Cutting out around the body advice

Seajay

Seajay

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Cathy
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Morning all!

I have been on you tube working along with all different ways to take a photo out from backgrounds etc! I really the practice :)

I thought I had mastered it on a print I sent off to be printed with two of my grandkids but Oh dear! I can see wavy bits around an arm so not a good job after all :(

To begin with my photo was not the best flash came on etc and i was not really in the mood on the day,but mum liked them so hence all my work to try and save it.
Question best way you feel works to cut around body parts and to remove flash shadows.
This is the original! I will also post my awful final print lol!
Cathy


Brodie & Jay by cooriedoon, on Flickr








boys by cooriedoon, on Flickr
 
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Prefer to use photoshop CS5 as I am still learning Lightroom so all work I did was Photoshop
 
To print a 6x4 you need at min 800x1200 pixels, yours at 333x500 will just pixelate even more than it is now.
But having said that you did ask a question how to do the background so this is how I would do it.
#1 duplicate the layer
#2 Select, colour range
#3 click the add to sample eye dropper
#4 click around the background to select it you will have to play around with the sliders
#5 Use the quick select tool to tidy up the selection
#6 right click inside selection and refine edge
#7 Make sure the running ants are round the background than use exposure adjustment to lighten the background

tut2.jpg
tut1.jpg
 
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Shane thank you excellent job!!
The photo's you see are reduced in size for the site and i see i posted a wrong copy of the original but they were all the same.I sent off to have 10x8 prints done which are good quality work shame about the photographer..lol!

Their mum loved them but no way can I display one as i can see my mistakes.
I have had another try this afternoon using the radius selection tool but now need to keep going to get colours etc right.
So after my dinner I will follow your steps and see how I get on.



Boys 2 by cooriedoon, on Flickr
 
Good look with your edits but if have any problems there's many on here happy to help.

You can go up to 1024 on the long side and up to 2mb in size

Just as a tip for next time tell the lads to take a step away from the wall to help with the shadows, you can use the pop up flash as a fill flash just set it on it's lowest power setting
 
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Thank you Shane I have just followed your steps and that was easier for me. I had a white layer behind the kids and was using the eraser..ARGH! took ages.

I have it sitting looking good except this process did not get rid of the shadow,I used the eraser again but it bleeds onto the arm leaving a halo any ideas to give a clean looking arm?
Cathy
 
To make it easier for you duplicate the layer then turn off the bottom layer do the biggest bit first then press ctrl, shift, E with will join the top two layer together.
Now select the quick selection tool again and do a bit of a time around the shadows using the shift to add to or alt to take away from the section when you are happy with the line use the brush tool and paint with white, because you have the running ants it will not paint over them.
After that is all down to time learning to do it better
edit16.jpg
 
Have you got an original large file that you can share? I have a method I use but it looks terrible on this small version...I could try it on a large one and show you how...

But basically it's all in this video that I made:

[YOUTUBE]Cna9ufOfZKs[/YOUTUBE]
 
With the studio ones, if you get the lighting right, there is nothing to cut out

5 mins of set up time = hours saved in PP
 
Richard King said:
With the studio ones, if you get the lighting right, there is nothing to cut out

5 mins of set up time = hours saved in PP
Click to expand...

True, but there are times when things don't go according to plan and things have to be fixed. Not all people have a studio, and if they do, not all studios have a lovely smooth wall or curve to shoot against...nice to have methods that work for those occasions. :)
 
Bend The Light said:
True, but there are times when things don't go according to plan and things have to be fixed. Not all people have a studio, and if they do, not all studios have a lovely smooth wall or curve to shoot against...nice to have methods that work for those occasions. :)
Click to expand...

If you have a couple of heads and enough space, you dont need a smooth wall

Agreed cutouts is a good PS skill
 
I think that's why Cathy as the hard shadows she was using the pop up flash.

I have learnt something new watching your video Craig so thanks for that :thumbs:
 
Richard King said:
If you have a couple of heads and enough space, you dont need a smooth wall

Agreed cutouts is a good PS skill
Click to expand...

My studio is small compared to some, and I can't always get enough separation...I do admit to being much MUCH better than the image used in this video. That was actually a lighting mis-fire and was a throw-away image, but the ldy on the right liked it, so....

Cheers

k4stn said:
I think that's why Cathy as the hard shadows she was using the pop up flash.

I have learnt something new watching your video Craig so thanks for that :thumbs:
Click to expand...

Pop-up flash and NEXT to the wall, yes it would seem so.

The skill in the video has saved me from schoolboy errors on occasion - we all try not to make them, but sometimes we do. :)

Cheers
 
I will add that in the video, the method is MUCH better if the background is already sort of white. If it's multicoloured and different texture, then it is not so easy to do like this... the method relies on blowing the nearly white to white - i.e. a small change in reality - blowing a black wall to white would leave more of a line around the cut-out. Not foolproof...but useful anyway. :)
 
Shane thank you I will try this tomorrow. I am enjoying trying but get frustrated with myself!

Craig I will post the original on flickr it is big enough. I will also check out the video and follow along!

