[thechat] Photoshop advice

javier velasco lists at mantruc.com
Wed Mar 17 15:13:57 CST 2004


Madhu Menon wrote:

> Dudes,
>
> This is NOT a web development-related question, since I no longer do 
> that. :p
>
> Anyway, my graphics program skills leave lots to be desired, so I'm 
> asking for some help.
>
> The photographer who shot my food pics put them against a black bg. He 
> figured it was easier to replace it.
>
> Take this one, for instance: http://www.shiokfood.com/images/17.jpg
>
> I want to put the dish against a white background. So I thought I'd 
> use the magic wand tool to select the black, and replace it or delete 
> it. Simple, eh?
>
> Bzzt!
>
> That still leaves a black fringe ring around the plate. Do any of you 
> pros know how to fix this without taking up too much time?

Ouch!

FWIW: you have the million dollar question.

Shifting from black to white bacgrounds is one of the toughest thing 
I've tried, and never have been satisfied with the results. You could be 
able to find some decent balance if you had a larger version of the 
image to start with, or if you are going to use a smaller version for 
the end result.

(surprise), it was not so bad afterall with your case.... let me know if 
this is decent enough for you...

1 make a copy of the image layer and leave another layer between your 
original and your copy, paint that flat layer white
2- select the black background with the magic wand (when using a 
tolerance of 20 it requires to click a couple of times with shift 
pressed to add on to your selection)
3 then go to menu - select - modify - expand, here you can play with 
expand by 1 or 2 pixels
4 select - feather by 1 pixel
5 now you can delete your black selection

not so bad afterall http://mantruc.com/gfx/17wht.jpg

disclaimer, I learned this from a book :)



Anyway, looks yummy ;)




More information about the thechat mailing list