The power of any imaging applications selection tools lies in their ability to select accurately any element, cut it out, and then to paste it into another picture without it looking like a child’s scissor job. Getting any degree of subtlety with a cut-out requires a thorough working knowledge of your application’s tools and even then the results can look basic, unless you have the right tools.

KnockOut 2 is a masking application dedicated to isolating objects (or people) from their backgrounds and preserving the fine detail in complex edges such as hair. KnockOut also creates masks for objects with transparency such as glass, smoke, liquid and fire.

Original	With new background	All the whiskers are there

Knockout was first published by Ultimatte as a stand alone application for the Apple platform. When Corel acquired KnockOut in 1999, version 1.5 was released as a dual Windows & Mac application. The latest version, KnockOut 2, is available as a Photoshop plug-in for both Windows and Macs (the plug-in also works with Painter  6 & 7 and Corel Photo Paint but needs to be installed into each application). Being a plug-in, users can create complex masks and cut-outs without having to leave the host application.

Installation…

The application auto runs a Setup Wizard on Windows - follow the instructions on screen. On the Mac OS double click the KnockOut 2 Installer and follow the on-screen instructions. Included on the installation CD is a Quick Time movie Tour of KnockOut. A  printed 40 page user guide is included together with an PDF Help manual  (Quick Time and Adobe Acrobat 5.0 installers are included on the CD).

New features…

Knockout 2’s new features now include: support for CMYK images;  touch up tools for fine tuning awkward areas or for restoring colours that may have been knocked out; a multiple undo that can be set up to 99 levels; property bar that displays the options for the active tool (previously these options were available from the menus or via shortcut keys);  polygonal mode for creating straight line selections;  revert, to take the image back to its original state. As KnockOut is no longer a stand alone application, the workflow will be speeded up.

The Tools…

On the Toolbox palette are the tools for defining selections. The Inside object tool defines the object to be kept. The Outside object tool defines the background to be discarded. Inside shadow is for defining a shadow area and Outside shadow defines the outside area. The Inside syringe tool allows for injecting colour back into areas that have become too transparent after processing. The Edge feather tool removes any jagged edges from the foreground image. The Touch up brush lets you recover colours that may have been removed during processing and the Touch up eraser lets you remove colours that are not wanted after processing (the touch up tools should only be used as the last stage prior to sending the image back to the host application, reprocessing the cut-out would lose any touching up). The Hand tool lets you drag the image into position and holding down the spacebar whilst any other tool is in use also brings up the hand tool and is perhaps a more efficient way of working. The Zoom tool is for zooming in or out of an image. Below the tools are two swatches, the first is for changing the background colour on the image after it has been processed and the second swatch is for selecting an image file for a backdrop. Both of these options are only for visual reference and will not appear on the final image.

The tools are relatively easy to use, although you do need to think about which selection is which when making complex masks as Knockout will display all of the selections in use. Fortunately, on the Selection palette you can turn on or off any, or all, of the selections which makes fine tuning easier. The touch up tools have limited value and can be awkward to use especially when you need to change brush size (there are no shortcut keys for this task). It is easier to retouch the cut-out in Photoshop using a combination of Eraser and History brushes. The Edge feather tool just created a blur zone and removed any fine detail within that area.  In our test period we didn’t encounter any image that benefited from this tool.

The next palette is the Process palette, once you have defined a selection you set a Transition complexity. Choose from four settings:

Few colours in both foreground and background Multiple colours in foreground and few in background Few colours in foreground and multiple in background Multiple colours in both foreground and background

At the bottom of the palette is the Process button. You can reprocess the image as many times as you like using any of the transition settings, or after making an alteration to a selection.  The process time will vary depending on image size and complexity of selections (generally times for a 10mb file are in the region of 6-8 seconds using a 1500 MHz processor). The processed file can viewed as an Alpha, Knocked out, or in its original state - each of the viewing methods has its use for tweaking the selections.

