Removing checkerboard from transparency

[christinao42324943]

I'm new to design, self-teaching actually. I purchased some string of lights from Shutterstock and is supposedly on a transparent background and have been trying to figure out how to place them on my image in Photoshop without the gray checkered boxes showing. They even cover my entire background. I have tried everything I know. What do you mean by "kill the checkerboard"?

[Nancy OShea]

What file type is the image?

1. If it contains a genuine transparent background as does this transparent GIF, you should be able to select it by clicking the checkerboard with your Magic Wand tool. See screenshot.

2. Invert the selection by going to Select > Inverse (Ctrl + Shift + I).  The marching ants will surround the foreground elements only.

3. Hit Ctrl/Cmd + C to Copy. 

4. Open your other document and use Ctrl/Cmd + V to paste.

[christinao42324943]

The first image is what I am trying to lay on my background. The second image is a sample of the background I am using. I haven't purchased the actual stock for the background yet, just the image with the strings of lights. When I followed your instructions to use the magic wand and copy and paste onto my background, the gray boxes are still showing up. Also, it didn't do a good job of selecting all of the lights. I just can't figure out how to get the gray boxes in the lights background to disappear. Any suggestions on what I can do. Shutterstock says it's a transparent background but I can't get it to be transparent.

[Nancy OShea]

What file type did you get from Shutterstock?  It doesn't sound like you acquired the right file type.  For example, a JPG has no transparency and will not work.  You need a layered PSD or TIFF or a PNG or GIF with transparency.

[christinao42324943]

eps file

This was an eps file.

[Nancy OShea]

Next time don't buy EPS files.  Nobody uses them anymore.

https://www.vektorgarten.de/eps-file-format-zombie.html

[jane-e]

Hi

Your options bar is covering the names of the open files, so we can't see what kind of file you have. The wood file is a jpeg and there is also an untitled file open, plus it appears there is more to the left of those two.

If the lights are an Illustrator (.ai) file or an .eps, then open it in Illustrator with File > Open. Many contributors add an object with the checkerboard to show their is transparency and the object can be deleted in Illustrator. Spin open the Layers panel in Illustrator so we can see what you are working with and can better advise if it's an Illustrator object that can be deleted or not. 

If the image is a jpeg, it does not support transparency. But they said it was transparent, so it's worth a look

~ Jane

[christinao42324943]

When I drag it off of the background to export it as an asset as I've done before for many other images, this is what it looks like. It puts black circles around the lights.

[jane-e]

Hi

It appears that Layer 2 is empty and all objects are in "Neie 1" (sic).  Click the disclosure triangle (in red) to see the individual objects. The checkered background appears to have a gradient. There must be a blending mode and / or other effects and you should be able to see that in the Appearance panel when you examine each object. Tell or show us what you see there.

While the checkered background can be hidden (or deleted), it might be being used for those effects. I can't tell (yet) from here, but the Appearance panel should tell you.

~Jane

[jane-e]

Hi co72,

I don't have access to Shutterstock, so I downloaded # 297912912 from Adobe Stock to examine it. It looks a lot like yours, and this may or may not solve your issue.

https://stock.adobe.com/images/christmas-lights-isolated-glowing-garlands-on-transparent-dark-backgr...

1.  I released the Clip Group to make it easier to work with. This created a top level Group and I ungrouped that. I left the other groups and renamed them.
   
2. Here I've named the objects in Layer 1 so you can follow them. I hid the checkerboard pattern. The clipping mask is off, and the lights look weird on the pastedboard. Against the dark background, though, they look good.
   
   The dark gradient rectangle has a 91% opacity, as does the white rectangle at the bottom. We will discard all three rectangles in the next step.
   
3. I did a search in Adobe Stock for a dark house and used 271956342. You already have an image, so use that. If it needs to be darker, use a Hue/Sat Adjustment layer. The lights need a dark background.
   https://stock.adobe.com/images/round-led-flare-ball-in-the-garden-in-front-of-house/271956342
   
   I've hidden the group of three rectangles and also the rectangle for the Clipping group. I've placed the embedded image into Illustrator and turned on the three strings of lights.
   
   I was unhappy to see that the lines are not yellow paths that can be modified with the Direct Selection tool. They are filled shapes. You'll have to see what yours are. I can move each group, but can't reshape the path.
   
   
   
   
4. I decided to draw my own path — in this case a straight line — and I made it the same color as their filled object. I went into Isolation mode to get one orb (or ungroup), got out of isolation mode, and attached five orbs to my path. I will keep the objects in the red rectangle and discard the others.
   
   
   
   
5. And then I put one orb in the sky and I like it, so now I have two moons. 😊
   
   
6. I suspect your Shutterstock image is similar in the way it's made up. I was startled by how much the two images look alike with different vendors. If you have never used Adobe Stock, you can get a free month with ten images. Be sure to cancel. Otherwise, I think it's $9.99 for this type of image. There are different rates for different types.
   https://stock.adobe.com/promo/firstmonthfree
7. Let me know if this helps, and show your Layers panel if it doesn't.

~ Jane