Expert: Scott Valentine - 2/7/2008

Question
Thank you. I don't have Adobe Photoshop but I do have Adobe PhotoDeluxe Home Edition 4.0 and Microsoft's Picture It! Express 7.0, hopefully they're the same ideas.

All I'm trying to do is cut out a circled picture and paste it over another picture but I get that white squared background with the circled picture even though I traced around the circled pictured and saved it. And I've tried the circular selection tool but I still get a square in the background.

Is there a trick I don't know about or can it be done? And can this be done on any photo editing software?

Thanks again.


Answer
Hi Mark,

The square you see is due to the file format you are using. GIF and PNG support transparency, but I don't think the software you mention handles them properly (I don't use those applications, so can't be certain). Saved images are still defined by a rectangle, even when there are transparent areas.

Unless your applications support layers, or some kind of collage feature, I don't think you'll have any luck doing what you want. One option is to use "the Gimp", which is a free image processor, with many of the same features as Photoshop. However, like Photoshop, it has a steep learning curve. Tutorials and forums will be your best bet to get introduced quickly.

You can download the Gimp here:

http://www.gimp.org/

Tutorials on the site are here:

http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/

I realize this is akin to using a bulldozer in place of a trowel, but it may be your best option. And who knows... you may find the Gimp useful for things you want to do in the future.

Please let me know if I can offer any other help.

-Scott