[Tutorial] How to create a picture (TGA) with transparent background (beginners guide)
Posted by andreigp4
Many of you know how to do this, but some people that are new to this site, GP4 and Photoshop might need some help to create their own mods.
First of all, for creating a transparent background you don't need: praying to God for help, it's not a matter of luck, it's not the computer's fault and you don't need s*@#loads of CocaCola to stay awake at night and finish the job. No, no - the night is for sleeping... or maybe for browsing porn, don't know that quite sure.
What you need:
1. Adobe PS CS3 or higher -even a portable version would do it.
2. Knowing the resolution of your picture.
3. A little bit of attention.
4. And for every step you skip, in this tutorial, Vettel will win another race -so don't mess up with that.
Enough with the bla, bla, bla:
BEFORE
How on Earth do you clear backgrounds? Well it's actually pretty easy and there are several methods. Easiest one is to clear it in MS Paint. Yeap! You've heard it. If you don't know much about PS, MS Paint is a great tool for beginners.
Let's use an example:
I want to edit my picture and clear the background. Open the picture with MS Paint. It should look like this.
Step 1. Chose the Line tool
Step 2. Chose Line thickness
Step 3. Chose Line colour (I advise to use a different colour than you already have. For example: pink, strident greens, cyan, etc.)
The same thing can be done in Photoshop by using the Magic Eraser tool (You'll pretty much need it afterwards to clean your white MS Paint background). We'll check that method later. Clear the background until you have only Senna and white (or your custom selected colour) around him. DON'T SAVE IT. It should now look like this:
Next! Select the picture by using ctrl+a or from the Edit menu, and press ctrl+c (copy).
Open Photoshop and choose File -> New. You should have a white picture there. Now click paste from the Edit Menu or ctrl+v. You are now here:
Right click on your picture and then choose Deselect
You are now here:
Step 1. Click on the Eraser button and expand by right clicking the icon.
Step 2. Choose Magic Eraser (last option).
Step 3. Select Tolerance and adjust to a number. Usually tolerances for uniform backgrounds are set around 4 or 8. I won't go that deep into tolerances in this tutorial. Make sure that Contiguous is ticked (it usually is by default). Now you can click the white background and it has suddenly disappeared. Congratulations
. You're awesome!
You are now here. Don't mind the chequered background. That is Photoshop's way to tell that your background is now transparent:
Note: You can also clear the background with Magic Eraser without going through MS Paint. Just play around with tolerances and watch out not to chop your picture. If you're a beginner, start with MS Paint until you get some experience.
Let's move on to the important part!
NOTE:
My picture is already shrinked to the size I wanted and I have already cleared my background. That's why the background appears like a chess board. In Photoshop white is just another background.
STEP I
1. Adjust the zoom size of your picture.
2. Sharpen your image if you need to.
3. Clear rebel pixels using that tool combined with an appropriate zoom in.
STEP II
4. Click on Load Selection.
5. Leave them like that.
STEP III
6. Notice that dotted line appear around the car. All outside pixels were selected.
7. Click on Save Selection.
STEP IV
8. Fill in that box with a name: I use alpha 1 because it's an alpha layer. You can enter whatever name you want.
9. Click OK.
STEP V
10. Click on CHANNELS.
11. Noticed that our alpha 1 has appeared there? Click on that box.
STEP VI
12. After you clicked that , notice a reddish color appear around your car. Don't you worry: EVERY TIME YOU SAVE A FILE WITH TRANSPARENT BACKGROUND IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE THAT. Click on Save As.
STEP VII
13. Select TGA.
14. Click Save.
STEP VIII
15. Select 32 bits/pixel.
16. Click OK.
You're done. Go to GPI browser and test you TGA. If it gives you an error: check if your file isn't to big or has the right amount of pixels. If you can't spot the problem, redo the job from STEP I. Just a final note: grid cars have an 200X50p resolution. Enjoy!
Something went really wrong? PM me!
____
. Last edit at 01/11/2012 09:30AM by andreigp4.)
First of all, for creating a transparent background you don't need: praying to God for help, it's not a matter of luck, it's not the computer's fault and you don't need s*@#loads of CocaCola to stay awake at night and finish the job. No, no - the night is for sleeping... or maybe for browsing porn, don't know that quite sure.
