paintshop pro X6 how to change color to transparent

[Stokkers]

I hav a colour image, b&w, that I would like to remove the white and replace with a transparent background.

Can anyone help?

Thanks

[flagpole]

it would be a lot easier if i could see the image.

But as a rule you first of all open the photo in psp, you have to promote it from being the the background layer by right clicking it in the layer palette and selecting 'promote background layer' (you can't have transparency in the background layer)

then perhaps you could use the 'background eraser' which is probably hidden under the eraser tool. you'll have to try different settings to do the best job.

[Stokkers]

it would be a lot easier if i could see the image.

But as a rule you first of all open the photo in psp, you have to promote it from being the the background layer by right clicking it in the layer palette and selecting 'promote background layer' (you can't have transparency in the background layer)

then perhaps you could use the 'background eraser' which is probably hidden under the eraser tool. you'll have to try different settings to do the best job.

Hi It is a simple design as you can see from the attached:

[flagpole]

Image2.png (5.98 KiB) Viewed 6051 times

You interested in how i did it or are you happy?

[JoeB]

Image2.png

You interested in how i did it or are you happy?

I suspect the OP would like to know how you did it so he doesn't have to come back for help every time he needs to do something similar. I suspect starting with the Magic Wand was your procedure (after promoting the image) but the settings are also important to insure getting all of the white/grey shades deleted.

[flagpole]

Image2.png

You interested in how i did it or are you happy?

I suspect the OP would like to know how you did it so he doesn't have to come back for help every time he needs to do something similar. I suspect starting with the Magic Wand was your procedure (after promoting the image) but the settings are also important to insure getting all of the white/grey shades deleted.

Aha no.

The image is a fairly low quality jpeg with lots of artefacts so first i increased the contrast.

I then used the inverse of luminescence data to create a mask layer. copied that mask layer and filled it with black and bob's your uncle.

best i could come up with

[Stokkers]

Think I've got lost along the way. Not a subject I am familiar with. Had PSP for several years, but for simple stuff. I tried the Magic Wand, but that only confused me even more! I got really lost when you said, "I then used the inverse of luminescence data to create a mask layer. copied that mask layer and filled it with black and bob's your uncle."

No! Sat back here and tried to figure out what you meant, but I'm lost!

[JoeB]

Think I've got lost along the way. Not a subject I am familiar with. Had PSP for several years, but for simple stuff. I tried the Magic Wand, but that only confused me even more! I got really lost when you said, "I then used the inverse of luminescence data to create a mask layer. copied that mask layer and filled it with black and bob's your uncle."

No! Sat back here and tried to figure out what you meant, but I'm lost!

I'm off to an appointment, and Flagpole's reply seems deliberately designed to be less than helpful to someone without lots of experience. Somebody will come along who wants to actually help you with step by step help.

[flagpole]

Think I've got lost along the way. Not a subject I am familiar with. Had PSP for several years, but for simple stuff. I tried the Magic Wand, but that only confused me even more! I got really lost when you said, "I then used the inverse of luminescence data to create a mask layer. copied that mask layer and filled it with black and bob's your uncle."

No! Sat back here and tried to figure out what you meant, but I'm lost!

I'm off to an appointment, and Flagpole's reply seems deliberately designed to be less than helpful to someone without lots of experience. Somebody will come along who wants to actually help you with step by step help.

JoeB please don't talk to me like that. You simply have no right to speak to me that way.

I was replying to you not the OP. I would have been more than happy to explain it to him had I been sure that's what he wanted and he didn't just want the image. Sometimes, as I'm sure you know people do just want the image and I didn't want waste my time if that were the case.

And now of course I don't care.

[Stokkers]

Think I've got lost along the way. Not a subject I am familiar with. Had PSP for several years, but for simple stuff. I tried the Magic Wand, but that only confused me even more! I got really lost when you said, "I then used the inverse of luminescence data to create a mask layer. copied that mask layer and filled it with black and bob's your uncle."

No! Sat back here and tried to figure out what you meant, but I'm lost!

I'm off to an appointment, and Flagpole's reply seems deliberately designed to be less than helpful to someone without lots of experience. Somebody will come along who wants to actually help you with step by step help. It'd be appreciated if someone can help. I'd like to be able to place it on a news letter, with the main image, Buddha, being the background image.

Thanks anyway.

[flagpole]

Why can't you use the image I created?

I'm perfectly happy to talk you through it tomorrow but the image is there for you.

[MarkZ]

Enough of this. Stokkers deserves to know the process.

There is a variety of ways of doing this. The simplest (from my point of view anyway):
- right click and promote background layer.
- select the magic wand tool. Check the various settings; mode should be replace, for this I would use 0 feather. Click on the white.
- press delete. Most of the white will disappear, some patches may remain
- clean up by going to selections/select none (ctrl D), zoom in and select remaining portions with the magic wand and delete or use the background eraser tool on the white.

This is quick and may not give the best result but gets you started. Experiment with the selection tools and background eraser. This monochrome white is the easiest to select and delete - in other instances you may need to play with the tolerance setting. Get familiar with the replace, add and subtract modes for more complicated work. Experimenting is a great teacher once you've started with the basics.

Note that flagpole saved this as a .png file - this format retains transparency whereas jpg does not.

[JoeB]

It'd be appreciated if someone can help. I'd like to be able to place it on a news letter, with the main image, Buddha, being the background image.Thanks anyway.

Now that we know the purpose there is more info needed. The image you posted was a small image and I presume a sample of what you are actually working with. If this is to be used in a printed newsletter then you will need to start with an image that is of print quality, at least 200ppi (pixels per inch) at the size you expect to print.

That said, here is the image you posted with the background removed and transparent, and the steps I took using the basic tools you are likely familiar with in PSP:

1) If this is a Background layer, Promote Background Layer.

2) Resize the image to 300% with Resample Using checked and using Smart Size from the dropdown as the method.

3) Select the Magic Wand selection tool. The Mode can be Add or Replace, Match Mode set to RGB Value, high tolerance setting (I used 60), Anti-alias checked and set to Outside.

4) Click on the white area of the image to select the white.

5) Go to Selections>Modify>Expand and set the value to 2 pixels and click OK.

6) Hit the Delete key on the keyboard to delete the white.

7) Resize back to the original size of the image that you started with.

You will now have an image with all of the white removed and a transparent background behind which you can add anything your want (color, another image, etc.). Save in a format that supports transparency and that will be recognized by a commercial printer, such as PNG format. Of course, if you are printing from your own printer then you can use .pspimage format, which will retain transparency and also any layers that you might want to add.