transparent gif question

[Summer]

hello. i read some recent posts in the forum about transparent gifs and pngs. i'm having problems making my transparent gif look acceptable.

i'm using photoshop cs and using the export transparent image button for a gif to be used online.

the problem is that my image has text in it, and the text is coming out very badly. it looks fine in photoshop, but when i put the image which has a transparent background in a webpage which has a pattern background, there are a lot of rough edges or pixelation around parts of the images.

how do i get rid of the rough edges? i tried using the eyedropper tool to select a matte color, but this isn't helping because my webpage background is not a solid color.

is using a png a better idea? can you point me in the right direction - how could i make a transparent png for a webpage look right in different browsers?

thanks.

[Pegasus]

Select your matte colour to "None".

[Summer]

Hi Peg. :)

I tried doing that also. I think part of the reason why I'm getting so much pixelation... the small size of the image doesn't help.

I also tried matting > remove white, and it didn't help much.

Are there other settings that might get rid of this roughness around the edges?

Thanks again.

[_Aerospace_Eng_]

You can try setting the text to crisp when you type it that may help, then you may want to use the save for web feature. You can make a transparent png which would be a good idea for most browsers but Internet Explorer. You will need to use the method found here (http://www.alistapart.com/articles/pngopacity/)

[freeosin]

Lowering the transparency of the background image, and then reimporting that into the picture and pushing it to the background should work. Especially if you working with layered images, as .png files. Just set the transparency of one of the images lower and filter it to the back.

[TrashTrampoline]

I am not sure what results you will get, but you could also select "save for web" under the "file"

then click on the color you want to be transparent then click on the transparent button.

Again I am not sure what you will get but its worth a try.

[seen.to]

If your background image is too complex you will never get a perfect result.

Do however try setting the matte colour to something in between the colours of your background image - it won't be perfect but it will be the best compromise.

[Summer]

Using the eyedropper to select a matte color that best fits the webpage background color helps.

I guess the reason why I can't get this particular image of mine looking acceptable is because I'm dealing with a pattern background with more than one color behind the
image.

Thank you for your replies, everyone! Your comments and advice help A LOT :)