1. Use the magic wand and click on the checkerboard. Do CTRL-I to invert the selection, and then CTRL-C to copy. then when you paste it onto another image you only paste the laptop as that is all that was copied.
2. Do Ctrl-A to select the whole layer (checkerboard and all). Add a new layer above the image you want to add the laptop to. and CTRL-V to paste the copied layer onto the new layer. On a new layer the checkerboard does not show.

Telling Beginners that are reading a Beginners tutorial to help familiarize ourselves with Paint.net to “spend some time playing around with layers to see how they work” is unhelpful, when ideally how to eliminate the checkerboard should have been included in the tutorial. We are beginners after all.

1. Find the image you want to work with and save it on your computer.

2. Open the image in Paint.Net to become the background layer.

3. Create a new layer. Select the background layer and make a copy of the original image. Paste the copy into a new layer. You should have two layers now. Work with the second layer by clicking on the name of the layer to select it.

3. Select the new layer and use the lasso tool (different tool – easier to use) to draw a loose lasso around the part of the image you want to work with. Once you release the mouse button on the lasso, the lassoed area will be highlighted. Select Copy or Ctrl-C.

4. Create a new layer and paste (Ctrl-V) the image into the new layer. Don’t work in this layer. It is your fall back position if you really mess up later on.

5. Create another new layer and paste the same image into this new layer. Save the first paste and work on this second one. You should have four layers open by now.

5. Select the most recent layer and untick the rest of the layers to turn them off. Use the Magic Wand to select the unwanted pixels surrounding the object of interest in this last layer. Click near your object of interest but not inside the object’s boundary. Adjust the tolerance of the tool on the toolbar until you get the hang of that tool. Lower tolerance numbers mean fewer pixels selected. Click-evaluate-delete. Continue all the way around the image. If you make a horrible mistake, use the Undo or Ctrl-z as many times as you need to.

6. Use the lasso tool again to delete the artifact pixels left behind by the Magic Wand. It is a good tool but not perfect.

7. Select this entire image and paste it into another new layer.

8. With the newest layer selected, use the Feather add-on to finish your image.

NOTE 1: The checkerboard pattern shows where there are no pixels IN THAT LAYER. That shows you where other layers will show through if they are behind the current layer.

NOTE 2: In order to work in a layer, you have to have it selected. If something bizarre happens, you might not be working in the layer you think you’re working in.