otherwise the proportions of the layer will be distorted and the seagull will be flattened.

Also, it is possible to rotate the layer, distort, deform, flip horizontally and vertically.

How to save a selected object in Photoshop

Once you've got the selection you need, it wouldn't hurt to save it right away, just in case. Click - Select/Save selected area...

Now the selection has been saved and can be loaded again or added to an existing one at any time.

The saved selection will only be saved in Photoshop (PSD) format; if you save your image as a JPEG, all selection information will be deleted.

How to delete a selected object in Photoshop

You can remove a selected object from a photo by simply pressing the DELETE key or painting the selected area with the background color.

As you can see in the picture above, painting the image with the background color does not give the desired result, so this can only be solved with retouching tools. Such as the “stamp” and the “healing brush”.

For example, if you want to completely remove a person from a photo, you need to restore the background underneath using retouching tools. Sometimes photography allows you to do this.

Such an operation requires certain skills in using retouching tools and a certain amount of time, just as it is all done manually. Take the Clone Stamp Tool, hold down ALT, click on a sample of a similar background that goes under the person and click on the person.

The border running along the legs must be drawn separately, transferring similar pieces with a stamp.

If the background is uniform, select the area using any of the above-described selection tools with feathering and move it to the place of the person.

Photoshop is one of the best tools for working with raster graphics. The program has rich probabilities that allow the user to change the image as desired. When processing graphics, one of the most common tasks is to select contour image element.

Instructions

1. Select silhouette in Photoshop allowed in several ways. The most primitive one is associated with the use of the “Magic Wand” - Magic Wand. In the Components palette, its icon looks like a stick with a star at the end. To properly highlight silhouettes, the Magic Wand should be adjusted positively. Set the Tolerance parameter in the tool properties to 30. This value will allow you to fairly confidently separate the silhouette of the desired image from the background.

2. Working with the “Magic Stick” is very primitive. Bring it to the edge of the object whose silhouette you want to highlight and left-click. The silhouette of part of the image will be highlighted. Now press Shift and, while holding the key, left-click again near the part of the image that has not yet been selected as a silhouette. Pressing Shift allows you to drag the selected silhouette further. Continue using the same method to create the silhouette. If you make a mistake, switch to the English layout and press Ctrl + Z - the last action will be undone.

3. When the silhouette is closed, proceed to editing the selection. It may be required if in some areas of the image the contouring was performed incorrectly, and the silhouette cut off part of the image. Reduce the tolerance value a little, then move the Magic Wand to the part of the image captured by the silhouette. While holding down Alt key, click the mouse on the falsely selected area. The silhouette will be corrected. Now press Del, the existing background around the image will be removed and filled with the background selected in the components palette.

4. To select more difficult silhouettes that blend exceptionally into the background, use the Lasso Tool. Select it, press the left mouse button and drag the tool along the perimeter of the selected image until the silhouette is closed. The disadvantage of the tool is that the selection is done manually and its quality is determined by how correctly you move the mouse.

5. In many cases, the Magic Wand and Lasso probabilities are unsatisfactory for accurately silhouetting a difficult object. Let's say you need to cut out an image of a cat from a photograph so that the whiskers and fur are preserved. It is unthinkable, and not necessary, to select every hair with the “Magic Stick” or “Lasso” - for this there is a more convenient “Pen” tool.

6. Select Pen Tool - Silhouettes. Now, using successive mouse clicks, select the silhouette of the image element you need. Making it difficult contour quite labor-intensive, but the result is worth all the time spent. At the same time, don’t be overwhelmed by highlighting the smallest elements. contour(like the whiskers and fur of a cat), at this stage you need to highlight the overall silhouette. Close it by clicking the mouse one final time on the first point. Now with support for the Refine Edge tool, you can more accurately define boundaries contour. Considering that working with this tool is quite difficult, read about it in specialized articles.

For satin stitch embroidery, applique or homemade stained glass you need contour drawing. Handicraft kits traditionally contain a certain number of drawings. However, if you want to do something authentic, draw the silhouette yourself. Program Adobe Photoshop allows this to be done even by those who are not confident in their artistic abilities.

