# Adobe Elements question
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adobe-elements-question/489697
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 16, 2009, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adobe-elements-question/489697 "2009-03-16T23:59:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2009, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adobe-elements-question/489697/1 "2009-03-16T23:59:03Z")
Can I pull an image off a background and remove the background? what I want to be able to do is pull a logo off a colored background and make a stamp out of it. It would be nice if I could add “clear” as a color but I don’t see that as an option.
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### Author:  [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2009, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adobe-elements-question/489697/2 "2009-03-17T04:40:06Z")
You might try using the “magic wand” tool to select the background and delete it, leaving only the logo.
Or, alternatively, use the select brush to select the parts of the image you want, then copy and paste it into a new file with a clear background.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2009, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adobe-elements-question/489697/3 "2009-03-17T05:25:56Z")
It depends. Can you show us the logo?
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### Author:  [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2009, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adobe-elements-question/489697/4 "2009-03-17T07:07:16Z")
> [@panache45](#):
>
> It depends. Can you show us the logo?
The Straight Dope logo on this page would be comparable. I can isolate the image from the colored background but I can’t delete the background. I’ve tried erasing it but when I copy and paste it I get a white background. I imagine I can do it with layering but I haven’t figured it out yet.
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### Author:  [@sharding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sharding)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2009, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adobe-elements-question/489697/5 "2009-03-17T07:20:28Z")
Just copy it onto another layer and delete the background layer (I assume that’s possible in Photoshop Elements – I’ve never used Elements).
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### Author:  [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adobe-elements-question/489697/6 "2009-03-17T14:53:14Z")
You may need to specify a background color of “transparent” when you create a new document. This is possible in Photoshop, I don’t know if it can be done in Elements.
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### Author:  [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adobe-elements-question/489697/7 "2009-03-17T17:58:07Z")
**h.sapiens** is correct, and it can be done in Elements. I am using version 4 (what are they up to now? 8?).
When you create a new document, one of the options is “Background Contents” which you can change to “Transparent” if the default is “White.”
Or, if you create a new document and the background is already white without giving you a choice, go to the “Layer” menu and choose “New” --\> “Layer from Background” An options box pops up and you can set the transparency of the layer to 0.
Then you can copy and paste from the logo image onto this transparent background.
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### Author:  [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2009, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adobe-elements-question/489697/8 "2009-03-18T05:24:14Z")
Thanks. I already had a transparent background. Apparently you can’t save it in JPG form without creating a white background and Excel won’t accept GIF or PSD files. I was trying to make a logo that could be imported into a graph without having to color match it.
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### Author:  [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2009, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adobe-elements-question/489697/9 "2009-03-18T10:47:21Z")
Neither JPG nor GIF support a transparent background layer. You can create the graphic with such a layer, but when you save it in either of these formats the background layer will default to white or another colour value that you specify.
The PNG format does support transparency, if you can use that.