Kill White is a Photoshop Filter that actively removes all white from an image (unlike the 'Multiply' blend mode), perfectly leaving the rest of the image - whether the image is black-and-white or color.
However, this is not simple masking. Pixels that are partly transparent are altered so as to only remove the white portion. Shadows and gradients will remain in the image, only white is removed.
I worked on this Filter with my good buddy Mike Simburger.
Examples:
Applications:
Sketch/Drawing clean up (!)
Websites (and pngs)
White Background removal
Cleaning images with alpha (can remove white halos)
Art effect
Download options:
Mike & Yaël's Kill-White (32bit Filter)
Mike & Yaël's Kill-White (Pixel Bender Version)
Versions Explenation:
The 32bit Filter should be compatible with all 32bit PC versions of Photoshop that have filters. That would be the past 11 versions (3.0 though CS5!).
The Pixel Bender version* makes use of Adobe's new (as of CS4) cross-program Filter system (works for both 64 or 32 bit versions). This version is much more accurate and generally has better results.
* If you choose to install this version, make sure you actually have PixelBender installed on your machine:
locations on 64-bit PC machines:
PixelBender 1.5 (for CS4):
..Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Utilities\Pixel Bender Toolkit\
PixelBender 2.0 (for CS5):
..Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Utilities - CS5\Pixel Bender Toolkit 2\
If you don't see it, both CS5 and CS4 versions of PixelBender can be downloaded Here.
(Make sure you download the correct version, the CS5 version is not backward-compatible to CS4).
Manual Installation:
So, if all else fails (or you are working on a
Macintosh) here are the instructions for installing the PixelBender version manually:
-
Copy the 'MikeAndYaelsKillWhite.pbk' file to
PC: ..\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop\Pixel Bender Files
MAC: ../Applications/Adobe Photoshop/Pixel Bender Files
- To run it open Photoshop > Filters > Pixel Bender Gallery (will open a new window)
> Find the filter in the dropdown menu.
- Press OK (it'll go back to Photoshop).
This was succefully tested on a Macintosh running Photoshop CS4.
