magic wand tool

[carolynn]

hi there i am a newbie and i was wondering if someone could help me to be able to make the pleasant ville effect picture i want as i cant get the magic wand to select all the parts i want left in color, i have tried everything and i have read over the tutorial about 15 times and tried at least 8 pictures

[Myrddin]

The help file on the Magic Wand (available through pressing F1 whilst in Paint.NET): http://www.getpaint.net/doc/latest/en/MagicWand.html

Also, have a Search around to find a tutorial called 'Cutting Out Images the Easy Way!' as this will help you cut out your element better than using the Magic Wand exclusively. If you are new to Paint.NET, this might be more comfortable to use than the below suggestion.

However, having said that, I would still recommend investing a little time in an alpha mask instead (plugin | tutorial) as it can give a far superior cut and make it look far more professional. The steps are virtually the same as the Cutting Out tutorial mentioned above, only with the addition of using a plugin at the end. It can be tedious, but worth it!

You would have also learned and experienced a great graphics technique that you can apply to other tasks as well, and maybe to other programs, too.

Up to you, both work, although one moreso than the other .

[willgoss]

Perhaps....you need to try an easier approach.....I personally find the magic wand very time consuming... I use the following to mix B&W and Color...also can blur the B&W area if appropriate...

B&W with Color + Blurring the BW Portion

* Duplicate the Layer

* Desaturate the Top Layer

* Erase Area for Color to show through

(Your Picture Combining Color & BW can now be merged and saved))

Option to blur

* Turn Off Background – Select Erased areas- Invert Selection

* Turn on and move to Background Layer – Gaussian Blur

Option to blend (adding tint to B&W areas)

* Reduce Opacity of Top layer to let some color show through the B&W

* Merge Down or save with layers.