how to enlarge part of image?

[doto]

I want to enlarge part of an image so that it covers a bit of the background, the same technique is needed when I wanted to blur the background using gaussian blur, and want to have the subject without the halo around it, how can I enlarge the subject by a few pixels on a different layer, and then merge it on the blurred one? I have pse 6

Thanks

Dov

[Diana]

Hi Dov,

In order to perform an action on part of an image, you would need to select that part with one of the selection tools, then copy the selection to its own layer. Then you can work with the copy independently of the rest of the image.

An example would be to use the Lasso tool to make a selection around the subject, then press Ctrl-J to copy the subject to its own layer.

Diana

[doto]

thanks a lot Diane

I know that, and maybe did not explain myself well, the question is how to enlarge that selection so that I can blur the original, and then merge the two layers and have a sharp image on blurred background with no halo.

Thanks

Dov

[Daviskw]

Here is a trick

Make a duplicate of the background

On the duplicate layer make a selection of the area you do not want blurred...In my example I made a selection of my grandson.

Press Edit>Copy then Edit>Paste My Jacob is now on his own layer.

Hold the Control key and click on the cutout to reactivate the selection.... Thank you emkayess65

Here is the trick to keep halos from forming…With the selection still active click back on the duplicate layer and press “Delete” this cuts a hole in the layer you will blur.

Now blur this layer as much as you want and the blur will not bleed into a halo.

My layer pallet is for Photoshop but the layer configuration will be the same in Elements so be sure you pallet looks like mine in the examples below.

Butch

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1Sjo7Eji6Vaas8NKADFl1W69hogTR_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1Sjo7Eji6Vaas8NKADFl1W69hogTR)

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1BzwZfOtEo1Q4Gg2rcFXQbpCjOEa0X_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1BzwZfOtEo1Q4Gg2rcFXQbpCjOEa0X)

[athegn]

Using PSE 5 when I Edit > copy then Edit > Paste from the Background Copy, to create a separate layer with just the selection, when return to the Background copy layer the selection is no longer active; therefore I cannot delete it to make the hole.

What am I doing wrong?

[TonyW]

Another trick for blurring the background and avoiding halos is in this thread:

http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36449

using multiple layers and blurring the whole layer (including the tranparent bit you get after cutting out the foreground) works very well.

If you do need to enlarge the foreground slightly to hide something you would use Free Transform (Ctrl-T) on the foreground layer (make sure the constrain proportion box is checked, click in the W box and increase it to say 101%)

Athegn: You can cut and paste rather than copy and paste and then you'll get a hole. Or so into Select and Reselect and you'll get your previous selection back on the other layer so you can delete it.

Tony

[emkayess65]

Hi, Ctrl + click on the layer thumbnail of the cut out.
This will get you the selection.
Then return to the background layer and click delete.
hth
mks

[Daviskw]

Hi, Ctrl + click on the layer thumbnail of the cut out.
This will get you the selection.
Then return to the background layer and click delete.
hth
mks

Thank you I forgot to add how to reactivate the selection

Butch

[Daviskw]

I thought I would post one more example

The top picture was made by blurring the background under a cutout selection. Notice the halo along the shoulder and hair.

The bottom is the same blur amount but with the cutout deleted from the blurred background copy layer.

see my tutorial above.

Butch

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1xyDD5jYAOZJ8XYx13nI2yjhVr6j_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1xyDD5jYAOZJ8XYx13nI2yjhVr6j)

[athegn]

Thank you for the answers but I have a new problem.

PSE 5 on Vista Home Premium.

Open Image
Duplicate layer
Make Selection
Cut selection
Paste selection

At this point the cut selection is on its own layer but shifted a few pixels to the left and up?

I can use the move tool to return it to completely cover the hole that cut created but why should the selection move?

I have unchecked Snap to.
I used Ctrl X to cut and Ctrl V to paste; same result using the menu cut and paste

[Daviskw]

Thank you for the answers but I have a new problem.

PSE 5 on Vista Home Premium.

Open Image
Duplicate layer
Make Selection
Cut selection
Paste selection

At this point the cut selection is on its own layer but shifted a few pixels to the left and up?

I can use the move tool to return it to completely cover the hole that cut created but why should the selection move?

I have unchecked Snap to.
I used Ctrl X to cut and Ctrl V to paste; same result using the menu cut and paste

That is the wrong way to cut the selection...what that is doing is centering the cut area.

When you have the selection made and active try holding the control key and pressing J or from the Edit menu... Edit>Copy then from the same menu Edit>Paste...this should solve your problem.

Butch

[ken1]

Athegn,

It does that in PEv.3 & Win-XP as well.

Another method to smooth out the edges of a selection which is pasted onto a separate layer:


CTRL+click the layer to select the object (as per prior posts)
Select>modify>contract and reduce by 1-2 px
Optionally feather selection by same amount
Select>inverse>delete
I have had good results with this technique.

[ken1]

Butch,

Thanks for the CTRL tip. I have been doing it wrong for years. That does it!

[swalkr]

Dov, I re-wrote a tutorial for just the thing I think you are trying to do. The original was not that clear to me, so as I was doing it, I wrote down each and every step to make it much more clear. You can find that tutorial here: (http://www.photoshopcreativeelements.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=4349&sid=eae8d7df972b6963427f6b75e9d55bf3)

Edit: You can scroll down at the link site and see what others have done with this, and I posted another picture with my granddaughter and myself there also. It is much more representative of what this tutorial can do.

[athegn]

Suzanne

Thank you for your tutorial.

[swalkr]

Athegn, you are welcome. Hope it works for you.

Suzanne

Thank you for your tutorial.

[swalkr]

And if this is helpful to anyone, here are two identical photos, the first is the original Raven photo. And the second one is a screen shot of the blurred background raven with the layers showing.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/14Z5WJoXymUShV7w5XdKvSffm5IHOy_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=14Z5WJoXymUShV7w5XdKvSffm5IHOy)

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1WzqX9ezDNOC8FBwfit2uK7gAsDG_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1WzqX9ezDNOC8FBwfit2uK7gAsDG)

[athegn]

Athegn, you are welcome. Hope it works for you.

Yes it does