Easy Steps To Change Background Color In Corel Photo-Paint

how to change background colour in corel photo paint

Corel PHOTO-PAINT offers a range of tools to edit your photos, including changing the background colour. You can do this by removing the background and replacing it with a new one, or by using the colour control area on the Toolbox toolbar to change the background colour. The former can be achieved by using the Smart Selection Mask tool, Cutout Lab, or Magic Wand selection tool. The latter allows you to choose a new colour by double-clicking on the main or secondary colour swatch and selecting a colour from the colour selection area.

Characteristics Values
Software Corel PHOTO-PAINT
Tools Magic Wand selection tool, Smart Selection Mask tool, Transparency tool, Cutout Lab, PowerTRACE, Create Object from Background icon, Clipping Mask
Actions Remove background, replace with solid color or patterned background, adjust opacity and transparency, trace foreground, crop, adjust, rotate
Color Control Main color swatch, Secondary color swatch, Reset color icon, color picker

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Using the Magic Wand selection tool

The Magic Wand selection tool in Corel Photo-Paint can be used to select an object or area in your images based on colour or brightness. This tool can be used to isolate areas of an image for editing and leave the rest unchanged.

To use the Magic Wand selection tool, first, open the Corel PHOTO-PAINT™ app within CorelDRAW. Then, go to the Selection tools group on the left-hand Tools toolbar and select the Magic Wand tool. You can also select the Magic wand mask tool from the Toolbox by clicking on the icon, or if it was not the last tool applied, select it from the floating window. Next, press the button Normal mode in the tool Options palette. Set the Tolerance parameter in the Options palette of the mask tool. Now, left-click the colour of the image that should fall into the selection.

If you want to add or subtract from your selection, activate the Magic Wand to do so, using the Shift key to add or the Ctrl key to remove. Once you have completed your selection, go to Edit > Copy to copy the selected area, then go to Edit > Paste as New Image. If there are any areas you still wish to delete, you can use the Eraser tool to do this.

You can also adjust the hue and saturation range to add or remove colours from the selection. You can select and replace a single colour in the image. To prevent abrupt colour changes, you can smooth the transition between selected and unselected pixels. You can also set the hue, saturation, and lightness for the new colour.

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Applying a clipping mask

To apply a clipping mask, you can start by opening the Corel PHOTO-PAINT app within CorelDRAW. Then, follow these steps:

  • Use the Magic Wand selection tool to remove the background or any area within the image that you want to replace.
  • Create and apply a clipping mask. You can do this by selecting the Mask tool group flyout on the left toolbar and choosing the appropriate mask tool, such as the Ellipse Mask tool or the Smart Selection Mask tool.
  • Adjust the mask as needed. Use the Mask Transform tool to make adjustments to the position, size, rotation, and scale of the mask.
  • Save your image.

Clipping masks can be used in various creative ways. For example, you can use them to reveal or hide specific parts of an image, change object transparency, or create composite images by blending multiple objects and backgrounds.

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Using the Cutout Lab

The Cutout Lab in Corel Photo-Paint is a powerful tool for editing images and changing backgrounds. It allows you to extract or copy specific elements from a digital image with precision and ease. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to use the Cutout Lab to change the background colour in Corel Photo-Paint:

Step 1: Accessing the Cutout Lab

To begin using the Cutout Lab, open your digital photo in Corel Photo-Paint. Go to the Image menu and select "Cutout Lab". This will open the Cutout Lab dialog box, which provides a full-window preview of your image.

Step 2: Selecting the Highlight Tool

In the Cutout Toolbar, choose the Highlight Tool (F5). You will notice a circular pointer when you point to the image. The size of this pointer is controlled by the nib size and is measured in pixels. Adjust the nib size to define the edges of the element you want to cut out more easily.

Step 3: Tracing the Desired Area

To cut out a specific area, trace around the picture element you wish to isolate. You can adjust the settings for Nib Size, Highlight Colour, and Fill Colour to improve the visibility of your pointer strokes and define the edges of your selection. The Cutout Lab supports RGB, CMYK, grayscale, paletted, and Lab images.

