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Cut one element from psd file


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eyalc82

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Hey everybody,

I have a very basic question, a lot of time when I'm searching photoshop art works on the web I see psd files that contains more then one element (for example a grid of icons where every icon is a separate layer or a group of layers)


But usually I need only one element... So how do I create a png from the one that I need? How can I isolate it from the rest of the elements?
 
IDK why you didn't get an answer. People just didn't get to it, whatever. Sorry. Maybe because we are always cautious about piracy. Be sure you have rights to download anything. I kind of assume if it's a psd you do.

Just turn off all the other layers. Click the little eyeballs on the left to turn off visibility. When your item is the only one visible, crop the document around it and save as a png. Then reverse the change you just made if you plan to keep the psd. Hopefully that's the nswer you need.
 
Hey ibclare, thanks for your answer

First, just to be clear, when I download psd files I download only the free licensed ones.

I have two questions about what your instructions:
1. I can't find the eyeballs where is it? (and what is it for? what does it means turn off visibility?)
2. How do I crop around my item so It is centered and exactly the size of my item? (do I crop with the Rectangular Marquee?)
 
eyalc82 said:
Hey ibclare, thanks for your answer

First, just to be clear, when I download psd files I download only the free licensed ones.

I have two questions about what your instructions:
1. I can't find the eyeballs where is it? (and what is it for? what does it means turn off visibility?)
2. How do I crop around my item so It is centered and exactly the size of my item? (do I crop with the Rectangular Marquee?)
Click to expand...

1. the eyeballs or eyes are next to each layer in the layers pallet. click it and that layer disappears click it again and it appears again.

2. I cant understand what do you mean by crop around item but if you want to make exact selection of the item (e.g create render) then you can use the pen tool (the best tool for this). Alternatively you can use quick masks but i have never used them and dont know how to use them.
 
To crop the item to have it in the center...

* Turn off all the layers (click the eye icon next to the layer and make sure it is not visible).
* Turn on the layer that you want to crop
* Go to IMAGE -> TRIM and just click OK.
* Done. Now just save the image as a PNG.

Once done, use the history tool to reverse the change, and repeat the same process for other items..

I hope this helped.... :thumbsup:

Cheers Mate ..!!
 
OK, you got some good answers above. Here are a couple images anyway:

PNG.PNG eyeball

PNG2.PNG
turn off other layers to reveal only the one

PNG3.PNG
and "trim" is the best way to eliminate unwanted transparent pixels. I've included this image though to show you one way to find the center of an object.

use your guides and define the outside borders of an object, then measure off (or eyeball, lol) the centers
 
Oh, and lol, a friend just reminded me of the simplest way. Create a new document where you want to use it or have open the document you want to use it in, Select (highlight) the layer with the object you want, and drag it into the other document. That's all there is to it. You can do that with any layer, PNG or not.

Here's a picture of that:

PNGs.PNG

As you can see, I don't use trim very often; why bother most of the time if it's a png, 'cept maybe for certain designs and web applications.
 
Last edited:
ibclare said:
Oh, and lol, a friend just reminded me of the simplest way. Create a new document where you want to use it or have open the document you want to use it in, Select (highlight) the layer with the object you want, and drag it into the other document. That's all there is to it. You can do that with any layer, PNG or not.
Click to expand...
Thats what I was thinking thanks for the info
 
Thanks all for your help :)

I think I'll go with the trim, because it crop the item while it centered and thats exactly what I need.

ibclare thanks for your detailed answer, about the dragging to another document, my needs are for iPhone app UI elements, like buttons, so the the document should be anyway the exact size of the element itself, so trim looks easier solution for me because I don't need to set exact document size.
 
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