Newbie ...Photo assistance needed

thanks in advance for any help... very much appreciated. I am completely brand new to Photshop... using Phto shop elements.

Here's what I desperately need to do:
I took a digital photo of a product my company sells. It is a pc monitor. I want to remove the background stuff around the monitor and only save the image of the monitor. Is this possible to do?? Hope I am explaining myself correctly. I have heard people say to make the background transparent... but quite frankly I am lost. I have a lot of items that I need to take digital photos of and do the same for each... so I am desperate for assistance.

I need a step by step guide on how to do this. Again.. thanks to all that can assist me and I apologize for my newness to photoshop.

ps ... this is a jpeg image... do I have to convert to another format or leave as a jpeg.

yup its possible all u need is the lasso tool, the polygonal lasso select around the monitor with care u want the best possible result then right click what uve selected an then click invert, then delete, then use the rectangular marquee tool and click n drag round the monitor, then press ctrl c < which copys, then ctrl v to paste

thanks... I am trying to use the magnetic lasso as it flows better around the image.. but this is so sloppy... is there any cleaner way? Thanks

normally...... i just make a rough outline using the magnetic lasoo

then make a neater outline as close to the object as possible with the normal lassoo

and finally use the magic wand tool to get all the remaining colours off

Here's a collection of different ways to do what your looking for--
ranging from the Extract Tool, Layer Mask, Vector Mask, Background Eraser etc....

Knockout (Background) Power Tricks

they should get ya on your way....
cheers

heathrowe

There are many tools to get the job done, and no one is the right one. They all work, and sometimes you have to use a combination of them to get what you want.

1. Select --> Color Range (use the dropper tool to select the color you want to omit, then use the % slider to adjust how much)

2. You can use the magic wand tool to create a selection, or select the area you want and delete that area.

3. You can manually select the area bit by bit or using the lasso tools.

4. You can Filter --> Extract, then color in the area you want to keep, then extract that area. Usually requires a lot of clean up afterwards.

5. you can open up WIndows --> Channels and play with different channels to see if you get a better selection. (switch back to rgb once the seelction is made)

There are probably lots more, but these are methods I tend to use.

Post a shot of the image you want to extract out and that might help others tell you what would be the best method.

One thing you should always do -> copy the original image and save a backup. Never alter the only source (I know that sounds newbie - ish, but just making sure!)


*edit: Follow Heathrowe's leads, he has some excellent tutorials.*