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(tutorial by
Darlene)
We'll start with this M&M guy, on a white
background. Because parts of the image are the same color as the background,
doing a simple File|Export|Transparent Gif won't work. In this case, if you
selected transparency equal to the background color (white), you would end up
with transparent hands, shoes and eyes. This method will isolate the image,
remove the white fringe and create a perfect transparent image which you can
place against any background.
 Step One:
Your image needs some free space around it. Use
your eye dropper tool
Right click on the eye dropper and open the color
palette. The white that you selected is in the front box.
 Click on the
double arrow. This should flip the white block to the background. That's what we want.
 Now pull down the Image menu and
select Add Borders. Check Symmetric and type
25 in the box. This will increase the size of our M&M guy to
250X250.
Step Two:
Create a new transparent file, the same size as
your image (250x250). To do this, select File>New. Enter
your file size and select Transparent as the background color.
Step Three:
Now back to the M&M guy. With the magic wand tool  select the white background by clicking on
it.Step Four:
From the Selections menu, select
Invert. (the M&M guy is now selected).
Step Five:
From the Selections menu, select
Modify and then Contract (setting the number
of pixels to one usually does the trick). Click OK. You have
now pulled the selection line around the M&M guy in by one pixel. This will
eliminate the white "shadow" or "fringe" you often see around transparent
gifs.
Step Six:
Edit>Copy
Step Seven:
Click on your new transparent document to select
it. Edit> Paste As A New Layer
Step Eight:
Time to save your new, transparent M&M guy.
File>Export>Transparent Gif. Under the
transparency tab, select use existing image or layer
transparency. Select OK. Give your new, transparent M&M guy a
name--file type gif.
Here he is against a blue
background:
 NOTE: This method will
only work when your background is a solid color. If your background is
textured or patterned, follow these steps:
Step One:
Open a new, transparent image the same size as your image.
Step Two:
Copy your image and paste it as a new layer in this new, transparent
image. This is the image we will work with.
Step Three:
Right Click your Lasso tool
 and open Tool Options. Select Point to
Point. Use the magnifying glass tool to increase the size of your
image. Now begin removing the background by selecting it, small sections
at a time. When you have a portion of the background selected, hit the
delete key. You will begin to see your image against the transparent
background. (It's best to stay slightly INSIDE the image as you delete the
background--you will loose a very small portion of the image this way, but will
eliminate a great deal of cleanup later.)Step Four:
Once you have your background removed, examine your image. Any remaining
background can be removed with the eraser
 tool.Step Five:
File>Export>Transparent Gif. Under the transparency
tab, select use existing image or layer transparency.
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