conclusion.....
Open the Channels Palette and click the icon
to create a new Alpha Channel.
Select this Alpha Channel (likely “Alpha 1”) by clicking it. It also lists a shortcut to it. A simple
in an RGB file will jump right to it.
Go to Edit > Fill and set your fill Dialog Box to “Use: White” like I show here and simply press OK.
Your Alpha chanel should fill with white in the shape of your roughly cut out image. Press
to Deselect.
Click and hold on the Gradient Tool to bring up the Contextual Menu. Pick the Paint Bucket Tool. Ensure your “Foreground Color” is Black.
Simply click in the areas you don’t want to fill them with black. If any of your superfluous areas touch your image, it will fill as well, so be careful.
and Click on your Alpha 1 Channel to load the new selection you have just made.
Press
to return to your RGB. The Tilde key is located to the left of your
on a USA keyboard.
Return to your Layers Palette. Press
to move your selected image to a new layer. You can safely delete your old layer or simply choose to hide it.
Your image is now precisely cut from your background.
I usually click the
to add a Color Fill style Adjustment Layer at the bottom of my Layers. This helps me check my work for halos and mistakes.
Eric Goodnight
.