You will need

  • – computer with Adobe Photoshop program;
  • – Internet access;
  • - scanner;
  • - Printer;
  • – mascara;
  • – aluminum or bronze powder;
  • – glue for glass;
  • - tracing paper.

Instructions

1. Choose a suitable drawing. Scan a postcard or photo with a resolution of 300 dpi. You can also find a suitable image on the Internet. The plot can be anything, but try to find a picture with quite a huge number of small details. You will still remove the extra lines later, but at the same time the image of what you are going to embroider or draw on glass should be preserved.

3. In the small rectangular panels, find the one on which the brushes are marked. Activate it. Drag it to the top panel or leave it where it is. But in any case, fill in the parameters. Select a round hard brush and set its size. If you haven't dragged anything anywhere, there is an arrow to the right of the panel name. Click on it and a window will open in front of you where you need to enter the size. If the silhouette lines are thin, select 2 or 3. There you will also find the “Opacity” box. Set to 100%.

4. Remove unwanted black spots from the image. It is allowed to do this various methods. Especially clear for the uninitiated is to find a selection in the left menu, where the tools are indicated. Usually this is the upper left square. Find 2 squares at the bottom that represent colors. In your case it is black and white. White should be at the bottom. Using your mouse, select the area you want to clean and press the “Delete” key. Remove any more small specks with the help of an eraser, which you will also find on the side panel.

5. Draw the missing lines using a brush. Silhouette drawing must be continuous. Draw, if necessary, additional lines - flower stamens, house stones, etc.

6. Determine what size you need drawing. In the “File” menu, set the options for printing. If you need a very large drawing, but the printer only allows you to print in A4 format, divide your sketch into several parts. Print each part separately, forgetting to mark the places for gluing.

Video on the topic

Helpful advice
Transfer the embroidery design onto fabric supported by carbon paper, crushed chalk or stylus. In the first case, it is easily traced along the silhouette. Place the carbon paper as a layer of paint on the fabric. In order to transfer a drawing using chalk or stylus, prick it along the silhouette with a needle. Make punctures at a distance of 3-5 mm from each other. If you want to make a homemade stained glass window, place the design on a horizontal surface and cover it with glass. To 5 parts of glass glue, add 2 parts of black ink and 5 parts of aluminum or bronze powder. It’s better to take glue in a jar and one that doesn’t set very quickly. It could be, say, PVA. Sealant will not work, but you can try experimenting with liquid glass. Mix the ingredients. Apply the resulting paint over the silhouette with a soft artistic brush. The line should be convex so that the liquid varnish with which you fill the details of the design does not flow from one part of the stained glass window to another.

Selecting a part of the image is required any time you need to limit region using graphic editor tools. Photoshop offers a wide range of methods to perform this operation.

You will need

  • – Photoshop program;
  • - image.

Instructions

1. Particularly obvious methods for selecting a fragment of a picture with a clearly defined shape include the use of tools such as Rectangular Marquee, Elliptical Marquee, Single Row Marquee and Single Column Marquee. With the help of Rectangular Marquee you can select a rectangular area of ​​any size. To do this, turn on the tool, hold down the left mouse button and drag out the frame that limits the selection. If you need to select a square region, while using Rectangular Marquee, hold down the Shift key.

2. To select an elliptical fragment, use the Elliptical Marquee tool. Holding the Shift key while working will make it possible to select a round area of ​​the image.

3. The Single Row Marquee and Single Column Marquee tools are useful when you need to select a vertical or horizontal row one pixel wide.

4. While working with an image in Photoshop, you may need to select region free form. Lasso group tools are suitable for this purpose. To use the Lasso Tool, hold down the left mouse button, circle the desired fragment of the image and close the selection by moving the cursor to its beginning.

5. Polygonal Lasso should be used when you need to select a polygon. Turn on the tool and, left-clicking, place anchor points in the corners of the fragment one by one. To close the selection, click on the first anchor point.

6. The Magnetic Lasso tool is used to quickly select areas with contrasting edges. Before you begin, set the value in the Edge Contrast field. With a small value of this parameter, the instrument will react to a slight metamorphosis of contrast. Click on the edge of the selected object and, releasing the mouse button, circle the fragment. Magnetic Lasso will place anchor points on the edges of the area. If the last anchor point is not in place, delete it with the Backspace key. If necessary, place a point manually by clicking on the silhouette in the desired place.

