re: Teach a man to Fish (Fark Board Beginner Questions)

quote:

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vtdad

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You want to cut a player from the background. This is one of the most essential skills to learn in photo editting. There are a lot of ways to do this. This is how I do it:

1. Start with an image. Save the image to your computer.
2. Open it with your photo editting software. Paint.net is displayed here.
3. Add a new layer. To do this in Paint.net, go to Layers-> Add a new layer. Now you will have 2 layers, one of your player, one blank. Blank layers will have a checkerboard appearance on the screen but that won't show up when saved.
4. Be sure that you have your blank layer active. In your layers toolbox, one will be highlighted. That layer is active. The other layers will be unaffected.
5. Draw an outline
Use the curve tool to draw an outline around your player. Use the magnifying glass to zoom in and do this carefully.



This can take a long time depending on the complexity of the image.

Notice I have renamed the layers for clarity. One layer is the player. The second layer is blank except for the outline you have carefully drawn using the curve/line tool. *Note, this particular outline isn't very good because I was working quickly. If I were to do it correctly, I would zoom in and make sure it was correct on the pixel level.This is where it can seem difficult.
6. Select Inside Your OutlineBe sure your outline (or cutting layer) is active. Now select the magic wand tool. Select inside the player. It should highlight just the inside of your outline. If it highlights everything, you were not careful enough drawing the outline. There is a gap somewhere. Find it, fill it and continue.
7. Copy the Player
The inside of the player outline is still selected. Now, change layers without deselecting the image. Just click on the Player layer in the Layer Toolbar. Now go to Copy. Only the player will be copied to the clipboard.
8. Paste in a new image
Go to Paste -> in new image.
9. Save image
Be sure to save as a GIF or PNG to keep the transparent background.

Now you can paste in a new layer over your fireball.