How do I change the background of a photo?

john724 wrote on 8/25/2009, 2:20 PM

My goal is to bring out the main object of the photo.

I have lassoed the main image in a photo and created an object. I now have object one (this main object) and the background. I can't seem too figure out how to make the background either a) more transparent or b) darkened. I am not too familiar with the terminology for this software yet so I don't know if I want a vignette, a shadow, change transparency, etc. (It would have been nice to receive a user manual with this software!) I have tried each of these functions but with my limited understanding, I have not achieved the effect I desire. Any help would be sincerely appreciated! TIA!

Comments

ralftaro wrote on 8/26/2009, 10:22 AM

Hi there,

Here's something you might want to try: After selecting the main object you want to stand out, use the "Invert mask" command from the "Selection" menu to actually select everything *but* the main focus of the image. Now, go to the "Effects" menu and apply a soften filter, e.g. the "soft-focus effect". In addition, you could go to the "Selection" menu again to the "Color filter" section and take out a little brightness for the selected area. Does this look like anything you had in mind?

This is just a very simple example. There's a lot of creative freedom here regarding what you could do to alter the image. The important part here is really the inversion of the selection mask, so you can manipulate the surrounding area. I hope this helps you getting started! :-)