Fast Image Masking in Corel PHOTO-PAINT

(Note, this is from a version I did many years ago, though the technique is still valid.

Corel PHOTO-PAINT X3 offers a wide range of options for manipulating images. You can control the color, exposure, create images for the Web and more. At some point, you’ll realize that you’d like to change a portion of an image without affecting the background, or to remove a section of an image from its background to use in other compositions. To do so, you need to use a technique known as masking.

In PHOTO-PAINT X3, there are many methods of accomplishing this task, one of which is to use the Magic Wand, which we’re going to look at today.

In this case, the masking process is straightforward, because the background is relatively uniform, so it will be easy to mask. This image is the result of photography in a photographer’s studio, where you can control the environment.

The Importance of High Contrast Objects

Before we begin, I want to draw your attention to the Objects Docker. You’ll notice 4 objects here, a copy of the background, an object filled with green (RGB 0,255,0) an image of an aircraft wing and the background. While it’s possible to mask images on the background, I find it difficult to see what’s happening with the edge of the mask once the background has been cut away. With a copy of the background and contrasting objects below, it’s easier to see what’s happening with the edge of the mask. This way, I know if additional retouching is necessary.

To get started, click on the Mask flyout and select the Magic Wand tool.

In the Magic Wand property bar, it’s important to make sure the Additive Mode is selected because we’re going to be adding to the mask as we select areas around the image. To the right of the Additive Mode is the Tolerance, normally set to 32. In this case, I’m going to dial it down to 5, because the color of the background is similar to the color of the hair. The last thing I want to do is to make sure that the Anti-Aliasing button is turned on. This helps to create a smooth transition between the foreground object and the edge of the mask.

Note: Using a broader tolerance, such as the default, would create selections inside the object, which is not what I want.

Initially, I begin the masking process by clicking on the right side of the image, which creates a red overlay. The area that appears clear is where the image has been masked. The red portion indicates what hasn’t been masked.

As I click around the image with the Magic Wand tool, I select more and more of the background. Due to the simplicity of the background, masking the image takes only a few seconds. Once the masking is complete, I’m now ready to cut away the background.

To do so, choose Edit: Cut (or CTRL + X). Now we can see through to the next layer which is a high contrast object. The high contrast layer allows me to see what’s happening with the edge of the mask. The looks quite good against the high contrast object, and it looks like we’re finished, but I want to do one more test.

In this case, I turn off the high contrast object, so we can see through to the aircraft wing below. When you look at the top part of the image, it looks quite good, but when you look at the edge of the bottom right part of the mask, you can see a white fringe around the edge. This is the result of using the low Tolerance setting.

Fortunately, this is easy to fix. Make sure that the top object is selected, go to the Object menu and choose Matting: Defringe. In the Defringe dialog box, type in a value of 7 and click on OK. This removes the fringe.

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