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Hi, 

Am very new to photo editing so bear with me!

I want to create a transparent background to a png image. The image has a flat off-white background and the rest of the image is a tree and some small flying birds.

I can make a flood selection, but the flood erase tool, the erase brush tool and the background erase tool just ignore all my efforts to use them. I'm obviously doing something wrong, or starting from the wrong place - png ? Have watched a video on cutting out, but it goes too quickly and I'm hoping there is a an easier way given my simple off-white background!

Any help gratefully received.

Roots to grow Tree Image Last transparent.png

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Hi Arrak,

Welcome to the forums :)

When you Place an image it will open as an (Image) layer in your document, (Image) layers can't be manipulated using Pixel tools - such as the eraser - you need to be using these on a (Pixel) layer.

To convert your (Image) layer to a (Pixel) layer, simply right-click on the layer in the Layers Studio and select Rasterise. You should now be able to use the Pixel tools as expected. I hope this helps!

 

Please Note: I am now out of the office until Tuesday 2nd April on annual leave.

If you require urgent assistance, please create a new thread and a member of our team will be sure to assist asap.

Many thanks :)

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Thanks Dan, but I hope you can be a little more specific to cope with my lack knowledge of naming conventions!

Have hunted through the 'home' page of Affinity Photo. Where is the Layers Studio? I can see a list of layer options in the menu drop-down, but no mention of studio. Can see the rasterise option in that list but it is greyed out. Sorry to be so dense.

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Thanks Dan. Worked it out, with your help. Would never have got there otherwise. :D

Could I ask a supplementary question of you. My tree image has numbers of small areas that are of the background I want to make transparent. Can I force the flood tool to deal with all areas of the same colour even when they are 'separated' from the major areas of the background? I can also see this as being very useful when dealing with text: o, r, d b etc.

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8 hours ago, Arrak said:

I'm hoping there is a an easier way given my simple off-white background!

Try Erase White Paper.

https://affinity.help/photo/en-US.lproj/pages/Filters/filter_eraseWhitePaper.html

Affinity Store (MSI/EXE): Affinity Suite (ADe, APh, APu) 2.4.0.2301
Dell OptiPlex 7060, i5-8500 3.00 GHz, 16 GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630, Dell P2417H 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, Build 22631.3155.
Dell Latitude E5570, i5-6440HQ 2.60 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics 530, 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, Build 22631.3155.
Intel NUC5PGYH, Pentium N3700 2.40 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics, EIZO EV2456 1920 x 1200, Windows 10 Pro, Version 21H1, Build 19043.2130.

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Perhaps I am a bit late here, but here's a suggestion. Assuming that your image is black on (off) white, apply a Threshold Adjustment Layer (Layers > Adjustment Layer > Threshold). Adjust the slider to suit. The result will be a pure black-and-white image. You can then apply Erase White Paper, as @Pšenda suggested.

John

Windows 10, Affinity Photo 1.10.5 Designer 1.10.5 and Publisher 1.10.5 (mainly Photo), now ex-Adobe CC

CPU: AMD A6-3670. RAM: 16 GB DDR3 @ 666MHz, Graphics: 2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GT 630

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Thanks all for being so helpful. I have also been browsing the forum and I am amazed at the multiplicity of options available to achieve a transparent background. Well done Serif and its programmers. It is also good that so many are willing to help real bozos like me when it comes to attempting what turn out to be quite simple tasks - when you know how!

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