how to make an object with a transparent background

[forrest...@adobeforums.com]

know this should be simple, but my use of photoshop has really fallen off and i can't recall how to do this.

have masked an object from a jpg file and pasted it into a new document created with background contents transparent and i do have the checkered background. yet, when i save this document, the background appears to be filled in with white. is it really white or is it really transparent. i even created a second layer to paste the object into and saved as a pdf, but the same thing happens.

if i flatten the image, the background also becomes white.

basic stuff, i know, but i don't remember and the help isn't helping me.

[forrest...@adobeforums.com]

should add, the reason for doing this is so the object can be printed with no background.

[J_Ma...@adobeforums.com]

JPGs don't support transparency. GIF and PNG do.

[forrest...@adobeforums.com]

thanks, for some reason, i am using version 9.0.2, i have not had GIF as a save option for a couple of years. don't know why. don't have PNG either. not sure what to do. reinstall???

[Phil...@adobeforums.com]

Maybe you are in 16 bit...
If you are working for print, why not go for psd or tiff anyway and use a clipping path or a simple transparent background?

By the way, the shift key is the big one at each end of the last row of letters... ;^) using it might stop your italics disease.

[Ed Hannigan]

You don't need a transparent background for printing. Think about iut. White will "print" with the paper color showing through.

Don't even think about using gif for printing (it's in Save for Web by the way). PSD will do fine.

[forrest...@adobeforums.com]

not in 16 bit, already checked that. have not typed in italics. not sure why it is happening.

this is an object for printing on a tee shirt, so the background has to be transparent if the tee shirt is not white, and it is not.

save for web has not worked for two years. it is greyed out. why? i don't know. it used to work.

can't be psd because the t-shirt printer doesn't use photoshop.

[Phil...@adobeforums.com]

Amazing how many of these industries like signmakers, embroiderers, die makers etc are so ignorant of modern software.... We still see many asking for odd file formats that printers and designers would not touch with a pole.

What does everyone else give them?

Don't know why your sfw doesn't work, what about 'save as'? As mentioned gif or png support transparency and you should be able to pick them in that menu.

You dont need photoshop to use a psd either, I would be interested to know how the shirt maker gets the image from the file to the shirt, presumably has some software involved somewhere?

[Phil...@adobeforums.com]

ps, the reference to italics was about your posts not your image, when you start a line with a lower case i, the rest of that para will be in italics on the forum...

[Ann_She...@adobeforums.com]

save for web has not worked for two years.

Have you tried trashing your SFW Prefs.?

And how big are your files — and in what format?

[forrest...@adobeforums.com]

Where are the SFW prefs? i cannot find them. the files were digital images imported into photoshop and jpg images imported into photoshop. in neither case were they large. the digital images had been reworked and resized first.

gif and png do no appear in my save as options.

[forrest...@adobeforums.com]

OK, another question. is SFW a plug-in. it is in GoLive. i just looked at the photoshop cs2 bundle contents and the plug-ins folder has only two items. IIRC there should be more.

[Ed Hannigan]

this is an object for printing on a tee shirt

That would have been nice to know at the start.

I would ask the printer what he requires for a file. If he doesn't have Photoshop what does he use and what have others given him?

[PeterK.@adobeforums.com]

Tiff supports transparency and is a widely-accepted format. You may want to try giving the printer that format.
Gif and png can only be saved if you're using RGB images. If they are not RGB, then save as TIFF and you should be fine.
If you actually are missing a bunch of plug-ins and/or file format options, it's possible that they have somehow been deleted. You'd have to reinstall Photoshop to get them back, or copy the contents of the plug-ins folder from another computer. SFW is a plug-in that resides within an import/export folder in the plug-ins folder, so it does sound like you are missing some things that need to be re-installed.

[Buko]

Gif and png can only be saved if you're using RGB images

GIF is index color not RGB

[forrest...@adobeforums.com]

Thanks everyone.

a reinstall brought back all the missing stuff and i am able to save as PNG and the Save For Web is back.

[PeterK.@adobeforums.com]

Gif and png can only be saved if you're using RGB images GIF is index
color not RGB

True, but I was thinking in terms of going into "save as." GIF and PNG will show up as options if the image is RGB (I was assuming that the poster may have been trying to save CMYK images).
Now, having said that, going into save for web WILL allow you to save a GIF or PNG, but given that he wasn't seeing that option, I was only telling him why he wasn't able to see it as an option in his save menu.

[Ann_She...@adobeforums.com]

For future reference:

The SFW Prefs have names like:
"Adobe Save for Web 11.0 Prefs"

You will see a Pref. in your Library/Preferences folder for every version of several different Adobe Applications.