Making black background behind image

[Grammy]

Hi,
I have a photo of my grandchildren's hands that would like to put on a solid black background. I'd also like to make a soft oval shape around the hands that fades into the black background.

Could someone please walk me through doing this with Elements 6?

Thanks a bunch,
Terry

[Wendy]

Hi Terry ..

Create a new file File>New>Blank File (make it larger that you photo, 300 resolution and black background)
Copy and paste the photograph into the new file
Then select the Elliptical Marquee Tool and make an oval over the hands
Now do Select>Feather and use a setting of say 100
Next do Select>Inverse
Then Edit>Delete
... and there you go.

If the fading into the background isn't soft enough then go to the undo history and undo back just beyond Select>Feather. Then redo Select Feather with a larger feather size and try again :)

Hope that helps ..

Wendy

[Grammy]

Your instructions worked perfectly! Yea!

I wanted to make the entire area around the hands black, so I used the quick select tool also to delete the background around the hands after copying them on top of the black page. Then I finished with your instructions.

The photo is now just how I imagined it when I shot the pic! It will now be placed in my grandson's 1st birthday DVD. One thing though, I notice the palm area of the top hand is still a little jagged when you look at it up close. I tried using the eraser tool to smooth it, but this is the best I could do. Is there another way to smooth that edge?

Also, if you have other ideas of what I can do to this image, I'm open to suggestions. I was thinking it might be nice to soften the hands some, but not sure if that would be good or not. I'm really just figuring out some of the things that Elements can do. It is going to be great when I really know how to use it!

I really appreciate all your help. I'm trying to attach the before and after photos so you can see what you helped me accomplish. Hope this attachment works, it's also a first try for me.

Thanks,
Terry

[SharLamb]

Terry, your creation is exquisite...studio quality. I love it. That's the kind of photo that needs no embellishment...a stand-alone LO for scrapbook.

Shar

[Carl one]

The final product is very nice, however, how do you create a single elliptical circle the the tool? I tried it and the result was worse then a case of very cold goose bumps or a balloon with blisters. Carl

[Wendy]

Hi ...

The Elliptical Marquee shoudl make a smooth shape ... is yours not doing that :)

Wendy

[Carl one]

Hi Wendy. The tool works fine making a smooth line, the problem is I was not able to encircle the entire subject and had to use the "additional selection" to add the left out areas; the result was not what I wanted. Carl.

[Grammy]

Shar,
Thanks for the kind words and encouragement! I've only had Elements a few weeks and am getting hooked on it!

I really want to begin doing digital scrapbooks, but don't know where to begin!
Terry