If you’ve made a clean path around your product, they won’t make a difference. Then look to the paths palette at the top of the screen. To get started, switch back to the pen tool by pressing the ‘P’ key. To do this, we first have to save the current selection path. You can also do this manually by clicking on the tool palette or by hitting the keyboard shortcut ‘A’, but it’s easier to use the Command key.Ĭongratulations, the hard part is over! All that’s left now is to select the background and delete it. This will temporarily switch your tool to the Direct Selection Tool. Instead, simply hold down the Command or Alt key while clicking and dragging an anchor point. If you need to adjust the anchor points you’ve already placed, you’re in luck - you don’t have to go all the way back to the beginning. Using this method, work your way around the image and connect your last anchor point to your first. It takes a bit of fiddling to figure out exactly how these things work, but once you get the hang of it this should be no problem. You can adjust each handle individually by holding down the Option or Alt key and dragging the handle. The two handles affect the line on either side of the anchor point you just placed. These handles will allow you to manipulate the curve of your line. You’ll see two ‘handles’, called bezier handles, appear. Click the next anchor point, but hold down your mouse and drag it away from the anchor point. My next logical anchor point is where the edge of the plate intersects with the uppermost chopstick - but I’ll need a curved line along the edge of the plate. Don’t worry, it’s not difficult! As I just mentioned, I’m moving counterclockwise with the pen tool in this image, placing anchor points. Start with the straight edges of the photo to get a sense of how the tool works before tackling the curves.Īs you move on to the curves, you’ll have to introduce a new step. In this case, I’m moving around the image counterclockwise. This will take a bit of practice, so remember the keyboard shortcut for ‘undo’ (‘Command + Z’ on Macs, ‘Control + Z’ on PCs) and ‘step backward’ (‘Command + Option + Z’ on Macs, ‘Ctrl + Alt + Z’ on PCs). Work your way around the outline of your product, creating anchor points as you go. Whenever you click on your image with the pen tool, a new anchor point is created. Everything inside this path can then be selected, allowing you to delete the background. The pen tool works by using ‘ anchor points‘ that link together different line segments into something Photoshop calls a ‘ path‘. You can always use the keyboard shortcut ‘P’ to select the pen tool at any time. If you right-click the icon, other options will appear, but for now we’re sticking with the default. Now, find the pen tool, which is located in the tools palette along the left side of the app. To get started, open Photoshop and load the image file. You can follow along with our example images if you’d like. Prepare your toolsĪnyone with Photoshop 7 or a more recent version should be able to follow these same steps. When you’re taking product photography, try to use a background that contrasts with your subject. This will make the technical work of removing the background much easier. This image is a good candidate for background removal because the subject is clearly differentiated from the background. It’s this sort of simple, striking composition that works best for this technique.īefore we jump into the technical details, it’s worth talking briefly about the picture itself. Choosing the right image to remove the backgroundįor this tutorial, I’ll be demonstrating the technique on this image of a plate and pair of chopsticks.
#Adobe photoshop background removal how to#
Hang in there - in just a second you’ll learn how to remove the background of an image! 1. This method can be a bit confusing at first, but once you’ve done it a few times it should be a quick and easy procedure. To do this, we’ll be using Adobe Photoshop, and more specifically, the pen tool. In this article, I’ll explain how to edit a photo to remove the background, leaving a clean white or transparent area surrounding your product. Using Photoshop for a white or transparent product image background Today, we’re going to learn how to remove the background of an image. So you’ve got a great product and your online store is ready to go - now it’s time to get your products online.Īt this point, many business owners run into a problem – How can you get those clean, uncluttered product images with beautiful white backgrounds?