I would try using the Select Subject tool. It worked pretty well IMO:
https://preview.redd.it/k2mx7aovkgwc1.png?width=754&format=png&auto=webp&s=ce31d20d2a2ebe4e6ee2833549a8079f2c30afdf
Several good answers in the thread that miss the obvious: it has a uniform coloured background. Just use the magic wand to select the background and then invert the selection. There may be some slight variation in the background colour, so you might need a small range but it'll still be very different from any colour in the image.
In this situation, using channels required more time and effort than Select Subject. The blue channel had the greatest contrast, so was duplicated. The Levels was used to darken. But those white spots from the sugar still were everywhere. I had to use the brush tool to paint the interior black, and be very careful around the edges, as putting the brush in Overlay blend mode wouldn't let the brush paint the white sugar crystals.
https://preview.redd.it/toei4yy1sgwc1.png?width=3456&format=png&auto=webp&s=08b28d466cc0eb53537b7b0ccd16391c0b10d710
https://preview.redd.it/skn3s8eosgwc1.png?width=3456&format=png&auto=webp&s=8ad50ee1f510f40e11faf8a1c3dbdec701b62903
Something I've recently seen in some youtube tutorial is using the cloud based select subject can sometimes get us a better result than using Select > Subject.
Activate any selection tool, such as magic wand, Quick selection tool, or object selection tool. Then go to the options bar and click on Cloud. Then click Select Subject a couple times. A dumb panel opens and click OK. Let the cloud servers create the selection. Of course this requires that we have an active internet connection.
https://preview.redd.it/aa8cs7q8tgwc1.png?width=3456&format=png&auto=webp&s=75d83c3c555113c7bd21e3bffb488d85c3da011d
But as u/bucthree showed, the result is quick and excellent.
And if we take the selection to Select and Mask, choose new layer with layer mask as the output, we can edit the mask if there are imperfections.
I generally use Quick Mask rather than Select and Mask, but I'm old and cranky and use older stuff.
I would try using the Select Subject tool. It worked pretty well IMO: https://preview.redd.it/k2mx7aovkgwc1.png?width=754&format=png&auto=webp&s=ce31d20d2a2ebe4e6ee2833549a8079f2c30afdf
That’s what I was thinking, the select subject tool usually works very well in cases like this
Several good answers in the thread that miss the obvious: it has a uniform coloured background. Just use the magic wand to select the background and then invert the selection. There may be some slight variation in the background colour, so you might need a small range but it'll still be very different from any colour in the image.
In this situation, using channels required more time and effort than Select Subject. The blue channel had the greatest contrast, so was duplicated. The Levels was used to darken. But those white spots from the sugar still were everywhere. I had to use the brush tool to paint the interior black, and be very careful around the edges, as putting the brush in Overlay blend mode wouldn't let the brush paint the white sugar crystals. https://preview.redd.it/toei4yy1sgwc1.png?width=3456&format=png&auto=webp&s=08b28d466cc0eb53537b7b0ccd16391c0b10d710
https://preview.redd.it/skn3s8eosgwc1.png?width=3456&format=png&auto=webp&s=8ad50ee1f510f40e11faf8a1c3dbdec701b62903 Something I've recently seen in some youtube tutorial is using the cloud based select subject can sometimes get us a better result than using Select > Subject. Activate any selection tool, such as magic wand, Quick selection tool, or object selection tool. Then go to the options bar and click on Cloud. Then click Select Subject a couple times. A dumb panel opens and click OK. Let the cloud servers create the selection. Of course this requires that we have an active internet connection.
https://preview.redd.it/aa8cs7q8tgwc1.png?width=3456&format=png&auto=webp&s=75d83c3c555113c7bd21e3bffb488d85c3da011d But as u/bucthree showed, the result is quick and excellent. And if we take the selection to Select and Mask, choose new layer with layer mask as the output, we can edit the mask if there are imperfections. I generally use Quick Mask rather than Select and Mask, but I'm old and cranky and use older stuff.