Cut out gilt mirror

[ape]

Hi All,

I photographed a load of these thinking they would be easy to cut out.

I am having trouble seperating the intricate chain work, frame and shadow on the wall from the main gilt frame.

I need to keep the reflection in the mirror as it shows off the antique glass.


Can anyone give me any pointers please.

Thanks

[skoobey]

Re: Cut out gilt mirror

Magic wand, then refine edge (selct>refine edge).

[klev]

Re: Cut out gilt mirror

Unless the auto selection tools are helpful, it's going to be tedious. If you're really fast and know how not to place too many points, pathing doesn't take too long for a few of them. If you have several hundred, good luck. If you're using auto-selection methods, just remove the center of the mirror from that, or make a mask, then adjust the center. It's pretty far from the edges, so I don't see why that would be difficult.

[redcrown]

Re: Cut out gilt mirror

Some things to try...

Dupe the image and "enhance" it before trying a selection. Increasing contrast, detail, and saturation often make the selection easier and more accurate. For example, on this image increase saturation a lot (far beyond reason) and then look at the blue channel. It's a pretty good mask all by itself, and a little hand painting and other manipulation makes the blue channel almost perfect. Use that as a mask on the original.

Tasks like this I usually blast it with a heavy handed detail and local area contrast adjustment. I like to use Topaz Clarity and Detail for that, but there are many methods. The goal is to maximize the separation between subject and background in terms of both color and contrast. Then a magic wand + refine mask process then makes a better mask. Even using a 3rd party masking program (like Topaz Remask) often gives better results from an unreasonably enhanced image.

As for the shadow, consider skipping it in the mask and then adding it artifically with a drop shadow layer effect. Use your best mask to select the subject and paste it on a layer by itself (on top of the new background layer). Then add a drop shadow to that layer, playing with the controls to get the results you like

[Xaran]

Re: Cut out gilt mirror

Try www.clippingmagic.com

Christine

[ape]

Re: Cut out gilt mirror

Thanks Skooby, Klev and redcrown for you thoughts. As I thought a whole combination of tools to get the best selection for a mask... I feel a few late nights comming on.

Cheers

[ape]

Re: Cut out gilt mirror

H redcrown, the tip about increasing contrast, saturation, detail was a winner thanks