Using the Photoshop Magic Wand Tool for Removing Real Estate Image Backgrounds

Using the Photoshop Magic Wand Tool for Removing Real Estate Image Backgrounds

For those real estate image backgrounds that you need to get rid of, one tool provides a quick and easy way for a hassle-free experience. The magic wand tool is a one of the best real estate photo editing tools that enable professionals to simply wave it around and poof, action completed!

Why Background Removal Matters

When a real estate image background is in need of replacement, professionals work to cleanly take it out to the best of their abilities to avoid any sign of photos being manipulated in the eyes of the potential buyer. The importance of being able to execute this step is because not all photo shoots will provide ideal conditions. Let’s check out a few of them.

  1. Snowy weather

Real estate photo editing tools that provide such functionalities in removing image backgrounds, or making it transparent are meant for major changes in the photo. Take for example the weather conditions or the seasons. Real estate companies do not operate on a seasonal basis, they are an industry that works all year long because houses don’t go to sleep. Photo shoots that are shot in the winter seasons with snow tend to muddle up the house’s true form. It is nearly impossible to see what the house has to offer if it is covered in white sheath. Hence, this real estate image editing tool for removing real estate backgrounds will be useful in setting the mood to a warmer, sunnier vibe.

  1. Isolating objects

A prime example is when we do virtual staging. The photos of interior furniture do not come readily shaped as if cookie cutters have simply made life easier. No. They come in images snapped by photographers with full length backgrounds as well. Now, in order to extract the piece of furniture and slap it on an interior, it has to be isolated. Real estate image background removal with any real estate photo editing tool that is capable of this technique is employed to keep it looking clean and ready for action.

Using the Magic Wand Tool

  1. Select the file by opening it in Adobe Photoshop

You will be able to work with one photo at a time, so hot ctrl+o or head on on to file and open to select the image you need apply this real estate photo editing tool on.

  1. Replicating and hiding the background layer

Now, head on to layer on the top of the menu bar and from the drop-down options, select duplicate layer and assign a name to that layer. In removing real estate image backgrounds, this is a critical step to ensure you keep an original copy of the image and be able to keep another one that has been isolated for the object for future reference.

  1. Pick the Magic Wand Tool

The magic wand tool will literally look like a stick with some magic brewing on its tip. Once you click this, there will be two real estate photo editing tools to choose from, but don’t worry, their names will be spelled out in text right beside the icon.

  1. Configure its parameters

Right below the menu bar, a set of settings will appear. These will be sample size, tolerance, and three checkboxes. Sample size will increase your coverage on pixels and will be beneficial for complex backgrounds especially for real estate photos. Tolerance will dictate the scope of reach of selection, which you must be able to determine depending on the coverage of the background.

  1. Selecting the background

You have two options at this point, select the background or the object. If you elect to select the background, make sure that the color resembles homogeneity in pixel colors, otherwise, you will be better off selecting the object and inverting it. There is a section below that explains this hack for this real estate photo editing tool further.

  1. Make some fine tune adjustments

Selections may not always be perfect especially for irregular shapes in real estate image background removal. Photoshop cannot perfectly distinguish everything due to the limited ability to detect pixels and differentiate an object from the background. You might need the help of other tools such as quick selection to make the selection more precise in this case.

  1. Hit ‘Delete’

Once you are satisfied with your selection, hit delete and the background should disappear and retain whatever you have chosen as your object of interest.

  1. Save the image and voila

Lastly, save the image under a different file name in order to ensure that you do not overlap it with the original image, and now you can use it whenever the need arises in real estate image background removal.

Ease and complexity of the tool

While the magic want tool is a great tool to work with, there is the element of complexity when it comes to working with backgrounds with it. Oftentimes in real estate photos, if we want to isolate something, be it the property in an exterior shot or something in interior photos, the background will always be made up of multiple colors. The way the magic wand tool works is it easily selects an area with the same pixel codes. If there is more than one, then you may need to select several times in the background, and this could be cumbersome especially if there is a mix of shades to work with.

To make sure you do not need to do a one-by-one selection, always select the object you want to isolate and retain, invert the selection afterwards and this will automatically select the whole background. Not bad for a real estate photo editing hack.

Conclusion

There it is! The use of the magic wand tool as a realty editor tool is a must learn for all professionals as removing real estate image backgrounds will come more often than you have ever imagined. It is simple to do and yet the results are awesomely quick and clean. The steps involved can be practiced over and over to get it in your system, but ultimately always remember the little details that make this streamlined real estate photo editing workflow with Photoshop tool good to use without the headache of not knowing where you went wrong.

 

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