Ever wanted to remove the background of a photo?

Removing the background by using the Eraser tool can be tedious and dangerous for those who do not have steady hands. Instead, there is a quick an easy solution! Using this tool, you can simply select the background, and hit the 'Delete' button to erase the background. Introducing, the Magic Wand tool.

Unlike other tools that select based on shapes and edges, the Magic Wand Tool selects based on tone and colour. Here's how to do it:

1. Using the tool, select an area that you wish to remove.

2. Hit 'Delete' to erase the image. (I created a white layer background beneath this layer to demonstrate the result)

However, as you can see, this tool does not perfectly select the whole background that I wish to remove. Hence, you need to adjust the Tolerance level. 

The Tolerance level determines the contrast in tone and colour for a pixel in the area we select. Photoshop select pixels that are the same tone and colour in the selected area. 

This is the Magic Wand tool, at tolerance level 80.

This is the tolerance level 20. You can see that the Magic Wand tool selects less and more unevenly than at level 80. Hence, it takes an amount of trial and error to get a good level of tolerance. Each photo is different!

You can also manipulate the background in any way that you like. Check out this video tutorial to find out how: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnJCO6UIRQk.