Assuming your finished background needs to be white (if it's any other color, substitute white with the CMYK values of your chosen background color), return to Photoshop and the image you've cut out with your clipping path. Open the Paths Palette and while holding down the Command key (on an Apple) click the path you have saved. This will create a selection of your path.
Select Layer/New/Layer Via Copy. A new layer will appear in your Layers Palette containing a cutout of your image. Select the backgound layer. Click the Create a New Layer button at the bottom of the Layers Palette. Fill this new layer with white (or the color that'll ultimately appear behind your cutout in Quark or InDesign). Select the layer containing the cutout. Hold down the Command key and click the layer thumbnail to make a selection. From the main menu, go toSelect/Feather... and enter a value of 1 pixel. Click OK.
Now (with the cutout layer still selected) click the Add Layer Mask button at the bottom of the Layers Palette. This will soften the edge of the cutout object and anti-alias it with the new background, thus blending it in better. If you feel you want to soften the edge more, make the slection of the layer again (by Command/Clicking the layer thumbnail). Then go Select/Inverse, and after ensuring that the layer mask is selected (the black and white thumbnail to the right of the layer thumbnail), press the Delete key. This will mask off a little more of the feathered edge, and it's a nice way to fine-tune the image cutout.
Save the file as a Photoshop EPS file, remembering to also save the working Photoshop PSD file so you can come back to it if alterations are needed. Place it in InDesign or Quark, and in print the blue haze will be reduced or removed entirely, depending on your feather settings.
Here's an example of the image cutout placed on a colored background in the layered Photoshop file. The color values used are C0 M15 Y58 K0. Save this as a Photoshop EPS using the same Photoshop clipping path as before, and if the colored background in your layout program has the same or very similar values, the image cutout will blend in very well on top of it.
Photoshop clipping paths are great for creating cutout images, but there may be more complex areas of the image which is causing trouble - like hair, for example. Here's a tutorial on cutting out hair or other fine detail - but take note, the tutorial assumes that the background is very plain - it won't work as well on a detailed or busy background.
Resources & More Information
- Adobe Photoshop CC
- I use a Wacom Tablet
for day-to-day work. It takes a little getting used to, but it's great for clipping paths.
- Click to go to top of Photoshop Clipping Paths page
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