transparent gif

[maklooby]

Hello
for starters, I am new to photoshop. But I need to make something for a website I'm building.
What I'm trying to do is create a transparent pic from a gif image. The reason I need a section to be transparent is because I am going to put it over a slide show and the slide show will show through transparency.
I have a gif with a shape and a background. No layers. I highlight the shape that I want to make transparent with the magic wand tool and dotted lines show me that it is highlighted. Then I go to edit/preferences/transparency and set it to transparent. When I double click on the image itself to show me the squares that it is transparent, nothing happens. However if i double click on the background (where I don't want transparency) it will show me transparency there despite it not being highlighted with the magic wand tool. And then when I put it on the page, regardless, there is no transparency. (despite me saving it for the web).
I have also tried this by placing the shape in a layer and it has the same effect.

can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong? I hope I explained it correctly. Thanks

[66stang66]

Open your original. Hit Ctrl+A to select everything. Hit Ctrl+C to copy. Hit Ctrl+N to create a new document the same size as whatever is in the clipboard (your gif). Make sure you set the pulldown "Background Contents" to "Transparent". Then click OK.

In your new document, click the "Add layer" button on the Layer panel. Now hit Ctrl+V to paste your original into the new layer. Use whatever method you wish to select the area you want to be transparent and delete the area.

Now, go to File>Save for Web and Devices. A new window will appear. On the right, select the "Preset" for gif that best suits your needs and make sure the transparency box is checked. Click "Save" at the bottom and you are done.

Hope it helps.

[maklooby]

Thanks soooo much!!! That was different tedhnique than what I had seen but hey, it worked like a charm so far! thanks again!