The last of the automated masking tools in Photoshop is the Extract command. The name sounds great. You expect that it plucks your desired element right out of the image, cleanly, neatly, and without pain. But to be honest with you, I find the Extract command to be overly complex for the results it provides. You can get lucky and select an image that works well with the command. But frequently, it does a marginal job. When you learn the art of true, manual masking, you may never visit the Extract command again. Here’s how the Extract command works:
1. Choose Filter➪Extract.
2. Select the Edge Highlighter tool, located at the top of the dialog box’s Toolbox.
You can also press the B key to access the tool. Photoshop offers a Smart Highlighting option, under Tool Options on the right side of the dialog box. If your image has a well-defined edge, but the foreground and background colors are similar or the image is highly textured, the Smart Highlighting option helps the Edge Highlighter tool to cling to the edge as you use the tool. You can toggle the option on and off by pressing Ctrl (Ô on the Mac) when using the Edge Highlighter tool.
3. Trace around the edges of the element you want to select. As you trace, feel free to change the brush size, again in the Tool Options area.
Use a small brush for well-defined, sharp edges. Use a larger brush for wispier detailed edges such as hair, fur, leaves, and the like. To change the brush size using keyboard shortcuts, click the left (smaller) and right (larger) bracket keys. Hold down the bracket key, and the brush size changes more dramatically. Be sure that the highlighted edge overlaps both the element and the background. You can change the colors of the highlight and fill in the Tool Options settings as well. Make a complete path around the element. If one or more sides of your element is cropped off the edge, you don’t have to highlight that side:
- Use the Hand tool to move your image if needed. You can temporarily access the Hand tool by pressing the spacebar.
- Use the Zoom tool to zoom in. Press Alt (Option on the Mac) to zoom out. You can also Zoom by pressing Ctrl++and Ctrl+- (Ô++ and Ô+-on the Mac).
- The Channel option allows you to load an alpha channel as a starting point for the extraction. You can then modify the highlighted area using the Edge Highlighter and Eraser tools. Beware. For some reason when loading the alpha channel into the Extract dialog box, Photoshop converts the black areas in the mask into the highlighted area but doesn’t highlight the white areas. This is the opposite of what you would expect, but it works out just the same. After you complete the highlighted area, fill the unlighted area with the Fill bucket (see Step 7).
4. If you make a mistake as you create your highlighted outline, press Ctrl+Z (Ô+Z on the Mac) to undo your error.
5. When you have made your outline, use the Eraser tool to clean up any hiccups in the outline.
Press the E key to select the Eraser tool from the keyboard. You can have the best of both tools and toggle between the Edge Highlighter and the Eraser tools by pressing Alt (Option on the Mac).
6. To erase an entire highlight, press Alt+Backspace (Option+Delete on the Mac).
7. Select the Fill tool, the second tool in the Toolbox (or press the G key) and click inside the highlighted outline.
The outline fills with color. If by chance the color leaks outside of the highlighted edge, you may have a small hole somewhere along the outline. Locate the offending hole and patch it with the Edge Highlighter tool. Click inside the highlighted outline again with the Fill tool. To unfill an area, click inside the same area with the Fill tool. As an alternative to using the Fill tool, you can select the Force Foreground option. This option can be useful if the element you want to select is mostly tones of one color. Use the Eyedropper tool to sample the color in the area you want to select. Then use the Edge Highlighter tool to highlight those areas containing your desired color.
8. Click the Preview button and take a gander at your extracted element (or click OK to skip the preview and get your extraction).
If your background is solid and uncluttered, your foreground element has a simple, uncomplicated edge, you can see quite a bit of contrast between the foreground and background elements, and if the planets are aligned just so, your results are likely to be pretty good. My example has only a minor bit of background fringe around the moustache and the top of the turban.
9. If you need to clean up a bit of fringe, give the Smooth option a shot.
This option removes stray pixels or artifacts from the selection. A high value smoothes out the edges around the selection, but can cause some undesirable blurring as well. Start with 0 or a small value first, before increasing the Smooth amount.
10. If you’re happy with the results, click OK.
Photoshop deletes the masked areas. If your image was a background, Photoshop converts it to a layer, so the selected element will be against transparency.
11. If you would rather preview your image against something other than the transparent checkerboard, choose another option from the Display dropdown list.
You can view the image against a white, gray, black, or other colored background. Or you can view it as a mask. (If you view it as a mask, the white areas represent the selected areas and the black areas represent the transparent areas.)
12. If you’re not happy, choose a view option before you start editing your mask.
You can choose between the Original and Extracted view from the Show drop-down list. You can also select the Show Highlight and Show Fill check boxes.
13. To do fine-tuned editing of your image, you have the following tools at your disposal:
- Drag with the Cleanup tool (press C on the keyboard) to erase extraction by subtracting opacity. Alt+drag (Option+drag on the Mac) to bring the opacity back. This tool is useful for creating feathered edges.
- The Edge Touchup tool (T is the keyboard shortcut) sharpens the edges of the selection by adding opacity to your selection or subtracting opacity from the background. You can adjust the brush size of these editing tools to get the best results.
