Background fading for PSE6

[kimcneil]

Can anyone give me instructions for fading a background in pse6? I have a picture of my daughter and I dont like the background so I want to fade it. I am having a real hard time doing this.
Thanks for your help.

[Byron Gale]

kimcneil,

I wonder if, instead of "fade", you might mean "blur"...?

In either case, you need to select the subject (your daughter), and copy the selection to a new layer. Then, you apply whatever treatment you want to the original background layer. The copy of your daughter will remain unchanged, and have better contrast with the background.

Here's an example... the left image is the original, with the distracting background. The center image has had the background faded, and the right image has had the background blurred.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1mJaE3Uz89sDz2GuIw76BJZjAINNWT_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1mJaE3Uz89sDz2GuIw76BJZjAINNWT)

Granted, I have not given procedural details - post back if you need more guidance, once you have determined what sort of look you want.

HTH,

Byron