Adding new background

[novice]

I have a photo of a bird and want to remove the background and replace it with a new background. What is the easiest way to do it. I have E4. Help please.

[Pauline]

Use which ever selection tool you are most comfortable and make a selection around your bird. Ctrl + J to put the selection on it's own layer. You can then add the new background layer below your bird layer.

[Rusty]

As Pauline says... pick a tool you are comfortable with
And ... some images will respond to one tool "best" rather than one of the others.

Why don't you post your "bird picture" so we can see what you have to work with.

Welcome to the Forum, there are a lot of people here happy to help.

Rusty

[novice]

Sorted! Had been trying to use the magic wand and getting nowhere so tried the polygonal lasso. Had 4 or 5 tries before I found out that the way to move about the photo was to hold down the space bar. All is well now ,I have a golden eagle( stuffed) on a nice blue sky now. Thanks for help, both.

[emkayess65]

Hi novice,
there is no need to start over with the magnetic and polygonal lasso tool. Backspace will take you back one step at a time.
Also if you check out the little boxes in the option bar.
One is to make a selection, second is add to selection, third is subtract from selection.
Lots of ways to do things.
The magic wand can be adjusted by what you set the tolerance at.
More or less, you need to experiment.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/10Ke0eA1yFYCidtsIFbbBCKR6Axiv_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=10Ke0eA1yFYCidtsIFbbBCKR6Axiv)

HTH
MKS

[Moodyman]

I have a similar problem that has been driving me crazy. I have a very old wedding photo, with groom standing, bride sitting. Eons ago, someone hand tinted the photo. It has been scanned and converted to sepia. The background which was originally plain, is now filled with remnants of the tinting.
So how do I put in a new background?

Just learning.

[Wendy]

Hi ...

Probably the quickest way is to convert it to B&W and then redo the sepia. If you need any help with that then do ask and one of us will help you with it :)

Wendy