Easiest way to remove background around figure?

[ladyinblack1964]

I'm working in PSE 2021. I've got a number of sketches of women on colored backgrounds that I'm making into PNGs so that I can resize and use them in other artwork. Attached is an example of one that I have saved as a PNG.

I have not used PSE 2021 very much, I confess. As there's more than one way to do things in PSE, I'm wondering, since I've gotten this far, what's a fast and easy way to get rid of the remaining "background" around her figure? Is there a way to use the Guided Edit for removing an object from a background to do this? (I'm thinking not). Which tool/method would be best?

Many thanks.

[hatstead · Accepted solution]

Try this on the Expert tab:

1.Open the picture file

2. From the enhance menu, Adjust lighting> increase contrast & decrease brightness

3. Activate the the Magnetic lasso tool and select the sketch (inside the remaining background.) Once the selection is complete, place it on a new layer (press CTRL+J)

4. Activate the eraser tool and with a small cursor tidy up any remaining pixels.

5. Delete the original layer.

[ladyinblack1964]

I'm not sure I am doing this correctly--my results are not coming out that great. I am not sure how much of a contrast the magnetic tool needs to "see" the lady's figure. Is there a number(s) I should be aiming for on the Enhance part? I'm also ending up with parts of the figure missing when I delete the original layer. I always find the Lasso tools very challenging to work with.

[hatstead · Accepted solution]

I moved the contrast slider to maximum and reduced the brightness just a bit.

Two other options for your consideration:

1. If the background is a solid color (your posting of the sketch has already been manipulated to some extent), then the magic wand tool may be used to select the background, and delete same

2. You can apply a mask to the sketch. The drill is to paint with black in order to hide what you don't wish to see. If you go too far by mistake, paint with white to correct. Black hides, white reveals.

Layer Masks In Photoshop Elements Clearly Explained (essential-photoshop-elements.com)

[Md Masum306908517c41]

Masking