Expert: Ken Black - 6/3/2009

Question
I designed a logo for a basketball team in Photoshop.  I brought in some vector art from Illustrator into Photoshop, but ultimately designed everything in Photoshop.  In order to have this logo printed on a jersey, this company needs the format in either an EPS or high resolution PDF.  With either format is there a way to knock out the white background and simply have it transparent.  For example, I don't want a white background surrounding the logo if it's going to be printed on a dark jersey.  When I did my designing in Photoshop, I put the logo on it's on layer, basically so if I removed the white background, the logo would remain but the white backing would be gone.  Is there anyway to get rid of the white background?

Answer
Hi Danny,

Photoshop "flattens" these file formats (.eps and .pdf) when you save the document. So, your transparent layer ends up with a white background when the file is opened. The only exception is for later versions of photoshop (cs2 and up), they will save your pdf with layers intact. However, when opened in any application besides photoshop, the file is flattened.

Most screen printers want vector files to work with so that this problem as well as resolution don't become an issue. When photoshop flattens your image it becomes a raster image, that is it is based solely on pixel information instead of preserving vectors.

Ideally, you would want to create your art entirely as vector for this project using Illustrator. Keep in mind any effects that deal with transparency, as in drop shadows or glows, add raster info to your file. Those effects will leave "halos" around the edges that meet the background.

One thing that may save what you have in photoshop is to outline your graphic using the pen tool for preciseness, save the path and turn it into a clipping path. This will isolate it from the background. Check with your printing company as to whether they can accept your file this way or if there is another method which they prefer to use to deal with this problem.

Thanks,

Ken Black

www.bestprintingonline.com