Adding a transparent background behind aflower vine without losing parts of the flower vine

[Linda5C9C]

I am learning photoshop and am trying to design a wedding invite for my daughter using it. I took a photo of a flower vine and traced the parts I wanted with the polygonal lasso tool. I was able to add a black background and I liked how it looked (clean lines, etc.) Now I want to delete the background altogether and make it transparent so I can transfer it into publisher for the invite.
When I delete the background (or make it transparent) the process degrades the flower vine. Does anyone know what I am doing wrong? And can you help me? Grateful in advance!
PS -HP laptop, windows 10

[davescm]

What actually "degrades" can you show a before and after screenshot (at 100% zoom)

Dave

[Linda5C9C]

Hi, Dave,

I deleted what I had done and planned to start over when I remembered the community. I plan to work on this again and assuming I have the same issue, I'll post screenshots. Many thanks for replying so quickly. 

Linda

PS -There seems to be a quick and easy way to add a transparent background to a portrait shot. Are there any shortcuts for a image such as a flower vine with its "nooks and crannies" and whose green vine is close in color to its background of grass?

[Nancy OShea]

Go to File > New and enter the desired output size (width, height and resolution in pixels).  If unsure, ask your professional print shop what settings to use.  Choose Transparent background from the drop-list.  See screenshot.

Place your vine and other elements on new layers above the transparent background.

Custom Shapes over Transparent Background

This way, each element can be manipulated individually.

[Linda5C9C]

Thank you, Nancy. I will try practising your suggestions.

[Nancy OShea]

Adobe Stock is a good resource for wedding invitation templates.

https://stock.adobe.com/search?k=wedding%20invitation

Photoshop contains vector flourishes in the Custom Shapes Panel.  If you're just starting out, you'll find those easier to use than an unmasked raster image.

 

[Leslie Moak Murray]

Dave, when you try to remove a background with a selection, whether it's the lasso tool or the magic wand, it really doesn't work very well even if you go to "Refine Edge."  Here's what you can get:

[davescm]

Hi Leslie, what you are showing is a problem with the selection, but the poster describes having a clean selection which worked well in seperating teh subject and showing it on a black background. It then degraded after the background was removed. That is what I wanted to see.

Dave