Transparent GIF with 5.5

SH
Posted By
Steve Harp
Jan 26, 2005
Views
1030
Replies
5
Status
Closed
Hi All,

I’m not at all familiar with PS or graphics software in general. I have a GIF with a white background and a rather complex, multi-colored image in the foreground. I need to make the background transparent but due to the complexity of the image, using an eraser to remove the background isn’t a feasible solution.

I’ve read previous posts that talk about using the "Save for Web" dialog to do this but I’ve clicked and dragged everything I can see and it seems to have no effect.

Can anyone give me the ABCs of making a GIF with a white background transparent using PS 5.5?

Thanks for any help,
Steve

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C
Corey
Jan 26, 2005
Use the Magic Wand tool to select the white.

But before you do anything with the image, you need to do two things:
1) convert it to RGB color, rather than Indexed (Image > Mode >RGB).
2) Double click on the layer to "make a layer" which is necessary for transparency.

Then use the Magic Wand to select the white. You can see if it works better if "contiguous" is unchecked. If not, just make multiple selections while holding the SHFT key. Then just press the delete key.

You may end up with a few remnants of pixels around the edges. These can be deleted by lightly feathering the selection (Select > Feather), maybe a value of 0.5 pixels.

It’s been a while since I played with 5.5, but I think this suggestion will work.

Peadge 🙂

"Steve Harp" wrote in message
Hi All,

I’m not at all familiar with PS or graphics software in general. I have a GIF with a white background and a rather complex, multi-colored image in the foreground. I need to make the background transparent but due to the complexity of the image, using an eraser to remove the background isn’t a feasible solution.

I’ve read previous posts that talk about using the "Save for Web" dialog to do this but I’ve clicked and dragged everything I can see and it seems to have no effect.

Can anyone give me the ABCs of making a GIF with a white background transparent using PS 5.5?

Thanks for any help,
Steve
C
Corey
Jan 27, 2005
Oh, yeah…you should use the Save for Web option. Does 5.5 have a transparency check box? Be sure to check it.
If it doesn’t, It might be in the Optimize options in ImageReady.

Peadge 🙂

"Peadge" wrote in message
Use the Magic Wand tool to select the white.

But before you do anything with the image, you need to do two things:
1) convert it to RGB color, rather than Indexed (Image > Mode >RGB).
2) Double click on the layer to "make a layer" which is necessary for transparency.

Then use the Magic Wand to select the white. You can see if it works
better
if "contiguous" is unchecked. If not, just make multiple selections while holding the SHFT key. Then just press the delete key.

You may end up with a few remnants of pixels around the edges. These can
be
deleted by lightly feathering the selection (Select > Feather), maybe a value of 0.5 pixels.

It’s been a while since I played with 5.5, but I think this suggestion
will
work.

Peadge 🙂

"Steve Harp" wrote in message
Hi All,

I’m not at all familiar with PS or graphics software in general. I have a GIF with a white background and a rather complex, multi-colored image in the foreground. I need to make the background transparent but due to the complexity of the image, using an eraser to remove the background isn’t a feasible solution.

I’ve read previous posts that talk about using the "Save for Web" dialog to do this but I’ve clicked and dragged everything I can see and it seems to have no effect.

Can anyone give me the ABCs of making a GIF with a white background transparent using PS 5.5?

Thanks for any help,
Steve

SH
Steve Harp
Jan 27, 2005
I tried to follow your suggestions and still am having no luck. When I use the wand to select the white (by clicking the white area of the image) and delete it, it seems to select and delete everything. I’ve tried it with/without contiguous.

On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 17:26:14 -0800, "Peadge"
wrote:

Oh, yeah…you should use the Save for Web option. Does 5.5 have a transparency check box? Be sure to check it.
If it doesn’t, It might be in the Optimize options in ImageReady.
Peadge 🙂

"Peadge" wrote in message
Use the Magic Wand tool to select the white.

But before you do anything with the image, you need to do two things:
1) convert it to RGB color, rather than Indexed (Image > Mode >RGB).
2) Double click on the layer to "make a layer" which is necessary for transparency.

Then use the Magic Wand to select the white. You can see if it works
better
if "contiguous" is unchecked. If not, just make multiple selections while holding the SHFT key. Then just press the delete key.

You may end up with a few remnants of pixels around the edges. These can
be
deleted by lightly feathering the selection (Select > Feather), maybe a value of 0.5 pixels.

It’s been a while since I played with 5.5, but I think this suggestion
will
work.

Peadge 🙂

"Steve Harp" wrote in message
Hi All,

I’m not at all familiar with PS or graphics software in general. I have a GIF with a white background and a rather complex, multi-colored image in the foreground. I need to make the background transparent but due to the complexity of the image, using an eraser to remove the background isn’t a feasible solution.

I’ve read previous posts that talk about using the "Save for Web" dialog to do this but I’ve clicked and dragged everything I can see and it seems to have no effect.

Can anyone give me the ABCs of making a GIF with a white background transparent using PS 5.5?

Thanks for any help,
Steve
C
Corey
Jan 27, 2005
What is the tolerance set to for your wand. Maybe reduce it way down to something like 5 or 10… or even zero. If that doesn’t work, there’s the Lasso Tool. You can make multiple selections by Pressing the SHFT key.

Can you post it somewhere? A binary NG like alt.binaries.comp-graphics may work. It’s pretty "clean." Or e-mail it to me.

Peadge 🙂

"Steve Harp" wrote in message
I tried to follow your suggestions and still am having no luck. When I use the wand to select the white (by clicking the white area of the image) and delete it, it seems to select and delete everything. I’ve tried it with/without contiguous.

On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 17:26:14 -0800, "Peadge"
wrote:

Oh, yeah…you should use the Save for Web option. Does 5.5 have a transparency check box? Be sure to check it.
If it doesn’t, It might be in the Optimize options in ImageReady.
Peadge 🙂

"Peadge" wrote in message
Use the Magic Wand tool to select the white.

But before you do anything with the image, you need to do two things:
1) convert it to RGB color, rather than Indexed (Image > Mode >RGB).
2) Double click on the layer to "make a layer" which is necessary for transparency.

Then use the Magic Wand to select the white. You can see if it works
better
if "contiguous" is unchecked. If not, just make multiple selections
while
holding the SHFT key. Then just press the delete key.

You may end up with a few remnants of pixels around the edges. These
can
be
deleted by lightly feathering the selection (Select > Feather), maybe a value of 0.5 pixels.

It’s been a while since I played with 5.5, but I think this suggestion
will
work.

Peadge 🙂

"Steve Harp" wrote in message
Hi All,

I’m not at all familiar with PS or graphics software in general. I have a GIF with a white background and a rather complex,
multi-colored
image in the foreground. I need to make the background transparent but due to the complexity of the image, using an eraser to remove the background isn’t a feasible solution.

I’ve read previous posts that talk about using the "Save for Web" dialog to do this but I’ve clicked and dragged everything I can see and it seems to have no effect.

Can anyone give me the ABCs of making a GIF with a white background transparent using PS 5.5?

Thanks for any help,
Steve
SH
Steve Harp
Jan 27, 2005
I emailed you a copy. Thanks for any help.

On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 18:13:16 -0800, "Peadge"
wrote:

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