Make a transparent gif

Question

Level 3

535 points

Make a transparent gif

This may not be the right forum to ask this, but I do not see an obvious place.

I just want to take a gif file, select a color to make transparent and save it. This does not need a heavy graphics app. You would think that would be a save option in preview where you can simply convert image files.

I have photoshop, and sure you can make a transparent gif with that, but it is way too complex and not as simple as just select a pixel.

Am I missing something? Surely this simple function must be simple on a Mac. In the other world I use a simple free download MS gif editor. Pick a pixel and save. I am trying to find that on a Mac.

Black MacBook4,1, Mac OS X (10.5.3), TVs(2)

Posted on Jul 3, 2008 7:53 PM

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Answer 1

user1724 Author

Level 3

535 points

Jul 4, 2008 3:44 PM in response to user1724

Just figured out that if I make a gif file with black in it, open it in PhotoShop and save it, PS will automatically make the black transparent.

I hope this answer helps someone else who stumbles on this thread.

I still think this should be included in the graphics file functions in Preview - when saving a gif cick a color and that turns transparent.

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Answer 2

dechamp

Level 4

3,495 points

Jul 4, 2008 4:21 PM in response to user1724

{quote}

Just figured out that if I make a gif file with black in it, open it in PhotoShop and save it, PS will automatically make the black transparent.

I hope this answer helps someone else who stumbles on this thread.

I still think this should be included in the graphics file functions in Preview - when saving a gif cick a color and that turns transparent.

Actually, you can choose any color to be the transparent color in Photoshop. Black is a little too common for me to use in most work. I usually fill areas that I want to be transparent with some odd solid color with a hard edge brush and select that color when Saving for Web.

I don't consider Preview to be a graphics development tool at all. Maybe that's because I've been using other graphics programs for so long and just use Preview for quick and dirty viewing and as my PDF program.

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Answer 3

user1724 Author

Level 3

535 points

Jul 5, 2008 7:21 AM in response to dechamp

dechamp wrote:
Actually, you can choose any color to be the transparent color in Photoshop. Black is a little too common for me to use in most work. I usually fill areas that I want to be transparent with some odd solid color with a hard edge brush and select that color when Saving for Web.

When you save as web in Photoshop I see the checkbox for transparency, but how do you tell it what color you want to be transparent? This has got to be obvious, but I just don't see it.

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Answer 4

user1724 Author

Level 3

535 points

Jul 5, 2008 7:35 AM in response to user1724

OK, I get it now. Use the magic extractor to select the color.

When you are new to PS, and just want to do something simple, it seems way to complex. I am sure I will come to appreciate it over time.

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Answer 5

dechamp

Level 4

3,495 points

Jul 5, 2008 5:00 PM in response to user1724

{quote}

When you are new to PS, and just want to do something simple, it seems way to complex. I am sure I will come to appreciate it over time.

There's never been enough time 🙂 I've been using PS since v2 (which I got for free with a $1800 scanner that couldn't hold a candle to $300 scanners nowdays). I was switching over from *Aldus Digital Darkroom*

I've done the Classroom in a Book tutorials, the Lynda.com tutorials, went back to night school at the local college for photography help, and bought just about every update for PS as they came out.

Thousands of hours and dollars later:
I'm sure I'm not a PS Guru. You end up learning the parts you want to know about as you need them. At one time I couldn't conceive of any program better for my needs, but that was back in the print separation days. Now that almost all of my photo work is for the Internet, instead of print, I think Photoshop Elements 6 fits my needs very nicely. I use it as the external editor for iPhoto.

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Answer 6

user1724 Author

Level 3

535 points

Jul 5, 2008 8:55 PM in response to dechamp

Yup, waaay too complex. I am using the new PS 6 for Mac and I cannot figure out how to draw a straight line. All the tutorials talk about selecting the line tool, they have pics, but in my version the line tool is not there and the pics don't look like what I have.

One problem is there are so many versions that it is hard to find a tutorial that works. And the help is useless. Try putting "line" or "draw a line" into help.

Just one more example of PS frustration.

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