How to cut out trees in Photoshop in seconds. This Photoshop tutorial shows you how to perfectly cut out trees in seconds using channel based selections in Photoshop.

Hey Cafe Crew, it is Colin Smith here from Photoshop Cafe and today, I am going to show you how to perfectly cut out a tree and in just a few seconds.

So a lot of people struggle with trees and they actually don’t have to be that difficult if you think about a tree, generally speaking, it is green and it is going to be against a blue background. So the best way to deal with this is to use Channel Based Selections. So if we click on the channels, you will see RGB. If you click on an individual channel, such as red, we will see that red, green and blue are the 3 different color channels that make up any image in RGB mode. Notice a big difference between the green and the blue. Where it is white or where it is bright that means it is more of that color present, meaning there is a lot of blue in the sky, not much in the tree, that’s why it is dark.

Alright, so here’s a trick, we are going to take the blue channel and we are going to duplicate it by just clicking here and dragging into the new channel icon. Xforce keygen autocad 2018. So here we go, we have got the blue copy which is now [Inaudible 01:01]

Alright, so what I am going to do is, I am going to hit Ctrl L for levels and all we need to do now is isolate the blues, notice there’s kind of grey there and we really want to make that brighter, we can drag across here until we get a nice, clean white. So all these blue now can be fully selected. Now, we are going to do the same over this side except we are going to do the opposite. Notice, as I pull this in, it darkens up those other areas. So what we are looking to do is just create a nice clean mask. Just a still, few little spots there, so let’s clean that up a bit more. There we go. We have got a clean mask, click OK.

So now, all we need to do is hit Ctrl or Command on Mac and Click and now we are selecting inside the tree area, click on RGB, notice the red is there. Just click Off Blue and make sure RGB is selected, just like that. Then we go back to our layers. All we have got to do now is hold down the Alt or the Option key and click on the Mask. That creates an inverted Mask.

Now, when we see the Mask, look at this, our tree is nice and cut off, if you look over here, it is looking a little semi-transparent. We need to fix that. Okay, so what we need to do is just go to our Mask here and if we hit the Alt key and click or that would be Option key, we are now viewing the mask, we have selected the Mask and we are viewing it and we need to just kind of choke this a little bit. So we are going to hit Ctrl L, once again, take the black. See that? And if we take the white, notice that we can plug up those areas and we are looking pretty good. I am just playing around in the midst a little bit there and in the blacks, notice, we have isolated a nice channel there and if we click back on our layer, we can see, we have got a nice cut out there. Now if you need to do any manual adjustments, what you will need to do is just select that Mask there and then you could just paint with black or white to add or take away from the mask.

Alright, so let’s have a look at this background, let’s drag it in here and see what we have got. We will drag it underneath our layer and there we go, look at that, we are able to do this nice cut out of this tree, nice and easily.

So I hope you guys enjoyed this. If you did, I have got a new tutorial every single week. Hit the Subscribe button right now and you won’t miss out on our new tutorials. Don’t forget to smash that Like button into dust. Add a comment, let’s get a discussion going and until next time, I will see you at the Cafe.

No matter what you’re working on, you can be sure that almost every project will require an image to be removed from its background! Sometimes it’s a breeze when professionally lit studio shots are provided, but it can get a little tricky when detailed backgrounds come into play. In today’s post I give an overview of a range of cutting out techniques that I’ve learned over the years and offer advice on when each method is best used.

Quick & Dirty Selections

Sometimes you just need to quickly remove something from its background with no questions asked. If the final result doesn’t have to be pixel perfect there’s a range of Photoshop tools that offer you quick and easy clipping solutions.

Eraser tool

So, you want to remove the background from an image. Just rub it out with the Eraser tool, right? The basic idea isn’t bad, but there are much better techniques that don’t ruin your document with destructive editing, as we’ll see later with Layer Masks .

How to use the Eraser tool

Select your Eraser brush and fine tune the softness and edge settings. You can then paint away the background, being particularly careful around the edge of your subject.

When to use the Eraser tool

The softness of the brush can really help create smooth results, especially with the use of a Wacom tablet to speed up the process and provide greater control. However, the destructive nature of the Eraser means you’re screwed if you make a mistake, so use a Layer Mask instead.

Magic Wand tool

The Magic Wand was probably the first tool we all discovered as Photoshop newbies, but as you level up in experience you soon realise its capabilities don’t stretch very far. However, the Magic Wand is a great little tool for cutting out simple images where there’s clear definition between edges.

