How can I make the white part of a picture transparent?

MK
Posted By
Mitchell_Kaplan
May 25, 2007
Views
645
Replies
11
Status
Closed
I’m still very new to this. I’ve copied a picture into CS2. Actually it’s a pasted copy of a file tree. I’d like to convert the white background to transparent so that I can paste the new picture in a VB application.

I’m still pretty weak on changing colors and have no clue as to how to exchange white for transparent. Can I do this?

I’d appreciate any help or even starting points.

Thanks
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how make part picture transparency white

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dave_milbut
May 25, 2007
select> color range. click on some white, set the tolerance. when you have a nice selection, hit delete. save in a format that supports transparency like gif or png.

but please don’t tell me you’re going to create a file tree in vb by using an image instead of building it programatically! 🙂
P
Phosphor
May 25, 2007
Have a look here, Mitch:

<http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx/.3bc34571>
MV
Mathias_Vejerslev
May 25, 2007
There are a multitude of ways to do this. Magic Erasor tool is one.
TB
Tony Blair
May 25, 2007
wrote in message
I’m still very new to this. I’ve copied a picture into CS2. Actually it’s a pasted copy of a file tree. I’d like to convert the white background to transparent so that I can paste the new picture in a VB application.
I’m still pretty weak on changing colors and have no clue as to how to exchange white for transparent. Can I do this?

I’d appreciate any help or even starting points.

Thanks

One further important point!!
You cannot have transparency on a background layer! if it is the background layer you need to rename it!
RS
Randeep_Singh
May 25, 2007
If the area you want to delete is complete white with no gradient. Select the Magic Eraser tool and then click in the part of the image you want to erase.
EH
Ed_Hannigan
May 25, 2007
Before you do any of these things make sure the Background is changed into a Layer. You can do this by double-clicking on it in the Layers palette or by Alt-double-clicking to skip the naming dialog.
P
Phosphor
May 25, 2007
Or…if the image is on its own layer, hide the Background by clicking on the eyeball icon in the Layers Palette. (If it’s not on its own layer, ALT + Double-click on it to turn it to "Layer 0")

Then click on the Layer Styles icon at the bottom of the Layers Palette, and select Blending Options from the little pop-up menu.

By grabbing the little triangle pointer on the right side of the "This Layer" bar (near the bottom of the dialogue) and pulling it slightly toward the left, the white background of your image will drop out. The good thing about this is that it’s non-destructive and you can continue adjusting the slider until you get exactly what you want….Even if you Save, Close and reopen that Photoshop document.

Click the thumbnail below for a large version:
< http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1Exb3Rc9NcY0Apj3ef Qlq6tsPFk1Ng>
P
Phosphor
May 25, 2007
Mornin’ Ed!

🙂
MK
Mitchell_Kaplan
May 25, 2007
Thanks everyone. I wound up using the Magic Eraser. Being new to this, this was something I had no idea about. Worked like a charm.

Dave — Do this programatically? Yikes! (I did see the ":)") As it was I had to cheat. This is for some on-line documentation and I needed a tree that showed not only the folders but also the files in them. I couldn’t even find software that would display that for me so I did a lot cutting and pasting.
DM
dave_milbut
May 25, 2007
Do this programatically?

erm, yes! jeebers! why map to an image when you can just do it in a few lines of code!

<http://www.developerfusion.co.uk/show/77/>

< http://www.magictree.com/vbcourse/05menusdialogs/dialogs.htm>

<http://support.microsoft.com/kb/161286>
P
Phosphor
May 25, 2007
Magic Eraser may have worked, but you’d be smart to learn the method I detailed.

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