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How to crop to an oval photo, without the rectangle?

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TerryMck

Technical User
Feb 13, 2005
3
US
I've feathered and inverted to an oval photo, but when I place it in a document, it's still a rectangular image, now with a white background around the oval. I want to end up with the oval only....how?

Terry
 
Presumably you are placing the photo on a coloured background in a layout? Is the BG a consistent colour? If so, make the background of the photo in Photoshop the same colour as the background it will be placed against in the layout. Alternatively, you will need to create a clipping path around the oval.

In Photoshop, select the oval shape and convert it to a workpath (have the Paths palette open). Once the oval is a workpath, convert it to a clipping path (highlight it in the Paths palette, and use the flyout arrow at top right). Once a clipping path is created, the BG will be transparent against the BG in the layout. The format you should save the image with the CP depends in the layout program you are using (e.g. PM accepts clipped TIFs).
 
Note that clipping paths give you a sharp edge, so your feathering will be lost. To keep the feathering, it depends on what application you're bringing it into:

Photoshop - Make sure it's on a transparent background, and save it in a format that supports transparency (such as PSD).

InDesign / Illustrator - You should be able to import PSD files into these apps and retain the transparency information.

QuarkXPress - I haven't tried Quark 6.5 yet, but previous versions had to real variable transparency features. In this case, as Eggles said, you must either use a clipping path, or add the background to the Photoshop file before importing.

The Web - Only two common formats support transparency: GIF (poor quality, widely supported) or PNG (great quality, not as widely supported). Use the Save For Web function to try out what's best for you.
 
Thanks heaps. I now have the transparency working.

New Question, which I'll also post in a new thread.

The photo is not printing (in Illustrator) in as high a resolution as when I import the same graphic into Word (with same printer settings). I haven't been able to find resolution settings in Illustrator....I'll look....but if there's a quick answer would appreciate it.

Terry
 
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