PS Gurus! Need HELP! - DPChallenge Forums

10/03/2004 03:35:36 PM · #1

So, I did a shoot yesterday & to get rid of the BG crap we put 2 different colour sheets up. I know, I know, I was against but for the time we had & what was available it was better than the sad clown figures in the BG. Any tips on how I can get the BG to be an even colour here?

I desparately need some solid advise here. Please give steps where you can.
thanks in advance...really!

Message edited by author 2004-10-03 15:35:50.

moodville

Nikon D100

10/03/2004 03:41:39 PM · #2

It would depend on what you want the final image to look like. Easiest option would be to completely replace the background with a solid color. You have a lot of blacks and so a black background would blend with the people some so you shouldnt have too many sharp edges.

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

10/03/2004 03:48:05 PM · #3

Originally posted by moodville:

how can I do this. Basically I want to remove the multicolour BG with a 1 colour BG.

moodville

Nikon D100

10/03/2004 03:55:12 PM · #4

There are various methods. In PS you can use the extract tool, or magnetic lasso, or magic wand. You basically want to select the area you want to remove and fill it in with a solid color.

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

10/03/2004 03:55:45 PM · #5

Colour replacement might work since the dark background colour doesn't appear to be anywhere else in the image. Maybe try and match the main shade in the other backdrop. I've never tried replacing a colour so I don't know how hard or easy this is.

Imagineer

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

10/03/2004 05:37:50 PM · #6

Depends how much time you want to spend too.

I'd add a 'Curves' adjustment layer and boost it to a very high contrast so that you can see the profiles of the shapes you want to mask very clearly.

Then I'd duplicate your image layer, add a layer mask to the top image and airbrush round their shapes on the mask layer (to the right). If you add a bright colour layer sandwiched between the two you can see more clearly what you are doing on the mask layer.

You can then disable/delete this layer after the mask edit.

You can then add smooth colour as a layer beneath the mask or edit the background to be monochrome (via Channel Mixer) or duotone (Hue/Sat), etc.

Olympus 9-18mm f/4.0-5.6 M.Zuiko Digital ED

10/03/2004 06:54:14 PM · #7

Originally posted by Imagineer:

spunds really compicated by I'm gonna gie it a shot once my puter with ps is hooked up (just moved).
the extract tool leaves a lot fof werdnes around the parts I extract o I was hoping to avoid it.
Any think else out there?
thanks everyone!

jonr

Olympus OM-D E-M5

10/03/2004 07:36:01 PM · #8

Send it in fark.com photoshop competition. :)
/sorry, had to.

Imagineer

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

10/03/2004 07:41:50 PM · #9

As always these things sometimes take longer to explain than to do! It really is a very simple principle and can be very quick to achieve, with superior results. Once you have increased your contrast levels - if you see distinct defintion of profile lines - you can very easily use the wand tool to select the bits you want and turn that into a mask, rather than airbrush/paint round the figures.

Here's how:
> Add your contrast adjustment layer (Levels or Brightness/Contrast will also work really well)
> Click on the 'Channels' tab and select a channel with the clearest definition of the area you want
> Use the wand tool to select your chosen area
> Switch back to the top image layer (the mask layer)
> Go to 'Layers' > add Layer Mask: reveal all/hide all (the area you have selected will either be hidden or revealed
> Edit your base layer until satisfied.

You may want to apply a subtle blur to the mask (the black & white panel that has now appeared to the right of the image mask layer) so that the edges are not too artificially crisp.

Message edited by author 2004-10-03 19:42:42.

mathyou

Nikon D800

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G

10/03/2004 07:42:06 PM · #10

why not just trace the whole thing with the lasso tool? and replace the background with something else? it doesn't look like tracing it would be a to much of a difficult idea.

kevrobertson

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

10/03/2004 07:57:22 PM · #11

Quick and Dirty!

Message edited by author 2004-10-03 19:58:23.

Imagineer

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

10/03/2004 08:11:58 PM · #12

Using my technique this took me about 3 minutes. No manual selections - just wand on contrasted channels - then softened mask with blur (too much really). Obviously I've chosen a ghastly grad b/g to demo, but this shows any flaws quite obviously.

it's up to you, but getting into this kind of editing saves you time and will hone your skills, significantly improving workflow and technique.