There is no such thing as a dumb question.
Are you creating an animated logo?
If it is a normal static logo you would be better creating it in Photoshop.
To get your transparent background, you will need to erase all the pixels from the background but this can be done very easily using the selection tool and delete.

Keith
www.studiosoft.co.uk

Thanks, audiopro.

I am attempting to remove the background from a static logo.  Should be simple, huh?  Using Photoshop Elements, I can select the area I want transparent and remove the color by the delete command, but the entire rectangle remains and is now white when I paste it into a Powerpoint slide.  

I need some way to make the background transparent, not just remove the color.

Thanks for your response.

Ray  

If the layer you are trying to erase the background on is locked, you will not be able to remove the background.
In the layers palette, double click your logo layer and press return. That should unlock the layer.
Delete the background, you should be left with a chequered background.
Be sure to save the logo as .gif in order to preserve the transparency.
Does powerpoint support layers and transparency?

Keith
www.studiosoft.co.uk