Using the magic earaser tool does not do what I want

Question

I scaned an iron on pattern.  Now I want to remove the background color which is white.  I thought I could use the magic eraser tool.  It does a good job for most of the project, but I have to click on every small area.  The reason that I want to do this is to being able to print on any color card stock.  Is there another way of doing this.
Thanks
Mike

Answer 1

Even though you now have a useable answer I though I would underscore JJMack's comment about having many options to achieve a specific result in Photoshop by showing an alternative approach, which uses none of the steps included in JJMack's posting.
You would start by making sure your scanned image is on a normal layer, that is, not a background layer. If it is a background layer then double click on it and respond  OK to the resulting dialog box.
1. Double click on the scanned layer to open up the Layer Style dialog box. In the Blend If section change the This Layer right-hand slider to about 220 and then alt click on it again and drag the left half of the slider indicator to about 120.   This will drop the white out of your scan.
2. Add a solid color fill layer. If you want black lines choose a color something like H=0, S=0% And B=20%.  Right click on the layer and select Create Clipping Mask.  Change the blending mode to say Color Burn.  If you want other line colors double click on the icon in the color fill layer and choose a new color.
Several variaion on this approach exist as well as combining some of the steps in JJMack's approach.
Paulo