"Photoshop" - the program is multifunctional and very complex. It is designed for professionals. Therefore, it is difficult to understand it. Without outside help, this is almost impossible. That is why they came up with special lessons on Photoshop. But they will not have the most important thing - the basics of working with tools. For each lesson uses its own tools and settings. Our task is to master the basics. For example, such a simple action as just making transparency in Photoshop can be an overwhelming task for a beginner. Therefore, we will analyze this moment.
Why is this needed?
The transparency of the picture in Photoshop may be required for a variety of tasks. For example, you need to overlay one image on another with changing the background. There is nowhere without transparency. Or you need to make a watermark. It should also be translucent. Anyway, transparency is almost the most important component of any work in Photoshop. There are many applications of transparency. That is why it is worth learning to use this interesting tool for creativity.
There are several ways to apply transparency in Photoshop. Some of them are indecently simple, and some will have to work hard. But the result will exceed all expectations. After all, everyone wants to feel like a god of Photoshop. And without studying the "materiel" this is impossible. So learn the basics, gentlemen. And as the first lesson we will learn to work with transparency.
Make the whole image transparent
Everything is very simple here. It’s much easier to apply transparency to the whole image than to a separate section of it. So, go to the "File", "Open" and open the picture we need. Now in the list of layers we look at a layer called "Background". Opposite it will be a lock icon. This means that the layer is locked. To change any parameters of a layer, you need to unlock it by clicking on the lock icon. After that, you can perform various manipulations with the layer.
Now in the same layer window a little higher there is a number of sliders that adjust the transparency of the image. Using them, we expose the transparency in "Photoshop" that we need. The transparency of the layer in Photoshop is a simple matter. And we get a translucent image without a background. Instead of the background, black and white squares will appear. This means that the picture has become transparent. But that is not all. Now the main thing is to save the image correctly. This is the whole story.
Saving the edited image
The fact is that the JPEG format, which is used by default for pictures, does not know how to work with transparent images. Therefore, you need to save the resulting image in PNG-24 format. No way without it. Go to "File", "Save As ..." and in the line for selecting the format of the output file, select PNG. Click "Save." That's all. But this is only the tip of the iceberg, because we have considered the easiest way to make transparency in Photoshop. On the example of the whole image. But what if we need to make a watermark with some inscription? More about this below.
If you plan on further work with the resulting image in Photoshop, it is better to save the image in PSD format - standard for this editor. With this method, even individual layers are saved, which in the future will seriously facilitate subsequent work with the image. But only for web publishing, this format is categorically not suitable.
Create watermarks on an image
Here, in piercing, there is nothing complicated. First of all, you need to open a new image. Then add a new layer to the layers menu and go to the Text tool. Enter the desired text and transform it as we need, using the control elements. Then we begin to create transparency in Photoshop. Make sure that you have the text layer selected, and then adjust its transparency with the sliders we already know. Then again we go to the layers menu and execute the command "Flatten layers". Save the result again in PNG format.
This way you can add more than text as a watermark. You can use any image as a logo. Naturally, in this case, you do not need to use the Text tool. It will be enough to drag the desired image onto the freshly created layer and reduce it to the desired size. And then do everything according to the instructions.
Making the image background transparent
This task is no longer as simple as the previous ones. Here you have to use combinations of many tools. In order to apply transparency in Photoshop for a certain part of the image, you should first create a new duplicate layer. Then you need to apply transparency to the background image without affecting the new layer. After that, go to the toolbar and look for the Eraser tool. Turn on the duplicate layer and use the eraser to erase the entire background, except for the object that we want to leave intact. Work with the eraser should be very careful, because you can damage the image that you do not need to touch at all.
After the above manipulations have been performed, we perform the reduction of the layers and look at the result. If it suits us, then save the image in PNG format. If not, then cancel the last action and continue working with the layers until the result suits us. This work is very painstaking and requires concentration. For one wrong movement with an eraser - and you have to redo everything. Do you need it? We don’t think.
Conclusion
Thanks to this short tutorial, you learned how to use transparency in Photoshop. Now your work with this program will be more productive. Yes, and transparency is always needed. No matter what editing process you are doing. The main thing is not to overdo it, because excessive transparency is not necessary. It is necessary that the image was at least slightly visible. In the same way, you can save objects with a transparent background in PSD format for later use in other projects. With the help of background or image transparency, you can expand your creative horizons pretty well. So go ahead, the future gods of Photoshop. Train and you will be happy.