PainShop Pro 9 - lightness

Author

lightness

m-hens

2007-08-18, 6:18 pm

I have a photo that I want to use to create a "watermark" or background for
a webpage. Whats the best function to do this with? By watermark, I mean
to edit the image to almost become transparent. Thanks for any tips you can
give.

MKH

Spandex Rutabaga

2007-08-18, 6:18 pm

m-hens wrote:
>
> I have a photo that I want to use to create a "watermark" or background for
> a webpage. Whats the best function to do this with? By watermark, I mean
> to edit the image to almost become transparent. Thanks for any tips you can
> give.

Creating a transparent web page image isn't completely
straightforward. It can be done using the GIF or PNG formats
but they involve limitations, either in the number of colors
and the extent of control over the transparency or in the
transparency not rendering correctly in some browsers (at
least not without introducing some extensive hoopla).
Therefore a better way to do this is to choose a background
color, put some partially transparent content over this
background color in PSP, combine the two elements into a
single image and then use that image as the background of
your web page.

To do the above is rather simple. First you create an image
filled with the desired overall background color using File >
New. Next you paste as a new layer over this the content
that you want to be only vaguely visible against this
background color. Do this by creating or acquiring an image
of this content, doing Edit > Copy and then, with the background
image active, Edit > Paste > Paste As New Layer. Finally, go
to the Layer Palette and adjust the opacity of the top layer
you just pasted. For additional control you could also try
varying the blend mode of the layer, though it's not necessary
to resort to this if you want to keep things simple.

There are additional games to play. You can create a different
look to the "semi-transparent" content by embossing it with
the Emboss filter or, to get colored embossing, with some
specific settings of the User Defined filter. You can also
give the "watermark" some three-dimensional character with
the Inned Bevel filter. There is a script which does a number
of these things http://pixelnook.home.comcast.net/Watermarks.htm
Other things you can do to the pasted layer is reducing its
saturation or changing its lightness by means of the
Hue/Saturation/Lightness filter or the equivalent adjustment
layer. You can lower the contrast of the layer with the
Histogram Adjustment filter. When the background is light
increasing Output Min is the thing to do. For a dark background
you reduce Output Max. For intermediate shades try both. All
of these things, of course, work in conjunction with selecting
a level of opacity and a blend mode for the layer.

Wiglaf

2007-08-20, 3:17 am

"m-hens" <no.spam@my.email.com> wrote in message news:46c5965e$1_1@cnews...
>
> I have a photo that I want to use to create a "watermark" or background
> for a webpage. Whats the best function to do this with? By watermark, I
> mean to edit the image to almost become transparent. Thanks for any tips
> you can give.
>
> MKH

Rutabaga gives good advice, but I wonder if by transparent "background" you
mean just a very light grayish background. Here's an easy way to do it...

1. Press Shift-H to bring up Hue/Saturation/Lightness control.
2. Click the return arrow to reset defaults.
3. Increase the Lightness slider and decrease Saturation.

If it looks too gray and you'd like a whiter base, you can then try Adjust >
Brightness and Contrast > Levels. Reset its defaults and decrease the
right-side Input Level.

Wiglaf