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onegirlcreative's picture
1092 pencils

Creating a path in Photoshop

Ok, I must admit, I'm not an expert at Photoshop (yet), so when I'm trying to create a path so my logo won't have a background, I can't seem to figure out how to do it. I realize that this is probably one of the easiest tasks to perform in PS, but I'm having difficulty attempting it.

I wanted to have fun with my website and add a background color, but of course, when I do, my logo has this white box—which looks horrible. Is this going to be a pain because of the text?

I have attached my logo so you can see what I mean.

Thanks!
Suzanne

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"I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint." ~ Frida Kahlo

www.onegirlcreative.com

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orangelogo.jpg34.13 KB
mara06's picture
2454 pencils

I usually get around the transparent backround issue in Photoshop by just using Save to Web and checking the transparency box. Same thing doing a Save As and selecting the Compuserve GIF format. I'm not using the latest version of Photoshop, though, (just Creative Suite Standard, not CS2). I'm sure there's a way to take more control over the situation, as you're trying to do, but for the time being, would the GIF thing help you?

Looking forward to learning from the other replies you get.

Mara

onegirlcreative's picture
1092 pencils

Thanks, Mara!

I will try that and get back to this post. Thanks for the suggestion.

suzanne maestri-walters :: graphic designer

--------
"I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint." ~ Frida Kahlo

www.onegirlcreative.com

plugz's picture
1244 pencils

But I'd steer clear of GIF and go for PNG personally.
All new browsers support PNG transparencies and PNG is a much better format to use in my opinion as it supports more than the 256 colours that limits GIF so badly.

onegirlcreative's picture
1092 pencils

I've seen it offered many times, but honestly never knew what it stood for or its advantages (if any).

I've never been a big fan of GIF, honestly, but I will definitely try those suggestions to see which works best.

So I don't have to deal with the path issue? That would be wonderful! =)

suzanne maestri-walters :: graphic designer

--------
"I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint." ~ Frida Kahlo

www.onegirlcreative.com

plugz's picture
1244 pencils

PNG is Portable Network Graphic.

The trouble with GIF is that while it did the job when it was released and while displays only could display 256 colours, in today's graphic environment where a screen can display in excess of 16 million colours it's incredibly limiting, not to mention the fact that the transparency options are far too basic allowing only one colour to carry the transparency.

PNG enables lossless data compression and was created to replace GIF format. PNG supports palette-based, greyscale or RGB images.
It was designed for the Internet, not professional graphics and so doesn't support other color spaces i.e: CMYK.

See the example images below:

PNG transparency demonstration 1.png

PNG transparency demonstration 2.png

onegirlcreative's picture
1092 pencils

Thank you so much. Better late than never, right? ;-D

Your die looks really cool! I appreciate the explanation of PNG. I knew that about GIF, but never really knew anything (or its advantages) of saving as a PNG format. But now I do. Thank you so much.

--------
"I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint." ~ Frida Kahlo

www.onegirlcreative.com

plugz's picture
1244 pencils

The only possible issue with PNG is the file size which is higher than an equivalent JPG or GIF but the trade-off in quality is worth it in my opinion.

onegirlcreative's picture
1092 pencils

suzanne maestri-walters :: graphic designer

--------
"I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint." ~ Frida Kahlo

www.onegirlcreative.com

onegirlcreative's picture
1092 pencils

I tried that (both suggestions) and it didn't work. Unless of course, I didn't do it properly.

I just did as Mara suggested and at the pull down menu, chose Save for Web. When it came up in the box for ImageReady, it still has the white box.

Any suggestions?

--------
"I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint." ~ Frida Kahlo

www.onegirlcreative.com

onegirlcreative's picture
1092 pencils

suzanne maestri-walters :: graphic designer

--------
"I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint." ~ Frida Kahlo

www.onegirlcreative.com

onegirlcreative's picture
1092 pencils

I think what the problem was, in my preferences in PS, I chose NONE for transparency and grid, etc. So I changed it to grid (transparency) and then clicked on Save for Web and once it was a GIF or a PNG, it came up transparent.

I then changed it in my Dreamweaver document and it comes up transparent without the white box.

Now I guess I'll have to see if it looks good period!!! But that's another issue...;-D

Thanks guys!

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"I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint." ~ Frida Kahlo

www.onegirlcreative.com

Ivan's picture

Can you upload the PS file so we can have a look? Just attach it to your original message.

onegirlcreative's picture
1092 pencils

Do you mean the original logo (which I have already attached) or the changed logo in the PNG format?

P.S. It looked horrible on my website with the background color because of the text. It just didn't look right and it wasn't readable. So I went ahead and attached my logo to my vector art on my home page instead. Here:

http://www.onegirlcreative.com

--------
"I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint." ~ Frida Kahlo

www.onegirlcreative.com

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