Putting Headshot on New Background

[u/AlonzoMosley_FBI]

I have a headshot that's had its background removed really well - except one spot around my neck and left ear, where it's obvious when I paste over a dark background. I don't know if it's light, white space, whatever.

But short of doing a pixel by pixel edit, is there an easy way to at least reduce that "aura"? It doesn't have to be perfect, just better.

[u/ofnuts]

I don't do a pixel by pixel edit, but erasing(*) with a soft brush is pretty quick and effective (here 8px brush, 50+ hardness) :

Note: to emulate the original background, I copied the layer and shifted it laterally, but f course this only works for the vertical parts...

(*) with the eraser. In older versions I would have used a layer mask, but since the eraser has an anti-erase option, the layer mask is unnecessary in this case.

[u/schumaml → u/ofnuts]

Note: to emulate the original background, I copied the layer and shifted it laterally, but f course this only works for the vertical parts...

This is likely no issue for OP, because as I understood, we are looking at an image where the head has already been pasted onto a new background, hopefully as a new layer.

(*) with the eraser. In older versions I would have used a layer mask, but since the eraser has an anti-erase option, the layer mask is unnecessary in this case.

I'm quite curious about that remark of yours - The Eraser's Anti-Erase capability is quite old, dating back to 2.2 at least: https://docs.gimp.org/2.2/en/gimp-tool-eraser.html . Is there anything different with it now?

[u/ofnuts → u/schumaml]

Probably because it took me 15 years to notice it 😁

But I was probably brainwashed by all these tutorials that use a layer mask when using the eraser would have been just as convenient. This confirms my opinion that old tutorials often do more harm than good by expounding obsolete (or even recently invalidated) techniques.

[u/schumaml → u/ofnuts]

In my opinion, you're currently starting to brainwash yourself into thinking that the Eraser is a full replacement for layer masks.

Think about:

• being able to quickly reveal all of the hidden content again, then hide it again, then show it again, ...
• being able to do so without affecting the existing alpha values of layer content
• being able to do this to a whole layer group

[u/ofnuts → u/schumaml]

I still see plenty of uses for layer masks. But no longer to erase around something...

[u/AlonzoMosley_FBI → u/schumaml]

This is likely no issue for OP, because as I understood, we are looking at an image where the head has already been pasted onto a new background, hopefully as a new layer.

Yes, that is true.

TBH I get lost in "Alphas" and "Masks..."

[u/ConversationWinter46]

Hello,

News from Gimp 3.0 by Michael Davies.

[u/schumaml → u/ConversationWinter46]

Do you recommend any video in particular for learning about how to touch up borders?

[u/ConversationWinter46 → u/ConversationWinter46]

The Foreground tool still works the same in 3.0 as it did in 2.10.