Selection Software

[Photo-John]

I've got a big product job and they want me to knock out the backgrounds. This is no big deal for 2 or 3 photos. But I've got about 30 and in Photoshop they take me at least 10 minutes each. Anyone got any recommendations for good selection software or Photoshop plug-ins that will really help? I don't want to spend any more than 5 minutes per image on the knock-outs.

Thanks!

[Trevor Ash]

Here's an answer you probably aren't after

Your estimate suggests five hours of post editing just to knock the backgronud out for 30 photos. Assuming you're charging ~$200 an hour that's $1000 worth of your time, for 5 hours.

Any software package you'll use, will require a couple hours just to learn to use it efficiently. There is some software recommened in a few books I've read that use green screens but that comes with it's own set of problems, especially if you don't have that experience.

So subtract two hours of your time from the five you're using to justify the time/costs of this inquiry and you're left with 3 hours or $600 for a software package.

Hell, I don't know about you but I'd rather just use what I know and am good at.

Now, if you'll be doing more and more of this work my answer doesn't apply....I'd definetely do something to speed up my workflow. In which case, I'll go grab that book for which I remember some recomendations. Not that I've ever used the software mind you

Good luck!

BTW, 10 minutes is pretty quick, I can't see knocking that down all too much no matter what the software/package. Do you think that estimate is realistic? I can easily spend 60 minutes on a photo getting it "right". I mean, I know there is special software to do this but it's also my understand that they will still typically require some touch up. Is this for small print? Web? large print? Now I'm just getting curious

[Photo-John]

I'd post a sample if I had access. But they're all at home on a different machine. They're pretty simple electronic products, photographed on a white backdrop. As long as I've set up the lighting well and done good conversions, it's pretty simple to knock out the background. But it's still dreary work. And I think they're going to want me to do lots more. So yeah, I think it might be worth investing some time and money. I may end up facing facts and decide that I'm doing just fine on my own. But I thought I should at least throw out a line and find out if there's a better way.

Maybe I'll post a sample tonight.

Thanks for the answer. That was a lot faster than I expected!

[Trevor Ash]

Would you also post a brief explanation of what you're doing now? I'm sure you're just using PS but what's the basic process you follow? I think it's also important to understand the quality level you're after, that's why I was asking about the usage of the images. Another question that came up; What background is going to be used in the final product? And will it be the same background for each image or a different one? Can you post a before/after of what you plan to deliver?

This is a new question so I think it could be fun to see what options there are out there to solve your problem

[Jacqui]

Photo-John, I think Trevor has some good questions for you, particularly "What are you doing now?" Are you color selecting the background then using Quickmask to double check it? Are you using the extract tool? Are you using the pen tool to outline the image (slow & tedious)?

As far as separate software, I've used Corel Knockout and it works great but it might be more than you need, especially if you'll be able to place the item on simple backgrounds yourself and cut them out later.

[Photo-John]

I came home and experimented some more. I timed myself and I think it's taking more like 15+ minutes per image. I start by hitting the background with the magic wand. Then I go to Quick Mask mode and use the pen tool and brushes to finish up. The final results are excellent but it's slow and tedious. I tried the extraction filter but found it very sloppy. I will try it again tomorrow and see if I can tune up the results.

Thanks for the tip on Corel Knockout. I saw a reference to it today on another forum. I also found onOne MaskPro (http://www.ononesoftware.com/detail.php?prodLine_id=4) which has a 30 day free trial. It's a $200 software package, but the free trial says, "Try me!"

[drg]

Hey John,

I emailed one of the graphic designers (and interuppted her gaming, I'll hear about that!) and she suggested if you can't get a close enough edge selection with the wand you can try inverting the whole image, then use the magic wand and cut the selection. Sometimes it apparently works better.

Another idea she recommended was that if the product color has not been matched yet, is to color correct the area to be removed to a specific color or do a color cast correction, flatten the contrast and then select that and cut.

Some shadow/highlights may need a selection brush/tool to get right up to the edge and if done in layers you can click back and forth between the two to see the "jump" to make sure that you haven't knocked out the edge of the product.

Good luck, this can be annoying work.

[Photo-John]

I got some guidance and feel like I've found the best solution. It's to shoot my product photos on a light table. You shoot two images - one with the light table on, and one lit normally. The first shot is used to create a mask in Photoshop. It's so simple it's genius. I'm psyched. I'll continue my manual process for this job. But I'm going to use the income from this job to invest in a light table like this: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation

[SmartWombat]

Well just like our users at work you asked a question.
And the best answer was not an answer to your question

Glad you got the answer to matte and knockout.
Light table is such a simple idea.