Generating a new background for an image

Available Files

The following files are available for download:

Download Exercise Files

In the final exercise for this section, we’ll practice removing the background from an image while keeping the image’s subject, as well as generating a completely new background for an image. We’ll be editing the following photo of a black cat sitting on some cardboard boxes:

Photograph of the same black cat from Exercise 2, sitting on a cardboard box and looking directly at the camera. He's surrounded by stacks of other cardboard boxes.

As part of the exercise, we’ll remove the boxes in the background while keeping the cat; after removing the boxes, we’ll generate a new background of an outdoor scene so it looks like the cat is sitting in some grass outside.

Let’s open the file Cat on boxes.jpg, then save it as a Photoshop document named Cat with flowers.psd before we start editing the image.

To open the file, on the Menu bar,
Click File, Click Open…
Navigate to where the exercise files are located on your computer.
To open Cat on boxes.jpg, in the Open dialog box,
Double-Click Cat on boxes.jpg
To save the file as a Photoshop document, on the Menu bar,
Click File, Click Save As…
Navigate to the folder containing the exercise files, if necessary.
To change the file name, in the File name field, type:
Cat with flowers
To change the file type, in the Save as type: dropdown,
Click , Click Photoshop (*.PSD; *.PDD; *.PDTT)
To finish saving the file, in the lower right corner of the Save As dialog box,
Click

Removing the background of an image using the Remove Background tool

The Remove Background tool works by looking at the image and determining the image’s subject, then applying a mask to the image that hides everything that’s not the subject. The Remove Background tool isn’t always perfect at selecting the subject, however, and might select parts of the image that aren’t actually the subject or hide parts of the subject that it thinks are actually part of the background. For example, the Remove Background tool may accidentally hide some of the cat’s back toes, while including some of the scribbled-over label on one of the boxes as part of the subject. This is easily fixable by editing the mask to conceal the background and reveal the subject as needed.

Let’s remove the background from the image. We can do this from the Contextual Task Bar. Once we’ve removed the background, we can make adjustments to the mask applied to the background to ensure we have the entire cat selected.

Ensure the Contextual Task Bar is visible.
To remove the background of the image, in the Contextual Task Bar,
Click

To set the colors to the default colors of white for the foreground and black for the background, on the keyboard, press:
D
To edit the mask for Layer 0, in the Layers panel,
Click

NOTE: The layer mask will have a thick border around the mask’s thumbnail when it is selected.

To activate the Eraser tool, in the Tools panel,
Click
In the brush preset drop-down in the Options bar, set the hardness for the eraser to 100%, and adjust the brush size to 30 px.
To hide any parts of the image that were selected in error, with the Eraser tool active,
Press & Drag over the area to hide

Feel free to increase or decrease the brush size as needed.

To activate the Brush tool, in the Tools panel,
Click
Set the brush to 100% hardness, and adjust the brush size to 30 px.
To show any parts of the image that were hidden by the mask, with the Brush tool active,
Press & Drag over the area to reveal the desired part of the image

Feel free to increase or decrease the brush size as needed.

Generating a new background using Generate Background

Now that the background has been removed from the photo, we’ll generate a new background using the Generate Background tool in the Contextual Task Bar. Generate Background works by looking at the contents of the image we’re working with, then generating a background based on the text prompt we provide that has lighting and shading similar to the original image.

Let’s generate a new background for the photo of the cat so it looks like he’s sitting outside in the grass on a sunny day.

To edit the contents of Layer 0 and not the mask for that layer, in the Layers panel,
Click
1. To view the tools for editing an image’s background, on the Contextual Task Bar,
  Click
2. To start the process of generating a new background for the image, on the Contextual Task Bar,
  Click
3. To indicate what kind of background to generate, in the “What would you like to generate? (Optional)” field, type:
  grassy field with wildflowers on a sunny day Enter key
4. Explore the different variations on the prompt by clicking on the thumbnails under the Variations heading in the Properties panel.

To save the file, on the keyboard, press:
Control key + S

Generating a new background for an image

Available Files

Step 1. Open the file Cat on boxes.jpg, and save a copy of the file as a Photoshop document named Cat with flowers.psd.

Removing the background of an image using the Remove Background tool

Step 1. Remove the image’s background using the Remove Background tool in the Contextual Task Bar.

Step 2. Use the eraser tool to hide any parts of the background that were accidentally selected, if necessary.

Step 3. Use the brush tool to reveal any parts of the subject that were accidentally hidden, if necessary.

Generating a new background using Generate Background

Step 1. Use the Generate Background tool in the Contextual Task Bar to generate a background for the image that makes it look like the cat is sitting outside on a sunny day.

Step 2. Save the file.