www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

I am trying to design a catalogue on Publisher 2007. I open images in Photoshop7 and with the pen tool cut around them to make the background transparent. The problem is that when i save them in .gif format,to import them into publisher, the edges sometime look untidy and jagged whilst they were ok in photoshop. Is there a way i can solve this problem? (the images i have have resolution a bit on the low side. I've tried some things suggested on the internet but with no success,

You can (in some programs) increase the resolution of pictures. Pixelation will 'always' happen but starting with a higher number means less visibility.

Change them up to the highest your software can do, cut them, then resize them back to what you want.

kellys_eye wrote:You can (in some programs) increase the resolution of pictures. Pixelation will 'always' happen but starting with a higher number means less visibility.

Change them up to the highest your software can do, cut them, then resize them back to what you want.

When you say some programs can increase the resolution of pictures, can photoshop do that? Or is it done with some other software? If it can, can you please explain step by step how i can do it as i am just a novice in this. thanks.

Although it's relatively straightforward, this pdf document shows it in the full details which is probably better than I can do....

http://www.creativepro.com/files/story_ ... ageres.pdf

Try formatting as a transparent 8 bit png instead. Make sure the resolution of the photoshop image is the same as the publisher destination before importing.

tooltraderdirect wrote:Try formatting as a transparent 8 bit png instead. Make sure the resolution of the photoshop image is the same as the publisher destination before importing.

Pls bear with my lack of knowledge, but how would you go about formatting as a transparent 8 bit png. with Dave's method the edges seemed much better but still if i can improve them I'll be really glad.

Usually you will find this in "save as" - and one of the options in the drop down box should be .png. You may have an additonal option to choose 8 bit png instead of the default 32bit.

You could also select the background using the magic wand and then press delete (you can choose the "tolerance" - sensitivity level of this tool). Or you could use the paint bucket tool to choose the same background colour as the document you are pasting into (also has a tolerance slider)

Thanks for the info, saving as png seems to be much better than saving as i was doing in .gif format. and at last i managed to locate where i can change an image to 8 bit format. you have all been such a great help. thanks again.