Back Ground

Eddy

Hi Al:
what is the procdure in CS5 if i want to chnage the back ground to a solid color when doing macro
here is something like what i want to do
http://www.juzaphoto.com/eng/galleries/fauna-birds_wildlife_costa_rica.htm#009035

MarkR

Well, you could just make a selection of a bird, and drop it onto a new layer that has been filled with a solid color. However, I suspect that will look very artificial. If you look at the picture you linked to, the green is not a solid green, nor is it an even gradient.

If you can't get that effect straight out of camera by carefully controlling depth-of-field, you could try selecting the background and applying a very strong (large radius) blur filter.

EDIT: dangit, I know Pathfinder published a nice tutorial on blurring backgrounds, can't find it right now!

pathfinder

Here you go Marc - http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=116223

But he photos that Eddy linked to ( shot with 300 f2.8 + 1.4 TC ) were not photos that had the background swapped out in PS, they were blurred backgrounds that one gets when using a telephoto with an extension tube to photograph small critters up close and let the background go all blurry. The telephoto may be a macro lens as well, but a 300 f4 with a couple extension tubes will do the same thing. Like here shot with a 500mm lens - http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/Animals/Macros-and-Close-Ups/Monarch-butterfly-IR0F9572/86221760_MpUd2-L.jpg

or a 180mm macro here - http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/Animals/Macros-and-Close-Ups/IR0F2524-color/6971249_jvttc-L.jpg

TonyCooper

Eddy wrote: »

Hi Al:
what is the procdure in CS5 if i want to chnage the back ground to a solid color when doing macro
here is something like what i want to do
http://www.juzaphoto.com/eng/galleries/fauna-birds_wildlife_costa_rica.htm#009035

1. Open your file.

2. Duplicate the Background Layer (the original layer is always named the Background Layer unless you re-name it.) This will be named the Background Copy.

3. Layer>New Layer>Layer This will appear as Layer 1. This layer will be empty and appear as a checkerboard.

4. Move the Background Copy above Layer 1.

5. Turn off the Background Copy (no eye in the box next to this layer)

6. Make a selection of the object in the Background Copy Layer. Several ways to do this, but CS5 has new and better ways.

7. Select>Inverse This makes the selection to be everything except the object.

8. Hit the Delete key. This should make everything disappear except for the selection.

9. Make Layer 1 active. Choose your color in the color picker, make that the foreground color.

10. Edit>Fill (foreground color)

11. Flatten the image.

There are several other ways to do this, but the above works.


The original looked like this:


and this is a screen-shot of the PS working area:

MarkR

pathfinder wrote: »

Here you go Marc - http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=116223

But he photos that Eddy linked to ( shot with 300 f2.8 + 1.4 TC ) were not photos that had the background swapped out in PS, they were blurred backgrounds that one gets when using a telephoto with an extension tube to photograph small critters up close and let the background go all blurry. The telephoto may be a macro lens as well, but a 300 f4 with a couple extension tubes will do the same thing. Like here shot with a 500mm lens - http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/Animals/Macros-and-Close-Ups/Monarch-butterfly-IR0F9572/86221760_MpUd2-L.jpg

or a 180mm macro here - http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/Animals/Macros-and-Close-Ups/IR0F2524-color/6971249_jvttc-L.jpg

Thanks. I was trying to gently allude to the fact that it was bokeh, not a plain background, but that you could PP to get a similar effect, or to enhance the effect.

pathfinder

I thought that was was you were trying to point out, Marc

Yes, you could do a blurred background with a gradient fro light to dark green, but it still would not look as nice as the bokeh from a real macro telephoto lens.

pathfinder

If you just want to paint a background a fixed color, select the background with the Quick Select tool and fill the selection with the Fill tool.

Easy Peasy!

TonyCooper

pathfinder wrote: »

If you just want to paint a background a fixed color, select the background with the Quick Select tool and fill the selection with the Fill tool.

Easy Peasy!

Looks like I'm doing things the hard way, but all I have is CS4.
The Quick Selection tool in CS4 isn't that effective with a background
with several colors and ranges of color values unless there's a technique
that I'm not familiar with.

Eddy

Thanks guys ,, just what i am looking for... cheers

Had a brain cramp bookeh. but with a 300 mm f2.8 creammmmy

Eddy

pathfinder

TonyCooper wrote: »

Looks like I'm doing things the hard way, but all I have is CS4.
The Quick Selection tool in CS4 isn't that effective with a background
with several colors and ranges of color values unless there's a technique
that I'm not familiar with.

Tony,

My description of background replacement was done in CS4 - http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=116223

The secret to the Quick Select tool is to quickly select area with a largish brush for the QS tool. There will be areas grabbed that you do not want. Reduce the size of the QS tool by about 1/2, hold down the option key while mousing and clicking to REMOVE the parts outside the marching ants that you do not want included. You can continue adding and subtracting margins with the QS tool this way, until you get down to the pixel level is you so desire.

The Quick Select Tool in CS4 will select your reddish statue quite quickly I suspect. Give it a try. Once you have a selection, you then use the Refine Edge dialogue box to refine the thickness of your edges. Or you can use the Quick Mask tool with soft brush to really smooth out a margin of a selection.

I spent less than 3 minutes on this version of your statue - with a bit of time and the original image, the selection would not be detectable. The margins of your statue are easily folllowed with the Pen tool or the Magnetic Lasso as well, of course. But the Quick Select Tool has replaced both of those tools for almost all of my selections these days.

TonyCooper

Thanks for the tips. That's why I pop into this forum once in a while.
As soon as I think I know what I'm doing I find some other way to
do it better. I've never tried adjusting the brush size that way
using the QS tool.

I did try this technique on a practice image. I'm not really happy with
the result, but I see where some practice might bring improvement.

On this image, I couldn't get the sharp shell edges at the top and I
had a difficult time with the hose nozzle top because of lack of contrast
in color. I ended up cutting a bit from the original, pasting it in, and
touching it up with the eraser.

The biggest problem was the rounded vertical edges of the pump where
there's shadow. Also, the gaps in the hose nozzle grip and I missed
completely taking out that vertical gap on the pump by the hose.

It took me three times your 3-minute time, though. Still, faster than using
a Layer Mask with my Wacom pad.

This is a throw-away photo, but I can see that if I wanted to add a
different background from another photo, that this would blend in
pretty good. The stark white emphasis the raggedy edges.

Note the gas price is 47.9 per gallon and the price can't go over 99.9
cents on this antique pump!



Thanks again.

MarkR

One trick I learned from, I think the Russell Brown show-- you can use the Quick Select with the option key held down to "teach" PS where not to select. You can do this even before making a selection. So you can option click, for example, a rough circle around the object you will be eventually selecting. When you do that, you've "told" the QS tool to ignore those areas. Then when you quick select your object, your initial selection will be a lot more accurate.

EDIT: It was this video, not Russell Brown: http://tv.adobe.com/watch/photoshop-for-digital-photographers/how-to-train-the-quick-selection-tool/

Definitely worth watching.

EDIT EDIT: One other thing I've gleaned from several sources: the size of the quick select brush works differently from the other selection tools. It doesn't increase the "area" of the selection. Instead it acts more like the Tolerance slider from the Magic Wand. So for tricky selections go ahead and use a very fine brush. It won't increase your time selecting, and may actually decrease it!