Finally, select Apply from the file menu to send the image back to the host application as a cut-out. The other options for saving are to save the Project as a ---.CKO file (this saves the selections and can be reloaded at a later stage should you want to make any alterations), or the Image mask can be saved and loaded as a selection within Photoshop (this can be a long winded process which is not helped by poor instructions in the manual). Saving pictures or layer masks gives the file the title of the Layer in Photoshop - try to get into the habit of giving your layers a meaningful name rather than accepting the default names - Layer 1..2..3..etc.

Brief working overview…

The simple interface belies the powerful features embedded within this application. Before starting a cut-out the image has to be converted to a layer or make a duplicate layer from the Background image. From within Photoshop select Filter > KnockOut 2 > Load Working Layer, this launches the plug-in. By default the image opens at 100%, unless you are working with very small images you will have to scale the picture down to Fit in Window (Ctrl + 0). There are five palettes; the Toolbox, Process, Selection, Info and Property bar. On the Windows OS the palettes are docked to the sides and top of the work area, but can be dragged away or rearranged to suit. On the Mac OS they are displayed as floating palettes.

To start a mask, select the Inside Object tool and draw a selection inside the object’s boundaries – being careful not to cross into the background area. At this stage you can do a fairly rough selection which can be tweaked later. The inside selection defines everything that has to be preserved. To refine a selection, zoom in and use the Add to selection button to add to the selection, or use the Subtract button to remove areas. There is a handy Loupe feature, pressing the keyboard  “L” key temporarily magnifies a small section under the cursor.

Make an inside and outside selection	Process the file and view against a coloured background or image file	Or view the Alpha Channel

Having completed the inside selection, the Outside area has to be defined. Select the Outside object tool and draw a selection all the way around the object, being careful not to cross into the inside object. This selection defines all the area that has to be discarded.  The most important area is the gap in between the inside and outside areas called the transition area. The transition area is where all the calculations for the blending and separating of the object takes place. Press the Process button to knock out the background and a few seconds later the picture appears as a cut out against a coloured background. If the selection is not quite right, refinements can be made to both outside and inside selections and then reprocessed until you have the desired result. When done, select Apply from the file menu and the cut-out is transferred back to your application.

No problems with transparent objects	Just add a new background

Who’s KnockOut for?

Knockout comes into its own when cutting out photographs of people (and animals) as it preserves the micro detail in hair thereby giving a very natural looking cut-out. KnockOut not only makes a superb cut-out but also puts in a small amount of edge transparency, this gives the visual effect of a perfectly blended picture. This application  is a total “must have” for any studio involved with portrait or product photography. Sure, you can achieve a good cut-out using the Extract tool or channels in Photoshop, but KnockOut will achieve better results in a fraction of the time. If you are a keen hobbyist and want the best, then you won’t find a better tool than Corel KnockOut 2.

Verdict:

An excellent application that has just bettered itself with this new release. There are a few quirks but nothing that would put us off from recommending this software. I would have liked to have seen a few more preference options such as the image opening in Fit to Window mode, a user choice of default Underlay colour. Although this application now works better as a plug-in, an option to run the application as a standalone program would be a welcome addition. This application has been reduced to £46.97 - at this price you really shouldn't pass on it.

Pros:
Excellent cut-out results
Polygonal mode
CMYK files supported
Property bar that changes with the active tool.
Reduced price

Cons:
Can be complex to cut-out objects with a similar colour to the background
Making an accurate selection on a difficult subject can take time
Saving projects/masks does not assign the current file name

System requirements.
Windows 98, 2000, NT 4.0, ME or XP
Pentium 200 or higher
Photoshop, Painter, Corel Photo Paint
128 Ram, 30mb hard disk space, 24bit colour display.
CD ROM drive, mouse or tablet.

Mac OS X, 8.6 to 9.1
Power Macintosh 150mhz or higher
Photoshop, Painter,
128 Ram, 30mb hard disk space, 24bit colour display.
CD ROM drive, mouse or tablet.

Cost:
KnockOut 2 Application                     XX£299.99XX Now £46.97

	21% OFF!
Click box to purchase at a special price

www.corel.com