How to Cut Out Images Like a Professional in Photoshop

There are many different ways to cut out images in Photoshop. Well, in this tutorial I am going to show you how I cut out images. I haven’t really seen this method anywhere else on the web, so I figured I’d share it. It uses a soft brush edge so the edges don’t look so sharp. This is not a magic wand tutorial!
Final Image will look like this

Step 1

Find a picture that you want to cut out. The one I’m using can be found at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/808969.
Picture to be cut out

Step 2

Set the Foreground color to Black and the Background color to White.

Step 3

Select the brush tool and set your Master Diameter to 10px and your Hardness to 0%.

Step 4

Unlock the layer, then add a layer mask to the photo.
Unlock Layer and Layer Mask

Step 5

Zoom in close and use the brush tool to outline your image. Hold down shift for long straight areas. (I usually hold down shift practically the whole way through to get a natural/flowing line.) If you want to get the smaller parts, you can change the size of your brush to a size smaller than 10px.
Cutting the image

Step 6

When you’re done, hold down OPTION (ALT for Windows) and CLICK (at the same time) the layer mask. Be sure you’re clicking the mask on the layer and not just the layer itself. Once you click, this is what your image should look like.
Cut Out

Step 7

Select the Magic Wand tool and make sure Contiguous is checked and Anti-alias is not checked. Then click the outside white area (aka the area you don’t want in the picture). Also be sure to add other areas of the image that might get left out to the selection, such as the middle part in between the two stems.

Step 8

Go to the the toolbar and go to SELECT > MODIFY > EXPAND and change it to 5px.
Modify Pixels

Step 9

Change the Background color to black and then press the Delete key.

Step 10

There will still probably be a few tiny areas that I didn’t get, such as in the corners of the flowers. So in that case, I will go back and take my 5px brush and fill in those sections to make them black. Make sure the foreground is Black when you’re doing this. You can hold down Option and Click at the same time on the layer mask itself to go back and fourth to see the actual image.
Time to fix up

Step 11

When you’re finally done cutting it out, go ahead and hold down Option and Click at the same time on the layer mask itself and that’s it. You’re done!
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About the Author

Greg Dougherty

Greg loves design, marketing, and new media. You can follow him on Twitter @gregdougherty.

Stefan
08-21-09

I personally tend to use Quick Mask when doing changes like this because it’s possible to change back and forward when masking it.
Pedro Assuncao
08-22-09

Sweet. Thanks for the tip
Leftfield
08-22-09

Thanks for nice tutorial
Lincoln Plumber
08-23-09

Thanks for the tip. I have never cut out my images using this process but I will give it a go.

I have always used the pen tool, zoomed in for accuracy and created the work path. I then save the path and make selection from it. I then invert the selection and delete the area I have inverted. Some parts of the image will need softening up with a brush.

Great thing about Photoshop is there are lots of methods with the same outcome.
eduardc_4d
08-23-09

this was like the first method i used when i started using photoshop, honestly it’s really not that professional but it can get your work done… only things u need to be careful at are the hardness and size of the brush…when gettin into really tight angles it’s really a pain resizing the brush every time…so…those are the pro and contras
Greg Dougherty
08-23-09

There’s obviously many ways to cut out images. This is one way that I thought many people weren’t aware of. I just love how it gives a soft edge for blending.
Lincoln Plumber
08-24-09

Greg – I wasn’t aware of this method so many thanks for introducing it.
Free Tutorials
08-26-09

amazing
Mark
08-29-09

I haven’t tried this method of removing the background form an image. I will have to try it.
marie
09-24-09

this was awesome…..very easy instructions to follow, and the best way to cut out images! perfect, thanks!!!
Mat
09-25-09

Great tutorial, I will have to give this a go the next time I am using layer masks.
web design hertford
09-26-09

The method explained by you is just amazing. Previously, I knew some simple methods of cutting but not this one. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
how do you do that ?
11-06-09

i need yalll to help me out. how to cut picture in to shapes .
Angela
11-25-09

I have never seen this method and right now I have to say I TOTALLY LOVE It, thank you so much you made it so much easier than the nasty extract too lol
Damian Herrington
11-29-09

Not seen this method before, totally going to try it next time, thanks!
Rajan
12-16-09

Hi…
very good tutorial. i am webdesigner, looking for more like this one.
thanks.
Phil
12-31-09

Nice smooth option but for me, Photoshop Pen tool always: create path using the pen then load as selection from the paths palette. A one-step process which, when mastered, means you never have to use any other for cutting out.
Anime
01-01-10

this will help me
Muxx
01-19-10

Wow!

This tut is absolutely fantastic.

I have to take many product shots at work and before I was just zooming in and cutting away at the background.

This is going to save me so much time.

I need to hook up my tablet as well so I can quickly just draw around it more precisely with it.
moumouh47
02-13-10

Cool tip it will help many people ( like me :p )

thanks
luda
02-16-10

i usually duplicate my pic,go 2 channels,color range……………………………………. n make my entire pic as dark den ipaint unwanted parts white and missed areas i want to keep w/a sharp brush(black) then u select the area go back to layers and click delete. this works perfect especially if u want to cut out an afro.lol or loose hair. link me up if u want the entire tut.photoshop tips and tricks
web design Hertfordshire
03-10-10

Nice.
моделирован
04-05-10

А можно узнать как это делается?