How to Remove White Cut-Out Eyes in Photoshop

Digital artists may create white cutout eyes as preparation for painting stylized eyes on a photo. You can begin to turn these preparatory images into finished pictures by removing the white cutouts. Photoshop offers many approaches to assist with this project. One of them involves using the "Eraser" tool, which works like a physical eraser by removing image portions over which you apply it. Another approach involves using the "Magic Wand" tool, which selects image regions with similar colors.

Instructions

Eraser

1. Click the "File" menu's "Open" command, then navigate to an image with white cutout eyes and open the image.

2. Click the magnifying glass icon from the tool palette to run the "Zoom" tool, then click on the canvas above and to the left of the left eye. Drag down and right, then release the mouse once your cursor is below and to the right of the right eye. This action zooms the view into the eyes so you can see them more clearly.

3. Click the eraser icon from the tool palette to run the "Eraser" tool.

4. Press "[" repeatedly to shrink the eraser tool's outline attached to the mouse cursor, if the outline is too large compared to the white cutout.

5. Press "]" repeatedly if the outline is too small compared to the eye whites, then drag the mouse cursor over the white cutout eye to erase it.

6. Repeat to remove the other eye, then click the "File" menu's "Save" command to save the edited image to your hard drive.

Magic Wand

1. Click the "File" menu's "Open" command, then use the "Open" dialog's controls to move to an image file displaying white cut-out eyes. Double-click the file to load it for the removal operation.

2. Click the tool palette icon shaped like a magic wand to run the "Magic Wand" selection tool.

3. Click the mouse cursor on one of the white cutout eyes. Photoshop will display a moving, dashed line around the white area, indicating it has selected the area.

4. Press "Delete." The program will display a dialog box with options letting you specify how to delete the white cutout. Click "OK" to accept the default options and make Photoshop remove the cutout.

5. Repeat to remove the other white cut-out eye, then press "Control" and "S" simultaneously to save your image to disk.

References

• "Photoshop CS5 All-in-One For Dummies"; Barbara Obermeier; 2010
• Adobe: Photoshop's Eraser tool
• Adobe: Photoshop's Magic Wand tool