7. In Photoshop you can select region image, taking its color as a basis, using Magic Wand. To use this tool, click on the area of ​​the image that contains the color on which you are creating a selection. If the Contiguous checkbox is checked, only adjacent pixels will be affected by the Magic Wand. By deselecting this option, you will select all image fragments that fit the selected range.

8. When processing images, you often have to deal with separate processing of shadows, midtones and shiny areas of the image. To highlight them, you can use the Color Range option from the Select menu. If you choose the Highlights item from the Select list, you will select the shiny fragments of the picture, the Midtones item will be needed for the midtones, and the Shadows item for the shadows. Using Color Range you can select region, painted in an arbitrary shade. To do this, select the Sampled Colors item and specify the color on the image on the basis of which the selection will be made.

Video on the topic

When working with images in the Adobe Photoshop graphics editor, it is impossible to do without selecting each image or its individual fragments. To implement this operation, the program has a whole set of tools, divided into several groups. Using them is not particularly difficult, but requires some practice.

You will need

  • Graphic editor Adobe Photoshop.

Instructions

1. If you want to select everything in a layer image to the height and width of the document, then first click on the line of this layer in the layers panel. The display of the panel can be disabled - press the F7 key or select “Layers” in the “Window” menu section so that this element is displayed in Photoshop interface. Having selected the required line, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + A or the “All” item in the “Selection” menu section. An animated dotted frame will appear along the edges of the image, showing the boundaries of the selected fragment. If you later move to another line in the Layers panel, the contents of the other layer will be selected.

2. The first step describes an exceptional method, one that does not require you to select anything from the toolbar. And to select, say, a rectangular fragment of an image, you first need to click the second icon on this panel - “Rectangular area” - or press the key with the letter M. After that, using the mouse pointer, specify the required rectangular area on the image.

3. The mouse is also used to specify an oval or perfectly round selection on the image. To switch a tool from a rectangular format to an oval one, left-click its icon on the toolbar and hold until a four-line menu appears. Select the “Oval Marquee Tool” option, and then proceed as in the previous step.

4. To select a fragment of an image of any shape, use the Lasso tool - this is the next (third) icon on the panel. Instead of clicking on it, you can press the L key. Draw the desired closed selection area with the mouse pointer. This tool has two variations, one of which, “Frank Lasso,” allows you to select difficult polygons, and the other, “Magnetic Lasso,” is very useful for selecting identically colored areas of the image. You can choose one of these options in the same way as in the previous step - when you press and hold the left button on the tool icon, a menu with a list appears.

5. The tools of the fourth button – “Magic Stick” and “Rapid Selection” – are designed for working with image fragments that have identical colors and color concentrations. They are similar in action to the “magnetic lasso”, but when using these tools you only need to specify one example point by clicking on it with the mouse pointer. Later, Photoshop, at its discretion, will select each section of points similar to the example. Use the W key to enable this tool.

Video on the topic

When working with images in " Photoshop» you may need to cancel the previous action and return to the starting picture. To return to the previous result, you need to perform several actions.

You will need

  • - computer;
  • – any version of Photoshop.

Instructions

1. Working with images is an interesting activity that requires certain knowledge and knowledge from the photographer. But even an experienced Photoshop user often encounters situations when, while working on creating a new masterpiece, it is necessary to go back a few steps.

2. You can introduce metamorphoses into the processed photo at any stage of editing. True, before starting work you, of course, need to open the image. To do this, simply press the keyboard keys Alt+Shift+Ctr+O or in the “File” menu, which is working panel, select the “Open as” option, then specify the location of the image and its format.

3. Then proceed to the actual processing. And if you need to make metamorphoses and go back, look at the “Editing” section on the work panel. Here you will be able to perform the necessary operations, preferring the appropriate option: “Undo”, “Step Back” and “Step Back”.

4. For comfort, you can use the “hot keys”: Ctrl+Z – to undo the last action, Shift+Ctrl+Z – to take a step forward and Alt+Ctrl+Z – to take a step back.

5. View the entire history of image changes in " Photoshop" is also allowed by choosing the appropriate operation in the Window menu of the top bar. Check the “History” checkbox in this section, and a table will appear in the working window showing all the actions performed with the picture.

