making a photographed object free standing

Hi Everyone, hope you can help me out here.
I photographed a bottle of wine for a client ( in a white tent box with a soft box on either side, got good images). Now the client wants the bottles free standing without background for easy use. In my CS4 magnetic lasso won't work, can somebody explain a second way to me to make an object freestanding?
Thanks very much!!! Bo

The easiest way is to create a layer above the image, zoom in deep and then use the pen tool to draw around the outside of the bottle - so you're effectively drawing the plain background and letting the bottle peep through the gap.

you can also trace over the bottle and use as a clipping mask if you prefer. set transparency to say 20% so you can see the bottle underneath as you draw.

I don't use the magnetic tool ever - I don't like the lack of control.

I hope that helps!

Edited by GJR, 30 November 2013 - 09:16 PM.

I always use paths for these type of jobs.

Use the pen tool to draw a path around the bottle. When you're done you can find the path in the "Paths" panel (Windows > Paths), you will find the path you just drew here. Ctrl + click it to make a selection out of it.

Now with this selection you can either simply delete the background, or mask it out.
For the mask: make sure the layer with sure photo is selected, create the selection from you're path. Then go to Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal selection or use the Vector Mask icon on the bottom of your Layers panel.

Good luck

If you have sharp edges you can use a Vector mask and the pen tool to draw the contour, if you have smooth edges I suggest you add a Layer Mask and use the brush tool to "remove" the unwanted background. It's always better to use a Layer mask than directly deleting image data (because you cannot modify this once saved because the image data was removed).

Good luck!

Nice post. I have fixed the same trouble.