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deadkitty
Participant
March 27, 2013
Answered

How to fix black background issue with PNG files in Photoshop

  • March 27, 2013
  • 9 replies
  • 346447 views

I am experiencing an issue with all transparent png files copied from Chrome and pasted into Photoshop CS6. The background is black rather than transparent. These images are one I created and exported using "save for web". It worked fine in CS5 so it must be a bug.

 

Does anyone know of a fix or workaround? I constantly have to edit images taken from our website so being able to copy an image quickly with transparency intact is very important. I'm running CS6 in Windows.

    Correct answer eqwqwdeeee

    Here is a possible work around.

    Rather than copy the image in Chrome Right click on the image and select "Copy image address". Then in Photoshop use Place Embedded and Paste the URL where it asks for filename. This will download the image straight into a Smart Layer where you can Edit Content or Rasterize Layer.

    9 replies

    P
    PIC_Matt
    Participant
    August 27, 2020

    This solution is not entirely accurate.
    I can copy and paste a PNG into Powerpoint and it will honor the transparent background.  

    C
    cesard14567430
    Participant
    August 22, 2020

    Paint.net doesn't have this issue nor does the Microsoft Office suite... is there some sort of special workaround these programs are implementing that the Adobe suite could be making use of?

    C
    Carranca Design
    Participant
    August 3, 2020

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcI3KTjBSb0

    N
    Nilda
    Participant
    July 17, 2020

    That is Windows 10 fault that is a bully for me. It wants you to use their programs.

    Edit with Paint 3D

    Menu

    Save as

    Image

    Save Yes

    You have your transparency again.

    N
    Nilda
    Participant
    August 22, 2020

    Ok, it's me again.

    I have found that it has to do with the opacity. It has to be 1%. If it is 100% the background will turn black at some moment. If you use Paint 3D to save the image with opacity 1% it will stay transparent. If you use Photoshop with opacity 1% it will stay transparent until you change the opacity for any reason, then anything you have saved in Photoshop will turn black.

    I don't know anything about programming so I hope it might help somebody who can find a way to fix this.

    I have a cutting machine and use a lot of silhouettes. A black silhouette in a black background is a really wrong combination.

    TrapTurkey
    TrapTurkey
    Participant
    March 25, 2019

    What I found to work was saving the original PNG file to the computer, then opening  that image onto photoshop. In my experience the image that was saved still has it’s transparent background when opened in photoshop in this way. Then if you are pasting the image onto a white background, add a white background layer below the png image. After this I believe you can save it (either png, pdf, jpeg) then you should be good to go from there. Hopefully this helps!

      K
      kotur
      Participant
      March 21, 2020

      Just now found an easy way - saved picture as PNG in to computer - and then opened in PS - I got the image with transparent background ..

      J
      Jye Talbot
      Participating Frequently
      April 18, 2020

      Still shouldn't have to do that..
      Work flow should be a #1 priority for Adobe across all OS platforms

      The perfect work around has been posted above but why would you even want to think of having to work around a simple copy and paste.

        E
        eqwqwdeeeeCorrect answer
        Participant
        January 23, 2019

        Here is a possible work around.

        Rather than copy the image in Chrome Right click on the image and select "Copy image address". Then in Photoshop use Place Embedded and Paste the URL where it asks for filename. This will download the image straight into a Smart Layer where you can Edit Content or Rasterize Layer.

          gmzaustin
          gmzaustin
          Participant
          August 7, 2019

          Confirming that this works! Where has this answer been for the past 6 years!!!! This should be listed as the 'correct answer' to this question!

          rowang68961561
          rowang68961561
          Participant
          October 11, 2019
          100% Agree! This is the way to do it (until someone fixes the obvious glitch) Also works into Illustrator.
          J
          jamesm29191048
          Participant
          April 10, 2018

          Wow, every year or so I check to see if Adobe has fixed this bug - and every year or so I'm disappointed. This is just another example of programmers who don't really use their own software.

            lbrew005
            lbrew005
            Participant
            May 17, 2018

            This is not Adobe's fault.

            This is Windows clipboard's fault.

            When you right-click --> Copy a PNG, Windows discards the transparency information when it stores it in the clipboard.

            After that, if you paste the contents ANYWHERE, it will have a black background.

            Best way to try it is to paste into Windows Paint, you'll see the same behavior.

              J
              jamesm29191048
              Participant
              May 17, 2018

              Hmm, just tried Paint and it does exactly that. But pasted again into MS Word and the transparency was fine, so the info is in there. Then immediately pasted into PhotoShop and, as usual, black square. Maybe someone should introduce the Microsoft devs to the Adobe devs and also to the other Microsoft devs. I don't think they have all met.

                Gladwill Design
                Gladwill Design
                Participant
                October 2, 2017

                One thing you can do if you want to avoid having to save the file is just copy the image link, then go into Photoshop and from the file menu -- File > Open (or Ctrl + O) and paste the url directly into the filename field, click "Open". I know that this works on Windows 7 and 10, not so sure on OSX

                With this method, you're still downloading the image, but it's going into your temporary images so you can avoid cluttering your desktop or downloads folder.

                Hope this helps someone.

                FYI: I know this is an old thread, but it places in top search results.

                  morgyface
                  morgyface
                  Participant
                  October 23, 2017

                  Great tip jgladwill​, cheers for that!

                    conroy
                    conroy
                    Participating Frequently
                    March 27, 2013

                    A workaround could be to drag the PNG image from Chrome to the desktop, which should create a PNG file, then drag that file into Photoshop.

                      D
                      deadkittyAuthor
                      Participant
                      March 27, 2013

                      Yeah, that is the easiest way as far as I can see. But it sure would be nice if it just worked correctly.

                        D
                        deadkittyAuthor
                        Participant
                        March 27, 2013

                        This has already been explored on Google's support site (because other people have come across it) and the problem does indeed lie with PS. Not to mention the fact that I started having this issue the second I upgraded to CS6.

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