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Photoshop & Paint Shop Pro
Detailed Tutorial #1 |
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Using a Chromakey, Key Out Color Screen, Resize
Digital Backdrops, Copy & Paste |
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| Copyright © 2004 Photobacks.com. All Rights Reserved. |
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Introduction:
If you shot your subject on a solid color background, such as a chromakey or white studio backdrop, in this tutorial, we show you how to remove the color background behind the subject of your image with software, resize the digital backdrop that you choose so it fits your original photo size, and paste your subject onto the resized digital backdrop. For more information on using a Chromakey for your photos, see our Tips Menu to the left. We recommend using a green, blue, or white screen, or any other bright color will work fine. Also, know that Tutorial #1 can be applied to subjects shot on Chromakeys or solid color backdrops as well. (Please wait for all of the images below to load.) |
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Step #1: Getting Started
Start your software and open the photo of your choice, in which you want to replace the background -- we will call this the "subject photo." Immediately, save your subject photo as something else under a new name, so you do not accidentally ruin the original photo. And, save the image as the preferred file type for the software you're using -- for example, if you're using Photo Shop, save your photo as a ".psd" file, or if you're using Paint Shop Pro, save as a ".psp" file, etc. This is important as it will keep the quality of your photo at 100% while you work. (If you're using another type of software, and you're unsure of what file type to use, search its Help menu for file types. It's best to have a file type that allows you to work in layers with transparent backgrounds, without losing any data due to compression.) |
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Next, before we begin, if necessary, adjust the color or brightness of your photo, if it needs it, to your liking. It's best to have clear, bright photos to put against backdrops.
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We will work through this tutorial with you with our own example, and we begin as shown below in Fig.1a with our subject photo ready to go, and no other images are open in our software. It's also suggested that you have your Layers window/palette open if you can find the menu option for it. |
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Fig. 1a
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Step #2: Opening a Digital Backdrop & Resizing
Next, with your subject photo still open, open up the digital backdrop of your choice. So now, both your subject photo and your digital backdrop should be side-by-side. (See Fig.2a)
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At this point, you'll want to make sure that your digital backdrop file is similar in resolution and dimension (in either pixels or inches) as your subject cut-out photo. This way, in the next step, when we bring the two images together, your subject cut-out will look to be the right size on your backdrop (and not really really small or too big). But, remember, there is no right or wrong here, because every subject photo is different in size, so it may need some experimenting. Just press Undo to try again.
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First, you always want to make your larger image smaller, as you can size down and preserve image quality, but you really can't make smaller images bigger without losing quality. (So, you'll most likely always resize your digital backdrop image and make it smaller, to fit your smaller subject photo. That's because our digital backdrop files are so large to accommodate high quality large photos.) Here's what we did for our example below, and you can follow similar guidelines. First, we look at the image information of our subject photo -- most softwares have a menu choice for Image Information, image details, or properties. You're looking for information similar to Fig.2b below. (Make sure you're on the right image before getting its information. You can switch between your open images on your screen by clicking on their title-bars.)
