Maybee, you have a couple options, depending mostly on how you arranged the pictures.

1.
If you want to arrange the oval photos around the main ones by using psp, first you must promote the background (that's actually the picture) of the oval image to a layer. Look to your Layer Palette, right click on the "Background" layer, and select "Promote To Layer" (for PSP 7. Other versions will say "Promote Background To Layer). Then, use your Magic Wand to select only the white part of the image and hit your delete key. You will only see the checkerboad background, which means there is no background at all. Now, you can right click on the image's title bar and select copy, then paste the image onto your main image so you can place it. (Right click on the main image's title bar and select "Paste As New Layer").

2.
If you want to arrange the oval photos around the main ones by using Word, go to View > Toolbars > Picture. It will likely open as a floating ribbon bar, but you can anchor it at the bottom of your page or up at the top to get it out of your viewing area. Open the oval images and activate the Set Transparent Color {{!gwi}} tool to click on the white area. The white will disappear but just might leave a thin white line around the image.

Edit........
. . . to select only the white part of the image and hit your delete key then you must either go to Selections > Invert to invert the selection or go to Selections > Select None. If you don't invert the selection or remove the selection all together, what you copy will be the empty space, where you just deleted the white. It was the white part that was selected, and then you deleted it but that same area is still selected. So, either invert to select everything but that empty area or select none. So sorry I forgot that part.

I'm looking at the times of our posts. I would have answered sooner but wasn't here. Sorry, and I hope you weren't waiting impatiently. LOL

If you're doing it in PSP (the first option) and want to get fancy, feather the ovals so as to soften the edges and make them just a little bit see through. After hitting your delete key (before inverting or removing the selection), go to Selections > Feather and set it to about 25 or so. Click OK and hit your delete key 3-5 times. Then, go to Selections > Select None. Now you can copy it and paste it to the main image. It works out quite beautifully.

Mallory, will transparency ONLY be available in GIF(only 256 color). JPG and bitmaps do not support transparency do they?

Dave, in PSP the format doesn't matter while you're working on the image. While you're working on it, you can do anything you want. It's only after saving in a format that does not support transparency that the white part automatically fills in the empty area, and that's actually after saving (in bmp, jpg, or whatever) and then closing it. As long as it stays open on the PSP workspace, it doesn't matter.

What Maybee did was to open a jpg or bmp file and worked on it in that condition (or in that format). Once she promotes it to a layer that PSP generates, the original format of the image won't matter. Then she can save the image as a .psp file (or png, tub, gif, or another that supports transparency) and it will maintain the transparent area after she closes it. But, if she saves as a jpg, bmp, etc. and then closes the image, the empty space will fill in with white.

At any rate, she will have no reason to save and close the image. She will just continue on and place/arrange her new image (with no background) onto the main one as she described.

Hope I explained that well.

Yeah :o) I "was" just setting here waiting, but I knew you'd show up sooner or later. I got it to work in Word, but I found that my "edit wrap" wouldn't work with it, so I couldn't manuever it around like I was wanting. But...now I have your instructions and will print them out and work with this...thank you very much....

I found that when I used my elipse selection tool and got the oval, it showed the transparent background (in PSP)...but when I saved it, the background was white...so I "had" it transparent.....and then saved it .jpeg. If I had saved it in another format, would the background have been saved transparent?

Now, I've got a mess with my Word Program...I find that my Edit Wrap points under in my text edit icon is grayed out and I can't seem to get it to work with "any" picture I am using...now, I'm in a panic...I use that a LOT! What have I done to cause this to happen??? (can you hear me panting in panic?)

Don't knwo which one you're using, but I think it's version 7, right?

Yeah, like I was explaining to Dave, if you save and close a bitmapped image (jpg, bmp, tif, etc.), it will automatically fill in the empty space with white. To be able to close it out and it still maintains the transparent area when you open it again, you have to save it as a psp file (or tub, png, gif, mng). In your case, you want to save your transparent image in a format that is compatible with Word, so save it as a png (Portable Network Graphics Interchange) or gif (CompuServe Graphics Interchange) file. A png file is the better option.

The Edit Wrap Boundary mode is for wrapping/positioning text around the picture. To get your graphics and text to cooperate with each other and so you can move them around with ease to position them, click on your image to select it and go to Format > Picture > Layout tab > in front of text option. Do this to all of the pictures.

Didn't see your last post, and I'm afraid I don't know what the text edit icon is. Are you working with a text box? Are you remembering to click on the pictures to select them?

Try my suggestion above and see how that works. Then use the Edit Wrap Boundary tool. It should be easier now, but remember to select your pictures first.

Okay...I'm thinking I need to save in a different format than I have been doing. When I am in PSP and use the selection tool and then cut/paste as new image, I have a transparent background. But...I've been saving it as .jpeg. I'll try to save it in another format. If I save it in PSP, I don't know where to find it when I'm working with Word...I'll give png a try....:o) I dreamt about white spaces around ovals last night.

The text wrapping icon is the little square with a dog pictured in it, but I've got that problem worked out...I'll try saving in png and see what happens.

Yep..I'm using PSP 7...I have XI, but don't like it so much....would it be easier to do what I'm trying to do in a newer version?

Thank you so much for all of your help...

Wow! Thanks again, Mallory...png works slicker'n a whistle...just what I was trying to do, but couldn't figure out....

You're very welcome. Glad you got it going and everything is okay. I rather think we were talking about the same little doggie LOL. Just calling it something different.

There probably isn't much difference between the two, but if you want v.12, you can download it from here.
Be sure to read my instructions there.