Scanlines

These are very easy to do and add a great effect. Sometimes when i make graphics..i have to add a scanline else it might look a lil boring. Anywaise follow along now ^_^

(1) First we need to make the "scanline". To do this, Create a new transparent image. Width: 1 ; Height: 2
(2) Take the line tool and make a line on top. (Like Below) I used black. I recommened using black as well. Also if you zoom in, itll help a lot! (zip in : CTRL and +)

(3) Now that you have that. Go to Edit > Define Pattern. When the pop up comes just name it something like Scan Lines
(4) Not get an image you want to use it on. Mine is below

(5) To add the lines.. Hold Shift and the Backspace together. I recommened doing this on a new layer(6) At first itll be very dark. No problem! Just change the Opacity on the layers menu. Try something like 10% etc

Here are some examples I made:

On the 3rd and 4th one, I just have the scan lines the other way. So the width would be 2 and height would be 1. And the line would go top to bottom instead of left to right.

To change the colors, just click on the "F" on the layer with the lines. Go to Color Overlay. Pick the color you want and you can change the opacity for that too. Try new stuff! This is a GREAT effect!

Deleting Backgrounds

There are a few ways to make transparent gifs. By the way, sometimes saving them to Gifs well make the image a bad quality. Just save them as .png with transparency. Also when you create a new image make sure "Transparent" in Content is checked!

Magic Wand Tool
This way is probably the easiest if your image has a background color that is the same color. Best results are when the image has a thick border. See below

the first is the original and the 2nd is the transparent one. i put it on a table to show you the transparency. Its not pretty..lol Itll look good if you have a white background -_-

Polygonal Lasso Tool
This is good way. It takes while sometimes, depending on your image and background and it can be little hard. Heres the image im going to use:

Ok take your polygonal tool and zoom in! Take the tool and outline your object. It takes awhile..and i dont normally perfer this method. After your content is outlined hit Delete. If you mess up hit the Backspace. And this is it:

Quick Mask
This is what i perfer! On your tool bar go into Quick Mask Mode. Or hit Q.

Make sure you double click on hit and on the pop up check "Selected Areas". If your image has alot of red just click on red and change the color. Thats so you can see what you color over.

To do this, Just use a regular brush and color over all the contents you want to keep! However, If your background would be easier to color over, than do so. Do which ever takes less time. I colored over my object. If you mess up, you can delete the mess up with the earser tool! =)

Original picture (above)

Masked picture (above) This is what it looks like after you mask it.

Now Toggle off Quick Mask (hit Q) It should be selected now.
If you colored over the object then go to Select > Inverse and hit Delete
If you colored your background just hit Delete

Without the old background. See there is still things left over. You can just zoom in and erase that out =)