Removing backgrounds from photographs.

Photographs with cluttered backgrounds can detract from the subject of the photo. Using a backdrop material, such as a cloth sheet, when taking the photograph is the simplest way of producing a clean background. However it is also possible to use an image editor to remove the background leaving a clean image of the auction item.

The method described below for removing backgrounds uses The Gimp image editor, version 2.6. This version can be downloaded from http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html and has the latest updates to perform these tasks.

Note; before proceeding make a backup copy of the original image.

In general when editing images better results are achieved by using the original full size photo. Using a large image will result in better accuracy in the following procedures. It can be down sized on completion.

This photo has had the background removed and a drop shadow added.

Step 1

Open the photograph with The Gimp then select File | Save As. In the pop-up window fill in the name area as image1.xcf and Save. This saves the image as an xcf file which is required for processing by The Gimp.

Step 2, selection.

Open the xcf image, open it to full screen and to full size (View | Zoom | 100%). In the Select menu ensure that None is "greyed out", if not then click on None. Then select Tools | Selection Tools | Intelligent Scissors.

This shows Select | None "greyed out".

Clicking on the edge of the item will produce a node, do this until the whole item is outlined (if needed use the scroll bars). Clicking on the first node will close the the outline. The nodes can be moved by left-click and dragging the node to a new position. Add more nodes by clicking on the line between two nodes.

To complete the selection click inside the outline. The outline will then change to a black and white dashed line. When this happens then Step 2 has been completed.

Step 3, removing the background.

Supplementary information.

"Islands" of background, as can be seen between the sleeve and body of the jacket in this photograph, can also be removed. This should be done once the main background has been removed but before the drop shadow is added.

As before use the intelligent scissors to select the background area to be removed. This time, when removing background, do not Select | Invert, just select Edit | Clear and the background will be removed. When done save the changes by selecting File | Save.

Step 4, adding a drop shadow.

Save any changes made in step 3. For version 2.6 of The Gimp to add a drop shadow, choose Select | None.
Then select Filters | Light and Shadow | Drop Shadow.

This will open a pop-up window from which the style of the drop shadow can be configured. How the shadow is configured will depend on the item. For a "flat" item try these settings;

Offset x: 8
Offset y: 8
Blur radius: 15
Opacity: 80

Click okay and if satisfied with the result save the image. If not then close the image without saving, reopen and have another go.

Step 5, saving the image as a jpg.

The xcf image will now need to be saved as an jpg file. To have a white background open the image then select File | Save as. In the pop-up window give the file a name for example jacket.jpg , click save, then click Export and in the next window set a quality of about 85. Close the image and reopen it to view the changes.

To have a different coloured background open the xcf image with The Gimp. From The Gimp's main toolbox click on the background colour box (lower left and the back box) this will open the background colour selection window.

From this window select the desired background colour using the colour boxes. Alternately enter the hex colour code in the HTML Notation box and click the small box below. Once the colour has been selected click okay.

As before save the xcf image as an jpg file, open the image then select File | Save as.

The saved jpg can now be resized to fit the ebay auction, how to do this is detailed in the resizing page.