use a dark background and the lasso tool in photoshop
or the background eraser tool
Removing the Background - Photoshop Magnetic Lasso Tool
Using the Magnetic Lasso Tool to Delete the Backgrounds of Your Images in Adobe Photoshop
How To Quickly & Easily Remove A Background In Photoshop

 

use a dark background and the lasso tool in photoshop
or the background eraser tool
Removing the Background - Photoshop Magnetic Lasso Tool
Using the Magnetic Lasso Tool to Delete the Backgrounds of Your Images in Adobe Photoshop
How To Quickly & Easily Remove A Background In Photoshop

thanks for replying!!... i will try these right now!

 

I have a section of blank wall that I use to photograph shirts. Most of mine are colored, so I just tack the shirt to the wall, take the picture (with the camera resting on something steady like a tripod) then use "select by color" tool in the GIMP (I'm sure Photoshop has something similar) to select the background. Then I remove it with the Delete key (or Edit->Clear).

For a white shirt, put a dark colored sheet behind the shirt, then take the picture.

If the edges look jagged after removing the background, I feather or grow the selection by a small amount, then apply a gaussian blur to the edges. It's best if this is done at a higher resolution than you want the image to be displayed at, so that when you size it down it helps "smooth out" everything.

You can add a layer underneath the shirt in the GIMP/Photoshop that will allow you to make the background whatever you want.

 

That should be the color range tool in Photoshop.

Chris, what hanger do you use to hang the shirt. I always get a sloppy hanging shirt with a hanger even a DIY hanger that can extend upto the shirt-shoulders seams. Got better results with a 6 ft tube that passes through both sleeves.

 

Another trick: Shoot a blank shirt, take some time, get it set up nice, and so on, then put some effort into the photoshopping and you've got a pristine 'blank' onto which you can layer your designs.

 

Ever consider not removing the background? Not sure what these photos are for but why not choose an interesting background to shoot on so you dont have to remove anything? Just a thought.

Nothing distracting though obviously.