Cropping???

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Posted By
edbanks
Nov 25, 2003
Views
443
Replies
14
Status
Closed
I am trying to crop, select a person, and them paste them on another back ground using photo shop 6. Can some please help, I’m very new at this.

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Ol__Whozit
Nov 25, 2003
Check your User Manual (or F1) for "Cropping", and follow the instructions therein…
DM
Don_McCahill
Nov 25, 2003
You need to select the person, separate from the background, cut, and then paste in the new background.

The magic wand tool is probably the best one to start with for selecting the person.
DM
dave_milbut
Nov 25, 2003
The magic wand tool is probably the best one to start with for selecting the person.

depending on the background. Lasso and magnetic lasso may work well for you too. Remember you can hold down shift and add to a selection, or Alt to subtract from a selection.
KD
Kirk_Dickinson
Nov 25, 2003
You can also switch to mask mode to fine tune your selection. I always use the mask mode for tweaking a complicated selection.

Kirk

wrote in message
The magic wand tool is probably the best one to start with for
selecting
the person.

depending on the background. Lasso and magnetic lasso may work well for
you too. Remember you can hold down shift and add to a selection, or Alt to subtract from a selection.
DM
dave_milbut
Nov 25, 2003
You can also switch to mask mode to fine tune your selection. I always use the mask mode for tweaking a complicated selection

I was going to add Quick Mask (QM), but didn’t want to confuse him! 🙂

But since you brought it up, <g> first thing I do w/a new PS install is double click on the quick mask icon in the tool bar. That brings up the QM prefrences. I change it from the default of "Color indicates: Masked Areas" to "Color indicates: Selected Areas". Now when you enter QM mode in an image, you select the paintbrush. Hit the "d" key to set your foreground background colors to default (black/white). The "x" key will toggle foreground and background for a quick switch. Now with the prefs change, painting with black is like "painting on" a selection. Painting with white is like "erasing" or subtracting from a selection. I know some photog pros feel more comfortable applying mask with black (as that’s the default) but coming from a strictly digital imaging background, "painting on the selection" seems more natural to me.

dave
MM
Mac_McDougald
Nov 26, 2003
I use it exactly this way too, Dave.
Even though my background IS in photography, it still seems more intuitive to paint the selection, rather than paint what is NOT the selection to me also.

Mac
DM
dave_milbut
Nov 27, 2003
it still seems more intuitive to paint the selection, rather than paint what is NOT the selection to me also.

Right said, Fred, er.. Mac! 🙂
CW
Colin_Walls
Nov 27, 2003
Just in case it wasn’t clear from all the fine advice above, what you want to do isn’t cropping at all. So don’t look in the manual for that. You need to select, copy and paste.

I think more newbies trip up on terminology than anything else. How can you get help on something when you don’t know what it’s called?
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edbanks
Nov 28, 2003
Thanks for all your advice. I understood and had some success with the magnetic lasso, though at times it seems to have a mind of its own. Colin suggested i select, copy and paste. So, to select a person in a photo, do i use the lasso or is there another way. Please go easy on me with the advice, get it simple please.
JD
Jeff_Darken
Nov 28, 2003
Ed,

If you have not already done it you should learn the path tool. Paths can be used to clip an image so only that inside the path is printed or they can be readily converted to selections.

The path tool is the most accurate way of selecting part of an image.

Jeff
CW
Colin_Walls
Nov 28, 2003
Ed

The magnetic lassoo does, I agree, often have a mind of its own. It depends how good the edge is that you’re following. Remember that you can click at any time to force it to stick at a specific point. I commonly use this tool for an initial selection, then swap to a mask [QuickMask is easy] to clean up the details.

It takes time to get good at this, but it is worth the effort. As another frequent contributor to this forum often says, accurate selection is the #1 skill you need to get the best out of PS [thanks Phos]. The things to learn [over time] are:
– making a selection
– modifying a selection
– saving/loading selections
– converting a selection to a mask and vice versa
It is well worth the effort.

Also, bear in mind that there are always at least 3 ways to do anything in PS. For selection, make that about 8 ways …
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edbanks
Nov 28, 2003
Ok, on a basic level i can select an item. Can someone please tell me how to resize my selected image so that it fits my new backgound. Thank you.
CW
Colin_Walls
Nov 28, 2003
Select the layer.
Then: Edit/Transform/Scale

[at least that’s one way to do it]
DM
dave_milbut
Nov 28, 2003
Edit/Transform/Scale

Crtl-T!

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