Photoshop Help

[ollie2000]

i have just discovered that i've got a photoshopping program (adobe photoshop element) on my computer and i was having a go on it and i found the lasso tool so i started drawing round the picture and it was going all over the place

so can any one tell me how to keep it steady or if there is a different tool to used to cut a bit of a picture out

[Tarquin]

Depends what you're trying to cut out. If you have a blank/all one colour background, you can highlight it with the magic wand, then right click and inverse the selection, therefore only selecting what you want!

If not, unfortuatly you have to use the freehand lasso tool and click many, many times around the pic you want to keep.

Unless you are just wanting to move it to another background, then one way is to copy the whole picture on top of the background you want, then use the rubber/eraser tool and delete around the edges of the original pic!

Hopefully that helps!!

Tarq

[Tomm]

i have just discovered that i've got a photoshopping program (adobe photoshop element) on my computer and i was having a go on it and i found the lasso tool so i started drawing round the picture and it was going all over the place

so can any one tell me how to keep it steady or if there is a different tool to used to cut a bit of a picture out

Are you using the Polygonal lasso tool? If not, right click on the lasso and there should be an option for that, and perhaps the magnetic lasso tool (depending on what version of elements I think).

[Village Idiot]

You can hold down the 'alt' key and click the left mouse button at the points where you want to cut rather than holding the left mouse button down all the time.

[Has anyone seen my shoe?]

I find using the polygonal lasso is the best thing, leaves nice sharp edges.

Dont know if this is helpful but oh well

[ollie2000]

You can hold down the 'alt' key and click the left mouse button at the points where you want to cut rather than holding the left mouse button down all the time.

hi thanks your guide really helps look just tryin to get circles right

[Tomm]

hi thanks your guide really helps look just tryin to get circles right

Just use a paint brush to fill in the bits you missed with the selection tool.

With the circle tool, you can hold down shift to make it a perfectly round circle (rather than an ellipse) and you can hold alt to make the first place you click the centre of the circle - I.e. for the bash you could click (and hold) on the bolt in the middle of the bash and then pull out from there.

[Village Idiot]

just tryin to get circles right

Are you trying to draw around the bash using the circle tool?

Another way would be to cut the bash out using the polygon lasso tool (zoom right in and just use the tool to draw round it).

[Odinpalen]

If it is photoshop, I am your man.

the best way to select the data from an image is to either put a boundry around it ( Lasso ). Or the second which I always use is to either paint the area you would like selected or erase everything around what you want.

Be sure to have two layers each with a copy of the image you are to edit. That way you always have a fresh copy to start with again.

Use the quick mask mode and paint what you want to pull out of the image or manipulate. Once you switch back to standard mode you will have selection around what you had painted, but with no paint. Now you can always get that selection back by control clicking the layer you had worked on.

Or you can erase everything around the object you would like to separate or isolate.

My trick of the trade is to have a layer as a white background, to see if there are any unwanted pixels.

And another layer with a black background to find more unwanted pixels.

Just click on the eye icon for each layer to toggle them off and on. This gives the best cutouts.

Edited September 25, 2006 by Odinpalen

[tall_chr1st]

photoshop photoshop photoshop....

As with everything photoshop, there are 3 or 4 ways to achieve the same thing. Quick ways which give variable results, or more drawn out ways which give excellent, very precise results.

1) use the lasso tool. It's not very precise and is a pain to use.

2) use the quick mask mode - a bit better than the lasso , and much easier to edit the mask

3) layer masks : you can create an adjustment layer, which can adjust the colours to whatever you want, then add a layer mask to the adjustment layer, fill the whole mask with black and then paint in the bits you want to show through in white.

4) you can use the pen tool. This is by far the most accurate way to get really crisp outlines around things. When the path is complete with the pen tool, go to the paths pallette [and rename the path] then 'load path as selection' button, or alt-click for more options. This will give you a great outline but takes the longest time to do.

....

I have of course just realized that you are talking about Photoshop Elements and all these options may not be available.... DOH!

If you have no pen tool [sorry, never used elements so don't know what's available], then painting onto masks is a good option as it's non-destructive and can be easily fixed.

Hope this is helpful... and not a pointless load of gibberish!

Chris.