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In our example, we find that our subject photo, including the green screen background, is about 4.5 x 6.2 inches in print size (your size could be in pixel dimensions, which is fine), and our resolution is 300 pixels per inch. Since our digital backdrop image will be the "setting" for our subject, we want our digital backdrop to be a similar size. So, we make sure we're viewing our digital backdrop image and go to our Resize menu option. We then adjust the Resolution of our digital backdrop to match our subject photo's, so we set our resolution at 300. Then, since our subject photo is 4.5 x 6.2 inches, we figure our digital backdrop image (which will be the new background) should be about 4.5 x 5.6 inches in print size. (See Fig.2c). IMPORTANT: We have our aspect ratio locked on our resize, so when we typed in 4.5 for the width on the digital backdrop, the height automatically adjusted properly to 5.6 -- we did not have to calculate this number ourselves; we just picked a width near our subject photo's and thought the calculated height was okay. The height on our digital backdrop is now smaller than our subject photo's, but we eventually won't mind if our subject's legs get cropped a bit in our final version when our two images come together, as you'll see as we continue. If we didn't like the height that was calculated for us, we would have just adjusted our width to be larger. It is important to maintain your aspect ratio so your images do not get distorted when resized. |
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We then press Okay, and we're done resizing. Now, on your screen, you won't see a change in the sizes of your images (unless you're zoomed in or out differently now), but that's just fine. At the end of this step, your screen should still look like Fig.6a again. |
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Notes: Also, be careful when you're resizing that your comparing apples to apples...inches to inches or pixels to pixels, don't mix the two because they're very different. (For more on understanding Resolution & Picture Size, see our Tips Menu above.) Also, remember that the numbers in our photos may be VERY different than yours, and that's fine, just follow the process, not our exact numbers. Also, your images may already be equal in resolution, which is great, so just adjust the image dimensions as necessary. And again, always remember to maintain aspect ratio when resizing -- your image may not resize to the exact height or width you want at this point, but you can always crop your image a bit once the size is close to where you want it. |
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This step can be a guessing game, so don't worry if you're not too sure about your sizes right away. As you preform the next step #7, you'll get a better idea of what you need to resize. Just remember, it's important that you do not resize larger, only smaller, to save image quality. So, if you're photo is larger than your digital backdrop, make your photo smaller to fit. If your digital backdrop is larger than your photo (which will most likely be the case), then make your digital backdrop smaller. Don't forget, you can always Undo and try again. Resolution and Image Size can be tricky, so be careful not to resize your final projects too small, with a low resolution, or your prints will be lower in quality than the original. Again, see our Tips Menu above for more on Resolution and Picture Size. The only time its a major problem for quality loss is if you're trying to take a subject that's really small from your original photo and make them very big against a backdrop. Otherwise, if your subject size doesn't change much throughout the process, you'll be fine.
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Fig. 2a
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Fig. 2b
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Fig. 2c
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Step #3: Highlight Subject on Solid Color Background
Since your subject image is against a solid color background, we just have to take your subject off the color screen background and put them onto a digital backdrop image. You should have your images up as shown below in Fig.2a with both your subject photo and digital backdrop open, side-by-side. Next, if you can do the following in your software, create a new raster layer in your digital backdrop image, which in your Layers window/palette should be above your background layer, or first layer. (This is a good idea that will make the final stage of this process easier, but it is not necessary, so just move on if you can't figure out how to do it. Also, remember that you can switch between your open images on your screen by clicking on their title-bars.)
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Next, go to your subject photo and select your Magic Wand Tool, and click on the solid background color, which in our example is green. Your solid background around your subject should now be highlighted. Also, if you have any areas where your solid color background is showing through, like between arms, legs, or hair, you'll want to hold down your Shift Key (which works in most softwares,) and click on those areas with your Magic Wand Tool as well. (If holding done Shift doesn't work, search your software's Help menu for how to highlight multiple areas at once.)
Now, after you do this, your subject should look as if it's highlighted by your Selection Tool, even though we clicked on the solid color. (See Fig.3a)
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Next, go to your menu options and Invert Selection. This is important because even though it looks like our subject is highlighted, it isn't until we do this step. It may be hard to tell the difference unless you look closely, but now the subject in your photo should be highlighted and not your background.
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At this point, you may notice that your highlighted selection isn't right on the edges of your subject, as too much of the solid color background may be selected/highlighted as well. If this is the case, you'll want to deselect your subject, go back to the beginning of this step, and adjust the settings of your Magic Wand Tool. If your software has it, which it should, try adjusting the Tolerance setting on your Magic Wand Tool, as that can be key. Also, make sure anti-alias is selected. Play around with your Tolerance setting, and you'll see how it affects what your Magic Wand Tool selects/highlights. You'll want to get your selection pretty tight on your subject, leaving no background outside the lines of the highlight, so we suggest setting your tolerance quite high, even if some of your subject gets a bit cut off. Take a look at Fig.3b below and notice how tight our Selection lines are on our subject. We used a Magic Wand Tool with a tolerance of 95.
