[renato17]

Hi!! I´m new here, and I've noticed how helpful and friendly everybody is here So I'm hopping someone can help me...

I have a picture of a singer, taken at a live concert, that caputred just the right pose, just the right energy... but in the background there is a logo from a sponsor.... I can't keep the logo because the brand is not an official sponsor of the artist (they were sponsoring the concert), so the logo must be removed.

In my latest version, I've managed to remove the instruments sorrounding her, and fixing the color... but removing the logo without messing up the hair is beyond my skills

All I've tried (quick masking, channels -a method I discovered in a post here-, background eraser, extract) have failed to give acceptable results..

I am attaching a sample of the file... Hopefully someone can help... I can sent an actual size picture if someone would be so kind to take a look

I will try to attach samples of both the original pic, the one where all instruments have been removed... Specifically what I need to remove is the green logo on the background...

Thanks a lot!!

[Ying]

Hi Renato,

Can you please send me the file with its original size, I think I can help
My address is yings.pal@gmail.com (the smileys are just to fool the spam bots)

[renato17]

Hi Ying, I'm sending your the file right away! Thanks a lot

[pepperspray]

Hi, renato17! Welcome to RetouchPro.

One method for creating a complex mask is to use the channel mixer. Russell Brown has an excellent free video tutorial on this, here.

You'll need to scroll right down to almost the bottom of the page, and the tutorial is called "Advanced Masking".

I discovered it just yesterday, and tried it with some success (much better results than using the extract tool, anyway).


Hope this helps!

[renato17]

Hi Pepperspray,

I also discovered that great advanced masking video here at the forum, and spent contless hours trying to get the background removed from my photo, to no avail!!

However this is for sure result of my poor Phtoshop abilities, and not because of the method...

[pepperspray]

It's tricky, alright. I've not mastered it, either.

But, like you, I'm a more of an apprentice than a practitioner of this digital magic.

[Daviskw]

Hi there

There does seem to be enough contrast between the hair and the logo . I used the green channel to start then used levels and overlay brushes. With a larger image you should do ok.

Butch

[skydog]

Butch,

Please explain how you use the green channel ..not sure what you are doing here.

[Swampy]

The green channel offers the best contrast between the hair and the logo. What you want to do is use all the available techniques to reduce a copy of the green channel to solid black and white to create the mask.

Starting with a dupe of the green channel, I did Apply Immage. In that dialog box I set the blending mode to effect the contrast even more (believe I used pin light or liniar light) and adjusted the percentage to tweak it even more (I might have used 40-50%).

What you are left with is the START of the work ahead. There is no magic button that will do the work for you. Using a black brush, paint in the areas you want to keep. Switch to a white brush to paint the areas you want to pitch. (Some people INVERT the channel here and paint with just the opposite colors, I found with this image it was just easier for me to work with black as the "selection" color then invert the channel when I was done. It allowed me to define the side of her shirt using black and clean up the image).

For the final mask the rule is "White reveals, Black consceals".

When you have a good black and white version INVERT (on a Mac Command+I) the image. Now your singer is all white and the background is black. Check around to make sure you have good whites throughout her hair, face, etc. You might see areas you want to keep that are grayish, brush them in with white. Activate the mask,(you can click on the little dotted line circle at the bottom of the channels palette to get the marching ants) click on the RGB layer of the Channel's palette then go back to layers. Assuming you have made a duplicate of the original background, Apply the mask (click on the icon at the bottom of the layer's palette that looks like an old floppy disk - square with a hole in it)

Make sure to turn off the visibility of the original background layer.

You can now tweak your mask by painting in black/white on it.

On my version, I added a Hue/Sat adjustment layer and went into the greens and selected some of the green (eye dropper tool-after you've selected "greens" in the pop up) that spilled into the lower portion of her hair and used HUE to push those greens over into shades of red.

[Daviskw]

Hi Skydog

Swampy gave an excellent description of the procedure. I would like to add just a little to the technique.

I often start by making a pen selection around the body. I stay close next to the smooth areas and just generally select around the loose hair. This allows me to use the selection for boundaries when filling areas like the shirt and pants with black or white.

To refine the mask I sometimes like to have the mask, green channel copy in this case, and RGB visible at the same time. I paint on the mask layer but can see the hair area as well.

Then after I add the mask to the background copy in the same way Swampy did, I click on the mask but toggle the background on and off. When it is on I paint on the mask but over the background hair. Then reduce opacity or switch it off and see the results. This helps get the fine hairs.

When done I often open a blank layer above the mask layer and group it. Then I can sample color and paint the hair to match color.

Butch

[renato17]

Wow, thanks everybody, I am just amazed about the level of expertise shown here, and about how helpful you people are!! You have been of enourmous help

Special thanks to Ying, who was kind enough to help me directly with the original file, achieving a result I would have only dreamed of.

I am attaching a sample of the file she sent me.

Now I just need your help guys on how to make the hair look natural again on the photo - and to restore the original color, particularly on the left side. Sorry for my ignorance, but I'm so lost with that too...

[Lasa]

That last one you did looks goog.
What helps with hair is to smudge fly-away hair in...
If you set the brush to shape dynamis control: fade
Works like a champ..or use a pen instead of a mouse.

Lasa

[renato17]

Great image Lasa!

Can you please elaborate on what you did to fix the hair, so I can reproduce the result with my full resolution photo? Thanks in advance!

[Kraellin]

I used the green channel to start then used levels and overlay brushes.

butch, what is an 'overlay brush'?

[Daviskw]

Hi Craig

I just set a brush blendmode to overlay... somewhere from 20 to 50 percent. It helps to separate black and white the same way as dodge and burn does but a little stronger.

Butch