Need tips for selecting images from a background

[Jim Boyd]

I'm trying to create a sports poster. I need to remove a few athletes from the image background. I've tried the magic wand, the magnetic lasso, and just plain erasing using my Wacom tablet. I just can't seem to make a clean selection especially around the hair and where there isn't much color difference between the athlete and the background.

I've seen some really nice posters and collages on this site especially from Sonny, Donna and Patrick. Is there some special technique that you use to get these clean selections?

One more question:

If I can't figure out how to get clean selections, I'll probably use a layer mask to feather the image into the background. Is there a rule that you use in selecting a proper opacity, and brush style to get a smooth transition?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[dmcantrell]

I haven't done the work that you're asking about, but I checked out a piece of software called OnOne MaskPro and another one called Vertus Fluid Mask.

I preferred the user-interface of the Vertus tool, and it made pulling like-colored items out of a background pretty straight-forward. There is the notion of "keep", "don't keep", and a strange nether-region called "blend" that is user-controllable. The "blend" region is what really makes these sorts of tools shine IMO. These are not the official names of the features BTW.

This is from my post-processing crib sheet:
----
Train the Quick Selection Tool -->
http://tv.adobe.com/watch/photoshop-...election-tool/

[Sonny]

5 Great Background Masking Techniques in Photoshop Article » Design » SitePoint Blogs

http://www.texasphotoforum.com/forum...act-tools.html
http://www.texasphotoforum.com/forum...d-subject.html

[Jim Boyd]

Thanks David and Sonny! You guys are life savers.