Make Clock Face See Through

[RickinWaSt]

As a new member & to PS I goofed. My original post was deleted because I failed to place the image inside the post vs providing a link.

Rich54 provided a solution before the post was delete. "Place the clock layer above all other layers and change the layer blend mode of the clock to Multiply. The Multiply blend mode will make the white disappear."

Question: I have no other layers. Do I need to first add a background layer? Must I remove the white background section around the clock? When I use layer blend mode to "Multiple" nothing appears to have changed. ~ Thanks ~

 

[JeffK]

Use your magic eraser tool and click on the white area:
(*the magic eraser is part of the eraser tool set - just choose the one with the three dots as below)



You can add a colored layer underneath just to check you erased al the white:

 

[Rich54]

In your original post (before it was deleted), you said that your eventual goal was to put the clock on another background and be able to move it around while the new background shows through. If you do that—if you place your clock on top of a new background—then my method will work. Below is your clock image placed over a mountain landscape. On the left, the clock layer has a Normal blend mode. On the right, I changed it to Multiply.

Of course, Jeff's method of deleting the white will also work, and in this case it's very easy to do. But other times, it might not be as easy, so it's good to know what the different layer blend modes will do.

 

[RickinWaSt]

Thanks for the replies and "how to"!

 

[ex_teacher]

Here's some more ideas, for good or ill.

This thin all black transparent clock looks fine on a light colored background but in a dark background it tends to fade into oblivion. A possible solution is to outline in a lighter color.

I cut the clock out and then darkened the aliasing (lots of ways to do this)
I used a 1 px outline in a medium light grey (200,200,200) and then cut off the light border line on the outside.
I also ran a 3 px black circle around the outside to fatten it more like the numbers.

The clock then has contrast against almost any background. If It looks clumsy to you, a possible solution is to cut transparency, in this case I've shown it at 60%

Here's that altered clock in PNG format where I've placed it in a varied tonal area as well as that same clock at 60% I stuck a 255,255,255 white square under one section of clock just because.

 

[ex_teacher]

Fiddling with this some more and saw some minor irregularities.
Got idea from Rich 54..thanks