How to cut out object ...slicing or ???

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chaser7016
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How to cut out object ...slicing or ???

Post by chaser7016 »

For a long time now I have been playing with PhotoShop and for the life I me I do not understand slicing. For instance at http://www.notepadded.com at the top left I have a .png of notepad. The notepad image itself sits on a white background which I do not want. I just want to cut the notepad image itself so it appears alone and not on this white background.

How in the world do I do this?

Thank you much for your help!

Chase
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feyd
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Post by feyd »

There are a variety of ways to pull out elements from layers. One is the extract tool, found in CS versions of Photoshop. It's not particularly useful for this application however. Instead, I'd create a shape using the lasso and other tools then simply select that into a layer mask.
Rovas
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Post by Rovas »

You can cut it out using TheGimp. Open the image and cut by pressing Shift+C, you could resize the cut you made by resizing the selected area using the controls given in the corners and with the zoom tool is very easy.
You could also make the background transparent by going into Layer/Transparency/Add Alpha Channel, selecting the image you want to keep using the "Select contigous zones" tool and then in the menu Edit select Clear.
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gregwhitworth
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Here it is...

Post by gregwhitworth »

I have changed my slicing styles through the years and currently, this is what works best for me:
  • Crop the area of the image that you want to use (in this case crop out everything but the notepad by pressing 'C' in PS)
    From there I turn off everything - click the eyeballs on all layers except your notepad (I only create a transparent image if the object is going to be sitting on a background that changes)
    Now you should have your notepad on a transparent background
    Now press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+S (This will bring up the 'Web' saving screen in PS - This is great place for you to set up your image, I really like that you have all the options and estimated file size at your finger tips)
    Then select 'Gif' not PNG as it is not 'Fully' supported by all browsers (Even thought there are hacks out there, I highly suggest making your sites work without using hacks!)
    Then select a Matte type, in your case the blue that the notepad sits on, this will allow you to keep your "drop shadows" or anti-aliasing while remaining transparent.
    Then click save

Hope that that helps you, OH! By the way, before you start slicing (no matter how you do it), create a new PSD file called development_version or whatever, so if you happen to save the file, you don't loose your final concept!

--
Greg
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