photoshop help?

idoistuff

I have images of each gun from black ops and they all have a white background.

I was wondering if there is a way to get rid of the white backgrounds? like chroma keying them or something?

I tried using the magic wand tool, but it doesn't work that good.. is there an alternative?

alladinian

The only "pro" solution is to just use the pen tool to mask the object out.
It takes a while to master but it does pay out big time in the end.

Everything that is automated simply doesn't work for serious production.

I hope this helps.

Regards
V.A.

mattyr64

might be worth playing with the Tolerance value of the magic wand to adjust how it selects. also you can go into Select (menu) > color range and have a play around with that, choose the white part with the dropper and then drag the fuzziness.

EdwardF

You might also want to experiment with the "Quick Selection Tool", available as a sub-menu of the Magic Wand tool since CS4.

It allows the same tolerance variable, in addition to a brush size variable that makes quick masking very simple.

But - in the long run, nothing can beat the precision of the Pen Tool. Practice with it every time you're trying to mask something, and eventually you'll become proficient with it enough that you'll wonder why you ever delayed mastering it.

Stryfe01

I also was thinking about this. I thought adobe introduced a new selection feature last year? I swear i saw a video where they selected a foreground object with one selection and cut it out of the image....

Stryfe01

As Edward said, it was the quick selection tool. It works really great and is saving me plenty of time with my new app.

tenrdrmer

Um you may not want to use those images if they are from Black Ops They are prob copyrighted.

design219

alladinian said:
The only "pro" solution is to just use the pen tool to mask the object out.
It takes a while to master but it does pay out big time in the end.

Everything that is automated simply doesn't work for serious production.

I can't quite agree here. It really depends on the image. High resolution images are easier to make good isolations than lower resolution. Sharpness is also a factor. If the edges where you want to erase are fuzzy, obviously it will be more difficult to just remove the background.

The pen tool is fine for making controlled selections, but when you need to make some smart edge selections, you need to use the "refine edge" button. This is new with CS5 and is a great tool once you get used to how and when to use what combination of settings work for different circumstances.

I often have to isolate people from backgrounds, and hair can be the hardest part. I'll usually do multiple selections with different settings for the head hair vs other parts depending on the background and texture of the edge being isolated.

As mentioned the quick selection tool is a fast and handy tool as well, but the real magic is the refine edge. The refine edge button is available with any selection (lasso, quick select, color range, etc.)

jonmulcahy

tenrdrmer said:
Um you may not want to use those images if they are from Black Ops They are prob copyrighted.

I can't stress this enough