CutOut 3 Review

September 27, 2013 | Matt Grayson | Software Reviews | Rating star Rating star Rating star

Once you've managed to work your way through the program and you've cut your picture out, you can look at placing it onto another image in CutOut 3 or you can save it as a .pds file to use in Photoshop.

Topaz ClaritySelecting Flaws

Topaz ClarityRemoving Flaws

So we know we can cut things out and put them on other things. But what about the other features in CutOut 3?

Topaz ClarityCreate Lens Blur

Well, you can create a depth of field on the pictures you're cutting out by using the useful Lens blur tool in the Image tab. After selecting the subject and creating a new layer, choose Lens Blur from the drop tab at the top. You can choose the blur type such as plane (flat backgrounds with no perspective control needed), tunnel or horizon, you can adjust the plane that the focus sits on and adjust the focused area. It's all very intelligent and looks great when done properly.

Topaz ClarityInpaintin Tool

Topaz ClarityInpainting Tool

You can also remove unwanted people or objects from pictures by using the Inpaint tool. It's found in the Selection tab and once you've selected the subject, choose Inpaint and the program will cut it out for you. Our test image was a little difficult, we wanted to see if it could cope with complex detailed backgrounds. It struggles and on a second attempt, we'll encapsulate more of the camel in the selection, but it would be easier to tidy up using the clone tool in Photoshop by using the groundwork from CutOut.

Performance

Using the selection tools is a painstaking ordeal if you have a large image with lots of detail. There's also a lot of room for error. You see you should be able to double-click the tool and it will join with the start point, but all too often we would spend 10-15 minutes finely cutting out a subject, double click and the selection would disappear. The tutorial displays an easy cut-out of a sparrow. It also shows that you don't have to be precise, but it depends on how particular you are about having the background effect bleed over.

Cutting out fine details, such as hair, isn't easy. In fact, we found it nigh on impossible. Looking closer, the program doesn't consider hair as an important feature to retain in the cut out. We're inclined to agree as a general rule of thumb, but all too often when hair has been cut out, it looks cut out because there's no natural fly away hair. There are other cut out tools such as Vertus Fluid Mask or Xara Photo & Graphic Designer that have much better masking features for hair. They're more powerful and more intelligent, being easier to use.

The blue screen matting procedure is arguably the easiest mask tool to use, but it's limited to flat, single colour backgrounds. Great for studio work, but it has a degree of error where it will retain the colour on the edges. The algorithm settings need to be fiddled with to get rid as well as the feathering. We found it worked on large areas, such as body parts, but not on finer areas, such as hair.

Conclusion

CutOut 3 has produced mixed feelings from us. When the program is used correctly, it's very good, but with it being set up mainly for newcomers to masking – over established hands – it seems that there's a lot to do. The masking can be long winded and painful, especially when it goes wrong, leading to a loss of patience and that's where the program could fail. 99% of any computer error is down to the user and it's never been more relevant than with CutOut 3, but try telling that to someone who's just spent ages masking off a subject on a large image file only to lose the selection because the tool hasn't connected the start and end points.

The algorithm settings aren't very easy to work out from the beginning. The program needs a lot of reading up on before you start using it, which in itself shouldn't be a bad thing, but when the majority of other programs available can be used straight out of the box, it reflects bad on ones that need to be researched first.

We got some great images from CutOut 3 and with time and exposure to the features, they'll become easier and easier to use. Straight out of the bag, it can get quite confusing and tedious, so keep plugging away at it to see the best results.

3 stars

Ratings (out of 5)
Features 3.5
Ease-of-use 2.5
Value for money 3.5

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