The Extract panel is actually a Mini-program,
that you can use from within Photoshop to isolate images from their
backgrounds. Complete with a subinterface, it measures differences of
the edge of an image by it's brightness and color content, then determines
the best way to isolate the area.
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| The basic technique is to use the Edge Highlighter
tool to draw a highlight border along the images edge, then fill it's
interior using the Fill tool and Preview
it. |
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| You may refine and preview as often as you wish, until
the image has been successfully removed from it's background. You then
extract it. |
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| Important Note: You should always duplicate the image
prior to using this panel. In this way, you will always keep the original
intact. |
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| The Tools |
Edge Highlighter tool |
| Use this tool to define the edges of the area you want
to keep. Drag this marker and highlight the edges of the image you wish
to extract. |
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Fill tool |
| Use this tool to fill the area inside the area outlined
by the Edge Highlighter. Click the Preview button afterwards to preview
the quality of the extraction. |
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Eraser tool |
| This tool becomes available once a highlight has been
drawn. Use to remove areas of a highlight or unwanted pixels. |
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Eyedropper tool |
| This tool is activated by selecting the Force Foreground
box. It allows you to set the color of the image you wish to keep. |
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Clean-up tool |
| The Clean-up tool subtracts opacity. It becomes available
after the Preview button has been clicked. Multiple passes with this tool
has a cumulative effect. (Option+Alt) while painting will restore opacity. |
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Edge Touch-up tool |
| This tool is used to edit the extraction boundries. It
sharpens the edges of the extracted image. This tool is available once
you are in Preview mode. The tool has a cumulative effect. If the edge
is a troublesome one to define, it adds opacity to the image or makes
the background more transparent. |
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Zoom tool |
| This tool is used to enlarge image on screen. Simply,
select and click on image to enlarge. Comes in handy when the image is
small or the image borders are hard to find. (Alt+Click) to reduce image
size. |
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Hand tool |
| This tool is used to move image. Select, then click on
image and drag. Helpful when image has been enlarged beyond preview area. |
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| The Buttons |
| OK button |
| Only click here when all operations have been performed
and you are ready to complete extraction. |
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| Cancel button |
| Clicking here will cancel all operations and close the
Extract dialog panel. |
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| Preview button |
| Click here after highlighting and filling image to preview
extraction. |
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| The Settings |
| Brush Size |
| Here, you may enter a value or use the slider to set the
edge of the Edge Highlighter tool to draw with. |
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| Highlight |
| Use the drop-down arrow to define a color to use to draw
the edge boundary. |
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| Fill |
| Choose a color to use for the interior fill. A good contrasting
color to the highlight choice makes viewing easier. |
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| Smart Highlighting |
| This option is a powerful one! It helps keep the highlighting
on the edge. Use when the foreground and background edge colors are similar
to one another. You can toggle the Smart Highlighting on and off while
dragging by pressing the (Ctrl) key. Smart Highlighting puts a minimum
amount of paint necessary to cover the edge. |
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| Smooth |
| The Smooth setting helps with removal of stray artifacts
in the extraction. You can enter a value or click the down arrow to access
the Smooth slider. The higher the number entered, the greater the number
of pixels will be affected. Edit, then click Preview to view the edited
extraction. You may edit and preview as many times as necessary to obtain
the results needed. |
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| Channel |
| Use the drop-down arrow to locate any selections you have
saved in alpha channels. Allows for viewing of selected areas prior to
extracting. |
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| Force Foreground |
| Clicking the Force Foreground box activates the color
well below. Using the Edge Highlighter tool, you can extract regions within
the highlighted area that has colors similar to the color chosen in the
color well. |
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| Color |
| This color well becomes active upon activating the Force
Foreground option. Clicking on the color well launches the Color Picker.
Simply, select a color to be extracted from the image using the highlighter
tools. |
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| Show |
| Nice feature here! Clicking the downward arrow here allows
you to switch between original image and extracted. |
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| Display |
| Clicking the downward arrow allows you to select a background
color for display after a image has been extracted. There are several
presets. Clicking the Other... setting launches the Color Picker where
you can select a color of your choice. This is a good place to go upon
initial extraction to view edges clearly. |
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| Show Highlight |
| Click the box to toggle on and off the highlight created
by the marker. |
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| Show Fill |
| Click the box to toggle on and off the fill created by
the Fill tool. |
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How do I launch the Extract panel? |
Photoshop 7users:
Go to Filter > Extract (Alt+Ctrl+X) |
Photoshop 6users: Go
to Image > Extract (Alt+Ctrl+X) |
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Thanks for reading.
