inverted clipping path

[Eggles]

I recently had to remove the backgrounds from a number of photos of wheels (don't ask). Having done the same procedure many times before, I used the Pen Tool to create a work path, converted the work path into a selection, inverted the selection and hit delete. I then reselected the work path and created a clipping path. All worked well. So I thought.

When I placed these images in the layout, one of them came in showing NOTHING! Hit the panic button. Went back to the PS file and there was my wheel - large as life. It took a little while to realise that in the Paths palette, the thumbnail was the reverse of normal (where you get to see the silhouette of the path). Somehow in one of the dozen or more images to which I had applied exactly the same sequence of steps, the part of the image retained was the deleted background.

As I was in a hurry, I clicked on the path palette, made it into a selection, inverted and made a new work path from the selection, so that this time it wasn't the wrong way round. So what, you might ask? Well this time the edges of the clipping path were not nearly as smooth as all the others, as the path had been made from a selection (anti-aliased), not from the Pen Tool.

If anyone is still with me on this one, I would like to ask (a) any idea on how I managed to do what i did? and (b) could they suggest a better way of getting my original path back?

 

[blueark]

(a) Not sure how you did it. Possibly inverted the selection and accidently selected 'Make Work Path'? Moral of the story... save your paths before you work on them.

(b) If the original path is gone, there's not much you can do (unless it's still in the History palette somewhere). Creating a selection out of a path and converting it back to a path again will never be accurate. If you have a path, and want to invert it, select it, and draw another path outside the bounds of the original path. Easiest way to do this is to zoom right out so you can see outside the image area, and draw your path there.

However, in your case, I would probably use the path selection tool, select one point on the outer path and hit delete twice.

 

[BDNFLNC]

I would say, "slow down".

That is how I usually manage to make those types of errors.

You'll probably need to recreate it again.

 

[Eggles]

OK thanks.