Look, we aren't all great photographers, and even those out there that do manage to take spectacular photos still need to clean up their images a bit before putting them online. Product images can be one of the most important factors influencing whether or not potential customers make a purchase from an online store. In an ideal world, we would all have access to a small photo studio with backdrops, lighting, and everthing else needed to take great photos.
But this is the real world, and the reality is that product images often need to be cleaned up in Photoshop before they can be used online. Running and online store is not terribly conducive to mastering Photoshop and other image editing software, particularly since these are immensely powerful applications that have a steep learning curve. In this tutorial, we will be looking at some techniques for removing unwanted backgrounds from a product photo, and also a few quick tricks for making your images stand out. As anyone that manages an online store can tell you, image manipulation can be a daunting and overwhelming task, and hopefully this tutorial will make the job seem a little easier, if not more fun.
Software Used: Adobe Photoshop CS2
View Tutorial
This video tutorial requires Flash Player version 8 or above. Please forward us your ideas for additional video tutorials, via our Contact Us form.
Thursday, April 26, 2007 · 12:48 PM
This tutorial offered some tips I didn't know... very helpful. Also, the next time you have a tutorial like this, please offer tips for irregular shaped objects... i.e., things placed in grass, people's hair, etc.
-- Tonya
Friday, April 27, 2007 · 02:42 PM
Hello Pam,
What kind of internet connection are you using? This is a rather large file so it can take some time to download, and occasionally the playhead will catch up with the download, which will cause the video to stop playing. Simply wait for a while while more of the file downloads, and you can then click play and continue watching.
Also, make sure that you have the latest Flash player version by clicking the link below the tutorial. Please let me know if you continue to have problems.
-- Brian Getting
Sunday, May 20, 2007 · 04:04 AM
For irregular shape selections use Photoshop's (PS) PEN tool plus what Brian offers using layer masking.
Although nothing beats the PEN tool for any shape it's possible to select anything even hair and trees using the magic wand and then select similar under the select menu. There are still a couple masking programs available which can select smoke or clouds such as Fluid Mask and old stalwart KnockOut. Much simpler EZ Mask is suited to sold objects. All are built specifically to make this much simpler. I would recommend PS Essentials for anyone who thinks the full PS is too much for them.
-- Clive
Thursday, May 24, 2007 · 11:52 AM
GREAT tutorial! I'm bookmarking this topic so that I can come back and rerun while working on live foto... also great to stop/pause, go back, etc. What kind of mouse do you use? Would LOVE to know more about how to set width, edge contrast and frequency, since getting these right upfront seems to really make a difference... Part 2???
-- Eric
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 · 12:31 AM
I hate to say it, but this is not a very good tutorial. I appreciate the effort though. First, using the magnetic lasso is the wrong choice. The tool you want to use with products is the Polygonal Lasso Tool...since many products have mostly straign edges, this is the best tool for the job.
Case in point, with it, you would not have had to spend time going back with the freehand Lasso Tool to "fix" certain areas.
After using the polygonal tool, click selct, Modify, Smooth once or twice....and boom you have a perfectly smooth selection. Using this technique only take slightly longer than the magnetic tool, but has none of the cleanup afterward.
Connect with us