jrmccue Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 hi does anyone know how to make a cool silhouette profile. i took photos of my kids (profile shot against a white wall) and would like to just simply have the silhouette as filled in black. is there an easy way to do this. is there a tutorial of any kind? i want it to look professional and be easy at the same time? any advice. thanks. Rebecca Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyndisa Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 Depending on your program, you should have a tool to select just the profile of your child. In PSE5, there is a magic selection wand. When you have the part selected that you want to make into a silhouette, use Ctrl J to copy it to a new layer. (Here, if you want to just see the profile that you just copied to a new layer, click on the eye beside the original layer to make it invisible.) Make a new layer over the silhouette layer and fill it black. Make sure the black layer is selected, and use Ctrl G to clip it to the layer of your child's profile. Merge the black layer down, and you should have a black silhouette. Shouldn't be too hard! Hope this helps, but if not, keep asking questions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anna Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 What program are you using? If you took their picture against a white wall, and you are using PSE, I would recommend that you use the Magic Wand tool, and instead of trying to select the child's head, try selecting the white wall. You may have to play with the Tolerance levels up at the top of the screen (the larger the number, the bigger variance in shades PSE will select with each click of the mouse). And, remember that if click the Magic Wand, and it didn't select everything, you can hold the shift key down and click on another section. Holding the Shift key down adds to the selection that you've already made. Then, when all of the background is selected, you can select the "inverse" (opposite). Go Selections>Inverse. Without getting rid of the marching ants, create a new layer. Use the Paint Bucket tool to turn the selected portion black on the new layer. Clear as mud? Post again or PM me if you have questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyndisa Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 Oh, your version is MUCH better than mine, Anna. Don't listen to me, Rebecca; try Anna's tip instead. She's not a Scrap Girls Instructor for nothing! Thanks, Anna! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anna Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 Oh! I just thought of a totally different (and maybe easier, LOL) way you could do this! I hate making selections because you always end up going over all of the edges with an eraser to clean them up, and that is waaaaaay too time consuming for me (I'm a little impatient). What if you played with the brightness/contrast sliders, making the white parts whiter, and the rest of it black? First, you would probably want to convert your picture to black and white. Shift + CTRL + U (I think that's the short cut). Then, go Enhance>Adjust ighting>Adjust Brightness/Contrast. Move both sliders to the right (not all the way, but pretty far, until everything is strongly black or white). Then, use the Magic Wand tool to select the white background and delete it. That will make the selection easier. Depending on the shadows from your picture, you may have to do some more selecting and erasing by hand, but hopefully not as much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B&K Mom Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 Cool idea, Anna. I'm gonna have to try this. Time for some silhouettes at our house too! Debbie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
April Showers Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 I was going to suggest playing with the hue saturation as well. Looking forward to seeing your finished project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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