PhotoShop Plea

[nikitangel]

ACK.  Okay, PhotoShop people out there, I need your help.  I have been trying to make a header with transparent edges.  Works just fine as a png, but when I try to "Save for Web" as a gif, everything falls apart.  I make sure to check the "Transparency" checkbox, but every file comes out with these gray lines around it, and no transparency (go here

Comments

[ludditerobot]

Just use the PNG.

[nikitangel]

I'm actually making it into an image map once I get this settled. Can I do that with a PNG?

[rm_renfield]

So you're starting with a .psd file, right? Just saved as a Photoshop file? Because I'm not sure why you're ever using a .png file at all. Maybe a PC thing.

And the "Save for Web" function has never been my favorite thing. If you've got a full copy of Photoshop 6, you also ought to have Imageready. If so, I'd strongly suggest opening the file in Imageready (there's even a little button at the bottom of the toolbar for that) and optimizing it as a .gif and then using the "Save Optimized As..." function.

[nikitangel]

Yes, I have a .psd file. I went with png because that's the one I could get to work, but then when I wanted an image map, I switched to gif.

I do have ImageReady - that's where I made the image map in the first place. I started working in PS again when I couldn't figure it out, figuring it might be simpler there.

and optimizing it as a .gif

How exactly would that go?

[rm_renfield]

There should be a window on the right side of the screen with a tab that says "optimize." Just pick GIF under format and 256 under colors, and then under the "File" menu select "Save Optimized As..."

Make sure that you don't have a white layer or something that visible in the image when you save it as a GIF. You should see the grey boxes of the background around the edges, where you want the image to be transparent.