How to use the Magic Wand tool

Click the portion of the picture you want to select and Photoshop does all the work for you. You can even play with the Tolerance setting to fine tune the selection, but the default value will probably be just fine.

When to use the Magic Wand tool

The Magic Wand is great for selecting areas of an image with hard edges, solid colours and high contrast.

Quick Selection tool

The Quick Selection tool is a step up from the Magic Wand. Rather than let Photoshop make all the decisions, with this tool you paint over the exact area you want masking and Photoshop will apply a mask based on your instructions. It’s much easier than the trial & error of the Magic Wand Tool’s tolerance setting.

How to use the Quick Selection tool

Found in the same tool category as the Magic Wand, the Quick Selection tool uses a brushing method to draw a selection. Photoshop will calculate the area of this selection based on edges it finds nearby. Adjust the brush size with the [ & ] bracket keys for finer control. You can also remove areas from the selection by painting while holding the ALT key.

When to use the Quick Selection tool

When you need more control than the Magic Wand, but you’re still not worried about a high quality final result, the Quick Selection brush is the tool for the job!

Manual Selections

It might be tedious, but the best clipping results often come from manually drawing a selection around your subject. Graphic Designers soon become masters of the Pen tool with the daily use this tool sees.

Polygonal Lasso tool

The Lasso tool is another somewhat newbie tool that beginners rely on, until they graduate to the Pen tool. The Lasso tool is great for quick selections, but its series of straight edges and the frustration of accidentally double-clicking and closing the selection too soon can make this tool a nightmare when used for more advanced selections.

How to use the Lasso tool

The Lasso tool comes in a range of variants, including Freehand, Polygonal and Magnetic options. The Polygonal Lasso is the most commonly used. Just trace your image with a series of clicks, then either close the selection back at the starting point or double click to instantly close the selection with a straight edge. Hold the Shift key to constrain the angles to 45° and 90° for perfectly square selections.

When to use the Lasso tool

The Lasso tool, particularly its Polygonal variant is an effective ‘cut & paste’ tool where you just want to snip out a rough outline around a subject. For anything more detailed, you’re really missing out if you don’t use the Pen tool.

Pen tool

The Pen tool has so many more benefits over the Lasso tool. For starters you can create curved outlines, which is useful for those of us who live outside the Minecraft world. The Pen tool also creates paths that can be edited and saved for future use, which are valuable features when working on real-world projects.

How to use the Pen tool

The basic mechanics of the Pen tool’s Bezier curves could take an entire post to explain, but once you’ve mastered this tool it becomes you new best friend. Trace your image, making an accurate path within a few pixels inside the edge of your subject to avoid capturing any slithers of background in your cut out, then close the path back at the starting point.

This path can be tweaked using the Direct Selection Tool, or you can save it by giving it a new name under the Paths panel.

Your path can be converted into a selection at any time. You can even add feathering to eliminate any harsh edges.

When to use the Pen tool

The Pen tool is the Swiss Army Knife of Photoshop tools. There’s not many situations where this thing can’t be used, but there might be other techniques that are faster, especially when trying to tackle complex stuff like hair, fur or fine details.

Tonal Selections

Tonal selections is the name I’m using for techniques that use the overall contrast and colour of an image to make a selection. These methods are great for ultra detailed images where it’s just not feasible to draw a selection manually.

Channels

Every image is made up of a Red, Green & Blue channel that each contains a different tonal version of the picture. Channels have the ability to create the most perfect selections from ultra fine details such as hair or fur, but they don’t work well with detailed backgrounds or where there’s a lack of contrast.

How to use the Channels

View the Red, Green & Blue channels individually to find the one with the highest contrast between the areas you want, and the areas you don’t. Drag it over the ‘new icon’ to make a duplicate.

You can increase the contrast further by adjusting the Levels or Curves to darken the blacks and lighten the whites.

Once you have achieved good contrast between the fine details of your image, you’ll also need to fill in any remaining areas of your desired selection manually with a black brush.

Load the selection of your Channel by CMD/(CTRL)+Clicking on the thumbnail from the Channels panel.

When to use the Channels

Whenever you have an image with clear contrast between your subject and the background the Channels will provide the best and cleanest selection. They’re especially great when selecting hair or fur, but only if the background is clean.

Color Range

Color Range from the Select menu is a handy tool that can be used to make quick selections based on the tones of an image. It’s particularly useful to select highlights or shadows, or if you need to select areas of a specific colour from your image.

