›› Quick and Dirty Path to Clean Cutouts

Learning to use the Pen Tool by your self can be a very daunting task. As it is a little awkward to use. But once mastered, it will become very useful. One of the best features of the Pen Tool is creating Paths, to cut out objects from Images. Something that could take for ever with the eraser, can take only minutes with the pen tool.

This will be a 2 part Tutorial first teaching the basics of creating a path using the Pen Tool. Then we will use the path to create a selection and cutout an object of an image.

Pen Tool Basics:
1. First and foremost select the pen tool.

2. From the tool options bar select Paths.

3. To Create straight line segments Click once to define an anchor point. Reposition your cursor and click again to place another anchor point.
- Holding Shift while clicking will constrain the line angle to 45deg. Increments.

4. Creating a curved line involves clicking and dragging.
- Click and Hold to create a new anchor point, now drag the cursor, to reveal two “Control handles” or “ Pointer Leads”. The Length of the Handle will determine the shape of your curve.

- Pressing Alt while dragging the handle will break the handles and allow them to move independently.

- Pressing the Space Bar while dragging will move your anchor point.


5. Close the Path by clicking on the first anchor point. (Paths can stay open but for the purposes of cutting out and object we will close them)

6. The path can be edited after wards using the Direct select tool..



Path to Cleanliness :
Now that we know how to create a path we will outline an object we would like to cut out.

1. Open the Paths Palettes. Window > Paths
2. Create a new Path layer, and name it “Outline”. (Be sure to Make a new layer for each Path, other wise they will get overwritten)
2. I try to begin my path at a sharp corner or at the corner of the image.

3. Now work your way around following the contours of the object.

- You can zoom in and out to be as precise as possible.
- Also if you happen to switch tools you can come back at any time by click on an open anchor point.

TIP:
Often when outlining an object you will find shadowed or dark areas. And it is difficult to determine the outlines.
1. Duplicate the image layer.
2. adjust the levels (ctrl+L) so that you can see the outline better, some times to the extreme ends of the histogram.

3. Now you can switch between the two layers to determine the correct outline





Making the Selection:
Now that you have a complete path, we will make a selection and we can cutout the object.

1. Goto the Paths Palettes, and select our “Outline” layer.
2. Now click the “Load Path as Selection” Button. Or for more detailed options Right click on the “Outline” Layer and choose “Make Selection…”.
3. Now that we have a beautiful selection you can take it away from here, cut, copy, fill and thing you want.

Some times the eraser is better, especially when it comes to stray hairs.
1. In this case go a little wide with the path so all the stray pieces are included in the Path.
2. After you finish the path and cutout the object, you can come back with the eraser and touch up the hair.