Adobe’s Photoshop is probably the best choice to all graphics designers for performing photo manipulation and editing and Clipping path is one of the numerous tasks performed using this software. Photos are chipped to get rid of unwanted backgrounds for further use and this task can be done easily using different tools. Though eraser, magnetic lasso tool, magic wand and background removal tool can bring almost the same result in photo clipping, we are going to use the Pen tool for the best result. Pen tool helps to keep the edges sharp and maintain the image quality for further professional use.
Follow the following simple steps for clipping images using Pen tool –
- Start Photoshop and open the file you want to clip
- Find and select Pen Tool in toolbar. In pen tool menu select ‘path’ option if not already selected
- Zoom in the image for ease of use. Clicking on an edge drag the mouse pointer to another closer edge and click. Thus try to cover the whole image you want to clip. Keep the distance between two selected edges as closer as possible for best result.
- When you will reach the starting point covering the whole image, an “O” symbol will appear. Click on it to close the path. Using the control key you can create more than one closed paths.
- Now find the ‘path; tab in the layer window and double click on “work path” which will automatically save your selected path as ‘Path 1’.
- Now a pop-up menu will appear where you will have to select “Clipping Path”. A dialogue box will appear where you will be able to select the desired flatness and path.
- Level of blur effect on edges is decided by the flatness. For crisp edges put 0 in value box
- Now your clipped image is ready to be saved for further use.
These were the very basic steps of clipping images using Photoshop’s Pen Tool which are useful for all sorts of graphics designing projects.