How to eliminate white background?

Hi everyone,

New to this forum, new to XX, and I have a question:
how do I make a white background in a bitmap transparent?
I searched this forum and saw some old posts with a not too easy way to do it, so I am hoping that the latest version 4 has a neat two-clicks-to-do-what-I-want function :)

In Fireworks - which I have been using before I found Xara - all I had to do is take the Magic Wand tool, click on the white part of the background and hit delete. So hopefully XaraXtreme4 has something similar.

Thanks in advance,

Loes

Hi
Go to live effects tool and select Mehdi > eraser classic which should be there and tell it what colour on your selected bitmap you wish to make transparent or even easier you can apply stainglass transparency to your bitmap which makes white transparent. Niether ways are perfect and depending on the bitmap and or your confidence another option is to trace the white areas and physically remove them by selecting your bitmap and traced area and going to arrange>combine>subtract
The attached shows why stainedglass transparency is not perfect. The original bitmap on the left and the same with stainglass applied on the right. You can see the colour shift when laid over another colour when stainedglass is applied. It that instance cutting out the white would be the better option.
Derek

Hi Loes, welcome to the forum. If you select the Live Effects tool (Ctrl + F5) and click on the "New" button, select Mehdi and then Eraser Classic. Fiddle a bit with the tolerance slider and you should get what you want.
You might want to preserve any white parts in the graphic by drawing a shape over your graphic and filling it with white, and then placing it behind your graphic (press Ctrl +B on the keyboard). I see Derek and I are cross posting on our edits as well as our posts. Hopefully we've covered pretty much everything between us!
Saludos,
Bob.

Derek and bob, thanks!! That works :)

Attached is the type of image I needed it for (made in embroidery software). Now that it's transparent I can use a fabric background and create a stitch preview.

Happy camper here,

Loes

We like happy campers, glad to be able to help.
Saludos,
Bob.

I am not a "stitchery" type person myself, but I know that those programable stiches are a form of vector graphic. Might be worth while to keep them as a vector and then you can create your own stitches...

If I'm following what you want... bring in your fabirc swatch and the stitch pattern. Place the stitch pattern on top, select the transparency tool and on the 'type' dropdown (it will say 'mix' ) and select 'stained glass'. Attached is an example.

Hopefully this was some help.

Thanks again. Perfect :)

Loes