Here is what I do to seperate the foreground from the back ground in a photo.
1. Open the photo.
2. Go to Layer > New > New Layer and name it layer 2 (default name doesnt work, atleast for me)
3. Go to Window > Show Layers
4. In the new window, select the layer you just created, and click off the eye symbol on the layer called background. You should see a grey and white checkerboard.
5. On the tool window, select the color picker (biggest button) and selec the color you want as a background.
6. On the tool wondow, select the paint bucket icon. Click inside your image, and it should change to the color you selected.
7. Go to Layers > Arrange and select send to back. You should see your original image.
8. In the layers window, double click on layer 0 (may also be background, should be your original image). Also make sure that the 2nd box has the paint brush image in it.
9. On the tool window, select the eraser tool.
10. Go to windows > show brushes.
11. Select the brush size that works for what you are doing. I usually use the 2-4 brushes depending on the shape I am working with.
12. Move your curser to the image (should be an eraser while on the image) and hold your mouse button while you move the mouse. You will likely find it helpful to zoom in (CTRL and + keys).
13. You should see the back ground color everywhere you were holding the mouse button down. 'Cut out' your foreground image, and user larger brushes to clean out the area not so close to your pen.
14. Once you have the image cut out and the way you want it, go to Layer > Flatten image. Once you do this, you are joining both layers into one. It'll be 1 image again.
15. Save your image.
Hope I didn't confuse things too much.
Scott
www.onlyonecreations.com