6. To cancel ideal changes at any stage of image processing, simply find the desired operation on the “History” screen and return to it by clicking on it with the left mouse button. In this case, you will end up at exactly the editing step that you specify.

7. If you need to save all previously performed actions in the photograph, leave a draft version of the image for yourself. You may still need some tea. And in order not to get confused in the pictures, when saving, come up with a name for it, by which you can easily navigate through all your photographs, completed and still at the processing stage.

Adobe Photoshop is extremely popular among users who work with graphics. Using this program, you can create very complex graphic works. One of the most common operations when working with an image is cutting out one or another element.

Instructions

1. Cut part of the image into Photoshop allowed in several ways. If you need to simply crop a picture, run the program and open the required image through the “File” menu item. There is a toolbar on the left side of the program window; select the “Crop” tool on it. Move the cursor to the area of ​​the image where one of the corners of the cropped picture will be located and press the left mouse button.

2. Without releasing the button, move the cursor to the diagonally opposite corner; the frames will show the silhouette of the cropped part of the image. Don’t be afraid to set inaccurate dimensions; you can correct them by dragging the markers on the corners and sides of the selected area with the mouse. After that, select any tool on the panel. A prompt will appear with three options: “Crop”, “Cancel”, “Do not crop”. To trim drawing, select 1st. If you want to change the cropping boundaries, click Cancel. Pressing the third button cancels the cropping operation entirely.

3. If you need to quickly cut out a rectangular element, use the Rectangular Selection tool. Select the required area for them, then copy it: “Edit” – “Copy”. Now you can paste the copied element into the same or another image. To insert accurately, first select the required area with the same tool, then click: “Edit” – “Paste”.

4. If you need to cut out a fragment of an image with a difficult shape, you can use several tools. The easiest of them is “Rapid Selection”. Let's say you need to select a round element. Select the Quick Selection tool and click on the edge of the circle. After this, without releasing the button, move the cursor to the opposite edge of the selected element. An uneven selection area will follow the cursor. Release the button. Now you can use the mouse to refine the selected area by dragging the silhouette in the desired directions.

5. The most difficult objects can be cut better with the support of the Pen tool. Select this tool, at the top of the window click on the “Silhouettes” tool option. Now use successive mouse clicks to create a silhouette of the element to be cut out. Having closed the silhouette, right-click it and select “Create selected area” from the context menu. Now you can copy the selected element and paste it into another image.

6. The Pen tool has rich capabilities; with its support, you can cut out even very difficult elements of an image - say, a furry cat. In this case, the program, following your commands, will mechanically refine the edges of the image, highlighting the fur and whiskers of the animal. It is better to read in detail about the use of “Pen” in specialized literature.

If you were unable to spend the summer in a clear country, but want to look tanned and rested in photographs, Photoshop provides a comfortable opportunity to make this dream come true.

You will need

  • Computer with Photoshop installed, photography.

Instructions

1. Open the photo you want to edit in Photoshop. Before everyone, you need to highlight the skin. You can do this in several ways, choose the one that is comfortable and best for you. Let's say, with the help of the Pen tool or through channels. If you use method 1, select the required area by closing the silhouette. Right-click on the selected fragment and select “Create selected area” from the drop-down menu.

2. Make a new layer by clicking the appropriate button in the layers panel on the right. You will see the newest layer appear above the main one.

3. Decide how deep you want the tan in the photo. It’s best to look at photos of tanned people on the Internet, save the one that suits you, open it in the editor window and, using the Eyedropper tool (in the left panel), choose the color you like.

4. Go back to your photo to make a fill on a new layer. This action can be called using the Shift+F5 key combination or through the program menu: “Edit” – “Fill” (“Edit” – “Fill”). In the window that opens, select “Foreground Color” and confirm the action. There is no need to change or set any other parameters. You can also simply select the desired icon on the toolbar and click the mouse in the required area. As a result of filling, the area of ​​skin you have chosen will be completely painted in the desired color. Don't be alarmed when you see that it doesn't look like a tan yet.

5. Change the blending mode to “Soft Light” and reduce the layer opacity so that the image takes on a natural look. You can do this in the layers panel in the top drop-down settings. Select the transparency level independently, depending on your preferences and the original skin color in the photo. Try it various settings, move the slider, change the transparency and color of the tan in order to achieve the desired result.

