gregh

Got a piccie of my car and want to remove all the background info so the car is floating on it's own?

I've got Paint Shop Pro v7, can anyone let me know how I do it if possible?

thanks,

greg

MartinM

Use the Magic Wand Tool (8th down on the LHS)
Open the Tool Options - Magic Wand window
Set the Match Mode to RGB colour and Tolerance to 30%
Click somewhere in the middle of the car...
...this will select all the pixels around the point you clicked on that are within '30%' of the colour at that point
Now press Shift and whilst holding it down, click just outside the selected area...and repeat until done (*)
Then press Ctrl-C (copy the selected pixels)
Then Press Ctrl-V (paste into new image)

(*) this is the tricky part! If you select a bit of the background by accident, press Ctrl-Z (undo) and then carry on (DON'T FORGET TO PRESS THE SHIFT KEY AGAIN!!!) When you get close to the edge of the car, expand the image (View>Zoom In By x) so you can be more accurate and change the % tolerance down to say 5% so you get very accurate edges. It takes a bit of practice, but it can b every effective if you do it well - and should only take 5 mins or so when you've got the hang of it

Any probs...post again!


[Edited by MartinM - 9/10/2002 7:42:15 PM]

gregh

Ta Martin,

I've removed all the big stuff using the eraser, it's the lines close to the car I'm struggling with

Greg

super_si

Email me it, ill have ago.

Used to do this stuff ages ago for a site

Si

MartinM

My method is the exact opposite - you select the car and paste it into a new image...not try to erase the pixels outside of the car

MartinM

Si

You have to let people learn by doing it. If you do it for them, they don't learn

super_si

Suppose like my java.....

I used to cut the main parts out, the zoom in an use trial and error.

Magnet lasso is good.

Also white pencil!

can get annoying!!

Si

snowcrash

use the "Smart Edge" option on the Lasso tool - thats the easiest way.. then select the edge of the car - you will work it out after 2 seconds...

gregh

cheers Martin,

Had a crack at it, in some places, ie alloy wheels and black mirrors it is either always getting background or getting so picky it takes around 10 clicks to select the whole wheel or mirror, is that about right?

regards,

greg

MartinM

Greg

It does get a bit tricky at the extreme edges - whether you've used my method or the magnetic lassoo or whatever

...but I forgot to say that you can change the selection tool at any time eg to the Freehand or Selection tools above the Magic Wand tool.

As long as you keep the shift key pressed, the new tool will keep adding to the selection, but you've got different options such as circles/triangles etc.

If you press the Ctrl key before clicking with a tool, it subtracts the selected area from the current total selection - also useful sometimes.

chiark

It's a bastid, innit?

Easiest thing to do is carry a massive sheet of white paper. Prop it against the car, et voila! No messing about with Photoshop / Paint Shop Pro / ...

(I'll crawl back under my stone now)

David_Wallis

You do that Nick