How to turn white into pure white

[OM2]

Can someone advise me how to turn whitish background into pure white - but without affecting the subject in the graphic

Is there a quick to use filter in Photoshop? How about Gimp?
How about a coded solution like in PHP for example?

A second best would be to outline very roughly around an object and then have the outside fade into pure white

Not sure if any of the above makes sense!

Thanks


OM

[Caelum]

Try posting the image you want to edit, maybe someone could do it for you and then tell you how they did it.