Text with a clear background

[antoninus9]

Hi,

 

I've searched the forums but can't find any information about creating text with a clear background. I need to be able to create text and then apply effects (emboss, diffuse, etc) and then save it as a gif or png with a clear background. Every time I try to emboss text it automatically changes the background of the entire image to the same solid color as the text.

 

Has this been discussed somewhere on the forums? If not, does anyone know how to do it?

 

Thank you.

 

Antoninus

[DrewDale]

Hi and welcome.

What you need to do first is create a new layer -  :AddNewLayer:

Type on it your text - 

Use the magic wand -    (While holding down the Shift key)  and click on one of your text letters to select them all.

Then run your chosen effects then click on deselect -  :Deselect: (it may be wise to use the feather plug in or AA's Assistant plug in afterwards)

Next you need to go to the background layer (The white one) and delete it -  :EraseSelection:

Then save as your chosen format (gif / png / pdn)

 

Hope this helps you.

Edited April 3, 2013 by DrewDale

[antoninus9]

Thank you. 

 

I had tried a different layer, but didn't know that I needed to use the shift + magic wand.

 

I'm new to Paint.net, I've been using the old MS PhotoDraw version 2.0 for years. I felt it was time to use more modern tools.

[Ego Eram Reputo]

Welcome antoninus9!  You will find that Paint.NET has some extremely powerful tools.  You can find out about them by pressing F1 in Paint.NET (takes you to the on-line documentation).

 

The Shift key trick is the shortcut to toggle the Global mode for the Magic Wand and Paint Bucket tools. 

 

In Global mode, every pixel in the layer which satisfies the Tolerance (find it in the Tool Bar) will be included in the selection/fill.  The other mode is Contiguous.  This mode includes or excludes neighboring pixels depending on their similarity to the source pixel (the one you clicked on).

 

Shift + Magic Wand works well on objects with uniform colors.  If your text was multi-hued the selection might be more complex.  In that case you could Shift click the transparent background and invert the selection with Ctrl + I.  The reason you need to Shift click here is to include the center of closed text characters  - like o, d, e, q, b, etc...,

 

It's a useful trick to know