How do I delete a background color that is on a locked layer to make the background transparent?

[ShinehahGnolaum]

How do I delete a background color that is on a locked layer to make the background transparent?

[c.pfaffenbichler]

To unlock the Background Layer double-click it (or use Layer > New > Layer from Background).

[ShinehahGnolaum]

I double-clicked it but nothing happened.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Could you please post a screenshot taken at View > 100% and with the pertinent Panels (Layers, Channels, Options Bar, …) visible?

[max_cunningham]

Here is a small guide http://kb.restaurantengine.com/remove-logo-background-make-it-transparent-using-photoshop/ . I hope it would be helpful.
I have used its recommendations several times when I was making banners.

[Trevor.Dennis]

Best practice might be to not delete that colour, but instead to make a selection of what you want to keep, and copy it to a new layer.  Then turn off the background layer.

By way of example, this just happened to be open at the moment, one of 600 images taken on a job last week.  This is absolutely how I will present the image as I am not going crazy with that many pictures, but to be fair, that orange umbrella segment at the top right is a distraction.

If I select the Quick Select tool and then Select Subject, Photoshop has done a pretty good job of guessing what I wanted right off the bat.

Or I could have used Focus > Focus Area which has a lot more options, but is still doing most of the work for me

Use Select & Mask to clean up the selection — I'll let Julianne Kost show you how that works.

But whatever way you go, you need to end up with the selected area on a new layer.

Then turn off the original background area, and you are good to go.

You can save this as a PNG file with a transparent background, or as a layered PSD file for later use.

In this instance I have used a layer mask so I can fine tune the selection after the fact.

You can paste your image to this thread if you have a particular issue you'd like addressed.