Tutorial: Removing the Background from Product Photos

If you are an online merchant who manages your own product images, knowing the simplest way to remove the background from an image can be helpful.

In this video tutorial, I will show you how to quickly and easily isolate a product image from its background using both Adobe Photoshop CS4 and the free alternative, Aviary.

Download the source files from the video here.

To begin, I will show you how to load your image into Photoshop to begin working with it. With the image open, I will give you a crash course on using Photoshop’s Pen Tool, my tool of choice for isolating images.

I will show you the similarities between the Pen Tool and the Polygonal Lasso Tool as well as how the Pen Tool is unique in its ability to create curved selections. I will explain how to use the Pen Tool and how to manipulate its curved and straight segments.

With a basic understanding of the Pen Tool, I will show you how to outline the portion of your image you wish to isolate. With the product selected, I will then show you how to delete the surrounding background as well as how to rotate and crop your final image.

After completing the product image isolation in Adobe Photoshop, I will show you how to accomplish the same thing in the free web-based design alternative, Aviary.

To start, I will show you how to upload your image into Aviary’s image editing program, Phoenix, to begin working on it. I will then show you how to use their equivalent of Photoshop’s Polygonal Lasso Tool to select the portion of the image you wish to isolate.

With the product selected in Phoenix, I will show you how to delete the surrounding background and proceed to rotate and crop the final image.

By the end of this tutorial, you should have a better understanding of how product images can be isolated in both Adobe Photoshop and Aviary’s Phoenix.