14. When you finish editing, click OK to exit the dialog box. If you still have some areas that need some cleanup, use Photoshop regular editing tools, such as the Background Eraser and the History Brush tools.
1. Choose Filter➪Extract.
2. Select the Edge Highlighter tool, located at the top of the dialog box’s Toolbox.
You can also press the B key to access the tool. Photoshop offers a Smart Highlighting option, under Tool Options on the right side of the dialog box. If your image has a well-defined edge, but the foreground and background colors are similar or the image is highly textured, the Smart Highlighting option helps the Edge Highlighter tool to cling to the edge as you use the tool. You can toggle the option on and off by pressing Ctrl (Ô on the Mac) when using the Edge Highlighter tool.
3. Trace around the edges of the element you want to select. As you trace, feel free to change the brush size, again in the Tool Options area.
Use a small brush for well-defined, sharp edges. Use a larger brush for wispier detailed edges such as hair, fur, leaves, and the like. To change the brush size using keyboard shortcuts, click the left (smaller) and right (larger) bracket keys. Hold down the bracket key, and the brush size changes more dramatically. Be sure that the highlighted edge overlaps both the element and the background. You can change the colors of the highlight and fill in the Tool Options settings as well. Make a complete path around the element. If one or more sides of your element is cropped off the edge, you don’t have to highlight that side:
- Use the Hand tool to move your image if needed. You can temporarily access the Hand tool by pressing the spacebar.
- Use the Zoom tool to zoom in. Press Alt (Option on the Mac) to zoom out. You can also Zoom by pressing Ctrl++and Ctrl+- (Ô++ and Ô+-on the Mac).
- The Channel option allows you to load an alpha channel as a starting point for the extraction. You can then modify the highlighted area using the Edge Highlighter and Eraser tools. Beware. For some reason when loading the alpha channel into the Extract dialog box, Photoshop converts the black areas in the mask into the highlighted area but doesn’t highlight the white areas. This is the opposite of what you would expect, but it works out just the same. After you complete the highlighted area, fill the unlighted area with the Fill bucket (see Step 7).
4. If you make a mistake as you create your highlighted outline, press Ctrl+Z (Ô+Z on the Mac) to undo your error.
5. When you have made your outline, use the Eraser tool to clean up any hiccups in the outline.
Press the E key to select the Eraser tool from the keyboard. You can have the best of both tools and toggle between the Edge Highlighter and the Eraser tools by pressing Alt (Option on the Mac).
6. To erase an entire highlight, press Alt+Backspace (Option+Delete on the Mac).
7. Select the Fill tool, the second tool in the Toolbox (or press the G key) and click inside the highlighted outline.
The outline fills with color. If by chance the color leaks outside of the highlighted edge, you may have a small hole somewhere along the outline. Locate the offending hole and patch it with the Edge Highlighter tool. Click inside the highlighted outline again with the Fill tool. To unfill an area, click inside the same area with the Fill tool. As an alternative to using the Fill tool, you can select the Force Foreground option. This option can be useful if the element you want to select is mostly tones of one color. Use the Eyedropper tool to sample the color in the area you want to select. Then use the Edge Highlighter tool to highlight those areas containing your desired color.
8. Click the Preview button and take a gander at your extracted element (or click OK to skip the preview and get your extraction).
If your background is solid and uncluttered, your foreground element has a simple, uncomplicated edge, you can see quite a bit of contrast between the foreground and background elements, and if the planets are aligned just so, your results are likely to be pretty good. My example has only a minor bit of background fringe around the moustache and the top of the turban.
9. If you need to clean up a bit of fringe, give the Smooth option a shot.
This option removes stray pixels or artifacts from the selection. A high value smoothes out the edges around the selection, but can cause some undesirable blurring as well. Start with 0 or a small value first, before increasing the Smooth amount.
10. If you’re happy with the results, click OK.
Photoshop deletes the masked areas. If your image was a background, Photoshop converts it to a layer, so the selected element will be against transparency.
11. If you would rather preview your image against something other than the transparent checkerboard, choose another option from the Display dropdown list.
You can view the image against a white, gray, black, or other colored background. Or you can view it as a mask. (If you view it as a mask, the white areas represent the selected areas and the black areas represent the transparent areas.)
12. If you’re not happy, choose a view option before you start editing your mask.
You can choose between the Original and Extracted view from the Show drop-down list. You can also select the Show Highlight and Show Fill check boxes.
13. To do fine-tuned editing of your image, you have the following tools at your disposal:
- Drag with the Cleanup tool (press C on the keyboard) to erase extraction by subtracting opacity. Alt+drag (Option+drag on the Mac) to bring the opacity back. This tool is useful for creating feathered edges.
- The Edge Touchup tool (T is the keyboard shortcut) sharpens the edges of the selection by adding opacity to your selection or subtracting opacity from the background. You can adjust the brush size of these editing tools to get the best results.
14. When you finish editing, click OK to exit the dialog box. If you still have some areas that need some cleanup, use Photoshop regular editing tools, such as the Background Eraser and the History Brush tools.
Extracting an Image in Photoshop
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