How to use Color Range

Go to Select > Color Range to open the Color Range options. You can now choose from Sampled Color (your current foreground colour selection), or pick from Highlights, Midtones or Shadows if you only need to select bright or dark areas of an image.

When to use Color Range

The Color Range selector is most effective at quickly selecting the white background from a staged shot, which can then be inverted to capture the outline of the product.

Mask Selections

Masks are the ultimate non-destructive editing tools. Rather than permanently erasing your image, they hide the unwanted portions just in case you want to edit the selection later. Draw your masks manually, or use them with any of the previously mentioned selection techniques to temporarily delete portions of your images.

Layer Masks

Layer Masks are applied to a single layer by selecting the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. Whatever areas of the mask are black are the portions of that layer that are hidden.

How to use Layer Masks

We talked about Layer Masks being a better alternative to the Eraser tool earlier. To use this technique with a mask, you would use the brush tool in place of the Eraser and paint those unwanted areas away with a black brush. The key difference is if you make a mistake, you can rectify it by painting back over the area in white.

When to use Layer Masks

Layer Masks are best used when combined with another selection technique to ensure your edits are non-destructive.

Clipping Masks

Clipping Masks are similar to Layer Masks, except that can be applied to multiple layers. They still work on the same principle of black areas are hidden; white areas are visible.

How to use Clipping Masks

ALT+Click between two layers in the Layers panel, or right click on your chosen layer and select Make Clipping Mask from the menu. Remember to place the clipping mask under your main image in the layer stack.

When to use Clipping Masks

Clipping Masks are especially handy when used with tonal selections. Fill a monotone channel or color range selection with black on a new layer than apply this layer as a Clipping Mask.

Pro Tips!

Now you have a full arsenal of selection techniques you’re ready to tackle any kind of image your projects throw at you, but I have a few more selection tips that can really help achieve the perfect result.

Use the Refine Edge tool to cut out hair & fur

The Channels technique is perfect for cutting out model shots against perfect studio backgrounds, but for every other scenario the Refine Edge tool is your best option. This tool should really be named “The Hair Tool” as that’s really all I’ve seen it used for. It takes your basic Magic Wand / Pen / Lasso selection and expands it to intelligently capture those fine details.

Trace a path around the subject, but just roughly outline any areas of hair or fur, not worrying about fine strands.

Go to Select > Refine Edge and increase the Radius value to see the hair magically appear in the selection.

Expand the brush options and paint over the areas of hair you want to keep with the Refine Radius tool. Switch over to the Erase Refinements tool and paint around any areas where this refine edge adjustment isn’t required.

The final selection will hopefully make a good hair selection even against the most detailed of backgrounds, as long as there’s enough contrast.

Defringe to eliminate outlines and halos

Sometimes when you paste your cut out onto a darker background, you’ll notice it has a very fine light outline or halo. There’s a super easy way to eliminate this using the Defringe option.

Go to Layer > Matting > Defringe and enter 1px in the options. With just one click of a button that ugly outline will be gone. Be careful through, this can ruin your cutouts with extremely fine details.

Dodge & Burn the image to adjust the contrast

The tonal selection method that uses the Channels can generate perfect selections if the contrast and tone of the image is right. Levels and Curves adjust the whole image, but you can fine tune specific areas with the Dodge & Burn tools.

Use the Dodge tool to brighten areas of the background such as the sky. A blue sky will appear mid-grey in a channels selection, but you can brighten it up to add more contrast between it and your main subject.

The Burn tool can help darken areas within a selection that might be too delicate to paint with a pure black brush. Change the mode to Shadows, Midtones or Highlights to safely target the right area.

Paint the hair back in!

Sometimes it’s just impossible to make a clean selection of a person’s hair from an extremely busy background. In those situations there’s one final tip that can save the day – Paint them some new hair!

Make a rough selection around the subject’s hair line and paste the cut out on a new layer. Reduce the opacity of the original image below it in the Layers panel.

Use the Smudge tool with a fine brush to paint back in the individual hairs. Begin with a 3-4px soft brush to flesh out the thick base, then incrementally reduce the brush to paint in finer stray hairs. This sounds like an extremely tedious process, but it doesn’t take too long, especially if you have a Wacom Graphics tablet.

Buy a Photoshop plugin

I don’t have much experience with Photoshop plugins so I can’t make any personal recommendations, but I know there’s a range of selection based plugins out there for Photoshop. Fluid Mask is a popular choice that has features designed specifically for selecting complex hair, trees, glass and translucent fabrics. If you find yourself spending countless hours cutting out images, you might find a little extra help from a plugin can speed up your workflow and improve your results.