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| At the end of this step, our subject photo looks like Fig.3c. |
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Notes: This step should not be a problem if you're shooting on a green screen background. If you're using a white background, sometimes setting the tolerance too high on your Magic Wand can cut off some of your subject, because white is a more common color than green, and blond hair is close to white. But, this is not a problem. If you just can't get the Magic Wand to do what you want with a white background, or any other color for that matter, click here to move over to our Tutorial #1 - Step #7a and go from there. (Note that at that stage of Tutorial #1, we refer to the subject photo as "subject cut-out photo," but it acts as the same image. Also, for our example, we use a different model photo on a white solid color background, but the actions are the same.) |
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Fig. 3a
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Fig. 3b
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Fig. 3c
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Step #4: Copy Subject & Paste on Digital Backdrop
Now, copy your highlighted selection by pressing Ctrl+c on your keyboard, or from your Edit menu. Then, go to your digital backdrop image, and make sure you've got your new raster layer selected in your Layers window or palette, if you're using layers. Then, go to your Edit menu, and go to Paste, making sure that you either Paste as a New Selection or as a new layer, or however your software allows you to paste your selection onto other images, and not as a new image altogether. Then, reposition your subject to where you want them on the digital backdrop, and deselect your subject. At this stage, your digital backdrop image should look like Fig.4a.
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There is a chance that your subject might look really really small on your digital backdrop, or really really big. If this is the case, just Undo the Paste action and resize your digital backdrop accordingly. Then, go back to the Paste option and paste your subject back on the digital backdrop, and see if the new sizing fits better. At this point, this can be a guessing game until you get it right, but you should be able to judge it right in short time. If you resize and it doesn't fit, press Undo, and try again until it works.
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Fig. 4a
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Step #5: The Final Touches
Now, you're just about done. You'll want to look over your final combined image and see if there's anything that sticks out or looks unnatural. For example, if too much of the original background is showing on the edges of the subject, you may want to go back to the original subject, reset your Magic Wand Tolerance Setting, and try to get a tighter selection on your subject. Or, if that doesn't work, do what we did in our example below. You'll notice that we still have some of the green screen showing at this point when we zoom in on our subject. (See Fig.5a) So, since we're using layers, we made sure we were on our subject's layer, selected our Eraser Tool, adjusted our Eraser's settings, and then carefully erased the extra green. Fig.5b shows the difference -- it's much more natural looking now, and didn't take long at all to fix.
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If we were not using layers and had our original solid background color still showing through (and readjusting the tolerance of our Magic Wand before we copied our subject over didn't work), we would take our Paintbrush or Airbrush Tool, adjust the tool's settings, and carefully paint over the unwanted color showing through on our combined photo with appropriate colors that matched our digital backdrop in that area.
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Don't forget, you have your software's tools at your finger tips, as any part of your image can be tweaked. You can Airbrush color in for smoother transitions from subject to background, or use the Soften tool in the same way, or Smudge hair where it needs to be filled in. The options are up to you. |
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Fig. 5a
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Fig. 5b
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Step #6: Saving Your Work
Now that you've finished your digital backdrop photo project, you need to save the final version. We recommend saving at least two or three copies of your final version in different file types. First, save your file under whatever type of file type you've been working with. Then, go to Save As... menu option and save your image as a ".tif" or ".tiff" file. So, if your photo is titled abc123, save it as abc123.tif, or abc123.tiff -- this format saves your image in its original form with no quality loss, and it's the best for printing, especially when you're not printing at home, because just about every photo processor or computer will recognize the "tif" format. (This format can be saved with LZW compression or without. Either way is fine, but some photo processors might not recognize images that are compressed in this format.) Then, if you'd like to e-mail your photo, or use it on a website, we recommend saving the file as a ".jpg" -- this file type will compress your image and it may lose some quality, but the file size is small and it is what's used for photos on websites or for e-mail. This is not the best file type for printing, only online sharing, but it can be printed.
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Two final tips: Your subject will look different on different backdrops, so try many and have fun. Also, if you're using layers, copy and paste your subject layer onto a transparent layer, outside of your digital backdrop image -- so you just have your subject, cut out from your solid color background, and on a transparent layer background -- and save it. That way, you can always go back to that image and paste your subject onto another digital backdrop with ease. You'll be amazed at how you might not have to do much tweaking in the end with certain digital backdrops, as your subjects will blend differently with different digital backdrops. And our final tip for this tutorial is to try throwing a drop shadow behind your subject on the digital backdrop, just to see what kind of effect it has. Before you deselect your subject image in Step #4, go to your menu and choose Drop Shadow effect, and adjust to the desired settings. Giving your subject a little shadow can make a great difference. See our example below in Fig.6a.
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Fig. 6a
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| For more examples of what we did with this subject cut-out photo, take a look at the Users Gallery! And, don't forget to add your photo creations as well!
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