Magic Wand Tool - removing a background from an image
Use the magic wand tool to remove the background from an image that have a background that has a fairly consistent colour. The magic wand will select pixels on a layer (usually an image). Once selected the pixels can be deleted to leave only the portion of an image you want to retain. It is one of the easiest most common ways to remove a background around a subject. You see this editing effect all the time on magazines and television graphics.
For more complex images where you want to cut out an image where the subject has more fine detail (eg. frizzy hair), you would use the quick selection tool. That is covered in a different tutorial.
TIP: Never use the eraser tool for this purpose. It results in rough edges on the image no matter how careful you are. It also takes a ton of time to get poor results!
Tutorials:
Watch the tutorial below to understand the settings used by the magic wand tool to make selections on your own images and create "clean" cutouts.
Use the magic wand tool to remove the background from an image that have a background that has a fairly consistent colour. The magic wand will select pixels on a layer (usually an image). Once selected the pixels can be deleted to leave only the portion of an image you want to retain. It is one of the easiest most common ways to remove a background around a subject. You see this editing effect all the time on magazines and television graphics.
For more complex images where you want to cut out an image where the subject has more fine detail (eg. frizzy hair), you would use the quick selection tool. That is covered in a different tutorial.
TIP: Never use the eraser tool for this purpose. It results in rough edges on the image no matter how careful you are. It also takes a ton of time to get poor results!
Tutorials:
Watch the tutorial below to understand the settings used by the magic wand tool to make selections on your own images and create "clean" cutouts.
Refine Edge Tutorial
Making the edges of a cutout cleaner
Making the edges of a cutout cleaner
More complex Tutorials
There is always multiple ways to do anything with Adobe programs!
There is always multiple ways to do anything with Adobe programs!
Making pixel selections with Direct Selection tool or Magic Wand Tool