6. If at the initial stage you only highlighted the skin, then you can now enjoy the resulting virtual tan. If, along with the tan, your clothes have darkened, you will have to take one more step. For the new layer, the one you created, make a mask to hide the parts with clothes. You can do this by clicking on the corresponding button on the layers panel below. After that, paint over the unwanted parts with black using the Brush tool. After this, the chestnut color fill will not be used on clothing.

Photoshop is a very powerful program. With its support, you can not only edit photos, but also do graphics, create and draw different figures.

You will need

  • Photoshop

Instructions

1. To begin, choose which object you want to create from. figure. Convert the image into a black and white drawing. Subsequent work will be done with the black and white version.

2. Open the image. Go to the menu “Filter -> Blur -> Smart Blur”. Select Edges Only mode. Next, invert the colors. “Edit -> Correction -> Invert colors” (Edit -> correction -> inventirovat color). Or press Ctrl + I.

3. Make a new document: “File -> Make” (file -> new). Move the drawing there. Select the layer containing the drawing. To do this, go to the layers palette. Turn off the visibility of the background layer, that is, click on the eye in the opposite direction.

4. Right-click on the selected layer and select Blending Options. In the main panel, in the Blend If option, drag the white slider so that every white color in the image disappears. Click OK.

5. Make the newest layer so that it is on top of the others. Go to “Layers -> new layer” (layer -> new layer). Press Ctrl + E. Or from the menu select “Layers -> Link layers” (layer -> link layer). This action will completely displace the white color. Next you need to select figure. Press Ctrl and single-click on the first layer window.

6. Select the Rectangular Marquee Tool. Right-click the document window and select “Make Work Path” from the menu. Go to the “Silhouette” tab (Paths). Your drawing should appear there. Now you need to save this silhouette as a figure, “Edit -> Define figure» (Edit -> Define Custom Shape).

7. In order to apply the new figure, open the newest document. Select yours from the list of shapes and draw.

In order to cut out unwanted parts of an image in Photoshop, you need to learn how to use the selection tools. Having mastered the basic techniques, you will be able to quickly and easily highlight the necessary parts of the picture.

You will need

Instructions

1. Adobe Photoshop is a highly professional and multifunctional program. A typical toolkit offers several methods for creating image selections. Some of them work very quickly, covering huge fragments, but the edges of the selected area can be very steep and uneven. In order to make a neat selection, you need to use more complex group tools, which, as usual, require more careful work.

2. A primitive and fast tool of the program is the “magic stick” or Magic Wand tool. With its support, you can select a fragment with one click. The thesis of the work is based on identifying pixels of similar hue. So, by clicking on one point on a photo of the blue sky, you will get a selection of a huge fragment of blue tones. Unfortunately, the tool works poorly with difficult, low-contrast images.

3. The lasso tool group (L key) allows you to create more precise selections. The program offers three operating modes: standard lasso, rectangular lasso and magnetic lasso. The 1st mode allows you to select fragments “by hand” - you simply circle the required part of the image with the mouse. Use your mouse to make “nodes” to anchor the selection. The Rectangular Lasso draws straight lines between selection nodes and is perfect for selecting geometric shapes. The Magnetic Lasso is the group's mental tool. The line between the selection points will “stick” to the border of colors or shades.

4. Selecting by color range is especially useful if your image has large areas of the same color. In order to open the tool window, find the “selection” group in the menu bar, and then open the “color range”. In the dialog box, you can choose a group of colors, say “red,” or specify a color using the eyedropper tool. The area of ​​the resulting selection is shown in the preview at the bottom of the window.

5. The finished selection can also be edited by adding areas to it or removing unnecessary parts. To complete the selection, hold down the Shift key and continue selecting fragments - they will merge with the previous ones. To remove part of a selection, hold Alt and select the unwanted area.

6. The selection silhouette can be further adjusted with help context menu. Right-click on the selected area and open the Refine Edge tool. In this window, you can shade the silhouette, increase the contrast of its edge, and also change the selection radius and other settings.

7. After making a selection and editing its edges, you can delete, cut or copy a fragment. To delete, press the Del key, to copy Ctrl+C, to cut Ctrl+X. An area can also be copied to a new layer using the Ctrl+J key combination.

