removing the background

[Trismos]

Please send me on my way if this has been posted before but how do I remove the background from an image? For example a photo of a pipe wrench where all I want is the wrench.

[brucet]

There's the Background Remover tool but I have always found that difficult to get on with.

I use the selection tool set to point to point. 0 and 0 on feather and smoothing. Zoom right in as tight as you can go. Work your way around the object until you have it surrounded. Then with the regular erase tool erase everything outside the selected area.

[LeviFiction]

Versions X3 and X4 have what is known as the Object Extractor I think it is in the Image menu. It let's you outline the character you want to keep (so the foreground) with the green pen. Then you use the paint bucket to fill in the area you want to keep, and processes the cut.

The background eraser is a very nice tool that you should not need to change any values on for most pictures with the exception of the size of the brush head. There are tutorials on YouTube for its proper use if you need help.

Freehand selection tool is great, it's how I firatearned to cut objects out of a scene. And sometimes the find edges or smart edge modes work beautifully, other times you need to undo a few clicks to get it right.

You can also use vectors. Grab the pen tool and start drawing around the object. Vectors afford you a lot of control. Once you have a good outline of the object make sure the vector has a fill color and from the Selections menu select "from vector object" and it will select your object.

And there are even more possibilities depending on your image. For example using journeyman masking techniques to create the selection. Lots of time consuming work but worth it if you get the results you wanted.