How do I remove a white background

Question

I've purchased an image from istock photo, but need to have the white background removed - keeping the shading etc. Now I'm not so good with Photoshop, and for the life of me I can't get it properly. If someone could help me out and remove the white bg for me, that would be fantastic. Or if there's any simple ways of doing this (step by step instructions?) I'd really appreciate it..

The image is: http://208.91.131.121/~emuholid/images/iStock_000007057349Large.jpg

I have Adobe Photoshop CS4

Answer 1

1. Choose the "Background eraser tool"
2. Hold the "]" key to enlarge your brush size to its maximum size. It's more convenient that way.
3. Hold the mouse button and drag everywhere in the white background. You'll see it disappearing in large chunks. When no more chunks of white are left, you're done.

That's how I do it anyway. There are other ways (e.g. using the magic wand tool) but they don't work as well for me.

Answer 2

I use a Photoshop plugin called Plugin Suite 5 by Onone software. It has a tool called mask pro which is great for doing complicated selections. They have a free fully featured 30 day trial. I did your image in less than 5 minutes using it. http://drop.io/idna1gi