lwhitlow

I would like to change the background color of a few of my bird photos to black. I use PS - but still very much in the learning stage of that. I have followed a couple of youtube videos - but it seems it never completes the final steps of the process or it is a different version than what I have. I have the Photoshop CC and also the LR CC. Can anyone guide me to a resource that will give complete steps for this process? It would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

bleirer

So the "caveman' way is just to use the erase background tool and set the sensitivity so only the background and not the bird is erased to transparent. This tool is found by right clicking the eraser tool in the toolbox on the left side. https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/erasing-parts-image.html then put the color of your choice in the layer below by adding a new fill layer from the icons below the layers.

The disadvantage is there is no easy way to recover if you make a mistake beyond the 'undo' limit. You can increase the undo limit in preferences and you might need it.

bleirer

For a more refined but more difficult to learn method make a mask using the select and mask tool https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/select-mask.html This will give much greater control and reversibiity if you make a mistake. You output to a layer mask and then the layer below is a fill layer with your color fill. If you make a mistake you can simply select the mask and paint with a white paintbrush to reveal more of the bird or a black paintbrush to hide more of the background.

If you start with 'select subject' at the top toolbar when the quick selection tool is chosen, it will do most of the work for you. Then go to select and mask. The refine edge brush can be magic in picking out fine things like feather tips, but sometimes it selects something you don't want and you have to use the regular brush to fix it.

bleirer

Sorry duplicate post

lwhitlow

Thank you very much😀

lwhitlow

Thank you very much! I may give this one a try😀

bleirer

Good luck. Once you get the idea of a mask it starts to make sense. A regular mask is linked with the image on that same layer. Where it is black it conceals the Image on its own layer but lets what is below be visible. Where it is white you see the Image from the same layer as the mask, so it blocks what is in the layer below in that part of the image. So a 'hide all' mask would be all black and a 'reveal all' mask would be all white. To keep them straight I have a hokey pneumonic: It's just like night and day, what black conceals white reveals. When you make a selection and turn the selection into a mask, just that shape will be white and be revealed and the rest will be black and show whatever is below.

lwhitlow

Thanks - love the hokey pneumonic 😊

tommystrat Loc: Bigfork, Montana

Perhaps a "pneumonic" is an inflatable one of these:

mnemonic (noun) /nəˈmänik/

a device such as a pattern of letters, ideas, or associations that assists in remembering something.

bleirer

Deleted

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

The way to avoid that problem is (1) duplicate the layer containing the original image. (2) turn off the visibility of the original image. (3) do all the work on the duplicate layer. That way if you really screw up you just delete everything except the original layer. You then duplicate that layer and start over.

It might not be considered easy if you have done a lot of work on the duplicate layer but at least it preserves the original file.

lwhitlow

Good idea.

bleirer

I agree it is doable, it is just frustrating to get most of the way there and discover a mistake in the early going and you don't have any undos left.saving a copy along the way can help. The other downside is that the erased part can look dirty due to partial eraser and you have to sometimes go over it again and again.

I think people fear the mask because it is unfamiliar and can be daunting to get the hang of, but it is by far the better method.

Try this simple experiment to get the hang of masks: make a fill layer any color and drag it under the original layer. Click the original layer name then click the add a layer mask button from the toolbar below the layers. This is a reveal all mask. Click the white mask. Choose the brush tool with the foreground color set to black and start painting away the background (use any selection tool to protect parts of the subject in an area if desired). You soon see why select and mask is so useful to protect the subject. Sometimes you have to invert the selection to paint in the right part.

lwhitlow

Thank you. I will give it a try just as soon as I get a chance.