Help with silhouetting

[Phylli...@adobeforums.com]

Okay I stink at this kind of work: I'm trying to isolate a helicopter and remove its background. Not really sure how to make the edges realistic. Soft opaque brush in Quick Mask? Extract filter? Combination? Some other filter? I don't have a tablet unfortunately (I think this would be easier if I had a real pen to use instead of the mouse -- my hand's not that steady). This is the best I've gotten so far, but the edges are far from realistic:

<http://www.rotor.com/temp/CoverLayers.zip>

Any technique suggestions? That zip is the Photoshop file. The original image I'm working with is on the 2nd layer but not visible.

Ugh. I do lots of layout work but not that much photo editing.

Thanks for any suggestions. Please don't be too critical -- I realize this file is not in good shape yet.

Thanks, Phyllis

[Phosąfour dots]

Rather than reiterating instructions that have been written hundreds of times before, I recommend this little collection of instructional links:

<http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx?128@@.3bb80e5d>

[Phylli...@adobeforums.com]

Eek! Too many choices! But I'll go through the various tutorials unless anyone thinks a particular technique is best for this specific image.

I've decided the Extract Filter is hopeless. :)

Thanks, Phyllis

[Phosąfour dots]

The first-post preamble is the important part. Learn as many techniques as possible, so that that when you encounter an image you'll know instinctively which combination of techniques will allow you to most efficiently tackle the job.

The rest just point toward how to achieve that goal.

There's no substitute for study and practice.

:)

[Phylli...@adobeforums.com]

Yeah I wish I'd encountered this type of project more often. I do a lot of layout work but almost never anything like this.

I just learned a better method for applying the selection :) , but I think I'm going to have to lay off the caffeine so I can hold my hand steady. :-) I think just using a brush on the edge selections is giving me the best results so far.

Thanks, Phyllis

[Phosąfour dots]

Get yourself a Wacom tablet. You won't regret it. Buy one used off CraigsList or ebay, if you want, just to have it handy for getting used to at your leisure.

Start with the smallest, cheapest one you can find. They work just fine, and it'll give you an idea about whether you want to kick out the money for a bigger one.

[Phylli...@adobeforums.com]

Yeah that's an idea. I need more reasons to go on ebay. ;-)

[J_Ma...@adobeforums.com]

Just duplicate the background layer and put the dupe on top. Make the blending mode color. Add a layer mask (Layer menu > Layer mask > Hide all) and then with a large white soft brush set to 15-30% opacity and paint back in the background color on the rotors, particularly the tail rotor.

Practice using the layer mask. With a mask, you have a grayscale channel that reflects the layer's transparency. Just like you have erased the 'copter layer, you can quickly unerase by painting back in white on the mask (white reveals, black conceals). You might google a quick tutorial on masks. The number one thing to learn about Photoshop IMO.

J