[gimp]jazz cover ?

[nado64]

Hello,

I'm looking for creating a cover with the famous black background.
Some examples :
- grant green - grantstand
- andy bey - american songs
- joe cohn - shared contemplations

if you know a method for doing that I would be happy to learn it !

[Stevebol]

A program like Photoshop Elements can do this. You would want to erase the background and there are various tools to do it.
Elements is much cheaper than regular Photoshop but still has great tools. Here's an example of some of the CD covers I've done. Look at Volume 4, 8 and 10. A similar technique was used.

Amazon.com: frina arschanska: Music

On second glance, I haven't done this exact thing but I've experimented with it. It looks like the black areas in the photo have been "crushed" as they say in film, so as to match the pitch black background which is just a layer. Contrast would probably have to be bumped up. I would start by taking whatever picture you are using and find a tool that will intensify(crush) the black areas of the photo. Then cut out the parts of the photo that aren't needed. When working on something like this it's good to save this kind of cut out as a .png and use .jpg the rest of the time. Work at 300 dpi(dots per inch) whenever possible. Duplicate layers a LOT when you are doing major alterations.
Make a new black layer and see how it blends with the photo. It will have a sharp edge between the layers but see if the black areas in each are a match. At some point you'll want to combine the two layers, photo and black layer. Maybe crush the black areas again then. The sharp line would need to be softened then. The clone stamp tool in Elements works for this. For regular Photoshop people would probably use the pen tool whenever possible.
Hope this made some sense.