How to remove the white background on my painting?

[Gregory Dubus]

Hi,

I am a beginner with Affinity and I am struggling to remove the white background around my painting. I went to Filter - Colors - Erase white paper. The white area is now showed with grey and white squares but the white background doesn't disappear. What do I do wrong?

I would like to keep only the painting so without the white edges around. Can you, please, tell me how?

Thanks,

Greg.

[Gregory Dubus]

Hi Eerka,

Thank you for your quick reply! I have tried solution 1 and it worked! Thanks!!!!

I have also tried solution 2 but nothing happened when I clicked on rasterise and trim so I guess that I did something wrong...

Anyway, I am happy with option 2  So, thanks again.

Have a nice day,

Greg.  

[Gregory Dubus]

Hi Errka,

I have tried again but not successfully. Basically, just after doing Filter -> Colors -> Erase white paper I get the white area with white and grey squares. then, I go to document -> Clip canvas. Then, when I push the button delete, it deletes my image instead of the white background!

What did I do wrong?

Greg.

[Old Bruce]

39 minutes ago, Gregory Dubus said:

Hi Errka,

I have tried again but not successfully. Basically, just after doing Filter -> Colors -> Erase white paper I get the white area with white and grey squares. then, I go to document -> Clip canvas. Then, when I push the button delete, it deletes my image instead of the white background!

What did I do wrong?

Greg.

The squares you see are to show that the white paper has been removed. It is the standard for showing transparency in a document. Don't have to delete anything.

[Gregory Dubus]

Hi,

This is not correct. If I save the image, I can still see these white and grey squares. I want all of them to be removed totally so that I keep only the picture visible in the middle. Eerka explained me to use clip canvas to Remo e them and it worked. But, a few days later, I tried again and it doesn't work.

I need to remove the entire white background as I want then to use the rest of the image to include it in a frame

Cheers,

Greg. 

[MEB]

Hi Gregory Dubus,
Why not use the Crop Tool to crop the part you are interested in? Just drag the Crop Tool and adjust the edges position to enclose just the painting then click the Apply button in the context toolbar. Erase white paper will also make other colours semi-transparent depending on their luminosity value. I believe you don't want that.

[Gregory Dubus]

Hi,

It is a painting and so my horizontal and vertical line are not straights. So, I would loose parts of my painting or spend lot of time to remove the remaining white.

Using erase white paper and then I think clip cancas worked rapidly and perfectly once. I have tried again but without success (must have forgotten a step) as when I delete it deletes the painting instead of deleting the white around the painting.

There should be a way to easily and quickly being able to select the white background around my painting and then to delete it. This should be a basic functionality that is available in Affinity. I can't believe that it wouldn't be possible. So, just need to understand how.

Regards,

Greg.

[MEB]

You can use the Straighten tool/button (in the context toolbar with the Crop Tool  selected) to align the image horizontally before cropping. Press the Straighten button and click and drag over an horizontal edge of the painting to align it.

[Gregory Dubus]

Hi Meb,

What I need is a way to select QUICKLY select the white area around my painting is QUICKLY delete it to keep only the paining.

Cropping can work but:

1- It takes time to crop removing all the white areas

2- As my lines are not straight, it means that I need to delete part of my painting in order to not see the white anymore. If the difference is small then it is fine acceptable but for some paintings the difference is so important that it would remove a big piece of my painting.

So, no easy and quick way to remove the white other than using crop? If not, then, I think that Affinity should build this basic and useful functionality.

Cheers,

Greg. 

[Old Bruce]

4 hours ago, Gregory Dubus said:

What I need is a way to select QUICKLY select the white area around my painting is QUICKLY delete it to keep only the paining.

I just re-read this thread and figure the easiest way is to open the image, rasterize it then use the Flood Select tool to select the white edge of the image and hit delete. Deselect everything (Command + D) and go to Document > Clip Canvas.

All this is in Photo.

 

[Gregory Dubus]

Hi Bruce,

I did exactly multiple times what you told me to do and it doesn't work. Indeed, when I click on 'click canvas' nothing happens. Strange. It seems that it is the click canvas that doesn't work for me.

Cheers,

Greg.

 

[Gregory Dubus]

Dear All,

Problem resolved!!!...I have succeed to find a great video on YouTube called 'Remove/change backgrounds-affinity photo after searching with 'Affinity delete transparent background.

I had to use the flood tool to select the white area. then, command/shift/I to select my painting instead of the white background. Then, command J to duplicate the painting. Then, command D to remove the moving dots. Then, open another picture. Go back to my painting and use command C to copy it. Then, go to my new picture and use command V to paste my painting. Then, just a matter of drag to move it to the area that I want. Et voila!

This is far better than crop as I am sure to keep 100% of my painting even if lines are not straights.

Thank you all for having tried to help me. (Note: I think that the solution from Eerka was quicker but I was not able to do it successfully again). So, this new option is good too.

Regards,

Greg.