osalite Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 I basically want to be able to copy/paste an Excel table on to a picture I intend to use for my desktop background. I tried this and straight from Excel it has a white background on the cells, not transparent as I would require. I looked at various options in Excel and it seems this is not possible. I don't mind creating the table from scratch once in Paint.net if I can modify it periodically. I looked around and I couldn't see an obvious option to add a table... can anyone think of a way I could do this? All I'm trying to do is stick a list of phone extensions in text on my desktop background so I don't have a tatty bit of paper sitting around and I don't have to open a file when I want an extension! Any ideas appreciated! (Including alternatives to Paint.net if something else can accomplish what I am trying to do easier (and is free!)) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarkut Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 Put the text on its own transparent layer and save the .pdn file as well as a flattened file to use on your desktop. You can go back and erase and replace the text in the .pdn file whenever you like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osalite Posted June 24, 2010 Author Share Posted June 24, 2010 Put the text on its own transparent layer and save the .pdn file as well as a flattened file to use on your desktop. You can go back and erase and replace the text in the .pdn file whenever you like. I create a new layer (transparent by default) but when I paste over from Excel it's still white. Are you suggesting to forget Excel and the table idea entirely and just manually type the text in? Also, in the past, on totally unrelated projects I've not discovered how I can edit text I've already written if I stop using the text tool and say return to that layer later? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarkut Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 (edited) Manually type it in, yes. The text will have to be edited as image later if a change is needed. Erase what becomes unwanted, add a new layer, then add the replacement text. =============================================== An alternative: http://lifehacker.com/213280/geek-to-live--incorporate-text-files-onto-your-desktop Or: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897557.aspx Edited June 24, 2010 by Sarkut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ego Eram Reputo Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 You could try deleting the white background. Magic Wand + Shift selects all the pixels of the clicked-on color, press delete. Alternatively there are a host of plugins that convert a given color to alpha (alpha = PDN-speak for transparency). AlphaSpace is one that works well. Quote  ebook: Mastering Paint.NET | resources: Plugin Index | Stereogram Tut | proud supporter of Codelab plugins: EER's Plugin Pack | Planetoid | StickMan | WhichSymbol+ | Dr Scott's Markup Renderer | CSV Filetype | dwarf horde plugins: Plugin Browser | ShapeMaker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarkut Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 If your Excel table is black text on white background, import the table on its own new layer, then set that layer's blend mode to Multiply. Layer > Layer Properties... F4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdnnoob Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 Are you trying to directly copy the table? (select table, then copy) or are you pressing the "print screen" button on your keyboard? The second one would be the correct way to do it because the table itself isn't text that you can paste in pdn. Quote No, Paint.NET is not spyware...but, installing it is an IQ test. ~BoltBait Blend modes are like the filling in your sandwich. It's the filling that can change your experience of the sandwich. ~Ego Eram Reputo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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