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Converting white areas of image to transparent

Community Beginner ,
Oct 19, 2010 Oct 19, 2010

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Hi

I am wondering how to convert all the white areas of the following image to transparent:

john-is-40-black-and-white.png

Essentially I just created a black rectangle and on top of this the white text and star shape. I would like all the areas that are white to be transparent (including the black areas beneath the white) so that when I save the artboard as a png file the areas that are white will be transparent.

Would someone be able to help me achieve this in Illustrator CS5?

Thanks

Nick

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

Community Expert , Oct 19, 2010 Oct 19, 2010

A simple Knockout Group example:

1. Draw a black filled circle
2. Draw a smaller white filled circle, centred on top of the black circle
3. Select both and group
4. In the Transparency Panel, select the Knockout Group option
5. Direct select the white circle with the Direct selection tool (white arrow)
6. In the Transparency Panel, set its opacity to zero percent
7. File > Save for Web: Choose .png as the file format and turn on the transparency option

Depending on the kind of objects you are using, the

...

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Community Expert ,
Oct 19, 2010 Oct 19, 2010

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Several ways, for example:

  • Pathfinder (see Pathfinder panel)
  • Knockout group (see Transparency panel)
  • Live paint
  • Compound path

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Community Beginner ,
Oct 19, 2010 Oct 19, 2010

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Thanks.  I've had a look through these options but it's not clear to me how I achieve the result I am looking for.  Would you be able to specify the procedure for one of these methods, or point me in the direction of a tutorial if you know of one?

Nick

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Community Expert ,
Oct 19, 2010 Oct 19, 2010

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Nick,

Is the image raster or vector/what appears if you select it?

It is one thing if it is raster(ized) and is termed an image in the Layers palette/panel, and quite another thing if it consists of paths.

The initial line where Kurt stated his assumption that it was not raster was left out by the forum software, which is known to do that, more oftern than you would imagine.

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Community Beginner ,
Oct 19, 2010 Oct 19, 2010

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I presume it's vector/paths.  Here's a snapshot:

Adobe Illustrator CS5.jpg

The 'star' is just a path I drew with a pen tool.  The text is just text distorted using an envelope distort (with mesh).

Nick

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Community Beginner ,
Oct 19, 2010 Oct 19, 2010

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Ah, our posts crossed....

Thanks Kurt.  I have managed to convert the star to a transparency by following your explanation, but when I select the text the opacity won't slide to 0, it keeps reverting to 100%

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Community Expert ,
Oct 19, 2010 Oct 19, 2010

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I see, it's an envelope.

Then just Alt/Option click it with the Direct Selection tool and try again.

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Community Beginner ,
Oct 19, 2010 Oct 19, 2010

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Brilliant.  Thanks very much, Kurt

Nick

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Community Expert ,
Oct 19, 2010 Oct 19, 2010

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A simple Knockout Group example:

1. Draw a black filled circle
2. Draw a smaller white filled circle, centred on top of the black circle
3. Select both and group
4. In the Transparency Panel, select the Knockout Group option
5. Direct select the white circle with the Direct selection tool (white arrow)
6. In the Transparency Panel, set its opacity to zero percent
7. File > Save for Web: Choose .png as the file format and turn on the transparency option

Depending on the kind of objects you are using, there are faster ways like using Pathfinder commands or Compound paths. You might want to check these keywords in the Illustrator help files.

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Explorer ,
Oct 19, 2010 Oct 19, 2010

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When I try what Kurt said, I just get a black square over my grey windows background (windows 7).

What I'm trying to do is simply, have a transparent background with my shape in the middle of the desktop; so that,

when I change the windows background color, it fills in the area around my image. Everything I've tried leaves a black or white frame around the image.

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Explorer ,
Oct 19, 2010 Oct 19, 2010

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It seems like windows 7 might not allow it for some reason, how ironic. All images show the transparency as black on the desktop.

Can anyone confirm that it does not allow transparency in wallpaper?

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