Deleting Backgrounds

How do you delete backgrounds in quickmask mode? I am trying to separate a picture from the background.

You don't do it in Quickmask mode. That is for making/editing a mask.

You should use your Marquee tools or better yet (usually) the Pen tool and define the object of the photo that you want to keep. Then hide everything else with a Layer mask.

pen tool is your best bet. become proficient with it now and save yourself the headache.

When i delete the background i want to be able to see the gray and white squares in the background. The way that you guys showed me didn't seem to be able to do that.

yeah, when you delete the selections you can see the boxes (transparency). make sure theres nothing under the layer you are working with, and that it is not locked.

[QUOTE=psnewb]yeah, when you delete the selections you can see the boxes (transparency). make sure theres nothing under the layer you are working with, and that it is not locked.[/QUOTE]

ok, but how do you delete them to look like that.
do you use a layer mask or what?

Also, should the layer that you are working with by a background layer, or should it be a copy of that layer?

you make the selection with the pen tool, then you right click and click make selection or something along those lines, then just hit delete on your keyboard. you should be working on whichever layer you are trying to delete stuff on.

i made the selection with my pen tool, but when i press the delete key the background in the picture doesn't go away. The background only goes away in the layer box thinger.

are you working with a transparent ("gray and white squares") background? when you create a new document, under "background contents" you can choose "white", "background colour", or "transparent". make sure it's on "transparent".

If the layer you are working on is a BACKGROUND LAYER, then that is your issue. Just double-click on the background layer in the Layer's palette to convert it into a NORMAL layer. After that you should be able to delete or mask portions of that layer and reveal transparency underneath.