how to change the background in photoshop CS5?

Question

i'm using Adobe Photoshop CS5 to remove the background of an image the pixels outlining the image are white and the background grid im working on is white and gray so its very hard to see the white pixels even when im zoomed in, does anyone know how to change the color of the grid so i can better see the white pixels? thanks in advance for any input.

also by the way i tried changing the preferences but no luck.

Answer 1

When I'm cutting out an image, I always make a temporary layer below it. I fill the layer with some bright obnoxious green or pink. That way, when I zoom in to work on it I can REALLY see those bad white (or whatever) pixels against it.



Or - if you know what color the cutout will eventually be on, you can make that layer that color for the most realistic work scenario.



EDIT: to change the grid, go to Edit --> Preferences --> Transparency and Gamut --> click on the gray to change it, click on the white to change it. (I'm on an older version, so yours may be slightly different).

Answer 2

png-24 will give you the higher filesize because it's the best quality, that's why most people don't use it for their web designs, and those that do, don't realize the risk of having larger than necessary file size images and how it can slow down everything. You have the right idea, but try the 4-up view and try different formats at different settings. Narrow it down until you find that perfect one. I'm SURE you can find a much more happy medium that doesn't take away too much from quality and is a much more suitable file size.

Answer 3

You can use CTRL+i so that you get a negative of the image to work with and when you are done, use CTRL+i again to go back to white.