posted
I have been racking my brain on how to rid some lettering and a logo of the dreaded white background for use on a black website.
I have been on unleashed.com, searched the board, I've read and read and tried and tried, using this format, that format, check this, check that. and still come up with the same opaque background.
The tutorials I have read seem to start with a bitmap, this is a vector image that is being exported as a bitmap.
Can anyone enlighten why when I select transparent background in Corel x3 exporting as a PNG file it doesn't in fact make a transparent background? Yes I have selected the background color as transparent.
Thanks in advance.
[ November 09, 2006, 10:38 PM: Message edited by: Bob Rochon ]
-------------------- Bob Rochon Creative Signworks Millbury, MA 508-865-7330
"Life is Like an Echo, what you put out, comes back to you." Posts: 5149 | From: Millbury, Mass. U.S. | Registered: Nov 1998
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Hope this brief tutorial will help you, and anyone else having this problem.
-------------------- Ken Henry Henry & Henry Signs London, Ontario Canada (519) 439-1881 e-mail: kjmlhenry@rogers.com
Why do I get all those on-line offers to sell me Viagara, when the only thing hardening is my arteries ? Posts: 2684 | From: London,Ontario, Canada | Registered: Feb 1999
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-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
Bob, there's several different ways to do it... some involve masking off the area you want transparent or you can choose a certain color to be transparent...
A method I occasionally use is to open your image in Photopaint, mask off the area you want transparent, then save as a .GIF or .PNG file while the mask is still active. The save dialog box will give you a chance to specify that you want the masked area to be transparent.
That same save dialog gives you the option of specifying certain colors to be transparent, but that can cause you problems in your image has some areas the same color as your background...
Edited to add: I notice you are starting out with a vector object. Just convert it to a bitmap, then edit it Photopaint, then Save As out of Photopaint before you exit back into Coreldraw...
[ November 10, 2006, 12:18 AM: Message edited by: Jon Jantz ]
-------------------- Jon Jantz Snappysign.com jjantz21@gmail.com http://www.allcw.com Posts: 3395 | From: Atmore, AL | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
I re-did Mike Berry's logo when he was wanting to have a black background for his "sign brackets" website.
Bob, what I have always had the best luck with is saving as a .gif file.
I just went to your website & I see that you have several transparent background images on there including your "Creative Signworks" logo which is a .gif file as well. So I would assume already know this, and something else is cropping up, but in case this helps anyone...
...If you have photoshop, then getting your vector art rastorized & into photoshop would be my first step. Then double clicking the layer name "background" in the layers palette lets you reassign that name as something like layer 0. Then if you select the background & delete it, you should have a transparent background. From there, after rezizing & confirming rgb color & 72 dpi... I would save as (or export... I forget which) a .gif file format (or it might say "compuserv gif") The last step is a dialog box pops up after exporting & you need to check "maintain transparency".
In CorelDraw X3 import in the picture or copy paste in the picture or just make it magically appear. Then if it is a bitmap right click it and select edit from the dropdown and then Corel Photopaint should open with the bitmap in it. Now with the mask tools select the area that you need to be transparent and then hit save. Look in Draw and the bitmap should be masked the why you want. Then you can export out as a png selecting the transparent colour and vola done! Now depending on the program you then view the png in it may or may not be transparent. Go figure MS still needs work in how they handle pngs with Internet Explorer so if you are still using an older version that may be why you are having problems. If this make no sence send me the picture I will make transparent OK.
-------------------- Steve Eisenreich Dezine Signs PO BOX 6052 Stn Forces Cold Lake, Alberta T9M 2C5 Posts: 774 | From: Cold Lake | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
"The tutorials I have read seem to start with a bitmap, this is a vector image that is being exported as a bitmap." --------------------- If you're starting with a vector image, that may be better than bitmap. You can use your vector as a mask. That is, the silhouette shape of your vector, if I understand this right. You're also exporting the original vector art as CPT or TIF? Open your bitmap in PPaint, then import your vector outline as a Mask or an Object. Mask that shape, and make it an Object. Then make the BG an Object, and delete it. From there you should be able to make a GIF or whatever format supports transparency.
I gather that the White Box Riddle is still not part of the Corel manual, because lots of people still have to ask. They should have had a keystroke for it by version 9.
-------------------- Bruce Williams Lexington KY Posts: 945 | From: Lexington, KY, USA | Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Thanks for all the replys, I have to letter a couple trucks this morning then I'll return to this project. Mike I'll send the file up to you as well.
Kissy I checked with Sean and he can only use .jpg or .gif on his website.
I actually did get a .bmp file to work with a translucent background, when I converted it to a bitmap inside Corel, but when I exported it out in a file he can use for the web the white box came back.
-------------------- Bob Rochon Creative Signworks Millbury, MA 508-865-7330
"Life is Like an Echo, what you put out, comes back to you." Posts: 5149 | From: Millbury, Mass. U.S. | Registered: Nov 1998
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X3 rulz (actually any version of CorelDraw would do it.
