Photo backgrounds

[wrestlerguy21]

I often see that people insert gradient backgrounds behind their mini\'s. This often times helps with the over all aperance. I have attempted this myself using paintshop and had some problems doing this. I find myself with a white jagged line around my mini and it is not smooth. Can anyone help me with this?, step by step.

 

[Frustrated Father]

This here out to help you out just fine.

And on an off note, if you use photoshop and want to do it \'manualy\' so to speak, select the picture, then do an inverted selection and cut it (the miniature) then paste it on your gradient background.

Or, you can follow this link to see how its done proper.

Photo Box

 

[wrestlerguy21]

Ok, I like the box.

So if I take a photo of a mini, lets say a white background. How do I remove the \"mini\" from the rest of the background in order to paste it into the new background (gradient). i.e do I need to like hand cut around the mini?

 

[airhead]

Also if you look about half way down that page, there is a link to a blue/white fade to print yourself for a real background. (It is in my sig too (where finn says I have brains or am smart or something) Anyway, clicky the yellow text and go the the diffusion page then about half way down that page is a nother link to a gradient.

 

[Frustrated Father]

While I\'m at it, here is another link. Essentially the same thing, just in a different way. This is the one I think I\'m going to build up this week so I can take some decent pictures.

Cheap Diffused Light Link

 

[Legacy Account]

USE PHOTOSHOP!!
Shoot the mini on a light, neutral coloured background. Select the bacground with the magic wand (hold SHIFT whilst clicking to get it all, and you may need to manually add/remove bits to the selection using the lasso tool - SHIFT/ALT). Remember that you can alter the Tolerance of the wand....
Feather the selection by 0.5 - 2 pixels using Select > Feather on the menu bar.
Invert the selection (Ctrl/Shift and I) and hit Ctrl J to paste to a new layer.
Select the Background layer, and use the gradient tool to fill it....
Blue to white looks nice

Piece of cake after a couple of goes

 

[wrestlerguy21]

Cool thanks for the help.

 

[Jambot13]

I prefer to really zoom into the photo and work around the edges carefully with a Pen Tool Work Path. It takes quite a bit longer, but it gives a much more accurate and smooth finish that eliminates the jaggies that I sometimes get using the Magic Wand.

Unfortunately, despite the jpegs I save looking fine offline, they seem to develop a bit of a blurred halo between the mini and the background when I upload them here. I\'ve tried all sorts to eliminate this - flattening the layers before I save, saving it normally, using the Save For Web tool, keeping the image size well below the maximum - but it still seems to happen. Anyone know if this is just something CMON does, or can it be avoided?

Oh, and be sure to get the blue colour 100% cyan and 0% magenta, yellow and black for what I\'d say is the perfect gradient colour.

 

[supervike]

Originally posted by airhead
(where finn says I have brains or am smart or something)

Now now, lets not exaggerate. He said you were \'brilliant\'....lightbulbs are also \'brilliant\'...LOL

I have just acquired photoshop, so I\'ll hopefully be able to put Spacemunkies and Jambots lesson to good use!!!

 

[tzor]

I tend to do photo backgrounds the primitive way. Get a background, put it behind the mini and take the picure. I\'ve finally got to using a wood shingle as the background, nice color, some texture, and it doesn\'t get in the way of the mini\'s details. (Of course my rankings are normaly just above pathetic so your mileage may vary.)