A few notes first:
The  images used in this mini-pictutorial are from my own collection of graphics, and include pcCrafter Creatables, HugClub membership monthly images, Debbie Mumm graphics and/or others I may own.
I store the majority of graphics or templates I may use, in the pcCrafter Hugbug Deluxe Browser.

The browser has a feature, that if you hold down your SHIFT keyboard key while dragging images / graphics from the Browser, and into the files tray of Digital Image Pro, all the White surrounding the image and also ANY White that matches the pixels of the white background within the image as well. 

So for this mini tut, I will show how I take the white out around an image and not inside the image. I usually use method of  holding down the Shift key while dragging images to make them transparent, ONLY on images that do not have alot of white in the image itself. 

Also important to remember, if you want to retain the transparency of an image it should be saved as a GIF or PNG file format. If you save it as a JPG file, it will no longer be transparent and will have the white box surrounding it against a background you may choose to add it to in  the future, or for showing on the web.

I begin my graphics projects, by opening Digital Image Pro, and I create or open a Blank document. I prefer to drag all the graphics I may want to use on a particular project to the FILES tray, rather than opening individually. I put all images in the files tray first. Then if I want to work on a particular image on its own, such as removing the white around the image, or cropping an image - I will click on it from the Files tray, and accomplish that task, and then go back to blank workspace or the project in the workspace, and I will drag the now transparent or cropped image from the tray to the workspace.
 
 

This is How I Do It
I open Digital Image Pro, and open a Blank Workspace,
then I open the Hugbug Deluxe Browser and Begin to
choose the graphics or images, I may want to use on a
particular project and drag them to the FILES tray.
If I notice that a particular graphic DOES NOT have alot
of WHITE in the image ITSELF, I will drag the image, to the
files tray, While HOLDING DOWN  my keyboard SHIFT KEY.
This action will make that image transparent.
If the image does have lots of white in the image I just drag
to the files tray and will remove the white around the image
using the Magic Wand tool and the Effects option of
Transparency.

The following shows how I remove the white surrounding the Mitzi image

I hold down my keyboard shift key and click with the magic wand in the areas of white that
surround the image itself, and you should see dotted lines that are moving, thiese are
also known as Marching Ants.

Then from the Effects menu, select Transparency and 
Even

Slide the transparency tool to 100.

After making image transparent, I prefer to go back
to main Blank work document and drag the now transparent
image from the Files tray and I will work on the image from
this area.

The next steps - I begin to select graphics from the files
tray and drag to the soup and crackers tray that Mitzi is
carrying, and will try to cover up as much of those graphics
as I can by sizing and arranging graphics that I apply over them

 

I want to use part of a graphic (see screen shot) so I click on it and
using the Crop tool in DIP, I will crop out the lemonade
pitcher, and when done, I return to workspace with
Mitzi, and drag the cropped image from the Files tray
and arrange on the tray

Once I have the tray items the way I want them, to
cover up any items from the actual tray graphic,
I insert a rectangle image and  size and place over the front
of the tray and use from the Effects Menu, Fill with
Texture or Color option and I will choose to fill with
color.

You can select any color for a fill or effect .
To match colors you can also use the eye drop tool
and select a color directly from the graphic itself, so
that it matches exactly that part. Play with this
feature till you obtain the color or effect you want
to use in the Fill area.

Now that I have the image the way that I want it, I crop it
to its final size.  And I save & name it, as an image on its own.
To retain its transparency, I save as either a .Gif or .Png file
formatted image. I save any newly created images in my browser
as well in folders I create, so that I can have these images
available to use again in any projects in the future.

Now that I have my transparent Mitzi, I can use her
to layer against a background.

I drag a Background image from the Files tray to a NEW
BLANK Workspace, and then drag the Mitzi image from
the Files tray to resize and place on the background.

When I saved my transparent image of Mitzi, I did
not change her original size and prefer to save her
in the larger size and resize her as I work with any
particular projects as I go. If  you save an image
as a Small sized image and then try to enlarge it
it may loose some of its image quality. It is easier
to start big and go smaller than start small and enlarge images.

 

Below is the completed image (saved as a web ready image, using that option on
Digital Image Pro)

 To demo that I can use this method and 
create a transparent Mitzi, and place another graphic
with her original image I assembled created the image displayed below

images ©pcCrafter.com and Debbie Mumm.

This is with no background image behind these 2 images

Please note, that there are many features of the Digital Image Pro program, that I did not utilize. The program has an Erase tool that
you may be able to use to erase parts of an image and replace
with other graphics or alter the original graphics in other ways, using
the Effects menu to add shadows, or dimension, or to alter a 
background graphics or colors. 

This mini tut is meant only to show How I created an "altered" Mitzi,
and added her to some backgrounds. 

Others who may be more familiar with Digital Image Pro, may have
found alternative or easier methods to achieve the same goals.
Experiment on your own with the various Effects, and or formatting
and have fun with the software.

For learning more about Digital Image Pro features and how to go
beyond the basics, visit some on the many online learning sites.

Excerpt quoted from Graphics Software About.com website :

Microsoft Digital Image Pro and Picture It! User Resources:

Picture It's title changed to Picture It! Digital Image Pro with version 7, then Microsoft skipped a number and dropped Picture It! from the title when they released Digital Image Pro 9 and Digital Image Suite 9 in 2003. The main difference in Digital Image Suite is the addition of the Image Library for photo organization.

Here are tutorials, templates, and other online resources for Microsoft Picture It! and Digital Image Pro photo editing and publishing software. Download free templates, Illusion Effects, frames, magazine covers, scrapbook pages and more.
http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/digitalimagepro/

Other pages I have made that you may find useful:

The basics of how I fill-in  a Blank Template using Digital Image Pro
http://www.just4hugsisters.com/dip10ntemplates.html

Saving templates to folder in your Hugbug Deluxe Browser
http://marynpauln.com/savetemplates.html

Saving "other" image collections within 
HugBug Deluxe Browser
http://marynpauln.com/2saveinfolders.html
 

Find  more links to tutorials using various imaging or graphics software
on the printable software resources page
http://www.teas2dine4.com/4printsoftware.html

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http://messageboard.pccrafter.com/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=4

Back to >>> pcCrafter Instruction Junction forum
http://messageboard.pccrafter.com/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=13
 
 

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