How to change the background in Photoshop? TOP 3 best ways

Most often, we open Photoshop just to change the background of the image. First of all it is necessary for designers. And ordinary people often have a situation where, for example, there is an excellent photo that only the background spoils. Fortunately, this is a fixable thing, and right now we will tell you about the three most popular ways, how to change the background in Photoshop.

Method number 1. Color Range

If the image was taken from a SLR camera, first of all you should load it into a special RAW-converter (Lightroom). Here you can slightly adjust the exposure, illumination, saturation and brightness. A ready picture can be transferred to Photoshop. The next step is getting rid of skin defects. In principle, the web can be found a huge number of manuals and do it in any of the ways (which one is more like). The next step is more difficult, because with it you can understand how to change the background in Photoshop. In the menu, select Select (Color Range item) and click the dropper on the background. As a result, we see that the program has formed a mask. However, we need to get rid of it completely. To this end, we select a pipette with a plus sign and conduct it on the background, then click OK. As a result, we get a selection. Then in the menu choose Layer - New Fill Layer - Solid Color and specify the desired color. The new layer automatically becomes the mask of the previous one. Remove unnecessary pieces of the mask by walking through the main part of the image with a black brush. Then you just need to merge the layers and adjust the finished image.

Method number 2. For the lazy, or How to take weather forecasts

There is no need for global explanations, since everything is extremely simple. True, the method is suitable only for studio photography. The essence of it is that the background of green or blue can almost always be replaced "on the fly" - such shades are completely absent in the skin of a person. It is ideal for those who want to understand how to change the background of a photo in Photoshop without straining or using dozens of tools. However, you need to consider that with such a shooting, you can not play with lighting - the slightest greenish or bluish pixels on the skin will turn your work into something eerie and torn.

Method number 3. How to change the background in Photoshop - for true pros

This method is used even by professional photographers (for example, if the shooting took place in the studio).

So, after the photo was opened in the program, you should use Clone Stamp, Healing Brush and others tools to correct visible defects of the image and, if possible, to clear the background. The next step is to use the polygonal lasso to select the shape of the person. Hair at the same time simply ignored (to perikselno cut them, it will take hours 5-6 work!).

What to do with the hair, if you want to change the background in Photoshop? At the first stage (when we clean the background), create 2 copies of the layer. On the first layer, use the Clone Stamp tool to "paint over" the hair tips (which you need to crop) with the background. Then, using the Difference overlay mode, add this layer to the original one. As a result we receive a preparation under a mask for hair. Then you can switch to the Channels section and select the best channel for the hair mask (white outline on a black background). Holding Ctrl and clicking on the desired channel, we get a selection. Then, in the form of a mask, attach the selection to our layer from the first item. To make the hair opaque, you can use the curves to increase the brightness of the mask. Then we return to our working layer, turn on the masks and combine them with the picture. It turned out beautiful, well-worked hair.

The last step is to include the background you need and save the changed image.

As you can see, photomontage in Photoshop is easy! You just need to want :)