Removing background

[Rosemary]

Hi, Does anyone have an easier way of removing a picture background. I have tried the object extractor method and keep erasing part of the picture that I wish to keep. I am using PSP 2018
Thanks,
Rosemary

[JoeB]

If you add the picture you're working on as an attachment to a post here we would be more able to be make relevant suggestions.

[ehume]

What Joe suggested is always good. Try Sift-PrntScrn then shift-Insert in PSP to paste as a new image. You can then crop to taste. Remember, the bulletin board takes up to 950x800-pixel images.

Another thing to try is the Background Eraser tool, found hiding behind the Eraser tool.

[Rosemary]

Thank you for trying to help with this one. Basically I am trying to remove the background so as I can "make her fly" (it is an aeroplane) in a slideshow. I have tried 3 times to upload the image at 950x800 but I keep getting the image is too large and that the maximum is 2 MB. I have no clue what php.ini is
Rosemary

[ehume]

Thank you for trying to help with this one. Basically I am trying to remove the background so as I can "make her fly" (it is an aeroplane) in a slideshow. I have tried 3 times to upload the image at 950x800 but I keep getting the image is too large and that the maximum is 2 MB. I have no clue what php.ini is
Rosemary

I must admit that I haven't run into this problem. Make sure you are uploading a jpg. If necessary, adjust the compression.

[Rosemary]

Thanks for your patience. This plane may well fly again in a slideshow!

[hartpaul]

A fast way is to use the magic wand tool.
1. Promote the background layer (Right click layer in Layers palette)
2. Choose the Magic Wand set to Mode Add, Match Mode RGB , Tolerance to about 12 -16. Contiguous checked
3. Click on the sky to select it
4. Hit the Delete key

You will find that there will be a blue halo at the top edges of the plane where the edge pixels are blye/transparent/grey and you may have to shoose the Eraser tool set at 1-2 picels to be able to remove that halo.
The moving blades of the propellors also provide a problem where some of the blade is also erased , being again too close to the sky color.

[ehume]

Given that your background is so uniform, you can get a quick "most of" solution by using the Magic Wand tool. Then you can magnify it and go around the plane's edges with the Eraser tool.

Edit: hartpual was composing at the same time I was, but you can see we agree.

[Rosemary]

Thanks so much for your patience and advice. I shall try it out.
Rosemary

[Jean-Luc]

- Promote Background layer.
- Crop approx. 700 x 330 pixels.
- Background Eraser Tool set as shown on my screen capture.
- Click ONCE above the Royal Air Force circular flag.
Done!

[ehume]

- Promote Background layer.
- Crop approx. 700 x 330 pixels.
- Background Eraser Tool set as shown on my screen capture.
- Click ONCE above the Royal Air Force circular flag.
Done!

2018 plane BE settings.jpg

2018 plane BE result.jpg

That worked a treat. When I did it that way, it did not turn out so well. I like your way.

Edit: Just one thing, though; the Background Erase tool does not get all of the peripheral background. You can see this if you do a Magic Wand on the results of the above approach. The selection can be inverted, but I am not sure how to proceed from there. I still prefer this approach: fewer problems. I especially like the way this method captures the propellers.

[Jean-Luc]

The selection can be inverted, but I am not sure how to proceed from there.

-> Selection / Modify / Contract

This could be avoided if you place the tip of the Background Eraser tool very near on the plane's border (it needs some testing). It will remove the peripheral background.

[ehume]

The selection can be inverted, but I am not sure how to proceed from there.

-> Selection / Modify / Contract

This could be avoided if you place the tip of the Background Eraser tool very near on the plane's border (it needs some testing). It will remove the peripheral background.

I'll have to try that. In the meantime, I was able to select the plane alone, put it on its own layer by elevating the selection to being a layer, then deleting the original layer. Then File > Export > Picture Tube... and the selection became a Picture Tube. Now when I choose I can put down a Shackleton image. This was just a test; one could do this with any isolated or isolatable object. Rockets, smiley faces, parrots, etc.

The alternative -- and one I used for years -- is taking an independent image, copying it, pasting it on the baseline image with ctrl-e, then using the Pick tool to position the image exactly so, stretching to taste. It's amazing what you can do with arrows this way.

[Jean-Luc]

We may also use the Object Extractor tool:

In any case, whatever method is used, the result will be imperfect because the image is blurry. With a sharper image, the result will be better.

[ehume]

We may also use the Object Extractor tool:

2018 shackleton Object Extractor.jpg

In any case, whatever method is used, the result will be imperfect because the image is blurry. With a sharper image, the result will be better.

That may work for you young sprouts, but when your hands no longer do exactly what you want them to do, you will come to appreciate tools that apply something called a 'computer' to do a lot of the finicky work.

It may sound ironic, given that PSP's name began as 'Paint Shop' (the name implies some amount of dexterity), but we do get old . . .