How to Extract a Background Using the Magic Wand in Photoshop
The Magic Wand tool is one of the many tools available for photo manipulation in Photoshop. A selection tool, the Magic Wand is useful for removing the background from a photograph by allowing the user to select areas containing similar colors and shades. Removal of the background is helpful when highlighting a portion of the image or when the background is too distracting to be useful. A good example of this is a product shot in a catalog, where an item seemingly floats against a plain background.
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Instructions
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Start your computer. Locate the Photoshop icon in your dock or on your hard drive and click on it to start the program.
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Locate the "File" menu in Photoshop and scroll down to "Open." Click on the digital image you wish to practice with in the "Open" window. Alternately, double-click on the image from your desktop or in folder where it resides to open the image.
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Copy the background layer by selecting "Layer" from the menu bar and scroll down to "Duplicate Layer." Give it a name if you like and click "OK." Use this as a practice layer if you do not wish to alter your original image.
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Click on the "Window" menu and scroll down to "Layers" to open the layers palette.
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Select your copied layer in the layers palette by highlighting it.
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Open the tool palette if it is not open by first selecting "Window" in the menu bar and then scroll down to "Tools."
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Click on the Magic Wand tool in the tools palette. It is the number two tool in the right pane of the tool palette. Click the Magic Wand on the background of the photo to select it.
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Refine your selection by holding down the "Shift" key as you click on the Magic Wand. Click the background again to pick up areas as desired, until all of the background you wish to remove has been selected.
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Remove or extract the background by hitting the "Delete" key or "Ctrl + X."
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References
- Photo Credit background image by peter Hires Images from Fotolia.com
