I am trying to figure out how to take a scan of a signature and make it so that it has a transparent background for pasting into Microsoft Word and still maintain that transparent background. I can use the eraser thing and delete the white but when I paste into word it keeps the whiteness anyway.

I read that .gif keeps the transparency but the only program I have that saves specifically into gif is MS Paint (I have the latest Corel and Acrobat).

I can't think of why a signature would need a transparent background, but still a interesting problem.

5/12/2007 11:57:34 AM

go to "Save for Web" in photoshop and choose gif from the dropdown

5/12/2007 12:29:27 PM

photoshop saves to gif with no problem. I don't see why you need a transparent background though, a simple pure white background is all you should need. Anyway, you need to unlock the layer, then you can delete the white (use the magic wand tool to select all of the white) and have it be transparent. Do a save for web to make sure you have your transparency saved.

5/12/2007 12:30:06 PM

^Better to use the Color Range tool under the Select menu and feather it a little to give a nice clean edge.


Also, better to make a transparent PNG for this than a gif, a gif is going to look pretty nasty if you are plopping your signature over the top of a signature line.

5/12/2007 2:07:34 PM

transparent as in a watermark?

5/13/2007 9:59:14 PM

alpha channels + PNG = ftw.

also, the magic wand tool works wonders. select the white, delete, voila.

5/14/2007 1:25:04 AM

again, the magic wand tool is going to be tedious as hell compared to the Color Range tool.

5/14/2007 3:13:56 AM

but you have someone who can't figure out how to save as gif, we gotta make this simple.

5/14/2007 7:56:40 AM

+1 for color range tool. I use that more than anything when separating large areas from a object. be sure to feather it though so its not so harsh looking.

5/14/2007 7:58:31 AM

put jpg of signature (with white background) in Word
right click and click Format Picture
click the Layout tab
click Behind Text

viola

5/14/2007 10:29:54 AM

^ probably the winner

Quote :

"the only program I have that saves specifically into gif is MS Paint"

Yes, please buy a multi-hundred dollar piece of software so that you can use the wand/color range

5/14/2007 11:38:48 AM

http://www.getpaint.net

5/14/2007 12:10:34 PM

Quote :

"Yes, please buypirate a multi-hundred dollar piece of software so that you can use the wand/color range "

fixed that for you

oh, and if the signature is in black or blue or even red or something, and the background is white, and your scanner isn't complete crap, the magic wand will work perfectly, i just did it.

5/14/2007 1:35:40 PM