White pixels to transparency

[tomtheriault]

Hi, I just do get it, why is it do difficult ??????.  All I want to do is make all my white transparent.  Not scour the internet social networks for 15 hours.

I am not interested in selecting some tool and then manually sculping the selection I want transparent.

Why can't I just select the eye dropper, select the white, then "Make Transparent".  Why can't I do that ... is that avialable ... please !!!

Please see attache image, all I want is the white pixels transparent .... ???????????????????????????????????????????/

[smadell]

Like this:

[R C-R]

31 minutes ago, smadell said:

Like this:

To get something like this Butterfly logo erased white.afphoto (history included) in one step.

[JimmyJack]

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending out your point of view ) Erase White Paper is really only effective for this purpose on truly black and white artwork.  I believe it will effect anything over an L value of 50.
Using it in this particular case will leave you with semi transparent pink and blue butterflies.

 

[Alfred]

I prefer the Blend Ranges method (that also works in Affinity Designer, which lacks an ‘Erase White Paper’ option):

 

[JimmyJack]

4 minutes ago, αℓƒяє∂ said:

I prefer the Blend Ranges method (that also works in Affinity Designer, which lacks an ‘Erase White Paper’ option)

 

Can you possibly show that woking on this image? I'm not getting anything close to what I would call acceptable .

In general though, imho, the Blend Ranges involves a big trade off. You can get some ranges to fade but at the expense of edge fidelity.

[Mithferion]

You could try if Krita (a Software Libre application) can do what you want. If it does, you could have more tools at your disposal.

Also, the image you posted is blurry, and if that's the original file you are working with, results may not be the best.

Best regards!

[smadell]

I agree that Blend Ranges can sometimes lead to blurry edges. But in this graphic, I was able to get a good result:

[JimmyJack]

5 minutes ago, smadell said:

I agree that Blend Ranges can sometimes lead to blurry edges. But in this graphic, I was able to get a good result:

C'mon guys. Ya gotta put something behind it! 

[smadell]

Gotta admit - you got me there.

I think that the limitation here is that the borders on the original graphic are a bit fuzzy, and that the Blend Ranges can't adequately account for that. Still, the OP's request to "just get rid of the white pixels" is easy; the hard part is the only-kinda-white pixels at the edges of the graphic. Maybe (I haven't tried it) a "Select Sampled Color" click on the white background, with the tolerance set "just so," would get those fringes.

[Mithferion]

Is this result good for you?

Best regards!

[JimmyJack]

24 minutes ago, Mithferion said:

Is this result good for you?

Best regards!

Actually no, it's not. 

The Krita filter is much the same as Erase White Paper.... which is also similar to Color to Alpha in Gimp.
They all add transparency to the yellow and blue butterflies (and maybe even the pink in this case too).

Compare your result to the original colors.

 

[Mithferion]

You can test playing with the Threshold. But also, the blurry image adds a certain degree of dificulty to this task.

Best regards!

[JimmyJack]

12 hours ago, smadell said:

I think that the limitation here is that the borders on the original graphic are a bit fuzzy, and that the Blend Ranges can't adequately account for that. Still, the OP's request to "just get rid of the white pixels" is easy; the hard part is the only-kinda-white pixels at the edges of the graphic. Maybe (I haven't tried it) a "Select Sampled Color" click on the white background, with the tolerance set "just so," would get those fringes.

 

12 hours ago, Mithferion said:

You can test playing with the Threshold. But also, the blurry image adds a certain degree of dificulty to this task.

Best regards!

Krita threshold does help a lot (just over 50ish)... but than the black suffers a bit.

The point is, yes, it's doable, but I'm not so sure about "one button magic" like the OP wanted.... I didn't actually count the question marks in post 1 !
I just think it'll take a little TLC (on this particular image).
Personally I would divide and conquer. 

1) Separate the text > run Erase White Paper. Done.

2) Uhhh. Deal with the butterflies . If u have Krita... seems like a good option. In Affinity.... gonna take a little work (couldn't find a "Select Sampled" sweet spot.
I got a similar result, though, by.... Running Levels adj gamma 2 > Erase White Paper (everything is under 50 now) > run levels adj again gamma .5.
......... OR, get busy with the selection brush!