From the PhD thesis to a journal
In some fields it is possible to publish long papers, in which case something very like your dissertation might be acceptable. 

However, you seem to suggest you want to divide out parts of it for separate publication. This can be a good idea, of course. 

The best advice I can give is that each paper should be complete without being pedantic. You still need to cite everything, but those things that are generally known to professionals/academics needn't be explained in a paper as they might have been in a thesis. 

Can a working professional be expected to understand your paper without spending too much time chasing references? If the answer is yes, you are probably pretty close to the mark.