How Do I Cut Out An Object From An Image?

Question: How do I clear out the background of my photo so I can place the chain on any background and the chain looks natural?

Type: Technical, Image Editing

There's a magic wand function with the free tool, Pixlr.  Photoshop also provides this function. The magic wand tool allows you to clear out the background of an image, but for it to work well, the photo needs to have a solid background color. The more complex and precise method requires some illustrators skills. If you know how to use Illustrator or the open source alternative, Inkscape, you can use the pen tool to cut out exactly what you want. This approach is akin to a surgeon with a knife, so it's harder but more precise.

How to Use the Pen Tool in Photoshop Or Illustrator

Video courtesy of PHLearn.

If you are looking for ease and haste, and you're willing to pay for it, you can also find images already cut out on Shutterstock.