Why can’t I use the Delete key to delete in Photoshop CS6?

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The previous version of Photoshop I used was CS4 and whenever I selected a portion of an image with the magic wand and hit Delete, it simply deleted that portion of the image (rendering it transparent). Easy!

In CS6, this is not the case. Now when I select a portion of an image and hit Delete, it brings up the Fill dialogue.

For example I have this picture (it’s a Vauxhall Corsa). I want to use the Magic Wand to render anything that isn’t part of the car transparent, so I start by highlighting some clouds with the Magic Wand like so:

Vauxhall Corsa Vauxhall Corsa with selection

Click on images to see larger versions

Now when I hit Delete, instead of that area of the picture being deleted as I would expect based on my experience with CS4, I get this dialogue:

Dialogue

My questions are:

  • Can this dialogue be used to achieve the functionality I want?

  • If so, how?

  • If not, how do I delete the background in CS6?

Answer

Adobe changed the Delete/Backspace key functionality in Photoshop CS6 when you press the Delete/Backspace key on a locked Background layer.

Since pressing the Delete/Backspace key on a locked background layer merely filled the selection with the background color, Adobe changed the functionality to provide more options when hitting the key. By bringing up the Fill dialog you can now choose which color is used to fill the selection rather than the app automatically using the background color. If you still want it to fill with the set background color, simply choose that from the top drop down menu in the dialog box and hit OK.

If you want the Delete/Backspace key to delete to a transparent area, you need to first unlock the background layer.

Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : JMK , Answer Author : Scott

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