Video on the topic

Creating selection areas is one of the operations that is especially often done when working in the raster graphics editor Adobe Photoshop. It may be necessary to select a fragment to copy it, delete it, transform it, or limit the influence of tools and filters only on it. Adobe Photoshop has a wide range of selection tools.

You will need

  • – Adobe Photoshop.

Instructions

1. Select a fragment in Photoshop using the Marquee group tools. Using them, you can make a selection area that has a positive rectangular or elliptical shape. Separate Single Row Marquee and Single Column Marquee tools are designed to select an area one pixel high or wide that runs through each document.

2. Use Lasso tools to highlight difficult parts. The Polygonal Lasso tool allows you to make a selection area limited by straight lines. Due to the mechanical recognition of the boundaries of dissimilar fragments, the Magnetic Lasso Tool makes it possible to easily select fragments that have distinct silhouettes. The Lasso tool is used in the free-form drawing genre. They can easily outline the required area.

3. If the selected fragment is an area filled with one color or several colors of similar shades, use the Magic Wand tool. After its activation, but before use, select the appropriate value for the Tolerance parameter. It is entered into the text field of the top panel and is responsible for the tolerance when recognizing the boundaries of image areas. After this, easily click on the desired fragment.

4. If the boundaries of the fragment that needs to be selected are quite clearly defined, but the dynamics of color transitions no longer allow you to use the Magic Wand, use the Quick Selection tool. Activate it. After that, click on the Brush element in the top panel and select the appropriate brush parameters. Click the Add to selection button. Drag the brush over different areas of the fragment, expanding the selection to the desired size and shape.

5. A convenient method for selecting fragments is provided by the fast mask mode. Activate it by clicking on the Edit in Quick Mask Mode button on the toolbar or by pressing Q on your keyboard. Select black as your foreground color. With help Paint tool Bucket hide the entire image. Select white as your foreground color. Use painting tools (say Brush) to make selection areas. Exit Quick Mask Mode using the same method you used to activate it.

Video on the topic

Video on the topic

In this article, we'll look at various selection tools in Photoshop. Considering that there are various ways selections in Photoshop, you choose which one is suitable for solving your problem. So, let's begin.

Selecting simple objects in Photoshop

If your object has a rectangular or elliptical shape, you can use one of simple tools for selection in Photoshop. They are located in the second group on the Toolbar.

The “Rectangular Marquee Tool” will allow you to select a rectangular object: a notebook, a window, a house.

Elliptical Marquee Tool – Selects a round or elliptical object.

By holding down the Shift key while selecting, you will get a selection in the shape of a perfect circle or square.

"Single Row Marquee Tool" and "Single Column Marquee Tool" select a row or column 1 px wide.

Settings for selecting areas in Photoshop

IN top line, in the tool settings, you can choose how the selection will occur.

The first button “New Selection” will allow you to select a new area each time.

The “Add to selection” button will allow you to select several areas at once, and if they intersect, a new area will be added to the previously selected one, as if expanding it.

The “Subtract from selection” button will exclude selected areas from an existing selection.

The last button “Intersect with selection” will leave selected only the area that will be on the border of the intersection.

The “Feather” line sets the value of blurring the boundaries of the selected area. For example, set “0 px”, select an area and move or copy it. The boundaries of the cut out object are clear.

Now set the value to “20 px”, select and copy the fragment. The cut out fragment has softer shaded borders.

Moving a selection in Photoshop

To move a selected object in the image, hover your mouse over it, the cursor will change to an arrow pointer with a small rectangle at the bottom, hold down the left mouse button and drag the area.

To move an area more accurately, you can use the arrow keys on your keyboard.

If the “Move Tool” is selected during movement, then not the selected area, but the selected fragment of the image will move.

Selecting in Photoshop with the Lasso tool

"Lasso" is the third group on the toolbar.

"Lasso Tool" (Lasso) - a simple lasso. You need to hold down the left mouse button and move along the contour of the object that you want to select. This will require patience and skill.

“Polygonal Lasso Tool” (Polygonal Lasso) – selects the outline of an object with straight lines. Left-click at the beginning of the selection, and then click each time where you want the straight line to end.

