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Scott98A6
Participating Frequently
September 9, 2020
Answered

texture mask to reveal transparent background in Elements

  • September 9, 2020
  • 1 reply
  • 4671 views

I am a new photoshop elements user and am unable to get my texture layer to work as planned.  I would like my texture to remove or take away the portion of the underlying image to reveal the transparent background.  I've tried numerous combinations of masks, blend options, and opacities but I haven't found the right combo yet.  Pictures below of settings and where I'm stuck.  This image will go on a t-shirt and the idea is where there is a texture we would see the t-shirt color (transparent).  it doesn't seem that Elements has the Transparency Mask or knockout mask options.  Thanks in advance for your help

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Correct answer MichelBParis

Same as if you would put a grunge pattern or texture on a logo or watermark where you want the background to show through the grunge texture


Ok, I think I see the expected result.

You have your normal layers, which means you are seeing your image with zones of transparency.

You want your 'texture' image to be used to mask (render transparent) the black things of the image.

A solution is to

1- merge all those layers into a new one (shortcut Ctrl + alt + shift + E) over the existing layers. Deactivate the visibility of the underlying layers (Click their eyeballs).

2 - add a mask

3 - copy and paste the 'texture' into the mask

The black pixels in the 'texture' will be rendered as completely transparent. for the whole image.

 

Pasting the texture layer into the mask requires that you copy and paste the texture (Ctrl A followed by Ctrl C), then activate the merge layer, select the mask (Alt Clic, so that the mask appears blank) and only then copy (Ctrl V).

 

 

 

 

1 reply

hatstead
hatstead
Inspiring
September 9, 2020

The checkerboard pattern replacing the white stripes of the flag denotes transparency. It needs a little cleanup; you can do that with the eraser tool.

This pattern which you see on your screen will not print. 

When you are finished processing this, go to File>save for web. This brings up a complex dialog. You can specify the size. If you can see the entire flag, you're all set. If not, try 60% or so. There is a box for transparency; check this. Also check constrain proportions. For file format in the drop-down, select  PNG24.

 

S
Scott98A6Author
Participating Frequently
September 10, 2020

I'm not understanding what you mean by cleanup with the eraser. I want to "erase" all layers under the texture. How would I go about that in elements?  I was hoping a mask trick was going to do it for me but maybe not possible

MichelBParis
MichelBParisCorrect answer
Legend
September 11, 2020

Same as if you would put a grunge pattern or texture on a logo or watermark where you want the background to show through the grunge texture


Ok, I think I see the expected result.

You have your normal layers, which means you are seeing your image with zones of transparency.

You want your 'texture' image to be used to mask (render transparent) the black things of the image.

A solution is to

1- merge all those layers into a new one (shortcut Ctrl + alt + shift + E) over the existing layers. Deactivate the visibility of the underlying layers (Click their eyeballs).

2 - add a mask

3 - copy and paste the 'texture' into the mask

The black pixels in the 'texture' will be rendered as completely transparent. for the whole image.

 

Pasting the texture layer into the mask requires that you copy and paste the texture (Ctrl A followed by Ctrl C), then activate the merge layer, select the mask (Alt Clic, so that the mask appears blank) and only then copy (Ctrl V).

 

 

 

 

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