What is the best way to cut images from backgrounds

[AceGambit]

Suppose you have an image of a person, and you want to cut him/her out of the image to put them on a different backdrop, what's the best way to go about this?


For the past er-- 6 years I've been doing this with the polygonal lasso tool, however I read somewhere that the pen tool is the preferred method.  I feel like I have less control with the béziers than I do with the lasso.  I've tried using my wacom and the freeform lasso tool as well, but no matter what, it's tough. 


Is it better to just use the eraser and erase the background from the image?

[xela]

Pen tool! Use the pen tool (make sure it doesn't fill what you select) to select the person or object. You do this by recreating the curves the object has with the pen tool. After you are done making your selection, right click, "make selection" and press ctrl+shift+I to invert your selection to include the background and not the object. Press delete.

Another good trick I learned is duplicating the object/person, applying a gaussian blur to blur the edges, and setting that layer behind the original and messing with opacity to your heart's content. This smooths out the edges.

[IAmTheChin]

If you set your feather you don't have to go through all those extra steps using filters.

[xela]

If you set your feather you don't have to go through all those extra steps using filters.

However, the extra steps allow you to have a separate layer for the blending. For example, if you want to add a stroke to your render, you can't do that with a feather in the layer (it will look horrible).

[Kanped]

Personally, I magic wand anything solid, use the eraser to get a bit closer and remove what's left pixel by pixel but I'm a rank amateur with no training (never even read a tutorial).  That blur idea seems really good, though; I'll be using that from now on, I think.

[Paul Carpenter]

Another way is to make a loose selection with a lasso tool, then use the quick mask and your painting tools to refine it. The approach does depend a lot on what the background is and if you are trying to get details like hair blowing in the wind, etc.  The pen tool is the easiest to get precise on sharp edged objects.

Also, if putting your subject into another scene be aware of the lighting and shadow directions in both scenes or it will look very out of place no matter how good your selection is.

[AceGambit]

So that sounds like a resounding "Pen Tool."  I guess I just need more practice with it.  More anchor points vs Less anchor points.   Feels like not everything I snap a photo of works so perfectly with just a few anchors.  Maybe I should just stick with Vector graphics, cleaner and sharper.  No blur, or pixelation, it's like working in a perfect environment!

[xela]

So that sounds like a resounding "Pen Tool."  I guess I just need more practice with it.  More anchor points vs Less anchor points.   Feels like not everything I snap a photo of works so perfectly with just a few anchors.  Maybe I should just stick with Vector graphics, cleaner and sharper.  No blur, or pixelation, it's like working in a perfect environment!

Don't forget to hold alt and click on the anchor after making each curve.

[AceGambit]

Don't forget to hold alt and click on the anchor after making each curve.

Isn't that the same as creating your anchors by click-dragging rather than simply clicking them into position, or is there some difference?

[PoundFFFFFF]

Don't forget to hold alt and click on the anchor after making each curve.

Isn't that the same as creating your anchors by click-dragging rather than simply clicking them into position, or is there some difference?

It makes your life ridiculously easier. If you don't alt then you cannot make a corner and a curve at the same time.

[AceGambit]

Definitely will use that from now on.  I had grown accustomed to click-drag, then using keyboard shortcut 'A' to adjust the anchor.


Thanks for the help guys!