What you need:
1. Adobe PS CS3 or higher -even a portable version would do it.
2. Knowing the resolution of your picture.
3. A little bit of attention.
4. And for every step you skip, in this tutorial, Vettel will win another race -so don't mess up with that.
Enough with the bla, bla, bla:
BEFORE
How on Earth do you clear backgrounds? Well it's actually pretty easy and there are several methods. Easiest one is to clear it in MS Paint. Yeap! You've heard it. If you don't know much about PS, MS Paint is a great tool for beginners.
Let's use an example:
I want to edit my picture and clear the background. Open the picture with MS Paint. It should look like this.
Step 1. Chose the Line tool
Step 2. Chose Line thickness
Step 3. Chose Line colour (I advise to use a different colour than you already have. For example: pink, strident greens, cyan, etc.)
The same thing can be done in Photoshop by using the Magic Eraser tool (You'll pretty much need it afterwards to clean your white MS Paint background). We'll check that method later. Clear the background until you have only Senna and white (or your custom selected colour) around him. DON'T SAVE IT. It should now look like this:
Next! Select the picture by using ctrl+a or from the Edit menu, and press ctrl+c (copy).
Open Photoshop and choose File -> New. You should have a white picture there. Now click paste from the Edit Menu or ctrl+v. You are now here:
Right click on your picture and then choose Deselect
You are now here:
Step 1. Click on the Eraser button and expand by right clicking the icon.
Step 2. Choose Magic Eraser (last option).
Step 3. Select Tolerance and adjust to a number. Usually tolerances for uniform backgrounds are set around 4 or 8. I won't go that deep into tolerances in this tutorial. Make sure that Contiguous is ticked (it usually is by default). Now you can click the white background and it has suddenly disappeared. Congratulations
. You're awesome!You are now here. Don't mind the chequered background. That is Photoshop's way to tell that your background is now transparent:
Note: You can also clear the background with Magic Eraser without going through MS Paint. Just play around with tolerances and watch out not to chop your picture. If you're a beginner, start with MS Paint until you get some experience.
Let's move on to the important part!
NOTE:
My picture is already shrinked to the size I wanted and I have already cleared my background. That's why the background appears like a chess board. In Photoshop white is just another background.
STEP I
1. Adjust the zoom size of your picture.
2. Sharpen your image if you need to.
3. Clear rebel pixels using that tool combined with an appropriate zoom in.
STEP II
4. Click on Load Selection.
5. Leave them like that.
STEP III
6. Notice that dotted line appear around the car. All outside pixels were selected.
7. Click on Save Selection.
STEP IV
8. Fill in that box with a name: I use alpha 1 because it's an alpha layer. You can enter whatever name you want.
9. Click OK.
STEP V
10. Click on CHANNELS.
11. Noticed that our alpha 1 has appeared there? Click on that box.
STEP VI
12. After you clicked that , notice a reddish color appear around your car. Don't you worry: EVERY TIME YOU SAVE A FILE WITH TRANSPARENT BACKGROUND IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE THAT. Click on Save As.
STEP VII
13. Select TGA.
14. Click Save.
STEP VIII
15. Select 32 bits/pixel.
16. Click OK.
You're done. Go to GPI browser and test you TGA. If it gives you an error: check if your file isn't to big or has the right amount of pixels. If you can't spot the problem, redo the job from STEP I. Just a final note: grid cars have an 200X50p resolution. Enjoy!
Something went really wrong? PM me!
____
Nice Tutorial... 
Photoshop.. Its still something from MARS to me... (You know.. Little green men)
Shame..... 
Photoshop.. Its still something from MARS to me... (You know.. Little green men)
Shame..... It's a bit hard I give you that... but once you are used to it there's no turning back. I guess anyone can follow these steps, without any PS background, and still get it right. Hope this topic helps.
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. Last edit at 07/14/2011 08:44PM by andreigp4.)
____
Thanks for tuto. I remember sometime ago I just crazy about alphas, but its easy now.
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PLEASE VISIT: Grand Prix Mods Blog
PLEASE VISIT: Grand Prix Mods Blog
I know it's that season again! Time to update GP4. I just updated my guide for beginners (somehow they find the coolest pictures but they can't edit them, because they don't know how). Enjoy!
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. Last edit at 01/11/2012 09:26AM by andreigp4.)
____
Topic pinned to the FAQ. Nice work thanks.
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