richardg
Admonishtrator
That's out of the question as I run the entire business myself, photos need to take me 2 minutes and cost nothing.
Photo of plastic windshield first attempt disaster
- Thread starter richardg
- Start date
suzywong
Wot, no electrons?
Well, I'll be buqqered.
I decided to have a play with Photoshop's "object selection tool" ** as per Joe's post. So I imported Richard's photo. Then did right click on the "selection" tool, moved right to select the tool "object selection tool". PS highlighted the object nicely...........and then after a few seconds, the PC spontaneously rebooted!
(**Windoze 10 21H2, up to date PS on subscription)
And totally repeatable. Anyone come across this??
I decided to have a play with Photoshop's "object selection tool" ** as per Joe's post. So I imported Richard's photo. Then did right click on the "selection" tool, moved right to select the tool "object selection tool". PS highlighted the object nicely...........and then after a few seconds, the PC spontaneously rebooted!
(**Windoze 10 21H2, up to date PS on subscription)
And totally repeatable. Anyone come across this??
miktec
retired
Elements will do exactly what you wanted to do and pretty much as good as the pic Joe put up - 'Quick Selection' has a tools sub-menu that appears on-screen with a specific button for auto choosing the object (Select Subject) which you can then copy and paste onto a new file with a white background.
Took me less than five minutes, including resampling the screen grab to a decent resolution so it worked better and adding a slight bit of blur to the top edge on completion where the contrast is a bit too weak for the prog to recognise the edge.
To be honest, you asked for pointers but you seem a bit reluctant to listen to the advice being given - I hope this helped but I am now leaving it up to you to sort out.
Last edited:
richardg
Admonishtrator
I'll give it a go. Many thanks. I really like Joe's solution, the other suggestions are taking me back to the tools on the original copy of adobe that I tried and hated. I had never heard of object selection, mainly because it was not on the version I tried. My goal now is to understand if elements does exactly that but calls it something different?Elements will do exactly what you wanted to do and pretty much as good as the pic Joe put up - 'Quick Selection' has a tools sub-menu that appears on-screen with a specific button for auto choosing the object which you can then copy and paste onto a new file with a white background.
Took me less than five minutes, including resampling the screen grab to a decent resolution so it worked better and adding a slight bit of blur to the top edge on completion where the contrast is a bit too weak for the prog to recognise the edge.
To be honest, you asked for pointers but you seem a bit reluctant to listen to the advice being given - I hope this helped but I am now leaving it up to you to sort out.
Rug Doc
pfm Member
No it’s the same thing, or lasso. I use it to photograph and select all the products on my website, and it takes a minute per item. If you’re using a white baxkground which you are, it will be pretty much automatic.
watch a YouTube vid on creating a new layer from object selection and you’ll absolutely fly.. going into photoshop and not getting instruction would be like you getting into the space shuttle and trying to fly it.
watch a YouTube vid on creating a new layer from object selection and you’ll absolutely fly.. going into photoshop and not getting instruction would be like you getting into the space shuttle and trying to fly it.
richardg
Admonishtrator
Thanks. I got this far following a youtube video. But he say he just pressed delete and the backgorund disappears. But when I press delete nothing happens. Do you know what I should do to get it white from here?
miktec
retired
Thanks. I got this far following a youtube video. But he say he just pressed delete and the backgorund disappears. But when I press delete nothing happens. Do you know what I should do to get it white from here?
At the bottom of that screen click 'Select Subject', it will automatically select the shield - click 'Copy' - open a new file with 'White' as the background - paste your copied subject onto that file.
Tidy up the edges if necessary - save - JOB DONE - have a pint or a cup of tea
richardg
Admonishtrator
Thanks I clicked select subject, but first i removed the inverse command so i only have my product with a moving dotted line around it, no longer the picture border.. OK, so then after I selected the subject, where exactly is the copy command? The one in the edit tab is greyed out and will not allow me to copyAt the bottom of that screen click 'Select Subject', it will automatically select the shield - click 'Copy' - open a new file with 'White' as the background - paste your copied subject onto that file.
