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gerbiljo
gerbiljo
Known Participant
October 19, 2024
Answered

How-To Keep image constrained within path

  • October 19, 2024
  • 4 replies
  • 4371 views

Would any one please tell me how to delete the back ground on this picture out outside of the path- so basically I can copy the pony only and paste into a new page please.

I would know how to do it in photoshop but everything is different here.

Ultimately I want to cut out the pony and engrave the picture with my laser cutter- as it stands I waste alot of material because the whole background is also engraving around the cut path. I would like to place him in a scene with other horses on AI as well which I am unable to do with the back ground still there.

Thank you wonderful people for helping me with the program as I am learning but v v slowly!!

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Bobby Henderson

I am sure I will be doing something wrong because i  find it so confusing. and I have tried it so many ways and spent most of my day tracing ponies now I am confused with what i have tried and what i havent.

The third picture is kind of where I have ended up. The brown pony has a path which i can move and I can move the pony but the move independantly. The other 2 ponies I could only remove the background by deleting it on PS so it extends outside the path, when i resize the ponies I now am unable to move the cut path around them, i can only move it by resizing it up and down to get it to the place i want it. and you can see from the back ground picture when i do this the art board gets really larger again and starts to include other pictures wihich I don't want to include. Thank you

 

 


I'm still a little foggy on what the finished project will be. In the first post you mentioned laser engraving and cutting. Are the pony shapes going to be cut out of some kind of material? Or are you using the paths to merely erase background details and then bring isolated pony "objects" into another composite image?

 

Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop can be used together for lots of tasks, but the end product would determine what approach is best to use. If you're simply compositing different isolated pony images into another larger pixel-based image that kind of work can be done exclusively in Photoshop. You don't necessarily have to use paths to erase backgrounds either. Multiple methods are available. If the workflow of a graphics project involves cutting something then it's going to be necessary to involve a vector app like Illustrator in the process.

 

If photo imagery and razor-sharp vector-based logos/graphics are going to be combined together then an app like Illustrator or InDesign should be used to create the final "container" file for all the stuff in the project. If I'm going to die-cut a bunch of printed decals on vinyl I can do a lot of visual work in Photoshop, but I need to bring the art into Illustrator where the actual cut paths would be defined.

4 replies

gerbiljo
gerbiljoAuthor
Known Participant
December 22, 2024

I just wanted to come back and thank everyone who helped me with this, after a break I managed to complete the project for christmas, I just don't get the time I would like for crafting!!

I had some issues with the engraving of the brown pony it was very dotty so I modified that with paint as wasnt sure how to change that. I also noticed straight lines cut deeper than curved ones- for the snow that cut out fine but the feet in the snow had to be broken out manually.

Thanks again 🙂

Monika Gause
Monika Gause
Community Expert
December 22, 2024

Thank you for showing. 

That's a great artwork! 

B
Bobby Henderson
Community Expert
October 19, 2024

If you're going to bring the horse image into Illustrator (with the background knocked out) the way I would do it is by creating an additional path in Photoshop for the boundary of the image. Click Ctrl+A to Select All, open the Paths palette and choose "create work path." The default setting is fine, click OK. Then go to File>Export>Paths to Illustrator. Choose "All Paths." That will grab both the path you created around the edge of the horse as well as the edge of the image boundary. Save the resulting AI file in a location of your choice.

 

In Illustrator you can place the horse image and then import the AI file you saved from Photoshop. Both objects should be the same size. You might have to add a line stroke to the imported AI file from Photoshop to see it. Imported paths from Photoshop into Illustrator tend to be invisible in Preview/Enhanced Preview mode. Align both objects together. The path around the edge of the horse should line up properly with the image. You can use that to create a clipping mask. The boundary path around the image can then be discarded.

The process sounds kind of complicated with the long-winded way I wrote it. But it actually goes pretty fast when you do it.

gerbiljo
gerbiljoAuthor
Known Participant
October 20, 2024

Thank you, when I try to bring the file from PS to AI the file which is a .ai, it says it is in a format that cannot be placed.

gerbiljo
gerbiljoAuthor
Known Participant
October 20, 2024
aaaaa.png

So this is where i have got to and it maybe that this is going to be ok for me to work with although I am not 100% sure how I have got to here. Thanks for all your help I have alot to learn here, I will post the finished result if I get there eventually!!

Jacob Bugge
Jacob Bugge
Community Expert
October 19, 2024

gerbiljo,

 

As I (mis)understand it, you can just:

 

1) Select both the pony image and the path, then use Ctrl/Cmd+7 (hold Ctrl/Cmd and press 7) to create a Clipping Path/clipping set, which will hide the pony image background and only show the pony;

2) Place the scene with other horses and use Ctrl/Cmd+X+B to place it behind the Clipping set, then position the pony and the new background as desired relative to each other.

 

That ought to make the whole new pony setting ready for engraving, and for other uses such as printing if desired.

 

Abd further, as I (mis)understand it, you can also use (a copy of) the path round the pony, possibly with an offset (outside the Clipping set) for actually cutting the pony out for other purposes.

 

Jacob Bugge
Jacob Bugge
Community Expert
October 20, 2024

gerbiljo,

 

Have you tried the simple suggestion above with no use of Photoshop?

 

Monika Gause
Monika Gause
Community Expert
October 19, 2024

In Photoshop you change the background layer to an image layer, then make a selection from the path, invert the selection and delete.

Then invert the selection again and crop the image.

Then save as a file format that supports transparency.

gerbiljo
gerbiljoAuthor
Known Participant
October 20, 2024

I can in photoshop use the magnet selection to select the horse and then delete the back ground- to prevent the back ground being there. If i then take it into illustrator- but when it is resized I lose the proportions so I have to guess which is annoying so obviously I am doing something wrong there, which is annoying. If then I manually draw a path around the horse, and group it with the image, if I resize the horse the path is not attached, which again is annoying as again I lose the proportions. If I then try to resize the path to overlap it to the horse then horse then gets attached to the path so I cannot resize them independantly and the 'work area' again becomes massive again. I am also stuck where I cannot 'resize my canvas'. I can usually manage to do what I need to photoshop but I am self taught so don't really undertsand all the terms etc. Thank you

Monika Gause
Monika Gause
Community Expert
October 20, 2024

When scaling something in Illustrator, you have to hold down the shift key in order to scale it proportionally.

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