I have it set to transparent when I make a new document, but the problem is I'm pasting an image from another program to work with (so the background is still white from the other program). How do you make a picture have a transparent background, working within photoshop.

Make a new layer. create the image on that layer. Delete the 'background' layer, save as a .gif or .png.
That should work.

That doesn't work, the white's still on it (on each layer)

If you're saving as .gif, make sure the transparency box is checked, I didn't know about that for like a month.

You mean when making a new file? yea, I had that checked.
Here's an image of what I mean


I want that white part gone. I didn't make it in photoshop so the white is attached to it.

I'm using PS 7.

are you looking to only have black lines so you can color?

to do that:
1. paste you image onto a new layer.
2. ctrl L and adjust your levels so there isn't any gray
3. Go to your channels palatte, load channel as selection (bottom of palatte, little dotted line circle)
4. make sure your on your lines layer and hit delete.
5. on the layers palatte click preserve transparancy.
6. now on your lines layer you can color over your lines without coloring your transparent areas, to color create new layers behind your lines layers.
7. Go to town, baby!

hope that's helpful

Someone
are you looking to only have black lines so you can color?

to do that:
1. paste you image onto a new layer.
2. ctrl L and adjust your levels so there isn't any gray
3. Go to your channels palatte, load channel as selection (bottom of palatte, little dotted line circle)
4. make sure your on your lines layer and hit delete.
5. on the layers palatte click preserve transparancy.
6. now on your lines layer you can color over your lines without coloring your transparent areas, to color create new layers behind your lines layers.
7. Go to town, baby!

hope that's helpful

An alternate way (much easier) of doing that, while maintaining the smoothness of the lines is to put the layer with the lines (and white) above everything. Take that layer, set the blending options to 'multiply' and then color underneath it. The white wont show up as long as there is color underneath it.

Awesome, I got it to work.
Thanks much, all of you.

Umm, the original photoshop tip was dead on. It didn't work because you didn't convert the image mode from index color to rgb.

acadia
An alternate way (much easier) of doing that, while maintaining the smoothness of the lines is to put the layer with the lines (and white) above everything. Take that layer, set the blending options to 'multiply' and then color underneath it. The white wont show up as long as there is color underneath it.

The difference between your way and Carly's is that yours only works if you are looking to keep all your lines black and unmodified from the way you drew them.

Carly's method creates a layer of linework that is completely transparent except for the black areas - and those black areas have gradiations of transparency (depending on how much you adjusted the levels earlier). Carly's way is how people get colored outlines - on the transparent lines level, you can lock the transparency, and then paint on the lines to make them different colors or do different effects, without ruining the quality of line (which is preserved by the transparency lock).

I used to do it the multiply-layer way too, but although the alpha channel way requires a couple more steps, it's more flexible in the long run. :)

Sounds interesting... I do grey lines and set them to multiply, so they're always a bit faded out and tinted by whatever colour I use underneath. Sometimes I think it'd be better to get rid of my outlines entirely and simply paint over the top of them.

This channels idea does have serious merit for other styles of working though.