How to Remove Background from Product Images using Pen Tool in Photoshop
Editing out the product image background is a crucial way of boosting sales in e-commerce. You can purposefully remove background from product images using Pen Tool in Photoshop and make better sales.
Customers prefer a crisp background, not a fancy one. The plainest background ensures the best view. And in e-commerce, when you cannot interact with the products except for product images, visual is vital.
Removing image background using Pen Tool in Photoshop allows you to enhance the image’s beauty. Thus, customers find it attractive. And ultimately, they make the decision to buy from your retail store.
However, one of the most significant parts of editing and retouching your product images are replacing the background with a white one. Product photos with a genuine white background have, these days, become an industry standard. The online market is investing in removing background from the images and replaces them with white ones.
Why background removal is so important?
Removing background from the product images optimizes them visually for the buyers. So, the customers find it more appealing. In an e-commerce context, nothing is more important than appealing product photos.
Plain background lets your focus on the details of the products. It also provides a professional look and so, your brand image gets uplifted with an enhanced engagement rate.
How to remove background from product images using Pen Tool in Photoshop?
Removing background from product images is mainly done through two Photoshop techniques. One is Clipping Path and the other one is Image Masking.
However, you can remove the background from product images using Pen Tool in Photoshop easily if the background contrasts with the product’s color and texture. In this way, you can easily identify the edges and deploy the Pen Tool to set marking lines.
A multicolor background or product-similar background is hard to differentiate. Therefore, it is better to snap product shots on a white background in the first place. But, somehow, if it is not, then you need to remove background from product images using Pen Tool in Photoshop. This Pen Tool Photoshop tutorial will guide you through the process of background removal from product images.
Step 1 —
Identify the location of the Pen Tool in Photoshop once you have opened the desired image in it.
You’ll find it in the left toolbar aligned vertically. If you are quite familiar with Photoshop, then you probably know that pressing ‘P’ can also initiate the Pen Tool.
Step 2 —
Now it is time to select the anchor points to create a path.
You need to set anchor points across the border of the objects and then join them together to form a working path. Move your cursor across the curves of the objects to make a selection. Remember that only your selected areas will remain once you finish creating a path.
Setting up anchor points is easier than you think. You’ll see dot-like characters whenever you click on the images. Create anchor points whenever you are passing by a bend or curve. Set enough anchor points when the curve is too complex so that you get a perfect selection once you complete the path.
You may have to bend the path for round objects.
In that case, click on the last anchor point and drag it until you get around the edges. Use Bezier handles to bend the line between the desired anchor points.
Step 3 —
So, you have completed the setting anchor points by now. Next, you need to delete the background to extract the main object.
To do so, select again the Pen Tool. Go to the path palette. You will find it at the top. Click on the Selection option. Then, press Ok.
Next, invert the selection. From the top, click on the Select menu. Select the Inverse option from there. Press Control+X to delete the background.
Now, you have only the product image left on the screen.
Wrapping up —
Removing the background from the product image is way too easy in Photoshop. The only hard part is the selection of the object using anchor points and bending the selection line through the curves.
Product images look better when shown alone. You can add contextual background to make it more appealing. But, customers like it in the plain background and so, you should apply a pure white or light grey background to enhance their likability.
So, now you know how to remove background using the Pen Tool in Photoshop. But without proficiency in doing so will make your image look poor. It is better to let a professional do that. You can also outsource your image background removal job to professional agencies at an affordable cost.
