Editing help...can I do this in picmonkey?

December 5th, 2015
I would like to take the background out of this picture and make it just black. Photoshop has a "preserve foreground" type option that would probably make it quite easy to get around all those little tree tips, but does picmonkey have anything like this available?

December 5th, 2015
Not sure but picmonkey has some very helpful tutorials. Check em out! They helped me with some editing stuff, easy to understand and I find Picmonaey very user friendly! Good luck, this is a cute shot!
December 5th, 2015
@dianen Thanks, Diane. I've watched a few but I can't do the area around the tree to make it look good. I didn't take the picture. It's an older picture my daughter took, probably with her phone. I would just like to "fix" it if I could because we all love this shot of my granddaughter. I haven't even picked my camera up since I can't remember when. I've lost interest I guess.
December 5th, 2015
I don't know pic monkey... Does it have a gradient function? You could use that to darken the area at the top to make it less distracting to the eye
December 5th, 2015
I don't think you can do that on PicMonkey unless you draw in the background black by hand.
December 5th, 2015
@northy @homeschoolmom Northy, I'll check on that. Thank you. Lisa, I'm afraid that may be the case, and that's so tedious and doesn't look nice when I'm done. Thank you both.
December 5th, 2015
I don't think PicMonkey has a gradient feature, at least not that I've noticed. It's mostly pre-set to make your picture look old or something like that, or draw/airbrush for eyes, lips and such.
December 5th, 2015
you can clone out the blown out windows in picmonkey. in the 'touch up' tools at the very bottom is the clone tool. you will have to choose the sofa or parts of it or the grey wall to paint over the white. it will take a while as you would have to do it bit by bit. then you can adjust it with the burn, or dodge tools in the 'effects' tools. in photoshop you can also use the clone tool; i just don't use it often enough to remember how.
December 5th, 2015
@razzmatazz Yes, you absolutely can do that on PicMonkey - I did a VERY ROUGH job of it for you, but you can see it can be done - just takes some patience around the edges:


Quick overview:
click design - square
in the basic edits - click on canvas; transparent; apply
then click on the butterfly (overlays)
Click "your own"
choose your picture (use dropdown arrow)
drag it to fix the box
click on the eraser
erase the background using different size brushes and hardness as needed
once that is done, save the image as a PNG
then go back into pic monkey
design, square
click on canvas in the basic edits section - choose your color
click on butterfly again for overlay
Find your png picture
size it and wala!
It will then save as a Jpg

I believe I covered all the steps, if something doesn't work, let me know - I might have missed something :)


December 5th, 2015
Adding to what @summerfield said, you can zoom in on the image and the cloning tool becomes much larger so it won't take as long.
December 6th, 2015
Have you considered cropping out the windows? Then the frame is filled with the tree, the soft lights, and your granddaughter. It is a tight crop, but her gaze off into the distance is quite adorable.
December 6th, 2015
I second April's idea. I would tight crop the windows out...that brings the child into the main focus, instead of in the lower quadrant.
December 6th, 2015
I loved your picture and agreed with those who said to give it a tight crop. I think the black background looks unnatural (mho!) but understand why the cluttered background bothers you. So, of course, I just had to play with the shot! Here's what I did. In order to post it here, I had to put it in my album. But say the word and I'll be happy to remove it as it truly is your picture, not mine!



Basically, I cropped out the windows, kept the soft focus and added some vibrance and glow that didn't overpower the skin tones but brought out the magic of the Christmas lights.
December 10th, 2015
i'm with @olivetreeann on this one... removing the background makes the image look out of place and it'll just seem strange. A harder crop would defo be the way to go in my mind
December 12th, 2015
@olivetreeann Very nice. I don't have a problem with you keeping it in your album. I do still like the black background also, but your finished product is really very beautiful. Thank you so much! And thank you to everyone else who chimed in with opinions and advise. It is much appreciated.
December 29th, 2015
Hi I'm new to 365 but saw this discussion - I too tweaked your phot - but how the heck do I upload it to the discussion?
January 3rd, 2016
@jeannieess55 I'm sorry, Jeannie, I just saw this. First you would have to upload it as one of your daily pictures. Then you click on the ... below the picture and copy and embed code and paste it into the message box here in the discussion.
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