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A
Anonymous
June 20, 2020
Answered

Making text transparent

  • June 20, 2020
  • 2 replies
  • 2038 views

Hi sorry if someone already posted about this. 

Ive a problem with making text transparent in photoshop. I have followed several video tutorials on transparent texts but still im not getting it. 

This is what I have done:

1. I place embed an image (of a beach) in photoshop

2. Layer > new > background from layer.

3. I type in text, i.e. beach- in black colour. 

4. hold down press command and click on text.

5. I go to the image layer, then go to Layer mask > hide selection

6. I delete the text 

and this is the result. 

 

 

I wanted to have the image in the background showing through the text like this

 

 

Im a newbie at this so its possible I could have missed a step or something?

 

Thank you!

 

 

    Correct answer davescm

    The white rectangle is only needed if you wanted the white rectangle as shown in your original example. If you just want outlined text then it is much simpler.

    This time forget the "knockout - shallow" step - that was just to punch through the white rectangle

     

    So start with your image layer at the bottom

    Add your text layer above it

    Right click on the text layer and select Blending options

    Set Fill to 0% as before (but leave knockout as none)

    Then tick "Stroke" and click on the word stroke.

    Set the stroke colour and size

     

    Click OK - Job done

     

     

    It might be worth mentioning the difference between fill and opacity. A stroke around a layer is known as a layer style (one of various available layer styles). Reducing opacity makes both the layer, in this case your text, and the layer style(s) transparent   Reducing fill just makes the layer (text) transparent but leaves the layer style visible.

    Dave

    2 replies

    davescm
    Community Expert
    davescmCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 20, 2020

    I would do that like this:

    Add your image as a bottom layer (background or Layer 0  it doesn't matter

    Use the rectangular shape tool to make the white rectangle (so in the options bar - no stroke  but white fill)

    Add your text above that

    So so far we have this:

     

    Next, click on the text layer and shift click on the rectangle layer so both are selected

    Right click and in the menu choose "Group from layers"

    Your text and rectangle layers are now in a group

     

    All that remains is to use the text to knock a hole through the white rectangle so

    Select the text layer and right click.

    Choose blending options

    Change Fill opacity to 0% and knockout to shallow. Shallow knockout cuts a hole through the layers below that are in the group (in this case the rectangle) but not through the layers outside the group

     

    Click OK Job done.

     

     

    The advantage of this method is that the text remains editable.

    If you also want the white to be semi-transparent just click on the rectangle layer and , in the layers panel, reduce the opacity

     

    Dave

     

     

     

      A
      Anonymous
      June 20, 2020

      Thank you Dave! I followed your instructions and got the desired result. I think thats what I didnt do- group the two layers and change the knockout and fill opacity settings

      Just two questions?

      1. The white rectangle, is that required or can you do away without the white square and just have the text transparent on its own?

      2. Is there a way of outline the text and do the above instruction?

       

       

      Thankyou!

       

      davescm
      Community Expert
      davescmCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
      Community Expert
      June 20, 2020

      The white rectangle is only needed if you wanted the white rectangle as shown in your original example. If you just want outlined text then it is much simpler.

      This time forget the "knockout - shallow" step - that was just to punch through the white rectangle

       

      So start with your image layer at the bottom

      Add your text layer above it

      Right click on the text layer and select Blending options

      Set Fill to 0% as before (but leave knockout as none)

      Then tick "Stroke" and click on the word stroke.

      Set the stroke colour and size

       

      Click OK - Job done

       

       

      It might be worth mentioning the difference between fill and opacity. A stroke around a layer is known as a layer style (one of various available layer styles). Reducing opacity makes both the layer, in this case your text, and the layer style(s) transparent   Reducing fill just makes the layer (text) transparent but leaves the layer style visible.

      Dave

        jane-e
        Community Expert
        jane-eCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        June 20, 2020

        Hi

        You didn't post a link to the tutorial, so we don't know what it says. Your mistake was to go to the image layer and delete the pixels from that layer. Some other things you said don't make sense, such as when you made the beach layer a background layer, it shouldn't have transparency as it does later.

         

        Can you post a link to the tutorial? You might also go through it one more time, checking your steps.

         

        In the NYC image, it looks like they have a white box with opacity that you don't have. The text may have been rasterized. The deletion of the text would have been done on the layer with the white box, not on the background layer.

         

         

         

        ~ Jane

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