How to Create Background Transparency

To create transparency, first open a new or existing image. If you open a new image, create the graphic you want. For example, the ampersand shown at right.

There are a couple of things you must do before you can activate the transparency option:

1. You first have to decrease the color resolution to 256 or less. Choose COLORS>DECREASE COLOR DEPTH>
   256-COLORS (8-bit). If you have more than one layer you'll be warned that you must flatten the image first. You can do this by clicking "Yes" in the warning message box.
2. Set the options you want to use in the DECREASE COLOR DEPTH dialog box and click OK.
   
3. Choose COLORS>SET PALETTE TRANSPARENCY
   
4. In the dialog box that appears, you should choose one of two options. You may select "Set the Transparency Value to the Current Background Color" and click OK. However, you should only do this if the background color swatch is already set to the color you want to become transparent. NOTE: when this option refers to the "current background color," it does NOT mean the background color in your actual image, necessarily. It refers to the color swatch selected for the background, which is located on the far right, below the color picker. If the color you want transparent is not the color selected as the background color, then choose "Set the transparency value to palatte entry". Then move your mouse over your image. Your mouse will turn into the color picker graphic (looks like an eyedropper). Click your mouse in the image on the color you want to become transparent. Then click the PROOF button. This will preview the transparency (see example at right).

Once you have previewed the transparency, click OK and save your image as a GIF. The image MUST be saved as a GIF, not a JPG, in order for transparency to work. NOTE: Transparency will only work on one color in an image. If your background is not a solid, single color, you may notice "spots" of your background show through even after setting transparency. one way to fix this is to go back into the image and remove the areas of spotting by using either the Paintbrush or the Eraser to create a uniform background color.

IMPORTANT: Working with transparent backgrounds can be tricky. When colors bump against each other in a graphic, the graphics program creates a smooth edge by blending pixels. For example, if you have a red circle on a white background, in order to make the edges of the circle appear smooth, the pixels forming the edge of the circle will be blended with the two colors, in this example red and white. The result will be a very thin ring of pink pixels around the circle. This looks great in it's original form- the red circle looks very smooth on the white background. HOWEVER, if you make the white background transparent, and then place the image on a page with a blue background, the circle will look funny because the thin ring of pink pixels will still be there. Cleaning up these stray blended pixels manually can be a very time-consuming process.