Putting a shape on top of a picture

[Cowbrain]

Hi guys,

Ok I am a complete newbie in photo software, sorry I don't know how to name this thread because I don't know what it's called. :shock:

Let's say i have a picture of a garden, and I also have a huge letter "A" in black font and white background.

I want to put the "A" on top of the garden picture, such the garden will only show through the shape of the "A", and the rest of it is covered up by the "background" of the "A" (which is white).

How do I achieve that in Paint.net? I know it is probably child's play for you experts here, but pls be patient with me. I don't even know how to "select" stuff in Paint.net :shock:

Could anyone be so kind to run through it step by step for me? I guess I have to somehow convert the "A" font into a "shape"? ANd then make it transparent while leaving the background opaque?

I tried to search for tutorials online but it's hard to find because I don't even know what this effect is called although I've seen it so many times...

Thanks for your time

[Ash]

Fastest way:

Garden image on botton layer.

White background with letter A on top layer.

Use Magic Wand Tool to select the letter A

(select the tool and click on the area you wanna select)

Hit delete button on your keyboard.

Done.

Hope this helps

Then there is the layer blending modes.....for later

[Cowbrain]

Wow tried it, works like a charm....simpler than I thought

Thanks Ash!

Oh btw, now I have a slight problem :? . After I get that A shape filled with garden colours with a white background, I would like to now make the background transparent as I want to place the A shape onto some other background colour/pattern which I haven't decided.

I read that only GIF supports transparency, is that correct? So do I proceed to save that picture as a GIF file(when I try doing that it gives me a lot of options like alpha etc which I don't understand), and then how do I make the white background transparent?

I will go browse through the tutorials to find out more about transparency in the meantime (not that I normally understand them :wink: )

Thanks for any help

[Ash]

Flatten your image.

Then use again on the white color part.

Hit delete button.

Now you are left with the letter A with the garden fill with no back ground.

Add new layer on your new image.

Cpoy and paste the text onto the new layer.

[Crazy Man Dan]

Both GIF and PNG support transparency, but GIF supports 1-Bit transparency (a pixel is either solid color or transparent) and PNG supports 32-Bit transparency (a full range of translucent options). This means that if the edges of your cutout are smooth, saving in the GIF format will make them jagged, because semi-transparent values are needed to make it look smooth.

Also, GIF files are limited to a 256 color palette, where PNG files are lossless. Saving in PNG will preserve your image in exactly the state it currently is. I'd suggest that, unless you're going to be using it in an animation, you'd be best served by a PNG.

Now, if you have multiple layers and you want to edit them independently in the future, you can also save a PDN for your own use. PDNs cannot be used on the internet, but will allow you to work with the image again later.

[david.atwell]

By the way, you win the award for best and most courteous newbie ever. Kind, teachable, and willing to work with us. :-) Thank you, cowbrain, for restoring my faith in humanity!

[Jorslu]

im not that bad am I?

[david.atwell]

I'm sure you're fine, but I never saw any question you asked...

[Jorslu]

lol they were locked because they were already posted and I couldnt find them

[Cowbrain]

Thanks for all the help! A lot of nice folks here on this forum!

I managed to achieve the effect but passed on the transparency thing. Had trouble selecting the shape with the magic wand cos of the flowery colours. But I worked around it by matching the background colour of the shape with the final background I was going to place it on.

Sorry I have no knowledge to share/give back to this forum cos I am really not a graphically inclined person, just helping a friend do some artwork.

Have a nice day everyone!

[drakaan]

...Also, GIF files are limited to a 256 color palette, where PNG files are lossless. Saving in PNG will preserve your image in exactly the state it currently is. I'd suggest that, unless you're going to be using it in an animation, you'd be best served by a PNG...

There's a single exception to this rule, which is that if you're using the images on a web site, and you want it to look nice in Internet Explorer 6, a .PNG image with transparency won't look transparent (the transparent parts will appear as a grey background in IE6).

In addition to that, IE6 does several stupid things related to rendering colors (gamma correction) with PNG that it handles correctly with GIFs, so even if you carefully pick matching colors for your PNG that should be the same as the color of your background, they might not match in the browser. Can't tell you how many times that's ticked me off.

Firefox and IE7 don't have these problems, but be aware that for web graphics, PNG is not a friend of IE6.