# Making a black backround in Photoshop



## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Making the backround of an image completely black requires to somehow isolate the object that we want to keep. There are at least 3 ways to do that - using the Lasso, Quick Mask, and Burn tools.

*Lasso tool*
Selecting the object with any of the Lasso tools and then cutting it out of its surroundings is the simplest way. But often this approach is too effort consuming because of the many details that need to be traversed (outlined for selection). Using the Lasso tool is equivalent to using a very sharp pencil to make a selection of only the edges of the object. Think of traversing the outside of each edge of every leaf lobe in this picture:









*Quick Mask tool*
Selecting the object using Quick Mask is a little easier. Like the Lasso tool it involves traversing the edges of the object, but we don't need to be as precise as using the Lasso tool. That is because the Quick Mask tool is designed to help us select and isolate an object from its surroundings. Using the Quick Mask tool is equivalent to using a thick brush or a thick pensil to make the selection. We basically fill the object with color and then tell the program to darken or the backround.

To use the Quick Mask tool click the "Edit in Quick Mask Mode" button (or simply press the "Q" key). The image will not change in any way so don't expect anything to happen before you start traversing over the edges of the image:









The Quick Mask functionality is dependend of the "Set foreground color" tool. It's important to make sure that the foreground color is black and the backround color is white. To do that just click the small "Default Foreground and Background Colors" button, or press the "D" key.) You can also click on the big rectangles and use the Color Picker to set the colors (black is bottom left, white is top left):









The selection of the object using Quick Mask is done by traversing the edges of the object with either the Pencil tool or the Brush tool. Make sure that you have one of these selected. Adjust the size of the cursor by using the "[" and "]" keys. In the example below I've selected a Brush. The selection is done very rough in order to show the idea of the technique:









The two images that follow show a good way to do the traversing. First we fill the object with the Pencil or Brush as much as we can. Use a big size cursor to do that. Leave the fine edges unfilled:









Then we fill the edges using a small size cursor. The image must be enlarged so the edges are easily discerned from the backround. The image below also shows a mistake - when the selection has gone away from the object and part of the backround is selected. (Correcting the mistake is described later in this article.):









So as a result of all that we end up with an object that is filled with the color. The edges are outlined precisely:









If you have accidentally selected some of the bagckround you need to erase part of your selection. You do that by using the same Pencil or Brush - think of it as switching from a Pencil or Brush to an eraser. You "paint" like befor but this time with the backround color (white) - the result is that the red selection color is erased. To do that just click the white rectangle in the "Set foreground color" tool. You can also use the small double arrow to toggle between fore- and background. To start selecting with the red again set the foreground color to black:









We are ready to separate the background and darken it. First go back to "Standard Mode" by pressing "Edit in Standard Mode (Q)". You will see that the backround is now been selected - the whole frame of the image is selected by the moving interrupted line known as "the marching ants". Your object will appear outlined by the "ants" too: 









To darken the background select Image|Adjustments|Brightness/Contrast... and set the Brightness to "-100" and the Contrast to "-100". The backround is now completely black. For finer adjustments use the Image|Adjustments|Levels... option.

*A few notes about the Quick Mask options:*
The color that is used to traverse is up to you. Double clicking the "Edit in Quick Mask Mode" button brings up a dialog box named "Quick Mask Options" with a few selections:









Clicking on the color rectangle once brings up the Color Picker from which you can select any color you want. If you have a green plant on a green backround you will want to select a contrasting color for your selection Pencil or Brush - probably red.

The "Opacity" setting allows you to set the transparency of the Pencil or Brush. The default is 50% and that is adequate for most jobs. That allows you to paint the object but still partially see through the paint. That is helpful in determining if you have made small mistakes and have selected part of the backround.

Using the "Masked Areas" selection in the "Color Inicates:" group lets you make your selection, return to Standard Mode, and manipulate the background as if you selected the backround and not the object. There is no need to open a new document and paste our selection there.

"Selected Areas" - it lets you select only the object you traverse. You can then copy and paste this object in another image (the usual usage would be to place someone's head on someone else's body).

*Burn tool*
The thrid way to isolate an image from its backround maybe also used to make fine adjustments of the Quick Mask selection. I will describe that method in my next post.

