Transparent: Prevent Part of Image from Being Transparent?

[jdanniel]

Hello. I am using PSP X4.

I need a bit of help working with transparent images. An example is the image below. I've added borders so you can see what I'm doing.



As you can see, the background is solid white, but the image itself is primarily white. I want only the background to be transparent.

I've dabbled with the GIF Optimizer feature to make the background transparent, but part of the actual image becomes transparent also, since it contains white.

One thing I tried doing was use the color replacer to change the white background to another color, but in doing so, some of the image itself changes to yellow, despite my trying to avoid that.

Is it possible to configure PSP so that only the background is transparent? If so, what's the most practical method?

Thank you for your assistance. Jd

[Kathy_9]

It can be done. I copied your image and pasted it into PSP X5. I then promoted the background layer which converts it to a raster layer. (Background layers do not support transparency). Next I clicked on the background with the magic wand (see screen shot for settings) and hit the delete key.



Here's a closeup of the settings I used in case you can't see them in the above image.

[jdanniel]

Kathy,

Thank you for replying. I followed your instructions, and I'm very close to getting the desired results. But I'm not quite there yet. Can I request a bit more assistance?

Here is what I got, after following your instructions:



The above image is Front Page 2003. I set the background color to yellow, and inserted the modified image.

The problem is the thin border around the image. That cannot be there. How do I get rid of that?

Thank you! Jd

[Ken Berry]

What are you intending to do with the transparent background image? Insert it over another image? Using your image, though it's a .jpg you uploaded, not the BMP you mention, I followed Kathy's instructions to get rid of the background. Then I used the selection tool around the new image which no longer has a background, selecting an area just within the border. Then I used Ctrl+C to copy it. I then opened another photo at random and used Ctrl+V to insert your image.

[jdanniel]

Ken,

I intend to use the images on a web site, and no, they will not be superimposed over other images.

I will be using Microsoft Front Page 2003 to create the web pages. The background color of the web pages will be changed--probably to a very light, pale yellow. Much lighter and paler than the yellow you see in the above image. I just used that color to test my work.

Eventually, the HTML files will be used to create an e-book, either in epub or mobi format. I want the images to blend seamlessly with the web pages, and that means the borders cannot be there.

(If I create an e-book, then the background will most likely be plain white...so making the images transparent will not be necessary. However, I will still be maintaining the web site, and the background color will remain the light, pale yellow.)

Will that border always appear when I save the modified image? If so, then how do I get rid of it, so that the modified image blends seamlessly and transparently into the web page?

Thank you! Jd

[Kathy_9]

Jd - Not sure why you ended up with a border as I didn't but it should be relatively easy to do away with it. To get rid of the border, especially since it's a very thin one, you can use the eraser tool to quickly rub over it to eliminate it. Or, you can try to select it with the magic wand and hit delete.

Edited to say - ignore my first comment as I see you used a different image than the first one I worked on and the second one must have had a border on it to start with. My advice on how to get rid of it still stands.

[jdanniel]

I think I figured out what was causing the borders to appear.

I just started everything from scratch, and redid the photos completely from square one. There are no borders this time. The images look great on the web page. Totally seamless!

I'm pretty sure I know what I did wrong....not 100% sure, but pretty sure.

I used Snag It to obtain the screen captures, and I used Full Screen to capture the entire contents of the screen. But I might not have cropped the images correctly the first time. The first time, I used the Selection tool to select the image, then cropped it using Image/Crop to Selection.

The second time around, I used the Crop Tool. When I used the Crop Tool instead of Selection/Scrop to Selection, there were no borders.

Thank you for helping me! Jd

[Kathy_9]

You're welcome and I'm glad everything worked out the way you wanted.

[Heavysteel]

You noted that this was an image within Front Page 2003? The border appears to be a bounding box within Front Page and not something that was copied over from Paintshop Pro.
What you are trying to do would work so much better saving as a PNG file. PNG files are so much more flexible. Personally I find that a really easy way to work with my favorite transparency files is to just start creating picture tubes. Keeping them large enough with initial resolution set to 300.000 so they can be sized to fit just about any project. Then simply creating a new transparent image any size and then set the tube scale and apply the tube, save it as a PNG or GIF etc....and I am done. That's easy. The tube will be there now and years to come for future projects. When it comes to transparency, tubes are your friend. Many times I will create a tube with a drop shadow and without to speed up work flow in the future. Drop shadows apply a nice 2D effect with transparent images when working with lighter backgrounds. Here is an example of 8 different color power buttons casting a slight glow effect, which I created and contained within one tube file. Very handy and ready to go at a moments notice.

The above image is Front Page 2003. I set the background color to yellow, and inserted the modified image.

The problem is the thin border around the image. That cannot be there. How do I get rid of that?

Thank you! Jd

[jdanniel]

Thanks for replying.

I know nothing about picture tubes, so now you have me curious about them. I'll do a little bit of research into them, and see what I come up with.

I'm not really much of a graphics person, please understand. I have dabbled a little with drop shadow. The logo in my web site has drop shadow.

So...if picture tubes can help me work with transparent images, or help make images transparent more easily, I'm definitely interested. Thanks for the tip.

I'll also see how PNG images work, compared to GIF.

Jd

[teknisyan]

Here's another way to create a transparent bg -- http://corel.force.com/index/articles/e ... background