Best Masking/extract tools

[khatley]

Hey guys, need some pointers on the best masking tool for extracting images from their background. I have played a little with a number of them and have found some things I like about all of them but none that do as good a job as I would expect without spending too much time on it. A friend of mine is heading to china to teach set up a studio for a product manufacturer so they can do their own catalog shoots and he wants me to find the best extracting tool to teach to him so he can teach it to them! Personally for the simple products(things like christmas ornaments and ceramic dolls), I think the quick selection tool works pretty well but the examples he gave me to work with also have some pictures with hair and none of them do to well with hair without spending alot of time. I know any of them are probably good if you spend time learning and I am ok with that but I just want to make sure I learn the right one. I have looked at Fluid Mask, Mask Pro, EZ mask and one other that was terrible. Please let me know if you have any suggestions. thanks

[a2rob]

For me, Just the plain old Lasso tool:

[Jay Henley]

I have had the most success using Russell Browns technique.
http://www.russellbrown.com/tips_tech.html
go to bottom of page to Advanced Masking. I played the video and kept pausing to write myself a set of directions to follow.

[luis_relampago]

There is no super fast way to select something, if you want to make a nice selection you will definitely need time and patience, in CS3 there is a nice option called "quick selection tool" and with a good contrast photo it does a good job of selecting and it is kind of fast but you still have to refine the selection and that would take some time. I personally use a technique that involves the quick mask tool it is more precise but it takes time.

[barP]

the best masking tool for product shots is....to shoot them all on white background!

;-)

wp.

[luis_relampago]

the best masking tool for product shots is....to shoot them all on white background!

;-)

wp.

White background and then the "Magic Eraser Tool"

[brad]

Look at Corel's Knockout also... takes longer, but usually pretty good results.

Do a search here on "Knockout" for some samples that I've posted in the past.

[khatley]

Knockout is what he originally wanted me to use but when I searched for it, all I found was older versions, didnt look like it was updated for CS...did I miss it? Also, for the product shots, I agree white background and he did but with one of the examples he has a little porclean snowman and the white background blends right into it. I keep telling him to blow out the background but this is what I have to work wtih. The hair is more for me as I want a tool that will do both. He doesnt want to have to any fine tracings around the edges which I am not sure that is going to be doable. EZ mask seems to be the one that you dont have to do it but it doesnt work very well either...maybe I can use a mix of that and the magic eraser?

[brad]

Heh, I don't know if its been updated or not... I use Knockout 2 on Paint Shop Pro 9 ... does that make me out of date?

[luis_relampago]

You can shoot on a green or blue screen and then use a plugging called Primatte by Digital Anarchy, it does a really good job of selecting with almost zero trace on the edges, the trick is the way you light your scene, the background has to be well lit in order to work correctly. This method will definitely speed the proses of selecting the product out of the background.

[khatley]

yeah I looked into that but the problem is he has a ton of product shots he has done for them over the years that they will need to extract out and he didnt do the best job of lighting so just looking for the best/easiest/fastest combination and I am guessing different things for different pictures but I need to learn one of them well so I want to make sure I pick the right one. I found another called power mask which looks promising. so of the tools I have mentioned does anyone have any experience with more than one and can they point me towards one or away from the other. I would prefer to hear from those have used different ones so I can get a better comparison.

thanks

[khatley]

Also once someone is good at this, what kind of ballpark hourly rates would you charge if they opt to have it done by someone else. I am thinking about putting together some really difficult examples and offer my services for the ones they can't do or once they figure out this is not a quick and easy thing!

[luis_relampago]

This is not a quick and easy task! so get ready with your rates.

[khatley]

Can someone that is reading this shoot me their rates in PM so I get an idea of what would be good ballpark, I have never proposed anything like this.

[Sonny]

All those 3rd party programs are no better than photoshop. They all work off the same principals. I've bought and tried Corel Knockout 2, Fluid Mask, and onOne Mask Pro . After reading many positve reviews, I was disappointed in all 3. In every instance, the extract software did a decent intial extract. But you always had to go back and clean up the edges. Don't fall for all the hype & promises those programs offer. BASICALLY THEY ARE ALL THE SAME! One might offer a different feature than the rest.

So right back to photoshop I went. It just takes lots of practice and finding the right technique for you. Try these 5 Great Background Masking Techniques in Photoshop. Once you go through them all...let us know which one worked the best for you. Depending on my situation I'll use a combination of the The Quick Mask Technique, Laso Tool and Pen Tool. Personally I achieved the best results this way, but that's just my 2 cents!