Richard I so wish I had a studio but these were just quick snaps of the kids in my house before they left for the beach. No planning ahead was the problem for me a rushed job on the day! Now I am paying for it lol!
 
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done this for you Cathy using my way. It will need a bit of tiding up around the edges. I will delete it on Monday

http://flic.kr/p/f8ckei
 
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Shane thank you it looks fabby!

I am very grateful for all the advice and the time you have given to help.I will download a copy when I go up to my Mac and I am going to try and continue until I get the same result!
I will post my final result to allow you t o see how I get on.
 
Craig well done! another super job! I have my work cut out for me now trying to get my copy to these standards and I like the kids skin tone in this one too! You have all been a great source for advice and I am looking forward to trying both ways later today .

One question to ask I was trying to keep the outline of Brodie's trouser more visible he is the boy at the back I tried everything to make them stand out but to be honest I would happy not to bother as it is not noticeable. Would you think the same if this was a decent picture to begin with which I know it is not! Only asking for future reference or would I work to keep the trousers in.
 
Have we cut out the trousers thinking it was shadow? Ooops!

The skin tones were not altered - it's probably to do with the background being lighter - so the skin tones change relative to that, even though they haven't changed at all. :)
 
"Contrasting colours"
I will be hard to do it as the trouser and background are closes in colour
If you are going for a white background you need darker clothes on a dark background lighter clothes. Just look at the difference between the hat and the trouser.......
 
Had a go doing it your way Shane I have never used colour range before it was fun to try although i have a way to go yet but my result is below.
I finished the picture then erased in the trousers from a copy to see how it looked.
I noticed when my prints came back the skin colour was a bit too much for me but hey! that is for another day!
I will have a break and then I am off to follow Craig's video!


Shanes way by cooriedoon, on Flickr
 
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That works for me Cathy..
As for the skin tones unless you screen is calibrated its hard to get them right even if you use the profile sent from the printers.....
On my screen the tones look on the red side.....
 
Craig thank you for all your advice and help.I had a go doing it your way too and it is great to learn these new skills! i know I need practice as I am not getting as nice a cut as you both did but here is what i got from your tutorial Craig and i have to say so much better than I did the first time before coming to the forum so thank you


all!
Craig's way by cooriedoon, on Flickr
 
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Seajay said:
Craig thank you for all your advice and help.I had a go doing it your way too and it is great to learn these new skills! i know I need practice as I am not getting as nice a cut as you both did but here is what i got from your tutorial Craig and i have to say so much better than I did the first time before coming to the forum so thank you all!!


Craig's way by cooriedoon, on Flickr
Click to expand...

Well I'd say that looks pretty good. :)

The trick I think is getting the radius right, and not going over every edge in the refine edge tool. I tend to go over the hair "edges" and some of the floor where I still want shadow. But other areas I leave to the refine edge too to just feather a little.

Decent effort that, though.
 
Christine thank you I will have a go at that in the morning. I have really enjoyed myself even though it can get frustrating when you don't get it right.
 
Well another skill learned yes it needs work but that was fun to play with.
Thank you Christine.
Ok now I am going to go back to scratch and do it all over to get one i can have printed at least 10x8.
I appreciate the help from you all and sorry to post so many pics of the same image but I need you to know I am working with your tips and not just copying your work.


shadows by cooriedoon, on Flickr
 
Seajay said:
Well another skill learned yes it needs work but that was fun to play with.
Thank you Christine.
Ok now I am going to go back to scratch and do it all over to get one i can have printed at least 10x8.
I appreciate the help from you all and sorry to post so many pics of the same image but I need you to know I am working with your tips and not just copying your work.


shadows by cooriedoon, on Flickr
Click to expand...

Well, I would say that is a complete set of skills learned in just 2 days. That looks pretty good, and I am sure the next attempt will be excellent!

Obviously, as was said earlier, it is easier if things are right before you get to this stage, but we are all human, and sometimes we have to recover from an error...these skills can save "that" photo that would be great if not for this and that. :)
 
Thank you I enjoyed it all.
However I think I need to add a Wacom tablet or something similar to my Mac as using the mouse is not easy. Lol!
 
Cathy, the difference in the before and after photos is amazing! Good work :thumbs:

I hope you don't mind if I jump on the back of your thread but... I've been having similar issues with some of my photos. Unfortunately I only have PSE 11 not the full Photoshop; I've tried following the tutorials people have posted on this thread but some of the steps I can't do due to not having the right tools in PSE.

I do have lightroom 4 and was wondering if the same effect can be completed in LR? I usually use the adjustment brush to even out the background but I end up eliminating shadows and the subject ends up looking their their just glued onto a white background. Just wondered if anyone had any suggestions that might help?

Sorry again Cathy for hijacking your thread, hope you don't mind!
 
Francesca no problem at all and thank you for your kind comments. The people on here with experience are always willing to help.

I see i have deleted a couple of the pictures posted that I linked too, this is because I had so many on Flickr of every stage I was getting too and was cleaning up today Oops!
Cathy
 
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