Image masking for dummies
May 12, 2013 5:39 PM   Subscribe

Clipping Magic is a single-service website which allows you remove the background from images algorithmically. For example: a dog in a tub can become a dog on a white background with a few simple marks to identify what in the image is foreground, and what is background.
posted by ocherdraco (18 comments total) 121 users marked this as a favorite
 
On an initial trial run, it works quite well. Thanks for sharing this.
posted by SpacemanStix at 6:02 PM on May 12, 2013 [1 favorite]


That is pretty damn cool. Now what does a person lacking Photoshop actually do with the masked image?
posted by LarryC at 6:50 PM on May 12, 2013


Holy crap, this is really good. This is like magic magic-wand. Yeah, it doesn't handle well complex features like fine, semi-transparent hair but neither do I.

I tried this on with several images and I am really impressed. On this non-trivial image, took me less than a minute and a dozen strokes to clip the plane very nicely. Damn, this is magic.
posted by tksh at 6:52 PM on May 12, 2013


huh, kinda reminds me of this new iphone app i saw an ad for at the movies last night, that lets you remove unwanted people from the foreground of images.
posted by rebent at 6:55 PM on May 12, 2013 [2 favorites]


LarryC: Now what does a person lacking Photoshop actually do with the masked image?

Larry, meet GIMP. GIMP, Larry. Have fun, you guys.
posted by IAmBroom at 6:58 PM on May 12, 2013 [3 favorites]


My god, this is wonderful.

Or it would be, if the school where I'm working (and where I have to make all of my own materials) would let us use non-Explorer browsers (or let us upgrade past IE 8). Oh well, I'll definitely use this at home though.
posted by Ghidorah at 7:02 PM on May 12, 2013


IAmBroom: did they ever get around to implementing an actual user interface in GIMP or is it still as opaque to use as Dwarf Fortress is to play
posted by flatluigi at 7:15 PM on May 12, 2013 [7 favorites]


Waiting waiting waiting...
posted by Mario Speedwagon at 7:33 PM on May 12, 2013


Bookmarked, thanks. I can never make clipping work as well as I want it to in Photoshop.
posted by immlass at 8:39 PM on May 12, 2013 [2 favorites]


flatluigi: "IAmBroom: did they ever get around to implementing an actual user interface in GIMP or is it still as opaque to use as Dwarf Fortress is to play"

Version 2.8 introduced Single Window Mode. Pros will still bemoan the lack of CMYK color models, but it should work fine for those who's best camera is attached to a phone.
posted by pwnguin at 10:00 PM on May 12, 2013 [1 favorite]


IAmBroom: did they ever get around to implementing an actual user interface in GIMP or is it still as opaque to use as Dwarf Fortress is to play

What? When has this ever been so?
posted by JHarris at 10:43 PM on May 12, 2013


Color me impressed. It even worked decently well on my very non-contrasty black and white pointillism sketch. Not half bad!

(That dog looks kinda like a bat, though. For the record. Not that it's a bad thing. Bats are cute.)
posted by po at 4:08 AM on May 13, 2013


And GIMP isn't that bad to use, honestly. It just doesn't seem get along with tablets at -all- (no pressure sensitivity? wtf), making it vastly inferior for anything you want to do over and above using a mouse to edit pictures. I'd use it all the time, but for that.
posted by po at 4:10 AM on May 13, 2013


did they ever get around to implementing an actual user interface in GIMP

You seem to be posting from the year 2007, so I'll let you in on a little secret: we elect a black president next year.
posted by one more dead town's last parade at 7:06 AM on May 13, 2013 [3 favorites]


bookmarked, thanks!
posted by Abinadab at 12:58 PM on May 13, 2013


IAmBroom: did they ever get around to implementing an actual user interface in GIMP or is it still as opaque to use as Dwarf Fortress is to play

What? When has this ever been so?

JHarris: pre-version 2.8.

Can we give up on the pro-/anti-GIMP derail, everyone? THIS is about the wonderful online photo tool!
posted by IAmBroom at 2:04 PM on May 13, 2013 [1 favorite]


I've actually used the remove background feature in powerpoint for this, but I'm interested to see how this works in comparison.
posted by sarae at 4:54 PM on May 13, 2013


This is pretty cool.
posted by Mitheral at 7:33 PM on May 14, 2013


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