The new Object Extractor in Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 provides one more way of cutting out objects in digital photos. How does it work? Read this tutorial for step-by-step details.
Object Extractor’s Purpose
The Object Extractor is one of the new tools introduced in PaintShop Photo Pro X3. The purpose of this new tool is to make it easier to cut items out of a digital photograph – in essence, separating particular objects from the photo’s background. After using the Object Extractor, you can perform a number of other editing tasks, such as changing the background of the original photograph or copying the extracted image and placing it in a different photo.
The Object Extractor isn’t the only tool in Paint Shop Pro that lets you carry out these tasks. In fact, Paint Shop Pro X2 Ultimate came bundled with a background remover plug-in that basically performed the same function. There are also other plug-ins, such as Topaz ReMask, developed especially for the goal of extracting objects from images. It’s even possible, though much more time-consuming, to use the Eraser tool to get the job done.
Using the Object Extractor
To use the Object Extractor, first open the image that contains the object you want to extract in Paint Shop Pro. As an example, I'll show how to use the tool to extract the yellow rose in the image shown below. (Click any image in this article for a larger view.)
Image Credits: morgueFile/wallyir
Step 1: From the Image menu on Paint Shop Pro's main toolbar, select Object Extractor.
This will open a new window in the program, like the one shown in the screenshot below.
When the window first opens, it will default to fill your computer's screen, but you can resize it in the same manner that you would use to change the size of any other window.
Step 2: Make sure that the Brush tool is selected (the one denoted by an icon that looks like a paintbrush dipping into green paint), and use that tool to draw an outline around the object that you want to extract. Before you being to draw, you may want to use the slider to adjust the Brush Size, so that when you are drawing your outline, it overlaps the edges of the object as shown in the image below.
Note: If you make any mistakes while you are outlining the object, you can either click the Reset button to start tracing again from the beginning, or you can select the Eraser tool and just erase the brush strokes that you want to get rid of.
Step 3: When you've finished outlining the object, select the Fill tool (the icon shaped like a bucket pouring red paint) and click on the area of the photograph that you want to keep. In most cases, this will be the object that you've just outlined. But sometimes, depending on your project, you may want to choose the area on the outside of the object instead.
The remainder of this tutorial on using PaintShop Photo Pro X3's Object Extractor is continued on the next page.