Extraction Tutorial

Extraction Tutorial By Hummie Everyone wants to know how to extract images! The uses are many, from extracting an element from a scanned-in image (or photograph) for make digital scrapbooking elements, to extracting people from backgrounds for layouts. This tutorial is a basic extraction tutorial. To extract very fine items (ie. hair) would be difficult with this tutorial. If designing a digital scrapbooking element, it is important to place the element on a 12 x 12 page (the standard for digiscrappers) and resize it to be an appropriate, realistic size. The fundamental plan is to delete all of the background around an element. This is easier done if the background is all black or all white. My scanner has a white background on the door. However, as can be seen by this example, the element cast a blue shadow onto the background. This might have been easier to extract had I placed a black piece of paper over the clip before closing the scanner door. There are many tools and methods to delete backgrounds. Use your knowledge and utilize them all, even if I do not highlight them in this tutorial. Remember that selection tools can be utilized to select the area to be deleted and thereafter hit the delete key on the keyboard. A good erasure tool to begin with is the magic eraser. Continually click on the background to make it disappear. There are two settings on the magic erasure which are important. The ...