May 18th, 2009 by Jeff Hipp

Easy Design Path Rules in Photoshop

About this post:

A photoshop tip about creating paths from Jeff Hipp, one of our Senior Designers.

Filed under Tips, Tricks & Hints

The ability to create professional and useable paths in Photoshop (and Illustrator) is very important.

original photo - background needs removing

Paths are an essential design tool for lorez web work, and especially important in hirez print work. I don't know how many times I've had to train design interns and new hires on this basic process.

We've probably all seen poorly pathed images that have that halo on the edges. Sure ideally you would shoot the image on a background suitable for what you need it for in order to minimize the halo effect – but it's more-often the case that you have a client photo that must be used. One with all-sorts of background mess.

Here are a few tips to help:

Start your path in an easy place – like a corner.
Decide which direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise) you will go which is most comfortable for you.
The fewer the points – the better. Take advantage of the tool handles to adjust curves & direction.
Curves – place a point in the middle the flat pixel plain. A circle or oval has 4 of these & should only need 4 points.
4 & 7. Point in mid of the Flat Part of a Curve
Take full advantage of the Pen tool key commands; Command key lets you use the Direct Select pointer, Option key lets you use the Convert Point Tool, hover the cursor over a point & click to delete a point, or hover & click between existing points to add a point. This will speed the process by not having to click options in the tool palette.
Zoom in close to see the details – zoom out to see the whole picture. Repeat.
Split the pixels – you want more of the item and less of the background. Especially on curves.
Know your subject matter. You often have to make judgement calls on vague areas – like those in shadow.
Double & triple check the path. View close-up and make any adjustments needed.
9. Object Fully Pathed
When complete, deselect the work path layer in the path tab by clicking off of the layer. This will help protect it – if it is still active and you delete something while working, it will probably delete the path you worked hard to create.
You can use the Direct Select pointer and hold down the Option key to select all points on any given path. This comes in handy for creating Masks or Clipping Paths.
11. Object with Background Removed using a Mask
Some images just cannot be clipped purely. After you are done and the object is clipped, it's not cheating to sample the edge color of the object and paint in the edge pixels to eliminate the halo that may remain.
Hair or fuzzy areas are not ideal for paths. For this it is best to use the Extract tool under Filters, but will not be discussed at this time. This was a default filter tool in previous versions of Photoshop, but in CS4 it must be manually installed from the Goodies folder of your install disk. Well worth doing & getting acquainted with.
Practice makes perfect. If you're not confident, practice on different types of images.

By mastering the path tool, it can make a retouched or combined image look great – making you look like a pro.

Nice to see you are alive and well Jeff!

pb

Posted by Patrick Brommer on 05/26/10 at 2:43PM

Speak up.

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