We just got photoshop3 and DH is actually the one who works with it. However, last night I started working on my first digital page, thanks to all the wonderful stuff I found here but started it in Power Point since I don't understand the whole layer thing yet. Anyway, is it possible to save a picture you have cut with the cookie cutter--I used a rough edges frame--so that the white background doesn't show when you go and layer that photo elsewhere? I want to know how to make the background transparent I guess.

Thank you,
Jamie

I hope I understand you... ok, in order to save an image with the transparency you must save as .png .gif or .tiff and check the box "transparency". A lot of the people here save with .png (not sure why). but, this is not fool proof... it also depends on the program you open the file into and if that program supports the saved "transparency" part of the image. Some programs will open it with the white no matter what you do. But, give it a try. Hope that helps.
Yazo

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Sheryl ~ Arcola, Texas
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PNG, TIFF, and native formats like Adobe's psd and Jasc's psp are the only files that support transparency. JPG does not, GIF does not. So save in a type that supports it. PNG makes a much smaller file size, so more popular for downloaded scrap graphics.

If your software doesn't recognize PNG file, try Select>Load Selection>From Alpha channel in older versions of PSP or PS. Not sure if older DIP/Picture It has this option, but it's a workaround for older software to still use modern PNG graphic files.

Hope to see your first page soon! Have you tried any First Page tutorials yet? I wrote one, and one about Layers in PS and PSE to help you understand how to use and work with them.

Have fun!
Emma
thepals@austin.rr.com

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Emma the Pal
GALLERY Web Page

Thank you for your help. I tried saving as a png file but that didn't get rid of the white boundry box. I did my first page last night and my husband took what I had and worked with it in elements--hence the picture of the vette. It was too big to upload here, so I hope it's not a problem with the link that I have. http://www.scrapbook.com/scrapbook_l.../sort/1/page/1

I had a lot of fun doing it. I used Deb F's chocolate valentine kit.

Jamie

One last tip about transparency (Sounds like you've got it figured out, but someone else might need this) -- you cannot save a layer named "background" as a transparency -- it will always show a color when you erase things. Double click on the Background layer and it will rename it to "Background copy." Now, when you erase, it will show the "checkered background" that shows which part is transparent.

Christina.

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Hi, not sure if you've figured it out yet, so replying to see

Just saving as a png won't give it a transparent background. You have to actually turn off the visibility of the background layer so it shows the checkerboard. Then when you save as a PNG, it'll use the exisiting transparency of the image.

Christina, I'm not following you about the background vs background copy? I don't understand by what you mean about erasing and showing a color?
I create elements on a white background, then just click the eye to turn off the visibility to save as a PNG file. Backgrounds can be transparent or a color, and if they're a color, you can turn off the visibility to make it transparent. But I don't think we're talking about the same thing. Enlighten me!

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Emma the Pal
GALLERY Web Page

Emma -- I think we're talking about the same thing, I was just saying if you have something that is created ON the background, you cannot assume it will be transparent just because there is white around it. And a layer named "background" will never be transparent (unless of course, you turn off the visibility of that layer, as you mentioned)

So, if you're trying to separate, say, a flower from the grass in a photo, and have the edges transparent, you can't just pick up the eraser and erase the grass. This will fill in the background color (usually white) because your layer is named "background" If you drag the layer up to create a new layer, it will be named "background copy" and your eraser will then make things transparent on that layer. If you double click on the layer instead of dragging, the new layer will be named "layer 0" and your eraser will also work to create transparent areas.

Does that make better sense?

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