[noname]

Does anyone know if it’s possible to select a color and have it turned transparent? Say I’m doodling in Photoshop (6.0) on the background layer and I decide I like what’s going on, so I want to start working on a layer behind it, but I have all this white canvas on the background layer that I want to be transparent. Is there a way to do this? I know I could, if I was thinking, select a transparent background to begin with. Or at least start working on a new layer right from the start, but I’ve often times wondered if this is possible (for other reasons as well). So, is it? Thanks.

[cytias]

You could make it into a new layer and select the "darken" layer option, as long as the objects under it are lighter..

Otherwise, a selection will work, though you'll probably lose some definition: there's a color mask (go to Select/Color Range and choose your background color), the lasso tool, or magnetic selection tool.

These are just the ways I've figured of, and hopefully if you're still moving things around, you haven't gotten so far that some image loss will be a big deal. I think all the tools above will work in different situations.. maybe even try combinations. And after you paste it on a new layer, you can always go back and add in the stuff you lost in the process.

-matt

[noname]

Yeah, darken works pretty well at this stage. Thanks for the tip. I don't really know what all the different layer modes mean yet. They seem pretty useful though.

[A_Lee_N]

Well.. i have one simple rule to prevent this; NEVER draw in the background layer! Follow that rule and you wont have this problem anymore..

.. i used to do this error alot when i was new to photoshop, but nowdays it has become a habit to create a new layer for everything i draw.

// A_Lee_N