--Nikolay


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## MiamiAG (Jan 13, 2004)

Niko,

*THIS IS EXCELLENT!* I can't tell you how many times I've given up because the lasso tool would have been too time consuming.

Thank you for posting this!


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## chiahead (Dec 18, 2004)

I agree, excellent post.


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## Just_me (Sep 20, 2004)

First of all, thanks Niko 

the technique i used was similar to the quick mask but inverted. It was in a less powerfull program.

Basically i started painting the image around my object white, and when all i could see was the object, i emptied the bucket of black paint into the white.

one hand in the mouse, one hand ready for CTRL+z


Still, your technique seems much less time consuming.

2 questions still:

1-Imagine the first picture you posted on a greener background, lasso wouldn't work, and there's limits for how much one can paint, little leaves in red  , is there any other way? or only the chinese way (patience and preseverance) i used this last one when doing what i described on a 300%zoom of the 2048x1536 original i used...

2- Would a pre-shot technique be better? like putting a black acrilic sheet behind the subject? If possible, what kind of black would you guys recomend? gloss, mate, others?


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## defdac (May 10, 2004)

It's definitely easier to burn out the shadows with the burn tool. You can make big swift strokes with a really big brush and make a temporary adjustment-levels-layer so you are sure the background is completely black.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Just me,

The QuickMask is only one way. It is not applicable to all images just like the Lasso is not.

In the first picture you would use the Magic Wand tool and hope that it will select most of the background. An even, dark, but not necessarily black, added background would help separate the plant from the background and facilitate the creation of a dark background with digital means.

The color of that added backround depends a great deal of the angle that the light hits it. Often it doesn't come out black as the actual acrylic or whatever material you chose. Still - if there is a significant color difference between the plant and the background the Photoshop tools will detect it.

Defdac,

I'm about to write about the Burn tool. Like the other tools unfortunatelly it's not a cure for all. But there is something else - could you help out and make a post about adjustment layers. I don't use them and I'd be interested to hear more about them.

--Nikolay


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## neonfish3 (Feb 12, 2004)

Excellent article Nikolay!

I tried removing the background from the first pic with the magic wand tool. It wasn't that hard. Shift Click to add to the selection on all the big spaces, lowered the light and color to zero then went over some fine details with a black brush. Ten min. total time.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

I think I need to get Photoshop!

What are you guys using: Photoshop Elements or the full Photoshop CS? What's the real difference?


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## Just_me (Sep 20, 2004)

Just reminded, one of the things i did, was, in the original one, after i blacked the background i did a soft edge blur (went over with the blur tool all around the object), and then , after the sizing down applied a sharpness filter to the object. this gave me most of the detail lost in the sizing down, without having strange edges.

In this case it went down nicely, but in targets where that blur is difficult to apply, because parts of the target are so small, like in the plant above, what should one use to avoid that unnatural look over the edges? too straight edges, a color fade to a diferent color than that of the background etc.

thanks in advance!

Pedro


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Neonfish,

As you saw - it is important for the plant to stand out from the background and the Magic Wand will pick up the difference in colors pretty easy. The Burn tool that we'll talk about more in the next few days will help soften the edges of the plant and give a more natural, "unselected", kind if look. You will see, it's pretty cool, I personally use the Burn tool without any other Lasso, QuickMask or anything but that's cause I like to tinker with details 

Laith,

I use CS. Have no clue what Elements is. If you have to decide between CS and CS2 there is hardly a difference for plant picture purposes.

Just me,

I've never tried toblur and to sharpen the edges later. Good idea but one needs to traverse all the edges with it I guess.

You may want to try the Burn tool to soften the edges. You may like it so much that you may start to use it without any other selection tools before that.

--Nikolay


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Great article! =D> I've been struggling with getting the lasso tool down right and this will be very helpful.

Laith, I have both Photoshop and Elements and really for the price, Elements is a great program. Since they're both made by Adobe, they have many similarities. Elements has a ton of tools (including the lasso tool), so you can accomplish quite a bit.
If you want to try any of them out, you can go to the Adobe site and they will give you a free download to try them out for something like 30 days. I think that's a nice option to be able to see if you like it before making a sometimes pricey purchase.


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## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

Elements is a watered down version of PSCS2. A major limitation is the use of actions. Elements can't handle most actions.

For anyone not sure about Photoshop, download the trial version from their site. It's about 330MB if I remember right.


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