PC - Clear cut PS image not clear cut when paste into Illustrator

[BexConsulting]

Hello I am sort of new to Illustrator.
I am using Photoshop 10 and Illustrator 9 on a PC.

Process:
1.) I take a picture (jpg) and clear cut part of the image.
- ex: take out the background around a picture of a car.
2.) I copy and paste the car as a new layer.
- Now I have a photoshop image with just a picue of a car and no background.
3.) I want to move this picture into Illustrator so I selected the layer and clicked edit, copy.
4.) I opened a new Illusrator document and click edit, paste.
5.) PROBLEM - The image now has rectangular white background.

What am I doing wrong?
Should I save the photoshop file first or is there a way to clear cut the image in Illustrator?
Is there a vector / path thing I should do first?

Any help would be appreciated

 

[virusdoder]

i think you can export your photoshop image to illustrator

 

[jimoblak]

I am using Photoshop 10 and Illustrator 9 on a PC.

Please post this question in 2006 when Adobe releases Photoshop 10.

Should I save the photoshop file first...?

Yes. You should use File>Place from the Illustrator menu instead of dargging/dropping or copying/pasting transparent images from Photoshop.

- - picklefish - -
Why is everyone in this forum responding to me as picklefish?

 

[Arjay418]

Bex--

It sounds to me like you're getting thrown off by transparency, which really can be a tricky topic.

Even though you erased the background in photoshop, the picture is still the same size (width and height) over all. Photoshop now has a lot of empty space around your car to deal with. Since the picture is a jpeg (which most photos are) photoshop adds in a white background automatically, effectively undoing all of the work you just did (the nerve!). That's just the nature of jpeg photos... you can't have a transparent background in a jpeg.

It sounds to me like you need to create a mask in Illustrator. You can place your original photo into Illustrator, use your drawing tools to outline the car, then select both your photo AND the outline, then go to Object>Clipping Mask>Make.

Did it work?

--rj

 

[BexConsulting]

It clued me in on what to search for in the Help..
In photoshop 7 There is an option under the Help called export transparent image.. There are a few steps but it works great..

 

[jimoblak]

Don't trust the 'Help' that much. The Export Assistant is still kind of cruddy. It creates transparent images with clipping paths (aka hard edges). this is soooo 1990s.

As you suggested in your original post, you should save the Photoshop file first (native PSD format) and then use Illustrator's File>Place menu option to import the transparent Photoshop image into Illustrator. The PSD format is the only image format that supports full transparency features.

- - picklefish - -
Why is everyone in this forum responding to me as picklefish?

 

[BexConsulting]

Thanks alot.. This has been an excellent help.