I really want to learn how everyone is taking the backgrounds out of their pictures. I want my cakes to shine, not all the surroundings. I know many use a background board... But, I've got stacks of pictures that I would love to add to my website. And after going through millions of other websites...it's the ones without backgrounds that catch my eye. Or subtle backgrounds, almost blurred. I'm no photographer or computer wizard. I just hate when I see my pictures that I feel like there is too much going on around the cake. Any thoughts?

ps. I have photofiltre (by google) but, for the life of me can't figure out how to take the background out without removing parts of my cakes. I can watermark though ~ hooray!

If you are using photofiltre use the smudge tool. It is the one that looks like a finger pointing down. You can use that to smudge out your background and only leave the pic of your cake.

No hlep here, but I would love to know the answer!

I'm with you.........when I have any forethought whatsoever I put my cake on top of foam core board and stand another one up behind it.....makes it look much cleaner!!

in photoshop, I use the magnetic lasso tool to remove the background

I am not sure what type of tools you have but, there is the Adobe program where you can actually select only your cake and put it on a different background. There is also the smudge tool you can use, like stated before. Without seeing the program I am not sure what type of tools to use to get the effect. IMO, open a new page with some random photo and practice with all the tools they have available. That way you aren't accidentally messing up a nice photo!

I don't know anything about the computer tools to get rid of backgrounds in existing photos, but what I did that I really think improved my photos is I went to the fabric store and purchased several swatches about 1 1/2 yards of different plain colors . It was not a big investment some of it was really cheap lining material that has a sheen to it. No matter what kind of a wreck the rest of the house is, I have a pretty background. I usually clear a space on the end of the table and put my barstool up there to drape the fabric on and let it puddle on the table. Then I put the cake on the fabric to take the picture.

This is real simple. Go to your local Fabric Store, buy a yard of Black Velvet and/or grey Satin. Adhere these to a large piece of cardboard, Fold the cardboard in half. Place your cake on the bottom and the backdrop against something else, Now you have a beautiful cake on a piece of velvet, noting else in the way.

I purchased a yard of black satin fabric and a cardboard project board.........viola! I now have a professional background.....just make sure you get your lighting right too. It has made all the difference in my pics........good luck!

I forgot about the background and inadvertently had a huge office chair in every single one of my baby shower cake pics.....and it was my first time doing square tiers, so I was livid. I used Microsoft Digital Image Pro and then the 'clone' tool....I had to zoom way in and it took about 20 minutes but I was able to completely remove the chair from the background.

*** Must resist temptation to 'fix' little flaws on cake....which look fine from far away but were glaringly obvious when super-zoomed in

For any of my pictures with a black background, I used a big piece of black polar fleece...it seems to be excellent for photography and I recommend it! What I do is hang it on the wall with a push pins at the top and then drape the material on to the table..place the cake on it and voila!!...

You can get a very cheap polar fleece blanket from Walmart for less than $10

HTH

I also have started photographing my cakes with a solid back drop made of satin fabric and foamcore board.

Pictures look so much better.
The fabric behind my pumpkins was black satin with silver glitter, Wanted it to look like twinkling night sky.

I guess I am off to Walmart to buy fabric etc. I also want to learn how to take away bad backgrounds of pictures I have already got. I am not smart with computers so will have to experiment. Thanks to everyone for sharing tips.