How do I cut something out? (I've spent a lot of time researching already!)

Question

Question: how do I cut something out?
i.e. remove the background
No need to ask in here: there must be a 1000 videos on youtube showing you how 
Except: I've done this - in total I must have sat through 20 minutes of video - I don't think I've got my answer  
The videos I've seen use the lassoo tool to very roughly cut out and just do a dodgy blur on the edges
This can't be the way it's done!!
I can use the lassoo tool myself and spend 5 days cutting a picture out
Is this how it's done??
Cutting pictures out = large time consuming task??
Someone once told me about a tool that you can use (That you have to pay for)
I can't remember what it's called
The magic eraser is great - 5% of the time  
What am I missing?
Thanks
Omar

Answer 1

The online tutorials I've seen which make it look easy to extract a subject from the background are either professional studio images with proper lighting and a suitable background, or otherwise great shots which are sharp and have clear differentiation between the subject to be extracted and the background. If your image is not perfect like that, you may have to use a combination of several tools to improve your selection.  After you've removed the background, you may have some work to do to to make the cut-out look natural against its new background. As R_Kelly has pointed out, without knowing what version of PS you have (= what tools you have at your disposal) and the specific challenges of your image, no one will be able to give you useful advice.