Mask an object on the background easily

Sometimes you may want to cut an object from its background, for example a face, a fruit on a table, etc.

The tool used is the lasso, but the operation is delicate. You can also use layers, but in any case it is necessary to follow the contour of the topic at hand, which is tedious.

Gimp 2.4 has a new tool that allows clipping – in many cases – to make this quasi-automatic operation.

For example:

Click on the tool for extracting foreground Gimp. I recommend you check the “Soften the edges with a radius of 2.

Draw a line roughly around your object:

Here’s your rough surrounding object:

Now, draw in your object.
No need to draw from: Draw right on the areas you think the characteristics of your item.

The object was detours, but you may notice the lack of small areas.

You simply paint on the area and they will be added to the object.
(Note that by doing CTRL + click, you can remove areas of the object).

Now that the object appears surrounding, press the ENTER key:

And viola! Your item is selected: You can copy and paste in another image.

Even if sometimes it does not sit well with some images, this tool allows you to earn a phenomenal time, and avoids the tedious process of trimming by hand.