A method for distinguishing a foreground object from a monochromatic background in a digital image depicting a foreground object in front of said monochromatic background. A outer edge intensity map is created of the foreground object to which a tracing process is conducted. A continuous edge map is created by utilizing the traced edges in the outer edge intensity map. By selecting a path on the continuous edge map based on average edge intensity, a final edge map is created. The pixels comprised within the final edge map are distinguished as the foreground object. Optionally, the final edge map may be refined utilizing certain techniques.