need to make .jpeg image transparent

LL
Posted By
Leah_Loy
Aug 4, 2004
Views
513
Replies
20
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Closed
I have a .jpeg that was emailed to me for a job I am doing…I need to make the graphic transparent so it will be transparent on top of a colored background. I an VERY NEW at Adobe so if someone can explain it to me in laymans terms, I would appreciate it.
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JF
Jerry_Farnsworth
Aug 4, 2004
:

I have a .jpeg that was emailed to me for a job I am doing…I need to make the graphic transparent so it will be transparent on top of a colored background.

JPEG doesn’t support transparency.

We’ll need to know what your target purpose is to recommend a solution. Web? Print? Microsoft Office?

I an VERY NEW at Adobe

Adobe what?
LL
Leah_Loy
Aug 4, 2004
My target purpose is to open the image, make it transparent, save it as a .jiff then place it into Adobe PageMaker 7.0 into my document to later take it to a publisher for printing.

I am VERY NEW at Adobe Pagemaker and Photoshop (both 7.0) I am starting my own business trying to get it going with these programs.

Thank you!!
B
BobLevine
Aug 4, 2004
Pagemaker doesn’t support transparency. If you’re new to this then you should be starting with decent software. Dump Pagemaker and use InDesign.

And please don’t take this personally, but I hope you’re not thinking that you can just load software onto your computer and become a graphic designer. You’ve got years of learning ahead of you.

Bob
LL
Leah_Loy
Aug 4, 2004
Bob, thanks for your answer. I appreciate your help. I do not think I can just load software on my machine and become a professional…I am learning and I was hoping to find friendly people here to help me learn…I guess I was mistaken.

Thanks anyway!!
DM
dave_milbut
Aug 4, 2004
save it as a .jiff

gif. like the peanut butter.
Aug 4, 2004
GIF, pronounced like the first 3 letters of "gift."

(((Leah: That was a winking joke to Dave’s reply, above.)))

And don’t be discouraged. Many of us here are professionals, and can assume a lot about the new folks who visit. Sometimes it’s difficult to harken back to those days when we were as clueless as you feel you are now, and that can make it difficult to explain things in a way that will make sennse to the newcomer.

Your best bet (after switching over to InDesign, that is) is to understand that it is incumbent upon you to read and experiment of your own volition as much as you can. The more you do on your own, the more staying power the things you learn will have.

You WILL have to buy 3rd-party books. You WILL have to put in a lot of time learning. You WILL make big mistakes and run on panic molecules when (IF) you get a big important job to do. It’s easy to get in over your head.

Just keep swimming,just keep swimming.

I offer the following links to you. You should save them and read them. Most of us have, and they can be invaluable on the uphill climb of the learning curve you’re facing.

<http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html>
<http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/6712.htm>

Last, but not least:

<http://www.google.com>

The biggest part of learning, often, is to know how to ask the proper questions and how to find information on your own. Learn the terminology, please, so that when you do ask questions, those who are in a position to help you will know what you’re talking about.
L
LenHewitt
Aug 4, 2004
Leah,

Open your JPG image. CHange the name of the Background layer to something other than ‘Background’.

Select the area you wish to be transparent and delete it.

Change the colour mode to CMYK.

Now select Help>Export Transparent Image>For Print

This will create a clipping path and allow you to Save the image as .EPS

Place that EPS file in your Pagemaker document. If the Backgrond shows, rotate the image in PageMaker by 0.1 deg. (It is a long-standing PageMaker display bug).

For print, ensure that your image is at around 240ppi image resolution in Photoshop before doing anything else
L
LenHewitt
Aug 4, 2004
Phos,

Actually the .GIF file specification states it should be pronounced with a soft ‘g’ – although I know of no-one who does so…
LL
Leah_Loy
Aug 4, 2004
Dear Phosphor and Len,

Thank you so much for your valuable information and thank you for doing it in a nice manner. I am new and trying to learn and I am trying to find classes here in our city on the programs, but I am not having any luck so I am trying to learn by using the book and asking questions. Thank you so much for being patient with a newbie.

Phosphor, thanks for the links. I will study what you sent. I really appreciate you helping me.

Len, thanks for the great description on what to do. I will go now and try.

Thank you both again so very much!!
MM
Mac_McDougald
Aug 4, 2004
soft ‘g’

Since first word in acronym is "Graphic", never understood that.

M
Aug 4, 2004
Even the originator of the acronym GIF insists it’s a soft "G", according to an article someone reprinted here awhile back.

I say he needs to stick to coding and leave the lexicology and pronunciation to those of us who have a better grasp of how those concepts are supposed to work.
DM
dave_milbut
Aug 4, 2004
gif as in giant. get over it people! do you know that those of us who pronounce it correctly secretly snicker at you behind your back when you say gif (as in girl) in conversation? <snicker>

I say he needs to stick to coding and leave the lexicology and pronunciation to those of us who have a better grasp of how those concepts are supposed to work.

next time you invent a file format that’s used world-wide, feel free to call it whatever you want. 🙂
ND
Nick_Decker
Aug 4, 2004
Len, I was particularly happy to see your response to Leah, especially after she was told that Pagemaker doesn’t support transparency. I’ve been using the technique that you described (that’s one of the beers I owe ya!) for years.
B
BobLevine
Aug 4, 2004
I got the impression that she wanted the image to be ghosted. That is something that could be seen through to the background.

Pagemaker doesn’t support that or any other transparency. A raster image with a clipping path is NOT transparent.

Bob
L
LenHewitt
Aug 4, 2004
You’re very welcome, Leah
L
LenHewitt
Aug 4, 2004
Nick,

that’s one of the beers I owe ya<<

Your memory is better than mine!
ND
Nick_Decker
Aug 4, 2004
Bob, I think what we’re talking about here is a matter of semantics.

Well, that and the fact that it tends to irk me when you jump on someone who politely admits to being new at this, and politely asks for help.
B
BobLevine
Aug 4, 2004
I didn’t jump on her. But re-reading my post, I suppose it could be taken that way. I try to help, but also don’t want to spend lots of time on long winded posts. I suppose it could have been worded better, but the advice stands. She has years of learning before she’s ready to make a living at this.

And my statement stands. Clipping paths are not transparency. That isn’t semantics…it’s fact.

Bob
ND
Nick_Decker
Aug 4, 2004
Clipping paths are not transparency. That isn’t semantics…it’s fact.<<

Then perhaps Adobe should rename their "Export Transparent Image Wizard" to something else.
B
BobLevine
Aug 4, 2004
A clipping path doesn’t create tranpsarency. It simply hides pixels. With true tranpsarency, you can see through the pixels.

Bob

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