paint help...

[Soulja]

is there a program to remove paint from a file? like taking a picture of a person and using the paint program to modify it somehow.

[Trooper]

Photoshop. YOu can download a demo of it or send me a pm with the photo and what you want done, i can change it around for you.

[WhiskeySix]

You can also try GIMP. It's the open-source (free) version of photoshop.

[Ferris Bueller]

I think what hes looking for is a way to take a picture he's modified and restore it to it's pre-modified form. To my knowledge, barring that you kept a copy of the original somewhere, there is no way to remove the edit.

[loyalguard]

There is a way to do this in Paint and Powerpoint (or Word if you have it). The combination of which I call the cheap person's photoshop. I usually use this method if I want to apply a "green screen" effect (remove the background from a photo for subsitution with another. If you are interested I can give you a quick tutorial.

GIMP is also very good but I can't use it at work so I often default to the above.

[loyalguard]

Ok, here's how to remove backgrounds (or anything else) from photos using nothing more than MS Paint and MS Powerpoint/Word* (AKA too cheap to buy photoshop and not willing to learn GIMP) in 6 easy steps.

Step 1 - Open the picture you want to edit in Paint.

Step 2 - Decide what you want to remove. For this example (see diagram below) we will remove the blue sky (to replace later with a red one). Using the paintbrush tool (and the rectangle tool to cover large areas at a time) color everything you don't want lime green or any other color you are sure is NOT in your photo. It does not have to be contiguous pixels. This will simulate a "green screen/chroma key" effect. Save your new photo as a 24-bit .bmp file in order to not lose quality/colors.

Step 3 - Open up Powerpoint (or Word though I prefer Powerpoint) and draw a red rectangle the same size as your photo (or at least the same size and relative position of the part of the photo you want to replace).

Step 4 - Insert your photo into Powerpoint and put it on top of the red rectangle.

Step 5 - Right-click on the photo and then left click on "Show Picture Toolbar". On the toolbar select the "Set Transparent Color" tool. With the tool selected, click on the green portion of your photo.

Step 6 - Whatever was green on your photo will now be transparent and the the portions of the red rectangle under your photo will now be visible. You can then copy your new photo back into Paint to save as a .jpg or other format you desire or continue to edit.

Here's the diagram step-by-step:



*I realize that not everybody has Powerpoint/Word and it is not free but more people have MS Office apps do than photoshop probably (and they are in most workplaces as well!). This is just one alternative to photoshop 9GIMP is another good one). Obviously this will be a little slower, more cumbersome, and a little less effective than photoshop but you get what you pay for Enjoy!

[jmaker]

Yes but Photoshop is so much easier. If you can post the photo, then I'm sure someone here can do it.

[Ferris Bueller]

Originally Posted by jmaker

Yes but Photoshop is so much easier. If you can post the photo, then I'm sure someone here can do it.

Indeed. 4 steps for anyone:
1. Open the photo in photoshop, select all (ctrl+A or dropdown) and copy.
2. Open a new document (which will be the same dimensions by default) and set the background to transparent.
3. Paste picture and use eraser tool to erase what you dont want.
4. Save as desired file type and season to taste.
Bon apetit.