How do I delete a background Photoshop

J
Posted By
John32c
Feb 19, 2004
Views
444
Replies
13
Status
Closed
I have a tiff (CYMK) logo but it has a white background which I need to delete. How do I do this in Photoshop. I think the image was generated via the mac?

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TD
Thee_DarkOverLord
Feb 19, 2004
use the rubber, it has a magic background remover function.
G
graffiti
Feb 19, 2004
Make sure the layer is unlocked. Select the white area. If it doesn’t select all of the white go to Select>Similar to get the rest.

Edit>Cut.
SF
Scott_Falkner
Feb 19, 2004
Best to use the Magic wand with a low tollerance, like 6, and antialiasing on. Contiguous on, too. Shift+Click on each white area you want to remove. Delete. If you save as a TIFF again the transparency will be lost and the areas will revert to white. Only a PSD file will preserve your transparency. To use other formats create a clipping path with the pen tool.
L
LenHewitt
Feb 19, 2004
If you save as a TIFF again the transparency will be lost and the areas
will revert to white. <<

Not so Scott. Photoshop supports layered TIFFs (and there is always .PNG)
TD
Thee_DarkOverLord
Feb 19, 2004
Best to use the Magic wand with a low tollerance, like 6, and antialiasing on.

er nope i dont agree there.
G
graffiti
Feb 19, 2004
er nope i dont agree there.

But then again, you called it a rubber. 😛
SF
Scott_Falkner
Feb 19, 2004
It is one thing for Photoshop to support transparency in TIFF images, it is another to actually get that transparency when importing your image to another program. TIFF transparency is very new, and non-standard.

About MW: I, personally, would use the pen tool, but I think John will be better getting acquainted with the wand. I get quite acceptable results with this method.
Y
YrbkMgr
Feb 19, 2004
Depending on the composition of your logo, I prefer to blend out the white.

Duplicate the layer. Double click on the duplicate to open the layer styles dialog. In the center of the dialog, set Knockout to Shallow.

There are two sliders at the bottom. Work with the one called This Layer.

On the right of that slider is a pointer with a hairline split. Hold down the alt key and split that apart, dragging it to the left. You’ll see your white blend out.

Then you can stamp the layer and work from there. Success with this depends, as I mentioned, on the composition of your logo, specifically, if there’s white in it.

Peace,
Tony
J
John32c
Feb 20, 2004
Thanks Guys….It seems I need to generate a clipping path as I need to import the finished logo into a DTP program. The DTP program has an image in the background of the page so I need the logo (the black part)to be visible with the background transparent so I can see the background page in the DTP program. Im told that if I delete the white background of the logo in Photoshop via the magic wand or the rubber tool once I resave as EPS or Tif with transparent background on, the background colour is put back in again. PSD’s apparently support transparency but I will need an EPS or TIFF as the final format for my logo as it is being printed high res.

The Logo is a black signature on a white background. How do I generate a clipping path in Photoshop..step 1 to 5 etc..I cannot find how to do this in the Frame manual….Thanks for your help guys!
J
John32c
Feb 20, 2004
Thanks Guys….It seems I need to generate a clipping path as I need to import the finished logo into a DTP program. The DTP program has an image in the background of the page so I need the logo (the black part)to be visible with the background transparent so I can see the background page in the DTP program. Im told that if I delete the white background of the logo in Photoshop via the magic wand or the rubber tool once I resave as EPS or Tif with transparent background on, the background colour is put back in again. PSD’s apparently support transparency but I will need an EPS or TIFF as the final format for my logo as it is being printed high res.

The Logo is a black signature on a white background. How do I generate a clipping path in Photoshop..step 1 to 5 etc..I cannot find how to do this in the Frame manual….Thanks for your help guys!
JS
John_Slate
Feb 20, 2004
If the logo is only black and white, and does not include any shades of gray, you can convert to bitmap mode via Image>mode>bitmap choosing the 50% threshold method, AFTER you convert it to grayscale.

For such file types, there are only two possible values for each pixel… black or white; on or off; 0 or 1… ergo BITmap. All of the white pixels will be automatically transparent to your DTP application.

Note that you want a minimum of 600ppi for this type of file, and if your original is not high enough, resample it in graysacle mode before going to bitmap. It will produce better results than just choosing 600 in thw output dialog when going to bitmap mode
J
John32c
Feb 23, 2004
Thanks John…When I convert to a bitmap in Photoshop and import into Quark Express I can display this logo with the background transparent as desired. However using Framemaker with an background image on the master page and the same logo (Bmp)in the foreground I get the white surrounding box again? Any ideas?
T
tidbits
Feb 23, 2004
wrote in message news:…
I have a tiff (CYMK) logo but it has a white background which I need to delete. How do I do this in Photoshop. I think the image was generated via the mac?

Two others posted responses to this post… but they are not correct.

According to the folks at www.Photoshop911.com, you’ll need a clipping path.

If your image is sufficient resolution, you can quickly make a clipping path by selecting the background… use the Magic Wand tool and click in the background with "tollerance" in the Options Bar set to a low number — 1, 4, or 8. (Depends on how many outlaw pixels you have floating in the "white" background. Not all backgrounds are completely white.)

Now convert that selection (racing ants) to the inverse… go: Select Menu > Inverse

You’ve now selected the object which needs to be clipped.

If there are still outlaw white pixels around the object, just use the Lasso Tool and carefully eliminate them while holding in the Option key. (Watch for the tiny ‘minus’ mark to appear with the lasso cursor)

Once you’re satisfied that the selection is accurate, you’ll want to convert that selection to a PATH.

Open the Paths Palette and from the upper right hand pull-out menu select "Make Clipping Path" … this will make the path which will mask out your background.

The resulting dialog will ask you for a "flattness" setting. For the type of image you are clipping you should ramp that up to at least 8, maybe more.

Now you can save as EPS (best) or Tif for further import into other programs like Quark, PageMaker, InDesign, or others that support EPS or TIF files with clipping masks/paths.

Beware: you didn’t say what version of Photoshop you are using, we assumed it’s #7. On versions before 6 you’ll need to choose a clipping path from within the EPS Options dialog box — and save ONLY as EPS.

If there are other issues, like "holes" in the object you are clipping, etc., you should ask the people at Photoshop 911 dot com: http://www.photoshop911.com/ because they will be a lot better at answering than I will.

🙂
There are also several Clipping Path tutorials in the Photoshop Tips & Tricks web site (http://www.graphic-design.com/Photoshop/index.html) tutorials department, as well as in the tutorials department of Photoshop 911 BLOG — http://photoshop911.typepad.com/links/

hope this helps

TidBits

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