How to create PNG or separate image from background?

[MEB]

It was probably uploaded but not added to the post as a link. At the time @gumbo quote me it was included in the quote. I uploaded it a little after i posted the reply.

[John Rostron]

@gumbo23.Just a few clarifications.

To Erase White Paper, go to Filters > Colours > Erase White Paper.

I could not find a live levels adjustment, but I used Layer> New Adjustment Layer > Levels Adjustment. You can then move the Black Point and White Point sliders to the position shown in @MEB posting.

John

[MEB]

Layer ▸ New Adjustment Layer ▸ Levels Adjustment is the "live" levels adjustment. There's no destructive versions as with filters. You can also add it clicking the Adjustments icon on the bottom of the Layers panel and selecting Levels from the pop-up list. I also adjusted the Gamma a little bit.

[gumbo23]

7 minutes ago, MEB said:

After opening a scanned file in Photo, copy/paste the levels adjustment from the sample document above into that document, apply the Erase White Paper filter then export as PNG.

I tried all this with a different scan - same result!

But I could not copy/paste the levels adjustment. It just gave me the old image instead of the new one. 

What could I be doing wrong here?

Are there any videos that could walk me through this process? I could not find any.

[MEB]

To select just the adjustment, click on its thumbnail in the Layers panel (not the parent image layer), then go to Edit ▸ Copy, switch to your new document Edit ▸ Paste.

[gumbo23]

12 minutes ago, MEB said:

To select just the adjustment, click on its thumbnail in the Layers panel (not the parent image layer), then go to Edit ▸ Copy, switch to your new document Edit ▸ Paste.

I've tried this - same result again.

The grey background is still there despite following all steps.

When I create the PNG it looks as it should - so why is the grey background always in the final version that is imported into the picture frame in Publisher?

If I paste it onto the page without using the picture frame the result is identical.

It is as though it never truly gets converted to a PNG, or the background is not truly erased.

When I paste in your version it works fine - so clearly I'm missing a step or two?

[MEB]

After you paste the adjustment in the new document, you have to merge/rasterise the both layers and only then apply The Erase White Paper filter. In my sample document the adjustment was nested to the image layer so when you selected the image layer to rasterise it, the adjustment was also automatically selected merging/rasterising both in the process. If you are pasting just the adjustment into a new document it will be placed above the image layer - not nested - as in my example. If that's the case go to menu Document ▸ Flatten which will merge all layers in the document rasterising both the image and the effect of the adjustment, then go to menu Filters ▸ Colours ▸ Erase White Paper to remove the white. Export as PNG then.

[gumbo23]

5 minutes ago, MEB said:

After you paste the adjustment in the new document, you have to merge/rasterise the both layers and only then apply The Erase White Paper filter. In my sample document the adjustment was nested to the image layer so when you selected the image layer to rasterise it, the adjustment was also automatically selected merging/rasterising both in the process. If you are pasting just the adjustment into a new document it will be placed above the image layer - not nested - as in my example. If that's the case go to menu Document ▸ Flatten which will merge all layers in the document rasterising both the image and the effect of the adjustment, then go to menu Filters ▸ Colours ▸ Erase White Paper to remove the white. Export as PNG then.

This is the one!

Rasterising the whole lot was the missing step.

Thanks to all for their help!

So the steps that worked:

1. Scan document as black and white jpg or PNG
2. Import into Photo
3. Use Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels Adjustment
4. Levels: Black - 14% White - 76% Gamma - 1.288
5. Document > flatten
6. Filters > Colours > Erase white paper
7. Export as PNG, selection without background
8. Import into Publisher image frame
9. Give thanks and celebrate!

[gumbo23]

In trying to remove the white background from this image, I still seem to end up with a non transparent background. See the cover mockup file.

How do I get a properly clear background?

Peace_mockup.afphoto

[lepr]

Open the RGB brush strokes image in AP. You will have a Pixel layer named Background.

Use an Exposure Adjustment of 0.9 to brighten Background so all of the grey becomes white, and merge the Adjustment into Background.

Apply the Remove Erase White Paper Filter to Background to make the white become transparent.

Export to PNG or TIFF, not JPEG, so you have an image file with transparency.

Edited October 16, 2020 by anon2
corrected name of filter

[gumbo23]

27 minutes ago, anon2 said:

Open the RGB brush strokes image in AP. You will have a Pixel layer named Background.

Use an Exposure Adjustment of 0.9 to brighten Background so all of the grey becomes white, and merge the Adjustment into Background.

Apply the Remove White Paper Filter to Background to make the white become transparent.

Export to PNG or TIFF, not JPEG, so you have an image file with transparency.

How do I merge the adjustment into background? I dragged the adjustment into background, and followed the other steps, but the dark background still exists.

 

[lepr]

49 minutes ago, gumbo23 said:

How do I merge the adjustment into background?

Click the Merge button in the adjustment's controls window. 

After the merge you will have only Background. Now apply Erase White Paper to Background.

Here is an AP document with the history saved in it so you can step back and forward through the process: erase grey paper.afphoto

 

[gumbo23]

1 hour ago, anon2 said:

Click the Merge button in the adjustment's controls window. 

After the merge you will have only Background. Now apply Erase White Paper to Background.

Here is an AP document with the history saved in it so you can step back and forward through the process: erase grey paper.afphoto

 

Great - I got it working. 1000 thanks!