Step 4: Choosing Inside or Outside the Highlighted Area

After tracing a closed loop, you need to decide which area to keep – inside or outside the highlighted area. Activate the Inside Fill tool and click inside the area you traced. This will define the area you want to preserve.

Step 5: Previewing and Touching Up

Click the Preview button to check your results so far. You can zoom in to see more detail and evaluate the cutout. If needed, you can touch up the cutout by adding or removing detail along its edges. You can also preview the cutout with different background options, such as grayscale, black matte, or white matte, to better visualize the results.

Step 6: Finalizing Cutout Results

Once you are satisfied with the cutout, you can choose from the Cutout Result options. These options include creating a new floating object of your cutout and deleting the original picture or creating a new floating object while preserving the original image.

The Cutout Lab provides a straightforward and effective way to change backgrounds and manipulate images in Corel Photo-Paint. With its precision and flexibility, you can create custom compositions and achieve realistic results.

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Selecting and replacing colours

To select and replace colours in Corel Photo-Paint, you can use the Smart Selection Mask tool, which was introduced in the 2020 version of the software. This tool allows you to isolate areas of an image for editing, leaving the rest of the image unchanged. You can also use the Magic Wand selection tool to remove a single-colour background or an area within an image.

To use the Smart Selection Mask tool, open an image in Photo-Paint and click the "Create Object from Background" icon in the Objects docker to make the background into an object. Activate the Smart Selection Mask tool, then click and drag your mouse within the desired area. When you release the mouse button, the mask area will expand to select the entire area.

You can also use the Cutout Lab feature in Photo-Paint to trace the edges you want to separate from the image and fill the space with another colour. The Eraser tool, which works like a pencil eraser, can also be used to remove parts of the image by clicking and dragging.

To select and replace colours, you can adjust the hue, saturation, and lightness. To do this, first sample a seed colour from the image or choose a colour from the colour picker. Adjust the Range control to show the range of selected colours. Then, sample a new colour from the screen or choose a new colour from the colour picker. To prevent abrupt colour changes, you can smooth the transition between selected and unselected pixels by moving the Smooth slider.

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Using the Transparency tool

The Color Transparency Tool in Corel Photo Paint allows you to delete specific colours in a single click. It is a fast replacement for the tedious task of using the magic wand tool to isolate specific areas of colour to delete them. To use the Color Transparency Tool, first ensure that you are working with an object, as the tool only works on objects. You can convert a photo into an object by clicking on Object > Create > From Background.

Once you have your object, activate the Color Transparency Tool by clicking on it or pressing '2' on your keyboard. You can now use the properties bar to see and modify the additional options that come with this tool. The Tolerance setting, for example, allows you to select a specific colour or a range of hues to be deleted. The lowest tolerance (0) will select only the exact colour you clicked on, while increasing the tolerance will select a broader range of hues.

You can also adjust the opacity of the transparency and edit more details about it. For instance, you can apply a transparency to the fill of an object, the outline of an object, or both. Additionally, you can change the transparency Acceleration, which controls how quickly the fountain transparency blends from one transparency to another. On the property bar, you can also reverse the transparency direction or choose "Repeat" or "Repeat and Mirror".

Another example of using the Transparency Tool is to create a textured border around your photo. In this case, we will use Bitmap pattern transparency. Our file consists of a photo (Background 2) and two filled rectangles (Object 2 and Object 3). We will apply a bitmap pattern transparency to the top rectangle, allowing the bottom rectangle to show through the transparency pattern. First, hide the photo by using the Show/Hide (eye) icon beside the photo in the Objects docker. Next, select the top rectangle to make it the active object, activate the Object Transparency tool, and click on the Bitmap pattern transparency icon on the property bar. With the Transparency Picker dropdown, browse through different categories of bitmap patterns and select one by clicking on the thumbnail.

By familiarising yourself with the Transparency Tool, you can create a wide range of effects and looks in your photo editing projects.

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