Skip to main content
C
Clay25991967es2o
Participant
September 18, 2022
Question

How to make black background transparent for a black and white drawing?

  • September 18, 2022
  • 3 replies
  • 17702 views

I'm still very new to photoshop - I have an image (I've attached below) and I want to print the white portion of the image onto black cloth. Currently, when I try to do it, I get the white and black on the image printed on top of the black cloth and it just looks off as the two shades of black are different. 

 

I'm wondering how I can remove the black portion of the background entirely so I can just print the white portion on black cloth with nothing else. I've attached an image of what I'm using below. Thank you very much in advance for any help!

3 replies

Jeff Arola
Community Expert
Jeff ArolaCommunity Expert
Community Expert
September 19, 2022

You can also use a White Color Fill Adjustment Layer

 

1. Go to Select>Select All

2. Then Edit>Copy

3. Select>Deselect

4. Go to Layer>New Fill Layer>Solid Color and make the color White RGB 255,255,255

5. Alt or Option click on the Color Fill Layer Mask

6. Then Edit>Paste

 

Turn off the visibility of the Background layer to see the white minus the black

 

 

 

 

 

 

    C
    Clay25991967es2oAuthor
    Participant
    September 23, 2022

    Hi Jeff, 

     

    Thanks for taking the time to try and help with my issue. I've followed your steps as best as I've been able to but I seem to be missing something. I'm not sure how you got the reds background or how to accomplish "turning off the visibility of the background layer to see the white minus the black". If you have a moment - could you elaborate on the steps you've written above? I would be incredibly appreciative for any further help! Thanks again, 

     

    Clay

    Jeff Arola
    Community Expert
    Jeff ArolaCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 24, 2022

    You can turn off/on a Layers or Groups visibility by clicking on the Eye to the left of the layer thumbnail in the layers panel.

     

     

     

    I got the Red layer by going to Layer>New Fill Layer>Solid Color.

    Bojan Živković11378569
    Community Expert
    Bojan Živković11378569Community Expert
    Community Expert
    September 19, 2022

    It seems Blend If sliders from Layer Style dialogue can do the job. See screenshot. Split left hand slider when working with it and try to match position on screenshot.

      J E L
      Community Expert
      J E LCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      September 19, 2022

      That works perfectly! Still a slight gray outline but printing on black material, it may not be noticed.

        C
        Clay25991967es2oAuthor
        Participant
        September 22, 2022

        Hi JEL, 

         

        Thanks for taking the time to contribute and help me with my issue. I may have understated how much of a novice I am though. I've been trying to replicate Bojan's suggestion but am not having any luck. If you have a moment, would you be so kind as to break down the steps for accomplishing this? I would be eternally grateful! Thank you!

        J E L
        Community Expert
        J E LCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        September 18, 2022

        Hi @Clay25991967es2o, well, with that image, it's not going to be easy. Illustrator might be a better place to work. Basically, you want to change the black to transparency and save as a PSD file (see my test file attached). Because there are so many small areas to erase, it's going to take time and care. There are several methods to remove backgrounds in Photoshop. I tested a few, but the best results were with the magic eraser tool set to a Tolerance of 15. I added the red layer to easily see where I'm erasing. When you are done, turn off or delete that layer before printing. Others may have some better ideas for changing black to transparency when it comes to an image with such detail. I hope that's helpful!

         

         

          Trevor.Dennis
          Community Expert
          Trevor.DennisCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          September 19, 2022
          quote

          Hi @Clay25991967es2o, well, with that image, it's not going to be easy. Illustrator might be a better place to work. 

           

          By @J E L

           

          Jain, every time I see someone recommend Illustrator in this forum, I wonder what percentage of the 26 million people who now have a Creative Cloud subscription have the Photoshop and Lightroom only Photography plan?  I can only guess, but I suspect it will be a significant number.  It also feels reasonable to me that a person paying US$85 a month for a full subscription, rather than US$20 a month for the Photography plan, would be aware of the differences and be asking their questions in the Illustrator forum.  I can't claim to have never suggested Illustrator in this forum, but I always ask if the OP at least has it. 

            Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
            Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices