Dearies,
I’m trying to create a circular image, so as to make a button. I can’t figure out how to make this happen. Perhaps a more savvy genius can enlighten me. Please do.
-Birdmonster
All I’ve been able to do is crop with the eliptical tool, which still leaves me with a square, but with a neat little circle within. Worthless.
Not sure what you mean by “circular” image - the files will be stored in a rectangular form. But maybe this will get you started:
Using the “elliptical marquee” tool (upper left hand corner in the tool window - normally shows a dotted line rectangle. Use your right mouse to select the elliptical version), “select” the round image you want by clicking and dragging. If you have the “info” tab visible, in the lower right hand corner you’ll see the measurements for height and width. If you want a perfect circle, drag until both the height and width are the same value.
Once you’ve selected your image, you can “cut” it to a new file that more closely fits what you’re after. Use the File-New and enter the height and width of the selected circle. A new window (should be square, if height and width are equal) should appear. Use the “movet” tool (upper right corner of toolwindow) to drag the selected circle to your new window (click and drag inside the selected circle and pull it over to your new window.
Save the new window in the form you’d like (jpeg, or whatever). When you print this file out, you will get the square with your circular image inside. Is this what you’re after ?
You want to make a new layer, use the elipse marquee to make your selection and fill it with whatever colour your button to be. Maybe stroke it in an accenting colour to create a border. [Edit->Fill / Edit->Stroke] If you want to give it a 3D look, you can add blurry , translucent highlights and shadows on layers on top of that.
Then go back down to your background layer, “select all,” and delete, to make the background transparent. Crop the image to the edges of the button.
“Save for web” as a .gif file, and make sure that “use transparency” is selected.
Easy-peasy.
Just now realized you might mean a “button” in the sense of a little tin disc intended to be pinned to clothing or a baseball cap, as opposed to a “button” in the sense of a little clicky-thing for a web-page.
If you just want a circular border around an existing photo, try using a layer mask.
Put your photo on a new layer. (If you’ve opened it as a .jpeg or something, the easiest way to do this is to press “Control-A”, “Control-C” and then “Control-V.” (Select all, copy, paste.)
In the layers window, click on the background layer, select all, and then fill it with white. Then click on the image layer. (It will be called “Background copy”) Make your circular selection, and then click on the “Create layer mask” button. It’s at the bottom of the “layers” window, and looks like a little circle in a square. This will make everything except for the circle transparent.
Or follow cormac’s elegant and simple instructions to accomplish the exact same thing. :smack:
If you want to eliminate the area outside the circle, try using the “Export Transparent Image” under the “Help” menu.