“Magnetic Lasso Tool” (Magnetic Lasso) - allows you to quickly select the desired object. Click the mouse at the beginning of the selection area, and then simply move the cursor along the path you want to select, and selection markers will be automatically placed. The greater the contrast between the background and the area you want to select, the better the tool determines the boundaries of the selection area.

The instrument settings include following parameters. Let's consider the last three, since the rest were described above.

“Width” – the more precise the selection area you want to be, the smaller the value you should choose.

“Contrast” – if the contrast of the background and area is high, the value should be large, if low, select a lower value.

“Frequency” – the higher the value, the more often markers will be created along the contour of the selected area.

Selecting in Photoshop with the Magic Wand tool

The magic wand selects pixels of similar color. You just need to click on the object that you want to select.

You can configure the following settings for it.

“Tolerance” – the larger the value, the larger the area with pixels similar in color will be selected. The value selected is 20.

The selected value is 50.

“Contiguous” (Contiguous pixels) - if you uncheck this box, areas of similar color throughout the image will be selected.

Using the Quick Selection Tool in Photoshop

“Quick Selection Tool” – using this tool, you can quickly select the desired object in the image.

The area is selected with simple mouse clicks. After each click, the selected area increases.

If unnecessary parts of the background are automatically selected, press “Alt” and click on the unnecessary area - it will be subtracted from the selected area. Using the Quick Selection tool, you can select complex image objects. It is also convenient to remove the remains of the background using the Eraser Tool.

The tool settings are as follows: the first three brushes – select an area, add to a selected area, subtract from a selected area; Clicking on the black arrow will open the selection brush options.

Selecting in Photoshop using a Mask

“Quick Mask Mode” is the last button on the Toolbar. You can also use the “Q” key to enable this function.

Select the “Brush Tool” from the Toolbar and press “Q”. After this, black color will be selected for the brush. Paint over the object you want to select.

Please note that in the brush settings, “Opacity” and “Flow” should be 100%. Choose a hard, opaque brush.

Sometimes you need to circle a selected area (i.e. outline). This technique comes in really handy when used in conjunction with the selection tools. For example, you can combine it with the Rectangular Marquee Tool to add a thin black outline to your photo, or with an oval selection.

When it comes to making an image pop, few effects can beat a subtle black outline.

Whether you're inserting an image into text or posting it on a blog, adding an outline makes the edges a little crisper, giving your drawing a finished look.

Here's how to add an outline around the edge of an image:

Step 1

Open the image and select it. If the image is the same size as the document, select the menu command Selection => All. If it's smaller than the document and on its own layer, Ctrl-click on the layer's thumbnail instead.

Step 2

Select menu command Editing => Stroke. In the dialog box, enter a pixel value in the Width field (I set it to 10 pixels), and then click on the color indicator. Select a color from the palette that appears and click OK. When you return, set the switch in the Placement group to Inside so that the outline appears only inside the borders of the image.

Step 3

Click OK to view the new outline.

To circle someone in a photo, you'll need to follow basically the same steps:

Step 1

Open your photo and select a tool like . Drag your mouse pointer to draw an oval. Remember that you can hold down the Shift key while dragging to create a perfect circle, or the Alt key and draw an oval from the inside. Move the selection if necessary by clicking and holding the mouse button inside it and dragging the mouse.

Step 2

Select menu command Stroke, enter the width and select the color. You want it to be at least 2 pixels wide so the circle will be bold enough to be visible. In Group Location set the switch to position Centered, then Photoshop will center the stroke on top of the “marching ants”. For example, if you enter a width of 2 pixels, the program will place one pixel on the outside of the selection and one on the inside (in other words, it will “step over” the selection).

Making collages has become a very popular way of creativity. For this, graphic editors are used, with which you can cut out the background and use various plugins to create effects. One such program is Photoshop. Let's sort it out detailed methods removing the background in this editor.

Photoshop – graphics editor, developed by Adobe Corporation. It has raster and vector support graphics. It integrates with many media processing programs. Users can use this tool for non-linear video editing, animation and special effects.

The format that Photoshop works with has the “PSD” extension and is supported by a large number of software. Thus, users can import files into many programs for subsequent post-processing.

All tools are the same for all versions of Photoshop, including the latest ones, starting with CS6.

