Extraction

Extraction is the process of isolating an object from its background, giving us the ability of replacing the background with a new one of our choosing. In the example below, you will see that the first image is the original, unaltered image, followed by an extracted eagle head, followed by the final image of the eagle placed over a new background.

The Original EagleThe Extracted EagleThe Forest Eagle

Extractions can be accomplisheed in a variety of ways, but most often it is done with the Extract filter. The Extract filter can be found by going to Filter > Extract. This will open the Extract dialog and allow you to start the fun process of extraction.

Extract Window
  1. Highlight the borders of the foreground object using the Edge Highlighter tool (Edge Highlighter Tool or B).
  2. Once you have highlighted the foreground object, use the Fill tool (Fill Tool or G) to mask the object.
  3. Click Preview to see a sample of what the extracted object will look like.
  4. If you are unhappy with the previewed image, try using the Cleanup tool (Cleanup Tool or C) and the Edge Touchup tool (Edge Touchup Tool or T) on the areas of the image you want to fix.
  5. Once you are pleased with the results, click OK. You will be left with only the extracted object on that layer.
OutlineFillPreviewTouchup