can someone help me in photoshop 7?

[tanya]

I was wondering is there anyway to make the preset shapes transparent. I see there is a puzzle piece shape and would like to put it over a picture. but it always filled with a color. is there anyway to have it transparent..
thanks

[Mike Wozowski]

there are probably several ways to accomplish what you want to do

try this:

make the shape you want ohn one layerput the picture on the layer above.
then GROUP the layers.
you will have to play with it a little to get the picture in the shape how you want it.

anohter way would be to make your shape and then select it with the magic wand. then drag the selection on to your picture. then select inverse and then delete.

hope one of these ideas will help!

mike

[mommymonster]

i'm assuming that you want to see the shape, but not have any color to it? so that you can see the picture through the shape (sorta like transparency film?).

make the shape and rastersize it. on the layer pallette, where it says Lock, click the first one (it should say something like 'Lock transparent pixels' when you hold the cursor over it).

now- go to Layer>Layer Styles>Blending Options. you should see, in the middle of the pop up menu, a section that says 'Advanced Blending'. Slide the Fill Opacity slider all the way down. the shape will disappear (don't worry- we'll get it back).

now- go to Bevel and Emboss. under shading, change the highlight mode to Color Dodge and the Shadow Mode to Color Burn. click ok.

i create a new layer, and then merge it with the shape layer, but only because i like the way that drop shadow falls after i do this (it won't color the entire square this way).

this makes the shape transparent, so that you can still see the shape, but you can also see through the shape :).

[Emma]

Are you wanting to see an outline of a puzzle shape on top of your photo or make your photo into a puzzle piece shape?

[tanya]

thanks:)
I am wanting to make my photo a puzzle:)
thanks everyone

[Margie]

here's one i did. i'd found a puzzle outline and just reduced the opacity a little so i could see through it. then i selected each of the pieces and went to the photo layer and did copy and paste. so i ended up with a bunch of pieces then i moved some around. :)
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=496

[Lauren]

If you just want the outline of the shape but no inside - then up top in the options bar there are 3 options there - one for outline and fill , one for just fill and one for just outline - you want the middle one which is the outline one

[Emma]

What Lauren wrote about the middle option being for outline is how I do it. I select the "Path" option at the Options bar at the top of the screen (it's the center one with a Pen Tool icon inside a rectangle). Draw your shape where you want it (hold down space bar to move it around while dragging out the shape).

Once it's positioned correctly, go to the Paths Palette and choose the icon at the bottom shaped like a dotted circle, "Convert Path to Selection". Then invert the selection, and hit Delete to cut away the excess.

To make the outline visible, just make the custom shape on its own layer, using the Path option. In the Paths palette, you click the outline circle "Stroke Path with Brush". Make sure you have the Brush Tool active, and choose a brush from the dropdown menu that makes the outline you want (fuzzy, or hard edge, etc). Stroke the Path to get your outline.

For one like Margie's for the bevel edge, sorta glass looking, Put a puzzle piece on its own layer. Make a New Layer, and use the Filled Shape option, draw the piece. Now in Layer Styles choose Bevel/Emboss, and set the Fill to 0% so only the bevel is visible. Make more pieces and move them into place over the photo so they're connected like Margie's layout.

To crop the photo in the puzzle piece shape, Ctrl-Click the layer thumbnail, or right click the layer thumbnail and click "Select Layer Transparency". Select inverse and hit Delete.

Let me know if any of these methods is what you want. Or if you have any more questions about how to get the piece look like it's broken away, etc.
Have fun!