How to Remove Chroma Key

Remove your chroma key background.

Shooting your models or subjects on a chroma key background allows for endless creative possibilities and professional results in Photoshop. Because human skin contains no shades of blue or green, chroma keying allows for a background to be removed, with professional results, whether it be for still images or video. The background is then replaced with an alternate or surreal background. Chroma keying is the same process used to add special effects to motion pictures.

Things You'll Need

• Adobe Photoshop or similar program

Instructions

1. Start Photoshop and open the file you wish to edit.

2. Click "Select" from the menu bar and select "Color Range."

3. Click the "Eyedropper" tool and adjust the fuzziness slider to adjust how sharp or smooth the selection will be. Make sure that the "Selection" radio button is selected.

4. Using the eyedropper tool, click on the green or blue chroma key background to select it. If the lighting is uneven on the background, press and hold "Shift" and click the areas of the background that were not selected.

5. Click "OK" when you have finished your selection. When the dialog disappears, your background will be selected. Press "Delete" on your keyboard to remove the background and leave your subject intact. You can now add another background as you desire.

Tips & Warnings

• If the selection leaves a halo around your subject, you can select "Layer," "Matting," then "Defringe" to remove it. Use a 1-3 pixel to defringe to remove the halo.

References

• Life is A Prayer: Keying Out Backgrounds in Photoshop