Tidy up the edges if necessary - save - JOB DONE - have a pint or a cup of tea
miktec
retired
Don't 'remove the inverse command' or anything else ... just open the original and select 'Quick Selection' then follow the steps in my post.
You may need to make the new file you open slightly larger to get more white space around the shield and you can if you wish play with the 'refine edge' tool but really you don't need to do anything complicated at all.
Tony L
Administrator
Any pointers in how to improve this first attempt, please? It's maybe the trickiest thing to photo for my store that I have ever tried to photo.
It looks like something Grace Jones would wear.
richardg
Admonishtrator
OK thanks, I still can't do it...so again, I throw the towel in on photoshop after 2 hours of trying and not getting what I want......am i the only one that thinks it is badly designed software? I use really quite advanced online listing software for my business, I can navigate aorund MS applicaitons fine, and I can build websites. But I cannot use Photoshop.
Colin123
pfm Member
I'm not sure how you took the original photograph.
Have you used any lighting or are you relying on daylight?
The original shot looks too flat to me, I'd inject some contrast into your lighting to make the fairing more three dimensional and possibly more dramatic.
Get the lighting right first, then move on to the software.
Have you used any lighting or are you relying on daylight?
The original shot looks too flat to me, I'd inject some contrast into your lighting to make the fairing more three dimensional and possibly more dramatic.
Get the lighting right first, then move on to the software.
miktec
retired
As this is pretty much one of the easiest things to do in Photoshop I guess you are just not cut out to be the next David Bailey
Have you ever considered asking an actual professional to do your product shots?
Or even a student from a local school/college for a few quid a pop..... a sixth former doing photography would breeze it.
richardg
Admonishtrator
Half an hour of screenshare tuition should do it. I got the look I want but now I can't get an exported / saved version of it on my desktop. Every step seems ot be a chore with Photoshop.As this is pretty much one of the easiest things to do in Photoshop then I guess you are just not cut out to be the next David Bailey
Have you ever considered asking an actual professional to do your product shots?
Or even a student from a local school/college for a few quid a pop..... a sixth former doing photography would breeze it.
miktec
retired
Pretty much the heart of the problem.
With the rise of automated digital tech there has been a tendency to think that all you need to do is point a camera at a subject and press the button - the technology does all the hard work for you and every shot will be a masterpiece.
Photography is pretty much all about light and what it does to shape the world and the objects we see ... unless you crack that and learn how to exploit that in a frame, your results will be pot-luck and mediocre at best.
Powerful software (like Photoshop) can make the mediocre look presentable - but a silk purse it won't become.
miktec
retired
I think you have probably messed up the preference settings with your previous attempts so every time you try again you carry the same problems forward.
Go into 'Preferences' and reset them at next launch in the 'General' area, quit and relaunch - this might help matters.
And always make sure you start each attempt from the original camera file - not a copy you have saved from Photoshop.
-alan-
pfm Member
Richard - have you any images showing the kind of finished result you want ?
I know from bitter experience how difficult it is to shoot transparent things (and also black ones) properly.
Might be easier for people to give you a steer if we had an idea what you want the end-product to look like.
I know from bitter experience how difficult it is to shoot transparent things (and also black ones) properly.
Might be easier for people to give you a steer if we had an idea what you want the end-product to look like.
richardg
Admonishtrator
Hi Alan....thanks for the question. In the last hour I sorted the problem....big sigh of relief. Spent 6 hours on this today. Phones ringing, couriers knocking.....it's horrible getting bogged down in an area you are not good at bit know you have to plough through.
Was it a white product? If so +2 on the camera meter when you shoot if it is a white subject. A meter makes an average so if you shoot a black subject and the a white subject letting the camera meter then you get 2 18% grey subjects. Like most pictures of fluffy white snow, the camera makes it grey.