Can someone edit this for me?

[theantiquetiger]

A quick pic I took of a co-worker's son at work's Breakfast with Santa. I tried to add a holiday BG, it just looks like they were cut out and pasted

Can some one make the background some kind of Christmas theme. They just had Santa sitting there with no background.

You can get the original size in my Flickr


causey3 by Theantiquetiger, on Flickr

[mbrager]

I took a 20 minute stab at it. Very difficult to mask the background smoothly because of the boy's hair and Santa's beard and hair. The problem areas are obvious but more or less acceptable IMO but your mileage may vary. I chose this background so it looks like the photo was shot with a telephoto lens. Also adjusted white balance and color cast so Santa's beard is white and skin is less orange. Sharpened all the eyes as well. Thanks for the challenge.

[theantiquetiger]

Thanks for trying, mine came out about the same. I guess it is impossible to cut them out smoothly.

[Runmonty]

Have put this on Flickr if you wish to download. Let me know when done and I will remove from Flickr


at by runmonty, on Flickr

[theantiquetiger]

Thats awesome Run!!! How do you get the perfect edges? My friend will be very pleased!!!

[theantiquetiger]

Let me know when done and I will remove from Flickr

I have retrieved it, so you can take it down anytime (maybe leave it a couple days for people to see here)

[Runmonty]

Thats awesome Run!!! How do you get the perfect edges? My friend will be very pleased!!!

My Pleasure AT.

How to get the edges right in photoshop
1 - make sure the layer is an editable layer (not background)
2 - make a selection of the area you wish to work with. Get it as good as you can, but don't get too fussed about the edges
3- with the selection active create a layer mask.
4- here is where the fun begins - from the mask properties panel select refine mask edge
5 - I cant remember the actual setting I used, but would I have ticked smart radius and selected something like 20px. The other settings would have been something like smooth = 0, feather =1.4, contrast = 40%.
6- this would have given a reasonable edge but to refine further selected the refine mask brush and brushed around the outer hair a little more. It makes it easier while doing this if you toggle between views (R & L & W on the keyboard)
7 - to copy this mask onto another layer Ctrl click the mask and the create a new mask on the required layer

Hope this helps.

[mbrager]

Looks great. Thanks for including the processing details too.

[asnow]

Great editing job Runmonty.

[Bambi]

I'm a little late and I've never done this before but I figured that it would be fun to try.