Creative Tip: Classic Tip - Photoshop Background Eraser.
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We’re posting a few early video tips from several years ago. This tip came from the February 13, 2006 issue of our weekly Tips email newsletter.
If you find yourself needing to quickly remove the background from an image in Photoshop, take a moment to play with the background eraser tool.
January 9th, 2009 at 6:18 am
This is the wrong way of professionally eliminating a background-
You use the pen tool and make a clipping path-save the path as a clipping path-then save as a Photoshop.eps.
This technique is only for amatuers
January 9th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Stephen, I have to respectfully disagree with the “only for amateurs” judgement. Using clipping paths to eliminate a photo’s background is certainly an effective technique for hard-edged images. In the past, it was the only option available. Today, using transparent files is a common, accepted practice in most prepress workflows.
I recorded this video a couple years ago, and I would argue that there are better non-destructive methods for achieving the same results. But I don’t think we have to throw out every technique that doesn’t use a clipping path.
Lastly, regarding saving as Photoshop EPS files, I’d recommend reading My $100 EPS Challenge at InDesignSecrets, where Sandee Cohen offered a $100 bounty for anyone providing any feature in an EPS that cannot be equaled using Photoshop, TIFF, or PDF formats.
May 11th, 2009 at 11:01 am
Love this tip - does the trick quite well - Thanks Craig!