AboutNeal Ziring Expertise Experienced user of versions 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and X3 mostly for
web page graphics, some photo retouching, some technical document
illustration. Right now I only have versions 12 and X3 available to me,
so I'll be best at answering questions about those.
I have only just bought Corel and am not familiar with any other graphics packages so am in real need of some guidance.
I have got to create objects from whole images so that i may place them onto various backgrounds. So far I have been doing this in the cutout lab and then saving the files as CPT files to preserve them as being separate from their original backgrounds. The images I have cutout so far have been from 'busy' multicoloured backgrounds so I thought this was the best method, although please could you let me know if there is a quicker way?
For example: I did experiment with using various masking tools but I found that these were not cutting out the images as well as I can by hand. Is there something I can do to improve the accuracy of these masks?
I now have to cut out objects from a plain white background and have been trying to find a quick way of doing this. I have to create more than 200 objects and each of these must be combined with about five different backgrounds so anything to facilitate this process would be extremely appreciated.
Many thanks,
Lorelei
Answer Lorelie,
>
> So far I have been doing this in the cutout lab and then saving
> the files as CPT files to preserve them as being separate from
> their original backgrounds.
That is a reasonable way to do it. Saving the cutout images
as CPT is a good choice. Using cutout lab is one good way to
select the objects. I usually just use the regular mask tools,
especially the Freehand Mask tool. For careful selection I
like to do a rough selection with the freehand mask first, then
use the Mask Mode (+ and -) to touch it up.
> The images I have cutout so far have been from 'busy'
> multicoloured backgrounds so I thought this was the best
> method, although please could you let me know if there is
> a quicker way?
Well, if the objects you wish to select are 'busy' and the background
is busy too, then there is no quick way. Selecting the objects
will be a tedious business. If the boundary between the objects
and the background is really clear, or high contrast, you might be
able to use the Lasso Mask tool. It takes a big of fiddling, though.
If the object you are trying to select is a very different color
than the background (e.g. golden retriever on green grass) then you
could try using the Color Mask feature. That is under the Mask
menu.
> For example: I did experiment with using various masking
> tools but I found that these were not cutting out the
> images as well as I can by hand. Is there something I
> can do to improve the accuracy of these masks?
Well, you can zoom in. I usually zoom in to 200% or 300% when I'm
trying to do an accurate selection. Nothing will beat careful
manual selection for complicated objects, but the trick is to
save the manual labor for where you really need it. Do a rough
selection using tools like Magic Wand and Lasso and Magnetic Mask,
then manually fix the rough areas using Mask Mode Additive and
Subtractive, and tricks like Mask->Mask Outline->Remove Holes.
For most of the Mask tools, you can adjust their tolerance. Try
fiddling with it. I usually find the default value of 10 to be
a little too high.
> I now have to cut out objects from a plain white background
> and have been trying to find a quick way of doing this.
Plain white background? Definitely use Magic Wand and Color Mask.
When I've had to create objects from people photographed against a
white background, the trick is to select all the white background,
and then use Mask->Invert to select the person. Magic Wand is
great for selecting the background; just tweak the Tolerance value
until you get a nice tight selection.
> I have to create more than 200 objects and each of these
> must be combined with about five different backgrounds
> so anything to facilitate this process would be
> extremely appreciated.
Well, follow the tips above for speeding up selecting. PhotoPaint
also comes with some tutorials, I think there is at least one about
masking.
Once you have an object, dropping it onto a background is pretty
easy. You may want to feather the object a little, so that the
edge doesn't look too jaggy or sharp.
PhotoPaint supports macros, so you might want to fool around with
that capability. It might allow you to speed up combining each
object with all five backgrounds. Unfortunately, CorelScript
macros are not well-documented in PhotoPaint X3, so you are
limited to recording sequences of actions and replaying them.
That might be enough for your situation, though. You can get to
the Macro Recorder using Window->Dockers->Recorder.
