Photoshop, Quark help...

Help please. I'm trying something new in photoshop and Quark. I just used the erase tool for the first time in photoshop to take the background out of a photo so the person in the photo can stand alone with text running around them in the story. My question is, how do I make the picture and the text work together so the text contours next to the photo. Do I need to crop it a certain way in Photoshop before I transfer to Quark? Or can I do it in Quark? I need a different shape picture box, but I'm not sure how I go about this. Sorry if this is dumb question. Any help would be great.Thanks.

 

You went about it wrong. You need to use the pen tool to create a path around the photo, so you can then create a clipping path. The clipping path is what allows you to ragged text around a photo.

 

I haven't worked in Quark in some time, but when you import the photo and put runaround on it, see if you can "detect edges." I will create a halo. You can also go back into the photoshop image and created a path ... but that's a whole other animal.

Erasered the background -- damn, I bet that took a couple minutes.

 

I don't know anything about the Quark stuff, but you can still create a path from what you have without too much trouble. With the magic wand tool, select the background that you erased - make sure the tolerance is low so you don't select any of the photo. It should be easy since it's all white. Then inverse the selection. Now in your paths toolbar, in the dropdown list, select "make work path"

 

While I normally do a clipping path and all that good stuff, once I put the photo in Quark, I draw a photo box over the photo (point by point) and make it clear. Then I put the run around the way I want it. I find that sometimes I want a little more breathing room in certain places.

 

i know what you're trying to do and it can be done. When you do text wrap or something like that, look for an option that says something like non-white space. That will wrap your copy.

wish i could be more help, but haven't used quark in a few years. on indesign now.

 

Refer to this thread for information on cutouts:

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/34989/

As far as how to transfer it over to Quark, it's simple. Import the image (I use an .eps, never had issues with cutouts in that file format) into a picture box. Go to your runaround settings and choose non-white space. Put in a number larger than six pixels to separate the text from the photo. Enjoy.

Alternatively, and this is helpful if you want the photo to run overtop of one element (say, a tiny bit of the headline or your banner at the top of the page) in one area but not the body text elsewhere, simply use the pen picture tool to draw a box around the areas of the photo you need the runaround and choose no colour fill for the box. Again, enjoy.