Photo Subject Cut Out

What is a 'subject?'

In graphic design, a 'subject' refers to the focal point of a design composition, the part that draws your eye. In school, subject means 'English' or 'Maths' but in a visual work the subject is the primary visual element and guides viewer's understanding of the message or story behind the design.

The subject can vary depending on the context and purpose and could be an object, a product, a photograph, a person, an infographic, a title or even a single letter. The subject should be emphasised and can be placed strategically within the composition to create balance, hierarchy, and visual harmony.

An image shouldn't have more than one subject (though a group of people in a movie poster can be one subject). One visual element should be the central focus. We refer to other parts of the image as 'elements' or 'objects.' In this poster for the horror movie, 'Talk to Me,' the subject is the hand reaching out. Other elements include the minimistic background, the glowing title and the graffiti texture that has been applied to the hand.

Why cut out a subject?

Graphic designers must be used to creating high quality elements that they can use across a variety of mediums. For example, they may take the subject from a particular photo shoot and place that on different backgrounds or with different typography for a poster, a flyer, a social media post etc.. By being able to use the same element in different contexts for a whole campaign, graphic designers can achieve a harmonious concept and campaign.

Class Project: Cut Outs

Choose a film genre that you want to focus on (e.g. Action, Romance, Horror, Drama).
Find a film poster from that film genre with a clearly identifiable subject (e.g. in an Action film poster, the subject may be a photo of a car, in a Horror, it may be a ghost or a knife. Find the part of the image that draws the most attention. This should be the subject.
Use the 'tools' and 'size' function on Google images to look for high res images. Choose images that are 1000x1000px or above.
Note: It will be easier to complete this task if you choose a film poster where the subject is not overlapping lots of other elements or presented over a highly textured background (e.g. cutting out the hand from 'Talk to Me' or Flash from 'The Flash' would be an easier place to start than cutting the group of characters from the 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3' poster.
Find a photo to use as a background for this image on a royalty free website such as unsplash.com.

Instructions

Photo Cut Out.webm

Cutting out a subject from a photo in Photoshop can be achieved using various selection tools like the Magic Wand, Quick Selection, and Lasso. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to do it:

Create a folder in your Documents called 'Subject Cut Out.'
-Save your a film poster with a subject in this folder.
-Save a background image in this folder.
Open your film poster in Photoshop: Right click > Open With > Adobe Photoshop
Make an A4 version:
-File > New > Print > A4 Document
-Select your image using the marquee tool or Crtl+A > Right Click Copy (Ctrl + C), naviagte to the A4 doc, Paste (Ctrl+V).
-Ctrl+T to transform and then click and drag the image to take up the A4 space
Duplicate the background layer:
-In the Layers panel, right-click on the background layer and select "Duplicate Layer." This step ensures you're working on a non-destructive copy of the original image.
Magic Wand Tool:
-Select the Magic Wand Tool from the left-side toolbar or press 'W' on your keyboard.
-Adjust the tool's tolerance in the options bar at the top. A higher tolerance will select more similar colors, while a lower tolerance will select fewer.
-Click on an area in the background near the subject you want to cut out. The Magic Wand will create a selection based on the color similarity.
Refine the selection with Quick Selection Tool:
-If needed, switch to the Quick Selection Tool by pressing 'W' again or selecting it from the toolbar.
-Click and drag the Quick Selection Tool over the subject to refine and add to the initial selection. The tool will automatically detect the edges and add to the selection.
Layer Mask:
-Once you have the selection about 90-95% accurate to what you want, while the subject is selected, click the layer mask panel in the bottom right section, under your layers. The icon looks like a white rectangle with a black circle in it.
-This should show an extra panel next to your layer. The parts of that panel that appear white are parts that you will still be able to see. The parts that appear black are parts that you will not see in your final version.
Refine edges:
-Click brush tool from the side panel and select the colour using the colour picker at the bottom of the left panel. Selecting black will allow you to make parts of the image disappear. Selecting white will allow you to paint them back in if you remove them by accident.
-Use the tools on the right-side panel, like the brush tool, to fine-tune the selection edges and make them smoother and more accurate.
-Preview the selection on various backgrounds to see how it looks.
Background:
-Open your background image in Photoshop
-Follow the same steps from step 3 to put the background on your A4 document and transform to the appropriate size.
-Rearrange the layers in the layer panel on the bottom right to put the background behind the subject.
Save your work:
-Save your image as a Photoshop Document (PSD) in your 'Subject Cut Out' documents folder.
-Export your image with the background as a JPEG.
-Use the eye icon to the left of the background layer in the layers panel. This should make the background disappear and show the subject against a transparent background (which will look like a white and light grey grid). Export this version as a PNG.
-If you need additional support to save as the correct file type, return to the instructions from the File Management activity.

What you should have:

OG: Scream Horror Film Poster

Background: Sunset

Subject Cut Out: Scream dude

Edit: Scream dude on sunset

For your Portfolio

Create a subpage called 'Subject Cut Out' under 'Class Projects' and insert your photos.

C level (ish)

You have inserted your photos and labelled them:

-Original subject

-Background image

-PNG subject cut-out (no background)

-Edit subject on new background

You have provided links to photos used

B level (ish)

You have completed previous steps
You have added a response on the activity, using these questions to guide you:

-Q1: What is a subject in 'Graphic Design.'

-Q2: What genre film did you choose?

-Q3: What are common subjects that may be depicted by posters of this genre?

A level (ish)

You have completed previous steps
You have extended your skills through the following activity:

-Use Photoshop to create three different layouts that use the same subject (An A4 poster, A Social Tile e.g. Insta 1020x1020px and a Facebook cover 851x315px)

-Consider where you would arrange the subject differently, depending on what type of media you are creating.

-Introduce a title or some kind of text in the design

Extend your written response, based on this activity:

-Explain how you arranged the subject and background in the three different days and in what ways hierachy and emphasis would leave viewers to find the design readable and engaging.

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