Do a Silhouette in Photoshop
There are many situations in graphic design where you need to do a cutout or silhouette---taking an object from a photo and removing the background. Once removed from its background, the object can be used in photo illustrations or placed on any other background you want. Depending on the photo you are working with, there are a variety of tools in Photoshop that can accomplish this objective. The most powerful tool for this task, however, is the pen tool, and that is what will be described here by separating a cup from its background.
Instructions
1. Open the original image in Photoshop and make sure your "Paths" palette is open. If not, select "Windows" in the top menu bar and then select "Paths."
2. Select the "Pen Tool" from the toolbox. Your mouse cursor turns into a pen icon.
3. Move the cursor so that the tip of the pen icon lines up with a point along the edge of the object in the picture that you want to cut out. You can zoom in to be more accurate. Click to place an anchor point where your pen icon is pointing.
4. Move the cursor farther along the edge. Click to place another anchor point some distance down from your first. This will draw a path between them. This is a straight path, but the edge you are following is curved. That is OK. You will come back later and make the path curved.
5. Repeat Step 4 as you move around the edge of the object, adding anchor points and extending your path as you go. You want to make a very rough outline of the object. When you are coming up on the end of the path, move your cursor directly over the first anchor point (the pen icon will have a little circle next to it). Click on that first point to complete or "close" your path. The path must be closed before you go on to the next step.
6. Click and hold down on the "Pen Tool" icon in the toolbox until you get a fly-out menu. Pick "Add Anchor Point Tool." Your cursor becomes a pen with a small plus sign.
7. Click on the segment of the path between your first two anchor points. This adds an anchor point between them.
8. Move your cursor over the new anchor point, and your icon becomes a white arrow. Click and drag the new anchor point and the path starts to curve. Move the anchor point until the path segment conforms to the edge of the object. Two small handles appear when you select the anchor point. Use these to adjust the curvature for a more exact fit.
9. Repeat Steps 7 and 8 for each path segment around the object. You may need to add multiple anchor points to a segment or move existing anchor points to get a better fit.
10. Click the "Load Path as a Selection" icon (small dotted circle) at the bottom of the Paths palette. This turns your path into a selection.
11. Hit "Ctrl-J" to copy the selected area of the image onto a new layer.
12. Bring up your "Layers" palette by clicking on "Windows" > "Layers." You'll see the Background layer, which contains the original image, and "Layer 1," which has the object you just cut out. Select the "Background" layer and delete it by clicking the trashcan icon at the bottom of the "Layers" palette.
13. Repeat Steps 2 through 10 to select the piece of background left inside the handle of the cup. The only difference is that instead of drawing a path along the edge of the cup, you are drawing a path along the edge of the piece of background. Then hit "Delete" to remove it. Your cup is now completely cut out. Save it as a Photoshop file.
