Remove photo background using "enhance by color"?

[David.P]

Hi forum,

I just disovered the new "enhance by color" feature which captured the white background of this photo very good:
http://i.imgur.com/PyEPQ71.jpg

However it seems that there is no way to actually make this "selection" made by the "enhance by color" feature transparent (e.g. in order to add a drop shadow, or in order to save it as *.png) -- is it?

Cheers David.P

[steve.ledger]

Transparent pixels or not, PNG or not it's still a bitmap. Bitmaps are rectangular bounds.
If you want the coloured pixels shape, then you'll need to slice and dice then add a drop shadow before saving as a PNG (bitmap)

[David.P]

Pardon?

On a bitmap with transparent background I can easily add a perfect drop shadow without slicing, dicing or whatever:
http://i.imgur.com/2VQM7vS.png
(Transparency made with Mehdi Eraser Genuine)

What I'm asking is whether "enhance by color" can do that as well (make background transparent).

[gwpriester]

Hi David

Did you try to apply a shadow?

[David.P]

Hi,

shadow doesn't work after "enhance by color" (gets applied to the bitmap bounding box instead).

Anyway, basically I'm not after a shadow but trying to remove the background -- but using the very good "enhance by color" selection feature.

[gwpriester]

OK. My bad. This feature is for selecting a color range and then using the Photo Tool > Enhance features to modify the photo.

This is how I would do it. http://xaraxone.magix.net/PGD9/page%203.htm This was done in Photo & Graphic Designer 9 but it will work in version 9 and 10 products that have the masking and erase tools.

[David.P]

Bummer. It would be so easy if the "enhance by color" feature could be also used to create masks, or at least to make the selection transparent.

This is because the new "enhance by color" feature basically is the "magic wand" tool that has been missing in Xara Designer hitherto -- although even Microsoft Word (!) and PowerPoint had such a tool for like 20 years already.

[Luke.Hart]

That functionality is present, all you have to do is right-click on one of the red\black blobs and then select 'Make transparent'. If the option is not present you'll need to get the latest patch.

[David.P]

Aaaah Luke that is SO amazing!

Thanks for making clear that this feature indeed exists.

Best regards
David.P

[gwpriester]

Wow! Just tried it.

Yeah, thanks Luke. Was this documented anywhere or is it like an Easter Egg?