Preserved Topic: Preserving transperancy when copying a .gif

I've made a logo, with a transperant background, and I want to "stamp" it onto a .jpeg photo.

Similar to how to the what could have been acheived with half a potato in the good old days.

But when I copy the contents of the .gif and paste it onto the .jpeg it aquires a white background.

Am I trying to do something impossible, or am I just going about it the wrong way?

If that's the case, then just use the magic wand tool with a 0 tolerence and no anti-aliasing to select the white background, and then delete it.

Clever idea, although that will get a little tedious if I want to "stamp" the logo on more of the chaps work.

(It would involve selecting the middle bits from the "O's" and the "e's" for example)



[This message has been edited by skalie (edited 03-03-2003).]

if you made the logo, then you should still have the original psd file right?

if you have the original psd file, then the object is on its own layer? right?

presumably then, instead of saving it as a gif, just drag and drop that layer into your new file (over the bg) the layer should maintain its transparency.

or are you not making yourself clear?

otherwise, Synax's method will have to suffice.

got to keep them original psd's handy! heh

Er, I made the logo in Flash then exported the image as a .gif, hence no .psd file.

Once I had the image in Photoshop, I "saved for the web" as a .gif, which appeared to keep the background transperant. I also tried saving it as a .png, same result.

I was copying a hand drawn example that I had scanned, I used Flash because I am much more at home with the drawing tools then I am with the likes of Illustrator.

Get both pics in PS, different layers. With the actions you could maybe automize it.

"Freedom of speech is by no means freedom to insult others" from the Razorart goodbye letter.

Here's an idea: just bring the .gif into PS, drag the Background layer over the "new layer" icon (looks like a blank sheet of paper, kind of) to make it a new layer, delete the original background. If the .gif had a transparent background to begin with, you should now have the logo by itself with the checkered PS "background" visible behind it. Save this as a .psd and use it whenever you want to stamp a photograph.

Unless I'm misunderstanding you, this should work.

OK, trying it again.

I save the logo as a .gif or a .png and then when I open it again using photoshop the image is locked, as in I can't add a layer to start messing around.

What gives with that?

Symptoms;

I made an image in Flash, including text.

I exported it as a gif, opened it in photoshop, saved it for web as a gif, using transperancy.

Now when I open it with photoshop everything's locked, I can't even add a layer.

Maybe I should take this one to a flash forum?

Or start again from scratch, ouch.

AAAH!

It has to be in RGB mode for you to edit it. A gif is in Indexed color...

so open that bad boy, go to IMAGE >>> MODE >>> RGB COLOR


                                   

Heh... oops. Forgot to mention that.... thanks, izzay.

[Edit: Just looking at your steps up there... I think you have an extra step that you don't need. Rather than opening up the .gif in PS and then saving it for the web as a transparent .gif, just take the transparent file and save it directly as a .psd. That way you'll have the transparency and also have the logo as a layer readymade to slap on any photos.

You can accomplish the same thing as saving it as a transparent .gif by following Synax's advice above. However, I would recommend that you turn anti-aliasing on--this should eliminate some (if not all) of the background color and give you a cleaner transparency than the method you are trying to use. Using your method, if you try to slap that logo on a dark photo, you're going to see a white, jaggy "halo" around the logo.

Also: slap the logo on your photos before you compress them as .jpgs. JPEG is a lossy compression scheme, which means it makes changes to your image that cannot be reversed. If you open up a .jpg, slap the logo on it, flatten it and then save it as a .jpg again, your final image is going to come out looking even crappier. Use the original file whenever possible, and only compress as as a .jpg once.]

[This message has been edited by Suho1004 (edited 03-04-2003).]

Thanks eyezaer, that was the one, conversion to RGB mode did the trick. I used to know that once upon a time, the old korsokov kicked in once again I guess.

And thanks for the tips, suho1004, they will come into handy when it's time to fine tune.