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Posted

I want to remove the background of the attached profile photo and make it transparent. What is the best way to do that?

Larry-Bohen.png

V2 Affinity products: Designer, Publisher & Photo

Mac desktop with OS: Ventura 13.7.1

Posted

There are several ways to make a selection, just search for Selection in Help. The easiest way is probably to use the Selection Brush Tool, Refine the selection then add a mask (so you can touch up the selection, if necessary). Hopefully you have a higher resolution version than the one you posted. You may struggle to get clean edges with this version.  

Acer XC-895 Core i5-10400 Hexa-core 2.90 GHz : 32GB RAM : Intel UHD Graphics 630 – Windows 11 Home - Affinity Publisher, Photo & Designer, v2
(As I am a Windows user, any answers/comments I contribute may not apply to Mac or iPad.)

Posted

@lbohen, It would help when you ask questions like this to tell us which Affinity app(s) you have, since some tools & methods are unique to one of them.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.6 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
A
ll 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

Posted
1 hour ago, lbohen said:

I want to remove the background of the attached profile photo and make it transparent. What is the best way to do that?

Larry-Bohen.png

Use the selection brush.

it can help to convert the image to LAB mode for selection. You can convert back to RGB later when the selection or mask is done.

Mac mini M1 A2348 | MBP M3 

Windows 11 - AMD Ryzen 9 5900x - 32 GB RAM - Nvidia GTX 1080

LG34WK950U-W, calibrated to DCI-P3 with LG Calibration Studio / Spider 5 | Dell 27“ 4K

iPad Air Gen 5 (2022) A2589

Special interest into procedural texture filter, edit alpha channel, RGB/16 and RGB/32 color formats, stacking, finding root causes for misbehaving files, finding creative solutions for unsolvable tasks, finding bugs in Apps.

I use iPad screenshots and videos even in the Desktop section of the forum when I expect no relevant difference.

 

Posted

This took about two minutes. Used the pen tool so it will work on all three applications.

Larry-Bohen.afdesign

ScreenShot2024-11-16at11_32_27AM.png.104f7052b1b310a87da195850b02e8b9.png

Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.6 
Affinity Designer 2.6.0 | Affinity Photo 2.6.0 | Affinity Publisher 2.6.0 | Beta versions as they appear.

I have never mastered color management, period, so I cannot help with that.

Posted
2 hours ago, lbohen said:

I have Affinity's Designer, Publisher and Photo, V2.

It is optimal to include this information (including the OS type) in your signature - then users don't have to ask you repeatedly, and you don't have to answer repeatedly 🙂

Affinity Store (MSI/EXE): Affinity Suite (ADe, APh, APu) 2.5.7.2948 (Retail)
Dell OptiPlex 7060, i5-8500 3.00 GHz, 16 GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630, Dell P2417H 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 24H2, Build 26100.2605.
Dell Latitude E5570, i5-6440HQ 2.60 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics 530, 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 24H2, Build 26100.2605.
Intel NUC5PGYH, Pentium N3700 2.40 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics, EIZO EV2456 1920 x 1200, Windows 10 Pro, Version 21H1, Build 19043.2130.

Posted

Dear Affinity Folks,

The video’s and directions I have read show how easy it is to change backgrounds, but this little black duck cannot get it right. The black pattern next to a black background seems to faze the Selection brush function.

Using the Selection Brush tool, when I refine the mask, the red does not take on the image properly. I should be able to draw a solid mask with the brush but sections will not take. ( See Screenshots): I tried deleting Selections on all channels and tried again. After clicking Apply, the selection has bled into the pattern on the ear-rings. (see last image below). I simply want to isolate the rectangular ear-rings from the scruffy background.

I tried making a selection with the pen tool and tried reverse selection but I failed to cut out background. 

Most online video’s recommend the Selection brush. How does one control the selection brush sensitivity prior to using Refine. ( As an ex illustrator user I have been looking for a sensitivity index progress bar).

You can see that Pen Tool selection path saved in the Alpha channel in the screen shot.

I would appreciate your advice please.

 

Screenshot 2024-11-17 at 5.19.00 pm.png

Screenshot 2024-11-17 at 5.18.35 pm.png

Screenshot 2024-11-17 at 5.16.58 pm.png

Posted

@Terra Australis Can you please

  • upload the actual image in best possible quality, e.g. placed into an afphoto file
  • explain in words what parts you want to keep and what parts you want to remove. I can’t see a „black duck“, or any colors except the red overlay in the screenshots. Do you mean the two rectangular shapes with graphical pattern?
  • what you want to do with the remaining parts

BTW please open a new thread if you need help for a specific image, and do not reply to an existing thread where the original poster had no chance to reply and give feedback if his issue is solved. He might need further assistance and discussing both individual cases in the same thread is not a good idea.

