Get a second hand copy of Photoshop.

Seriously.  There is a reason it's the industry standard.

Elements has some of the functionality of Photoshop (layers etc - useful if you're already shooting on a white background) but it doesn't have the pen tool.

Hnestly I have tried some of the magic solutions you have listed just for fun, and for me they are an attempt at canned solutions that just don't work in all cases. I even hate the stupid extract tool in Photoshop, because it guises itself as an "easy solution" when t really is not. It's a reall pain in the butt for me, a lot of window dressing. I tried it twice and have not used it since.

I have been doing masking and composites since Photoshop 5. You don't need the fancy stuff and instant wizards for composites, you just need a thorough knowledge of your tools and how to apply them. Without learning how to use Photoshop properly, then yes, the money is wasted.

In the long run, you will waste more money on the supposed instant or easy solutions, becasue in the hands of inexperience, none of them will be satisfactory, and you are likely to hop from one to the next.

I know thtat many of you here are graphics designers and use tools from work to create isolations but I am just photographer, I use CaptureOne or Lighroom for most of my tasks. I would not justify paying couple hundred dollars for Photoshop CS when I am starting with microstock and my current payouts are around $50 a month.


Stand-alone software and plugins for isolating objects in your photos and combining multiple images into realistic composites.

• Corel Knockout
• ArcSoft Cut-It-Out
• AutoMask
• On1 Mask Pro
• Vertus Fluid Mask
• MatchLight
• StepOK Recomposit

How would you rank them and are they capable of making isolations acceptable in microstock world?

If your main concern is isolated object, try getting them right in the first place in camera.  A simple and cheap light setup should get you already in the right direction.  Afterwork in photoshop or elements with the dodge tool/levels and curves should do the final trick.

A while ago i wrote a tutorial on that and submitted it to a certain site, but it was never published on that site, don't know why, but if interested contact me via pm and i'll sent you the copy of the word document tutorial.

Patrick H.