How to cut out an object in Photoshop

Using the Lasso Tool

Lasso is a tool for selecting an element in a photo by creating an outline. The lasso will allow you to cut out any object along its contour.

First, you need to understand what this tool is and describe its types in detail:

  • « Lasso" The usual "Lasso" is one of the most simple ways select the desired object in the picture. Working with it is quite simple, you just need to hold down the left mouse button and move the cursor along the contour from the start to the end point;
  • « Straight-line lasso" A tool that allows you to quickly create contours consisting of straight lines. Best suited for highlighting geometric shapes. It’s easy to use, click “LMB” and set the starting point, release the mouse button and move the course further along the contour adding a new mark. In this way, we select the element until the cursor reaches the starting point again;
  • « Magnetic lasso" This function allows you to quickly and accurately create a contour. The most accurate detection of magnetic lasso is the automatic edge detection tool. The algorithm of its work is that it tries to recognize the edges of an object by finding differences in brightness, saturation, and contrast.

How to cut an image:

The tool will allow you to quickly and accurately cut out an element from an image or part of a picture. It is worth noting that the user himself controls all the features of object selection, adjusting the necessary mask parameters.

Quick selection

This tool allows you to quickly select an object in a photo. It should be noted that the method cannot guarantee 100% results, because the best way works only on contrasting elements.

How to cut:

Erase the background with the Eraser

The method involves removing the background without creating a selection outline. The disadvantage of the eraser is the fact that the user practically cannot set any parameters. Edge refinement (smoothing or sharpening) cannot be performed.

The process is quite simple:

The effect of using a magic wand is observed only in those photographs that have a neutral background in relation to the cut out object. It is best if the background is white or gray.

Cutting out complex objects

To cut out complex elements, the best option would be to use the “ Levels" With its help, you can select edges and cut out those objects that have a non-uniform structure, for example, animal fur, hair, the crown of trees, a person, a face, etc.

Procedure:

Pen Tool

Using the stylus, you can select quite complex objects that have a large number of details. Professional graphic designers prefer this particular instrument. With its help you can achieve quick results in a small amount of time.

Procedure:

Select Subject Tool

The tool is a new development from Adobe. He uses artificial intelligence to quickly select an object. Next, we will consider in detail how to use it. It is important to know that Select Subject is used exclusively in versions PhotoshopCC 2016 and later builds.

Instructions:

  • open the photo and create a duplicate layer;
  • Select the Quick Selection tool and click " Select Subject»;
  • The object will be automatically selected, then click “ Selectand Mask»;
  • The settings panel will open on the right side. Adjust each slider to your liking and click “OK.”

Color range

This method involves selecting elements by color and pattern.


How to copy an object

There are several ways to copy a selected object, we will consider them below.

First way:

  • select the object using one of the methods presented above;
  • then click the key combination “ CTRL+C»;
  • after that, create a new layer and press the key combination “ CTRL+V" The element will be placed on a new layer.

Second way.

This option is the simplest; a layer with the selected area will be created automatically. Just select the object and press the key combination " CTRL+J" and it will be placed on a new layer.

Third method.

After the desired element in the photo is selected, you must press successively key combination “CTRL+C”, “CTRL+N” “CTRL+V”. The first command is responsible for copying the area to the clipboard. Using the second keyboard shortcut, it will be created new document. The third one inserts an element into a new document.

How to insert a background

  • open required photo and use one of the background removal methods above;
  • invert: “Select” and “Invert”, click “OK”;
  • delete old background using the “Delete” key;
  • open the picture with the background, click “CTRL+C” on the keyboard and paste the image over the cut out element “CTRL+V”;
  • after that drag the background under the layer with the cut out object by holding down the left mouse button.

How to enlarge or reduce a cut object

In order to enlarge or reduce the cut out element, you will need to use the “ Transformation»:


Cutting out geometric shapes

To cut out geometric shapes we will use the “ Color range»:

  • open the image with geometric shapes and make a duplicate;
  • then select the tab " Selection" and in it open the item "Color range";
  • We configure the parameters: in the “Select” item we use the command “ By samples»;
  • After that, click on the “ Pipette+” and add shade samples. If you are satisfied with the preliminary result, click “Ok”.