Precision editing equipment recommentations?

[TPD]

Hi to everyone!

I'm not a graphic designer, but I do work with graphics a fair amount as I'm developing content for a YouTube channel at the moment. Currently I'm removing background from about 30 images and whilst for the most part Canva is doing a good job of automated BG removal, but I like to neaten up the edges in some areas where the feature doesn't quite cut it.

Where I need to manually remove background I'm using the feature where the erase circle can be made larger or smaller. But it's trying to trim off let's say around a finger necessitting the need to move the cursor one or two pixels to be able to shave off just the right amount of unwanted background. But that's the issue, it's just not possible to get that precision. The cursor jumps/moves either too far or just not quite far enough and you end up either not shaving off enough, or shaving off too much. I just can't get the precision of movement needed.

I don't know what kit it is that I need - I have a Dell touchscreen laptop and I have a large 4k monitor attached, fairly regular mouse and mouse mat. Without spending hundreds of pounds (please!), what can I look at that would be better. I To remove just 2 mm squared area could require 6 - 8 movements of the mouse just to try and get it in the right position to cut the BG.

Many years ago a new system came out called Kodak Keeps (yes, many years ago!!) - I recall the colleague who used it had some kind of (metal??) mouse pad with like a graph pattern on it that went with it, presumably for accuracy.

Is there any kind of other type of mouse and mouse paid combo, or a pen or other handheld graphic-editing device for use with the touchscreen laptop, that I could more easily get the accuracy of movement and selection I need for this editing - the way it is now it's not only inaccurate but it's incredibly, incredibly slow.

Thoughts from those of you way more aware of what kit is out there and what it's called, that might help me?!

 

[Wardy]

It sounds like you've reached the limitations of Canva, of which I know nothing. I'm pretty sure there's a lot better software out there, such as Affinity, and Photoshop of course, which is cheaper than you might think.
With Photoshop at least, you have lots of options for the eraser brush for a start, which removes the problem of hard edges for a start.

Personally though I think you might also benefit from a graphic tablet so that at least you have a pen in your hand rather than mouse. You will find pretty decent ones for well under a £100 if it's just for retouching.
Also, while it may sound obvious, try and make sure your images are big enough to zoom in adequately for starters.

 

[Stationery Direct]

Not sure about equipment but software wise I would probably look at Affinity Photo or Affinity Designer which will be a million times better than Canva, both would take a bit of learning but they are a more affordable option to Adobe (got a sale on at the moment too)

 

[TPD]

Thanks to both respondents. Yes, I know Canva isn't at all all-singing, all-dancing, but I really don't need all the additional very much full on graphical image editing features that these other apps offer (and of which I'm sure, are undoubtedly way better than Canva!) so I think I'm going to have to try and tweak the equipment I'm using.

So I will look at graphic tablet and pen options, thank you for this advice, I just didn't know what to look for.

Thank you!

It sounds like you've reached the limitations of Canva, of which I know nothing. I'm pretty sure there's a lot better software out there, such as Affinity, and Photoshop of course, which is cheaper than you might think.
With Photoshop at least, you have lots of options for the eraser brush for a start, which removes the problem of hard edges for a start.

Personally though I think you might also benefit from a graphic tablet so that at least you have a pen in your hand rather than mouse. You will find pretty decent ones for well under a £100 if it's just for retouching.
Also, while it may sound obvious, try and make sure your images are big enough to zoom in adequately for starters.

With the graphcs tablet, these are most strongly aimed at people wanting to draw - I'd literally just be importing images and removing background, and that's all I'd be doing. Are there any high accuracy digital pens that would work with my Dell laptop so I could do it directly on there? Eg the

1. Dell Active Pen - PN5122W?

 

[TPD]

Thanks to both respondents. Yes, I know Canva isn't at all all-singing, all-dancing, but I really don't need all the additional very much full on graphical image editing features that these other apps offer (and of which I'm sure, are undoubtedly way better than Canva!) so I think I'm going to have to try and tweak the equipment I'm using.

So I will look at graphic tablet and pen options, thank you for this advice, I just didn't know what to look for.

Thank you!

With the graphcs tablet, these are most strongly aimed at people wanting to draw - I'd literally just be importing images and removing background, and that's all I'd be doing. Are there any high accuracy digital pens that would work with my Dell laptop so I could do it directly on there? Eg the

1. Dell Active Pen - PN5122W?

Scratch that, not supported by my current laptop.

 

[Wardy]

I'm pretty sure you can get a decent XP-Pen or similar for under £50 that will simply plug in to your laptop. Check out Google and YouTube for thousands of reviews.
But you may still find that you have reached the limitations of Canva.

You don't get owt for nowt!

 

[rosssmith]

Check out different kinds of software, such as Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, or CorelDRAW. These apps have more powerful tools for removing backgrounds by hand, such as pen, selection, and edge recognition tools.