PhotoImpact's Extract Object function is a powerful tool that lets you accurately select a subject in an image and turn it into an object. It is particularly useful if your subject has lots of wispy hair or fine detail on the edges that you want to separate from the rest of the image. Once you learn how to use this feature, you will find it to be a very quick and accurate method for making complex selections that produces great results.

In this tutorial, we will use a photograph of a girl with her hair flying in the wind, and illustrate how the girl can be extracted then composited into a completely different background. With the Extract Object feature, we can make sure that the girl and her hair are cleanly extracted from the original photo. Click here to download the photo of the girl and a background to follow along with the tutorial. (ZIP file, 82KB)

The original image

Step One: Draw a Boundary

First, select Object: Extract Object. In the dialog box that appears, start painting around the object that you want to select and extract from the image. Essentially, what you are painting here is a type of mask. If needed, change the Color of the mask by clicking on the color square, so that you can easily see it against the image.

We start out by drawing a rough boundary, which we will refine later on. When painting the boundary, it's not important to trace the shape of the subject with exact detail, but do try to make sure that the mask covers both the edges of the subject and the background from which you want to extract it. In this image, for example, note that the boundary that we drew around the girl's hair is wider than elsewhere. This is because there are many places where fine strands of hair need to be extracted from the background, and there are also parts where the background shows through the hair. In order to make sure that all these areas are covered, we made the boundary wider and painted it over these spots. If you make a mistake while drawing the boundary, click the Eraser button, and then go back and erase the portion that you want to remove. You can also remove the entire boundary and start over again by clicking Clear.

Tip: In general, try to avoid using a brush size that is too large and covers either too much of the background or too much of the subject. If that happens, then you may not be able to extract the object as cleanly as you want and will have to spend more time refining it later on.

A rough boundary drawn around the subject

Now that you have completed a rough boundary, the next step is to refine the boundary, particularly where it covers the hair. Click the Eraser button and remove parts of the boundary that cover too much of the hair or too much of the background. If you erase too much, then you can always toggle the Eraser button to return to drawing mode and redraw that part of the boundary. Try zooming into the image so that you can work with greater precision.

Refining the boundary in the hair area