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How do I seperate parts of a picture


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Do not insert the .eps file into your document through the "File" menu, it would be imported as a non-unbundle image.

Open the .eps file directly with AD. Once the file is opened in AD, select the image, expand the layers, and click the thumbnail of the drawing you want to use.

post-37692-0-38875400-1482959483_thumb.png

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Do not insert the .eps file into your document through the "File" menu, it would be imported as a non-unbundle image.

 

Open the .eps file directly with AD. Once the file is opened in AD, select the image, expand the layers, and click the thumbnail of the drawing you want to use.

Thank you so much for your help. I was opening the jpeg with AD.

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Happy that your layer's problem is fixed.

On the other hand I do not know if AD allows to delete the background of a photo. Perhaps passing through Pixel Persona but I confess I do not know, You need opinion of someone more experienced than me, I hardly use this kind of file with AD. Sorry for that.

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In the Pixel Persona you can use the Selection Brush Tool to select the white background. If the image has been rasterized (i.e the layer is showing in the Layers panel as a '(Pixel)' type rather than an '(Image)' type) then pressing the Delete key will delete the selected white areas.

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Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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  • 2 weeks later...

In the Pixel Persona you can use the Selection Brush Tool to select the white background. If the image has been rasterized (i.e the layer is showing in the Layers panel as a '(Pixel)' type rather than an '(Image)' type) then pressing the Delete key will delete the selected white areas.

Alfred I still cannot figure this out. Yes it shows as a pixel. I can take some away with the eraser, but then i erase part of the image. I clicked on the select brush tool and it is very confusing. I got a little part to erase but, now it won't do anything again, and I am not sure how I even did the part I did. I really cant tell if the tool is even working properly. what mode? Refine? Does it matter what this is set at? What is this tool all used for? I drag and nothing happens  How do I select the white back ground? Maybe I shouldn't call it background. It is part of the picture. I just want to cut out the fish, or erase the white around it w/out deleting any of the fish.  Am I making any sense

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Does that mean if I have a jpeg image that has a background(white or whatever), I cant get rid of the background to just use the image right?

A jpeg image is "flat," meaning it has no layers, no separate objects, nothing to distinguish the background from anything else. Also, the jpeg format does not support transparency, so every part of it must have some color. The "background" could be anything: a solid color like 100% white; hundreds of nearly identical colors, each with a slightly different balance of the component colors in the RGB color space; or include large areas with very different colors.

 

The Selection Brush will select areas with the same or nearly the same colors, either just in continuous areas or anywhere in the image, depending on the settings, but it has no precise way of determining what you consider to be the background.

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A jpeg image is "flat," meaning it has no layers, no separate objects, nothing to distinguish the background from anything else. Also, the jpeg format does not support transparency, so every part of it must have some color. The "background" could be anything: a solid color like 100% white; hundreds of nearly identical colors, each with a slightly different balance of the component colors in the RGB color space; or include large areas with very different colors.

 

The Selection Brush will select areas with the same or nearly the same colors, either just in continuous areas or anywhere in the image, depending on the settings, but it has no precise way of determining what you consider to be the background.

I understand thank you. I guess the selection brush tool is the only way to cut out an image, but trying to figure out how to work it is not real simple. It seems very awkward

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If i have a jpg. picture. No layers, just background= pixel layer.

I use the selection brush and trace around the object I want to keep.. (or the other way around and invert the selection (sometimes it's easier that way). If I zoom in, it's easier to select

 

I then click the delete key and the selected parts appear with a checkered pattern.

 

 

However, if I export this result as a jpg. or another format  that doesn't support transparency, the parts that you selected and deleted will be white.

 

Is that what happens to you?

- Affinity Photo 2.3.0
- Affinity Designer 2.3.0
-Affinity Publisher 2.3.0

 

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I use the selection brush and trace around the object I want to keep.. (or the other way around and invert the selection (sometimes it's easier that way).

 

I did it both ways in the attached file. For the layer where the fish retains its white outline, I swept around the outside of the fish with the Selection Brush Tool; for the layer without that outline, I used the tool on the body of the fish.

fishnetvector-01.afdesign

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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Alfred I still cannot figure this out. Yes it shows as a pixel. I can take some away with the eraser, but then i erase part of the image. I clicked on the select brush tool and it is very confusing. I got a little part to erase but, now it won't do anything again, and I am not sure how I even did the part I did. I really cant tell if the tool is even working properly. what mode? Refine? Does it matter what this is set at? What is this tool all used for? I drag and nothing happens  How do I select the white back ground? Maybe I shouldn't call it background. It is part of the picture. I just want to cut out the fish, or erase the white around it w/out deleting any of the fish.  Am I making any sense

 

Hi aP91172,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

Take a look a this video tutorial to understand how to work with selections on raster images (like the JPG on your example). Although the video is for Affinity Photo (our photo editing app) it works the same way in Designer in Pixel Persona (you can change to Pixel Persona going to menu File ▸ Personas ▸ Pixel on Windows or Affinity Designer ▸ Pixel Persona on the Mac).

