A PSD is an image, generally of a person (but not always) that has a transparent background around the main object. The name comes from that originally these were always saved with a .psd extension.

I'm going to start with this image:


To follow the tutorial, I suggest you copy this image. It is an easy image for beginner's because the background is very plain.

Start off by selecting the polygonal lasso. You may have to click and hold down on the lasso tool so you can select the polygonal one. The image that you should select is shown below.



After you have that tool selected, zoom in to about 700% on your image. ctrl and + for pc's, apple and + for mac's, if you prefer shortcuts. Otherwise, simply select the magnifying glass, and then at the top make sure the one with a '+' in it is selected



Now that the image is at 700%, make sure your polygonal lasso tool is selected again. Now, click somewhere to start on the image. With this lasso tool, it's like connect the dots- wherever you click your mouse, another 'dot' forms (this is metaphorical, you won't see any actual dots) and a line forms between the previous 'dot' and this one. Remember, you want to get as close to the image as possible- any background inside the selection will ruin the effect. Here is an example of what it looks like in the middle of selecting.



Now, once you have selected the whole image and zooomed out, it should look like this (though mine is at 200%)



Now, obviously, the selection won't be perfect the first time. If you accidentally selected the background, hold down the 'alt' key, and select the part you want out of the main selection. If you left a part of the model out, hold down 'ctrl' and select the part you want /in/ the main selection. For example, i need to change this portion:



When editing these, zoom in again, and select the polygonal lasso tool. When you are adding selection and holding down ctrl, you should see a plus sign next to the cursor. When you are taking away, and holding down alt, you should see a minus sign.

Now that you have edited it, and it seems smooth everywhere (no sharp angles), invert the selection. Select->> Inverse, or ctrl+shift+i.
Now press delete.

Simply deselect, and delete the background layer (if you have one) and you're done! Now, save as a .psd file, and you can paste it into any image you want!


I pasted into an image of a sunset, but obviously you would want to do something more realistic. Still, this shows you the general idea.



Note: model from foto_decadent, sunset from googleimages

This tutorial is COMPLETELY AND 100% COPYRIGHT ME, AMY. Thanks.

Maybe you could add in the alternative use of the pen tool to outline it too. Right click > Make selection [set feather degrees and stuff]. Heard it was more precise and easier to use than the lasso tool, especially when you've zoomed in. You can hold the spacebar to get the Hand tool out temporarily for easier navigation too.

Actually a psd is a Graphics program only file. It has nothing to do with people only. Everything you make should be saved as psd and a png. On many gfx sites you can trade psds for points/currency or other psds. Png can be transparent as well and gif too.

Nice tutorial Cassie, but Wtjy brings up a good point.



I do have another minor addition that will help preserve "edit-ability" in case you need to go back and make changes to your cut-out.

Once you've created the outlining path with the pen tool and have the necessary layer selected, right-click near your drawn path and choose 'Create Vector Mask' (must be in pen tool still) (P)

This will save you from needing to rasterize your path and physically deleting the background.
The vector mask automatically knocks out the background and remains editable if you need to make changes. Use the direct selection tool (A) to make changes to the path itself. Any changes are immediately visible.

Hope this helps!