Background Selection Action

SD
Posted By
Scott_D_Lindley
Nov 10, 2006
Views
411
Replies
5
Status
Closed
I have a Photoshop action that automatically selects a green background and separates it from the subject for digital background replacement. It does this by selecting a color range (magic wand won’t work because the background is not always contiguous). The problem I have is the lighting of the background is not consistent, so the hue varies. I need a way to actively select the background color in each image as part of the action. When I use the eyedropper in the action, it records a specific (fixed) RGB color. Every time the action runs, it looks for that specific RGB value. The color range tool relies on either the fixed sampled color value from the eyedropper, or "Greens". And, unfortunately, the green background color is apparently not in the correct hue range to fall under the "Greens" selection.

What I really need to action to do is 1) sample the background color at a specific point, and 2) select that sampled color. Is there a way to accomplish this with Photoshop CS2?

Thanks.

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MV
Mathias_Vejerslev
Nov 10, 2006
Just click on the empty box to the left of the Color Range action command in the Action Palette. The action will now stop at this step, allowing you to re-sample the color.
SD
Scott_D_Lindley
Nov 13, 2006
Thanks Mathias. I hadn’t thought of this. It does work, but also requires user input. Would be nice to be able to automate the color sampling at a specified point in the image.
MV
Mathias_Vejerslev
Nov 13, 2006
Be creative. Try this: Record Action. Make a square selection of where you want the sampling to occur on all photos. Select>Similar. Stop action. Just one idea.
C
chrisjbirchall
Nov 13, 2006
magic wand won’t work because the background is not always contiguous

Uncheck the "Contiguous" box in the options bar.

The problem I have is the lighting of the background is not consistent,

This statement actually holds the answer to your main question.

It is difficult enough getting quality results using Chroma Green or Chroma Blue in still photography – let alone accomplish it automatically.

The movie industry has… well… "movement" on its side to help disguise slight errors and colour fringing.

Having struggled for some time with Chroma Green/blue, we have now moved on the using black, white or grey backdrops in our studio on all shots destined for swopping out backgrounds.

Using Photoshop’s Extract filter we are now able to accomplish the cutouts without having to worry about the otherwise inevitable colour fringing.

See some examples in our portfolio at: <http://www.beautyphoto.co.uk>

Chris.
SD
Scott_D_Lindley
Nov 13, 2006
Some good suggestions guys. Thanks!

Chris, interesting you don’t find it difficult to select/separate the background when using neutral backdrops. I know that white and black are fairly common clothing colors for our subjects.

Scott.

Must-have mockup pack for every graphic designer 🔥🔥🔥

Easy-to-use drag-n-drop Photoshop scene creator with more than 2800 items.

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