Introduction:
Clipping path is a very complex yet highly rewarding Photo editing method. Ecommerce websites nowadays have high demand for clipping path services. People usually buy a product depending on its look and how it is presented on the ecommerce website.
Nothing can beat pen tool when it comes to making precise selection and drawing shapes. Using a clipping path, the product image can be extracted from the background which can later be used. Clipping path can be used with a pen tool. The pen tool, as the name suggests, is used as a pen to draw an outline or path. Anything that is inside the path gets selected and anything that is outside gets deselected. The pen tool uses vector paths to create a differentiation between foreground and background which makes the images sharp.
Follow the steps accordingly to get a sharp result.
Here is how you can use a clipping path to extract a subject from an image.
Step 1:
Open Photoshop and click on file and then open FIle>Open then import your desired file or you can drag and drop your image onto your application after starting the program and start editing.
Step 2:
Select pen tool.It is located in the middle of the tools menu or you can also use the shortcut P to active Pen tool.
Step 3:
This gear icon controls the settings for the pen tool. You can make the pen strokes thick or thin. You can also change the colour of the pen strokes and make sure you have the rubber band option checked. It will help you snap on to your images.
Step 4:
Zoom The image as much as you can till you see individual pixels you can press Alt + mouse wheel up to zoom in and Alt + mouse wheel down to when you are all set zooming in or out start tracing the outer line of your desired object. Remember to make small selections to your object and do not select any background if needed you can trace lines inside the object but not the background.
While tracing, click along the edge of the subject and While clicking Hold the left key down and wiggle it around the traced line will make Arch shape. Follow the shape or curve of your object and keep drawing. You can always go back by pressing Ctrl+z.
While clicking down you can press the Spacebar to make the line long or short.
Step 5:
After one traced path, hold Alt key on the keyboard and left click on the central squire to finish your tracing and start drawing new lines. Make sure you do this or you won’t be able to control the paths. Press Spacebar + Mouse left click to move the image while zoomed in.
Step 6:
To finish your selection, come back to the first path you had started from. Make sure you have drawn the path all around the object and also the small portions that are the part of the background. Otherwise the object will carry some features and colour of the background.
Step 7:
Go to the bottom right corner there you will see layers ,Channels and Paths tab select the path tab by left clicking the mouse.
Step 8:
Right clicking on the path layer will bring the popup menu for path options. From there click Make selection. You will then have the choice to choose a pick from the path you just drew.
Step 9:
After pressing Make selection the popup window will appear and here you will be given the option of feathering or anti aliasing it will smoothen your selection. For high resolution images try to put 4-5 pixels if you have confidence in your tracing but for lower resolution be extra careful when drawing path and keep the value to a minimum 1-2 Pixels maximum.
Step 10:
You have your selection now press Ctrl+J to copy the selected layer and now you have the object that has been perfectly extracted from the photo.
Step 11:
And it is done. Now you have your desired object image that has no background. You can extract it as .png to have a transparent image or Put Solid colour or any other background behind the image to get the desired look.
Tips: Zoom The image as much as you can, Make small selections, Try to start from corners to get sharp results, Trace as close to the object as possible. Feather with lower pixels.
Conclusion:
And now you can cut out any object or extract any subject from the background. You can also make fine adjustments to your photos no matter how complex the object is. Magnetic lasso tool Or magic selection tools can often do the job but it is not possible to cheat your way out all the time. Sometimes when the background is just too complex or the background colour is too similar you have to use this method to save yourself and your project.