How to Remove the Background of an Image Using Photoshop CS
Use the Quick Selection Tool to rapidly select the elements you want to keep in the image., Click near the edges of your most important items, the things you want to save., Go to "Refine Edge" to perfect your selection., Right-click on the selection...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Use the Quick Selection Tool to rapidly select the elements you want to keep in the image.
The tool resembles a paintbrush with a little dotted-line blob at the end.
It should be the fourth tool down from the top of the toolbar.
Quick Selection automatically finds edges you click near, adding them to your selection.
If you cannot find the tool, click and hold the Magic Wand tool
-- it will appear in the small menu that pops up. -
Step 2: Click near the edges of your most important items
Click and drag through the image so that the things you want to save, the non-background, is selected.
Keep clicking until everything you want to be saved is in its own selection.
If make a mistake, hold Alt or ⌥ Opt, then click on the area you don't want selected to remove it.
The two keys make your selection tool bigger or smaller If the background is one color, or pretty small, selected the background, then hit "Delete." It's gone! Otherwise, this strategy of selecting the important parts of the image is much easier., This menu, found under "Selection" → "Refine Edge," allows you to see what your image will look like without a background.
From here, you have several options.
First, select "On White" from the view box at the top of the Refine Edge menu.
From there, use the following tools:
Radius:
Allows you to shrink the edge.
Coming in 1-2 pixels will eliminate bits of background, and is usually not noticeable.
Smooth:
Takes out hard edges so you have a more rounded selection.
Feather:
Blurs the edges, allowing you to eliminate rough edges or impossible to perfect selections, like hair.
Contrast:
Makes harder edges and points harder.
Opposite of "Smooth." Shift Edge:
Grows or shrinks the selection, all based on percentage of the original., Hit "OK" on Refine Edge, then right-click any of the selected areas.
Select "Layer Via Copy" to separate the image from the background.Make sure you have a selection open when you right-click.
If you don't, hit "V" to pull up the normal cursor, then right-click. , You're free now to do whatever you want with the background layer.
You can do this in pieces, slowly chipping away the background and creating new layers via copy, or simply delete the whole later.
Either way, you're left with your image and no background. -
Step 3: the things you want to save.
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Step 4: Go to "Refine Edge" to perfect your selection.
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Step 5: Right-click on the selection to pull it out of the background.
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Step 6: Delete the background layer to isolate your image.
Detailed Guide
The tool resembles a paintbrush with a little dotted-line blob at the end.
It should be the fourth tool down from the top of the toolbar.
Quick Selection automatically finds edges you click near, adding them to your selection.
If you cannot find the tool, click and hold the Magic Wand tool
-- it will appear in the small menu that pops up.
Click and drag through the image so that the things you want to save, the non-background, is selected.
Keep clicking until everything you want to be saved is in its own selection.
If make a mistake, hold Alt or ⌥ Opt, then click on the area you don't want selected to remove it.
The two keys make your selection tool bigger or smaller If the background is one color, or pretty small, selected the background, then hit "Delete." It's gone! Otherwise, this strategy of selecting the important parts of the image is much easier., This menu, found under "Selection" → "Refine Edge," allows you to see what your image will look like without a background.
From here, you have several options.
First, select "On White" from the view box at the top of the Refine Edge menu.
From there, use the following tools:
Radius:
Allows you to shrink the edge.
Coming in 1-2 pixels will eliminate bits of background, and is usually not noticeable.
Smooth:
Takes out hard edges so you have a more rounded selection.
Feather:
Blurs the edges, allowing you to eliminate rough edges or impossible to perfect selections, like hair.
Contrast:
Makes harder edges and points harder.
Opposite of "Smooth." Shift Edge:
Grows or shrinks the selection, all based on percentage of the original., Hit "OK" on Refine Edge, then right-click any of the selected areas.
Select "Layer Via Copy" to separate the image from the background.Make sure you have a selection open when you right-click.
If you don't, hit "V" to pull up the normal cursor, then right-click. , You're free now to do whatever you want with the background layer.
You can do this in pieces, slowly chipping away the background and creating new layers via copy, or simply delete the whole later.
Either way, you're left with your image and no background.
About the Author
Katherine Allen
Specializes in breaking down complex crafts topics into simple steps.
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