For this specific image, I would advice to use a vector shape, created by the pen tool (not the selection tool), and apply a Gaussian blur of 0,2 to 1,0 radius via layer fx. Use layer geometry boolean subtract to invert the vector mask. This method has been discussed numerous times.

Mac mini M1 A2348 | MBP M3 

Windows 11 - AMD Ryzen 9 5900x - 32 GB RAM - Nvidia GTX 1080

LG34WK950U-W, calibrated to DCI-P3 with LG Calibration Studio / Spider 5 | Dell 27“ 4K

iPad Air Gen 5 (2022) A2589

Special interest into procedural texture filter, edit alpha channel, RGB/16 and RGB/32 color formats, stacking, finding root causes for misbehaving files, finding creative solutions for unsolvable tasks, finding bugs in Apps.

I use iPad screenshots and videos even in the Desktop section of the forum when I expect no relevant difference.

 

Posted

Dear ‘Not My Fault’,

Sorry to confuse you. My apologies. The Black Duck refers to myself metaphorically -  as in the case of Daffy Duck in Looney Tunes. I quite understand that is an obscure reference to many.

As I explained ‘I simply want to isolate the rectangular ear-rings from the scruffy background.’ You are correct. The ‘two rectangular shapes with graphical pattern’ are ear-rings. Aluminium with black pattern.

The red overlay is the Refine mask which seems unable to separate the ear-rings from the black background about which I complained in my request for assistance. I enclose afphoto file for your convenience. Once I have completed Refine and clicked Apply, the black of the background and the black pattern become confused. The selection was not modified by the mask properly. I expected the red mask to preserve the entire shape of each ear-ring so I could delete the background.

Yes, as I mentioned I considered the Pen Tool and created an Alpha channel but have been unable to properly apply it. Please refer me to an appropriate post if that is convenient for you. I appreciate your comments re vector and would appreciate a link to ‘layer geometry boolean subtract to invert the vector mask’ if possible. Yes, as an alternative I understand I could start a fresh post if necessary.

Thank you for your interest.

Ear-rings 01..afphoto

Posted

Is it this what you want?
 

IMG_2016.png

Ear-rings 01.nmf.afphoto

Mac mini M1 A2348 | MBP M3 

Windows 11 - AMD Ryzen 9 5900x - 32 GB RAM - Nvidia GTX 1080

LG34WK950U-W, calibrated to DCI-P3 with LG Calibration Studio / Spider 5 | Dell 27“ 4K

iPad Air Gen 5 (2022) A2589

Special interest into procedural texture filter, edit alpha channel, RGB/16 and RGB/32 color formats, stacking, finding root causes for misbehaving files, finding creative solutions for unsolvable tasks, finding bugs in Apps.

I use iPad screenshots and videos even in the Desktop section of the forum when I expect no relevant difference.

 

Posted

Yes, except I want the fasteners at top of earrings to be visible. You have cut them off.

So what is your sequence of operation NotMyFault?

I first created the PenTool path. I assume you did the same. Then what steps did you take?

Posted
8 hours ago, Terra Australis said:

So what is your sequence of operation NotMyFault?

I first created the PenTool path. I assume you did the same. Then what steps did you take?

 

  • I created both parts as separate layers.
  • set fill color to white 
  • use layer/geometry/add and create a compound layers. So you can edit them individually, but use them combined as mask
  • move the compound shade by mouse over the background layer thumbnail, and let it become a vector mask for the shapes.
8 hours ago, Terra Australis said:

except I want the fasteners at top of earrings to be visible. You have cut them off

Intentionally, as I didn’t want to do all the work for you and leave the remaining steps as a exercise for you.
You can use the node tool, and click on the existing curve to add more nodes.

  • set mode to „sharp nodes“
  • Add 2 nodes where the fastener starts, then add another node in the middle.
  • Use mouse to select 3 new nodes.
  • use mouse to select center node only. Move up to mark the upper left end of fastener.
  • add another node on the right edge, set to sharp node and move to upper right end of fastener
  • click on the newly created nodes and adjust node handles to get the optimal curvature (each node individually)

Mac mini M1 A2348 | MBP M3 

Windows 11 - AMD Ryzen 9 5900x - 32 GB RAM - Nvidia GTX 1080

LG34WK950U-W, calibrated to DCI-P3 with LG Calibration Studio / Spider 5 | Dell 27“ 4K

iPad Air Gen 5 (2022) A2589

Special interest into procedural texture filter, edit alpha channel, RGB/16 and RGB/32 color formats, stacking, finding root causes for misbehaving files, finding creative solutions for unsolvable tasks, finding bugs in Apps.

I use iPad screenshots and videos even in the Desktop section of the forum when I expect no relevant difference.

 

Posted

Understood. Thank you for the detailed sequence. I have not found a video to describe that technique. Probably did not use suitable search terms.  I am happy with Affinity nodes despite the differences with Illustrator. The behaviour of layers and masks is another story. A work in progress.

Thank you very much for your help NotMyFault.

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