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I have a PNG file of six aliens, two rows of three. I want to edit the file to make two files with three aliens each in a triangle shape, one facing up, the other facing down. Unfortunately, when I try to select the aliens I want to remove, the app selects three in a row. How do I select and remove the ones I want?
Hi Joseph,
There are a lot of different ways to select objects in Adobe Photoshop Elements.
In this case, I decided to use the Lasso Tool as it's easy to make irregular selections when you have either have a transparent background (like your PNG) or you have a uniform background color.
I've put together a short video demonstration that I hope helps you out:
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Hi Joseph,
There are a lot of different ways to select objects in Adobe Photoshop Elements.
In this case, I decided to use the Lasso Tool as it's easy to make irregular selections when you have either have a transparent background (like your PNG) or you have a uniform background color.
I've put together a short video demonstration that I hope helps you out:
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Thank you, that's exactly what I'mm looking for. Is there a way I can get a transcript of the video so I cam follow it step-by-step? I tried viewing it on YouTube, but I can't get one there myself.
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Hi Joseph,
Glad it helped!
I'll post a written step-by-step walkthrough when I get time later today 🙂
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Here you go @JosephSh
1. Open up the Photoshop Elements Editor and make sure you’re in Expert mode
2. Ensure the Layers Panel is showing by clicking on the Layers button in the Task Bar
3. File > New > Blank File
4. For Document Type, leave it as the Default Photoshop Elements Size and click the OK button
5. File > Place
6. Select your Dancing Aliens image and click the Place button
7. Click the Tick button to confirm that you’re happy with the position and size of the placed image
8. Note that the placed image is now on its own layer above the plain white background layer
9. Select the Lasso tool by clicking on its icon in the Toolbox
10. Carefully click and drag with the Lasso tool around the first alien making sure you select all of the alien
11. You can draw quite a rough selection around the alien – you don’t need to make it very precise, but just make sure you don’t select any parts of the other aliens
12. Complete the selection by dragging the Lasso Tool just after the start of your selection – you’re indicating the end of the selection loop where the start and end intersect
13. Layer > New > Layer Via Copy
14. This copies your selection to a new layer
15. Rename the newly-created layer by double-clicking on the name and typing it’s new name – this is optional, but a good habit to get into otherwise you can get in a right muddle later on
16. IMPORTANT: Click on the DancingAliens layer to make that the active layer again - you’re going to be selecting the next alien, so you need to be on the layer which contains the next alien
17. Repeat steps 10 to 16 for all the next two aliens in the top row
18. Click the visibility icon (the eye) next to the DancingAliens layer in the Layers Panel to hide all the original aliens
19. Change over to the Move Tool in the Toolbox
20. Look at the Tool Options in the Panel below the main workspace and make sure the checkbox for Auto Select Layer is checked
21. Click on each alien in turn and see how their individual layers are then selected in the Layers Panel
22. Click and drag the aliens until you’re happy with their arrangement
23. File > Save As
24. Give the file a name and choose PNG for the Save as type
25. Make sure the checkbox for Include in the Elements Organize is unchecked and click the Save button
26. In the PNG Options dialog box change the Compression to None/Fast and click the OK button
27. Click the visibility icon (the eye) next to the DancingAliens layer in the Layer Panel to show all the original aliens again
28. Click the visibility icon (the eye) next to each of the first three alien layers you created to hide them
29. Click on the DancingAliens layer to make that the active layer again
30. Select the Lasso Tool by clicking on it’s icon in the Toolbox
31. Repeat steps 10 to 16 for all the three aliens in the bottom row
32. Repeat steps 23 to 26 to save your second image of three aliens
33. File > Save
34. The files you saved previously are your finished files – you’re now saving your working file which contains all your layers so you can go back and make changes later on
35. Give the file a name, make sure the Save as type is Photoshop, and the Save: Layers checkbox is checked
36. Click the Save button and then close the document by clicking the close button (the little X) to the right of the filename/info in the window tab
37. File > Open
38. Click and drag to select the two PNG images you created and then click the Open button
39. Both images open in Photoshop in separate tabbed windows. Click on the tabs to alternate between both images
40. Note how each image has only one layer – if you want to make some changes in the future you will need to open up the Photoshop document you saved in step 35 and use that
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Although your method worked, using File>New>Blank File gives the graphic a white background layer, which needs to be made transparent, or removed. I have already created a post here called "Making a White Background Transparent", but following the instructions there doesn't work, possibly because the white "background" is actually a separate layer, not the background of the original graphic. So, how do I remove the background layer? Note: It shows as transparent in the Photo Editor, but is still there when opened after saving.
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Hi Joseph,
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you... lots going on at the moment!
So, here we go with Return of the Dancing Aliens 🙂
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@JosephSh said: Although your method worked, using File>New>Blank File gives the graphic a white background layer, which needs to be made transparent, or removed.
Although Phil's excellent videos will take care of the problem, I don't think it has been mentioned that when you create a new blank document, you have the option to make the background transparent.