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And.. if you are working with the EPS-file, it isn't possible to isolate the background in that way.
The picture is complex and consists of well .. "hundreds" of layers if you expand them.

 

The easiest way will be to select the segments of the background in the picture (when you have the move tool selected) and press the delete key.

- Affinity Photo 2.3.0
- Affinity Designer 2.3.0
-Affinity Publisher 2.3.0

 

MacBook Pro 16 GB
MacOS Sonoma 14.1.2

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Adding slightly to what Madame said about using the EPS version, if you open it in AD & select Outline View Mode, you will see that it is indeed very complex, but there are just two "(Curves)" objects (note the plural) for the fish shape, an all white one & an all black one.

 

You could delete everything else, but if you only want the fish it would be much simpler & quicker to select just the black Curves object, copy it, & use "New from Clipboard" on the File menu to create a new document containing only that object. I use the Node tool for the selection because it is easiest for me to see that I have selected the black object, but it can also be done with the Move tool.

 

These are "(Curves)" objects because they consist of more than one curve, some entirely inside others (for the fish, one for the outline & another for the eye). If you want, you can convert them to separate "(Curve)" objects using the Divide action, which you might want to do if for example you do not want the eye to be transparent. For this, you will need to change the layer order so the eye shape is above the fish body shape & give it a fill color & for convenience combine the two curves into a Group.

 

You can now copy this shape & paste it into another document or save this new document for future use, or possibly add it to some Assets category. The same technique can be used for other parts of the EPS, but where there are more individual layers it can be trickier to make sure you have selected them all for the copy.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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Thank you everyone for your help. I am brand new to all of this. I am trying very hard, maybe to hard to learn this. I can't stand when I can't figure something out.  The attachment is a jpeg. I was trying to cut something like this out. I used the brush tool for hours yesterday, kind of figured it out some. I am not sure it is working right. Sometimes it will not do anything. Once I finally got the image surrounded, I couldn't get the outside to delete,which should be very simple step lol, so its just moved to the side. there was still white showing on parts a little bit, not sure how I fix that part.

Lets say I make a circle, or have an outline of whatever, and I have a pattern background would I do the same thing? lay down the background, set my circle on top, then use brush tool to cut it out ?

post-42932-0-38350300-1484071894_thumb.jpg

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Thank you everyone for your help. I am brand new to all of this. I am trying very hard, maybe to hard to learn this. I can't stand when I can't figure something out.  The attachment is a jpeg. I was trying to cut something like this out. I used the brush tool for hours yesterday, kind of figured it out some. I am not sure it is working right. Sometimes it will not do anything. Once I finally got the image surrounded, I couldn't get the outside to delete,which should be very simple step lol, so its just moved to the side. there was still white showing on parts a little bit, not sure how I fix that part.

 

Removal of the white background from that image seemed pretty straightforward when I tried it just now. I wish I had a handle on why this is proving so difficult for you. :(

 

Lets say I make a circle, or have an outline of whatever, and I have a pattern background would I do the same thing? lay down the background, set my circle on top, then use brush tool to cut it out ?

 

If you have a circle with a solid white fill, selecting that circle is always going to be much easier than selecting the patterned background. :)

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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Removal of the white background from that image seemed pretty straightforward when I tried it just now. I wish I had a handle on why this is proving so difficult for you. :(

 

 

If you have a circle with a solid white fill, selecting that circle is always going to be much easier than selecting the patterned background. :)

Ive got it Alfred.. I finally have got the tool to easily go around the object. Now I just have to figure out how to get it deleted. I dont know why its so difficult for me lol I am sorry. Can we cuss on here? Its because I don't know what the hell I am doing

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Before you press 'Delete', go to the Select menu and choose 'Invert Pixel Selection'.

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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Could you please post a screenshot of your work. Including the layers stack and the tool?

I have no layers yet. Its just a simple jpeg pic like the attachment. I honestly think part of the problem is computer freezing or whatever making the tool not work for a little bit. It went right around the fish while ago, before it would sometimes work and sometimes do nothing. So I have it circled now, but cant figure out how to delete

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