Basically the file must be exported as a gif. When exporting bitmaps everything will be merged with the background, hence the white box, even if there is no background in photopaint. The trick is to tell the export filter that anything exported as white (or any other background color) is to be transparent. There is an eyedropper tool in the gif export dialogue that will let you select which color is to be transparent, click on the left preview screen to select background then preview to see what you've done. Takes about 2 seconds altogether.
[ November 10, 2006, 08:22 AM: Message edited by: Mike O'Neill ]
-------------------- Mike O'Neill
It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value. - Arthur C. Clarke
posted
BMP files, specifically, are sometimes a law unto themselves...
I find it's very easy to do it in photoshop: place the vector file in an open photoshop file. Select the areas to be made transparent. Use the <export transparent eps> wizard, found under the <help> drop-down menu, and export it with the transparency selected. It makes a clipping path from the selection. It's probably a round about way, but it works fine.
The next easiest way is to make the background of the file the same colour as the background of the web page, and don't worry about any transparencies...
-------------------- "Stewey" on chat
"...there are no limits when you aim for perfection..." Jonathan Livingston Seagull Posts: 7014 | From: Highgrove via Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
Mike, that is the basic way I was speaking of, the only reason I sometimes edit the image in Photopaint and make a mask instead of exporting straight out of Draw, is the 'Select the color' method will occasionally provide bad results.
If the image has white areas in it other than the background, and you select white to be transparent, then suddenly you end up with a bunch of transparent holes where the other patches of white are in the image.
Masking the image in Photopaint, then selecting Mask Areas/Transparent option while saving to a .GIF gives me exact control of what ends up being transparent.
I'd like to hear more tips and tricks and how people do it on this subject...
-------------------- Jon Jantz Snappysign.com jjantz21@gmail.com http://www.allcw.com Posts: 3395 | From: Atmore, AL | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
.Gif is the only format I've been able to get a transparent BG on.
-------------------- Kelsey Dum Dum Designs Sherwood, AR 72120 501.765.2166 kelsey@dumdesigns.com Posts: 827 | From: Sherwood, AR | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
I'm going to do a step by step of the way I easily make a mask for my transparent areas in Photopaint.
1. In CorelDraw, select the Vector image you want to have a transparent background. Edit>Copy or <Ctrl-C> to copy.
2. Open Photopaint, select File>New from Clipboard. In the New Image dialog box, you will see a "Transparent Background box. Make sure it's checked.
3. When the image opens in Photopaint, it will be a selected "Object." Go to Mask>Create>Mask from Object. This creates a mask of the transparent parts that are showing on the image.
4. Save as .GIF or .PNG. It will say "All objects will be merged with background." Click 'OK' and make sure that "Transparency - Masked Area" is selected.
Takes about 15 seconds to do that.
Like I said, that always has worked for me, just would like to know if I'm doing any unnecessary steps there... I love shortcuts.
-------------------- Jon Jantz Snappysign.com jjantz21@gmail.com http://www.allcw.com Posts: 3395 | From: Atmore, AL | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
While not for web pages, I had another comment on dealing with the white box around rastor images in vector drawings.
Ian, I've used that "wizard" a lot, but while it is handy for putting the resulting rastor .eps file back into a vector drawing without any white box, I'v found that the "clipping mask" that is thrown together without our control by the wizard, is never very good.
What may work better, I discovered by accident. After you select the background, delete it like I described in my earlier reply(rename "background" layer), save as a .psd file & then "place" it into Illustrator. In my few experiences, it has been a better looking edge.
posted
Good point Jon, about making more than just the background transparent, a simple workaround for that would be to make the background a unique color and then export that as transparent.
Doug ... What can I say...
-------------------- Mike O'Neill
It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value. - Arthur C. Clarke
posted
I find it is best to create a box around your vector graphic and make it the same color as the web page background. THEN, when I export to a GIF file, I make the box color transparent.
By doing the colors this way, you won't have any little white specs near the graphic (it's happened to me many times before with smaller text, graphics, etc.) Those little specs are so close in color to the web background, nothing can be seen.
That's how I did the line of smaller pics on my homepage. They just look like they float there.
-------------------- Randy Graphic Details Promotional Merchandise Distributor South Glens Falls, NY Posts: 381 | From: South Glens Falls, NY USA | Registered: Mar 2001
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posted
Mike, it depends on the shades of colors where your gif is going to go. If its a very light colored texture or pic, then white works (or a lighter shade of a color). But if it's a dark scheme, I would use a darker shade to use as a background when converting to gif. Remember, I still pick the background color in the gif as transparent.
If you have a dark texture or photo background, and pick white as the transparent color in the gif, you may see little white specs around the graphic. Therefore, I try to match it to the tone/shade of the background.
I don't know, it's always worked for me.
-------------------- Randy Graphic Details Promotional Merchandise Distributor South Glens Falls, NY Posts: 381 | From: South Glens Falls, NY USA | Registered: Mar 2001
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