Remove Green Screen Background?

[Jason Williams]

Hello,

 

I'm using Affinity Publisher 1.8 on Windows.  I have placed an image that has a green background.  I want to make the green become transparent.  Is that possible with this tool?

[firstdefence]

This should help: 

 

[Jason Williams]

Thanks @firstdefence, but I have Affinity Publisher.  Is there a way to do this in Publisher?

[firstdefence]

8 hours ago, Jason Williams said:

Thanks @firstdefence, but I have Affinity Publisher.  Is there a way to do this in Publisher?

Woah! totally missed that @Jason Williams unless you have Affinity Photo it would be no. The only other options are, to either buy Affinity Photo or use a free app like GIMP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUHrQ0bn0lg and then import the image back minus the green screen.

 

[carl123]

8 hours ago, Jason Williams said:

Is there a way to do this in Publisher?

Yes, it can be done but it can be a pain depending on the image (or really easy)

Add a mask to the image

(make sure the mask is a child of the image not above it in the Layers panel or you don't get the option for the next step - not sure why that is?)

Right-click the mask layer and select Refine Mask

In the Refine Selection dialogue that pops up click the Background Tab

Now adjust paint brush size as required and paint on the green background where you want to erase it

(This painting process is intelligent and tries to determine what it is you want to erase and what you want to keep. With a little practice (on the image) you can determine how close to paint to the parts you want to keep to let the program automatically fill in the gaps for you)

When done, select Mask for the Output (if not already set) and click Apply

You can then Right-click the mask and select Refine Mask anytime, to redo parts you may have missed or correct parts you did not want to remove by using the Background and Foreground tabs respectively

[firstdefence]

@carl123 Where do you add a mask in Publisher?

[carl123]

The mask icon in the Layers Panel

[firstdefence]

4 minutes ago, carl123 said:

The mask icon in the Layers Panel

Having a seriously senior day today, I think I should go and do some gardening instead lol!

I still think gimp is going to be a better option.

[carl123]

10 minutes ago, firstdefence said:

I still think gimp is going to be a better option.

Not when you are on a train hurtling towards London for an immediate do-or-die presentation and the boss calls you and says the image MUST have a transparent background - but your Laptop has no internet connection to download Gimp.

Sometimes, we have to make do with what we have at the time.

Also, in a commercial environment try telling the IT staff you are just going to download Gimp and install it on your PC. To them that is a public flogging offence  

I know because I was that IT guy and we flogged and sacked many violators of the company's IT policy. 😄

 

[carl123]

6 hours ago, carl123 said:

(make sure the mask is a child of the image not above it in the Layers panel or you don't get the option for the next step - not sure why that is?)

To partially add to this

It appears that APhoto has a Layer > Refine Mask command so you can still Refine a mask layer that it not a child layer

But both Publisher and Designer do not have this command nor do either of them mention "Refine Mask" in the help file

So...

1. Should this right-click command not be in Publisher or Designer at all?

2. Or should we still be able to someway Refine a Mask on a Mask that is not a child layer in Publisher and Designer?