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somuchluv — Gimp Transparency Tutorial

Published: 2007-09-20 02:42:47 +0000 UTC; Views: 19141; Favourites: 339; Downloads: 772
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Description Gimp is a free alternative to other artwork editing programs such as: Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter/Paint Shop Pro, Open Canvas, etc. It is easy to use, and free to download and a good alternative for those artists who can't afford pricey software. You can download it here: [link]

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How to make a transparent background. It works the same way for all types of media (photograph, digital, pixel, etc), just takes more effort for more complicated pieces.
I tried to make it simple enough that it didn't need words to explain, but I will be happy to if anyone is confused.

Click download for full view

MORE IMPORTANT EDIT
Because its a little unclear, in Step 3 you need to choose the Magic Wand to select areas you want transparent.


EDIT!
Since having put this up, I have learned much more about GIMP. With that in mind, I want to make a clarification about step #10.
As far as the compression level goes, moving the bar to a higher number (like 9) saves your artwork at a smaller file size.
Saving as a smaller number (like 1) saves your artwork as the actual (therefore a larger) file size.
There are advantages and disadvantages with both.
For instance, if your art piece is very large, saving as '1' will mean that your file may be large and take up a few MBs.
But if you save as a small file such as '9', it may hurt the quality of your image.
So depending on how much disk space you have on your computer and how important quality is to you, you can choose whatever number, for the compression level, that you like. =]
[Obviously if you have a small image, saving as '1' shouldn't be a problem. ]

OH! and make sure Interlacing (Adam 7) is checked too. ;]
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Comments: 171

somuchluv In reply to ??? [2018-08-11 19:00:25 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome, I'm surprised it's still relevant though lol

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WolvGirl19-AmberMoon [2014-09-11 20:47:59 +0000 UTC]

I can't find the option to save it as a .png, I only have the various .xcf ones. How can I save it as a .png?
(Yes, I did click the little + thingy)

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Meekshi-adopts In reply to WolvGirl19-AmberMoon [2015-05-18 09:27:53 +0000 UTC]

Just save it. (export) and then give it the name.. erase the xcf and put it as  "examplename.png" click export and you have your image.

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Cirorin [2013-06-24 15:13:01 +0000 UTC]

Thank you very much, this helped me a lot! <3

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Lollipoplovesu [2013-04-20 21:51:54 +0000 UTC]

It won't let me add Alpha Channel! WHYYYYYYYY?!

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Lollipoplovesu In reply to Lollipoplovesu [2013-04-20 21:56:30 +0000 UTC]

wait nvm..!

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cutiepiegirl95 [2012-12-26 22:57:20 +0000 UTC]

thanks

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Plutos-Eden [2012-11-13 16:46:15 +0000 UTC]

Tutorial Question: So what would cause the option for "Add Alpha Channel" to be greyed out? Gimp won't let me select it for my current image. Are there certain file types that cannot have transparencies?

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Plutos-Eden In reply to Plutos-Eden [2012-11-13 16:48:56 +0000 UTC]

I see what happened, for some reason Gimp automatically applied the alpha channel to my spaces. So all I had to do was cut them. Thanks for the tutorial!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

somuchluv In reply to Plutos-Eden [2012-11-19 17:34:04 +0000 UTC]

Yup, not really sure why that happens. I saw that the other day when I opened it up.

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GalaxyFart [2012-09-30 12:44:39 +0000 UTC]

Oh, you beautiful tutorial. Where have you been all my life? ;A;

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

somuchluv In reply to GalaxyFart [2012-10-18 18:04:20 +0000 UTC]

Waiting here for you :-P

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Smile--Girl [2012-07-17 02:37:49 +0000 UTC]

Very helpful, thank you *bows*

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

somuchluv In reply to Smile--Girl [2012-10-18 18:03:28 +0000 UTC]

well, you are welcome

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Smile--Girl In reply to somuchluv [2012-10-23 20:23:34 +0000 UTC]

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ravensartshack [2012-05-15 21:25:30 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for this tutorial.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

somuchluv In reply to ravensartshack [2012-10-18 18:03:18 +0000 UTC]

you're welcome

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

HannahBeeArt [2012-04-06 09:54:55 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much, incredibly helpful!! ^^

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

somuchluv In reply to HannahBeeArt [2012-10-18 18:01:56 +0000 UTC]

you're welcome

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

shansmurf12 [2012-01-22 18:32:36 +0000 UTC]

Thanks soooo much!!! This has helped greatly!!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Kyoju-Hikari [2011-12-30 01:31:31 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for making this, it greatly helped me

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

somuchluv In reply to Kyoju-Hikari [2012-03-27 04:46:37 +0000 UTC]

I'm glad

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PinkoPrint [2011-12-19 03:02:56 +0000 UTC]

Oh wow. Thanks so much for this, I finally now how to do it. Yay!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

somuchluv In reply to PinkoPrint [2012-10-18 18:06:25 +0000 UTC]

Yay! You're welcome

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Ambyrfire [2011-10-06 21:48:13 +0000 UTC]

Thank you sooo much for making this! I was in the middle of finishing an artwork and I needed to have a transparent background and I could not figure out how to do it. I got really frustrated - and the I thought to look on dA. Your tutorial told me exactly what I needed to know.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

somuchluv In reply to Ambyrfire [2012-10-18 18:06:07 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome. It took me a loooong time to figure this out. I had to look in so many places and I thought.. "There MUST be other people out there who will have trouble with this too." Boy was I right. xD

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Splashv3 [2011-09-28 10:34:39 +0000 UTC]

Oh thanks soo much

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

somuchluv In reply to Splashv3 [2011-10-02 19:19:42 +0000 UTC]

you're welcome

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

AnnieXBen [2011-08-28 09:22:44 +0000 UTC]

where do you click 'cut'?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

somuchluv In reply to AnnieXBen [2011-10-02 19:21:29 +0000 UTC]

pretty sure it's under Edit in the menu

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

99buttonsinajarr [2011-06-10 04:06:59 +0000 UTC]

this is really helpful!!! There seems to be NO images that have transparent backgrounds

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

somuchluv In reply to 99buttonsinajarr [2011-06-24 09:25:00 +0000 UTC]

I'm glad

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

CrazyCat96 [2011-05-30 23:50:42 +0000 UTC]

thank you very VERY much! You are my hero now!!!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

somuchluv In reply to CrazyCat96 [2011-06-24 09:25:11 +0000 UTC]

haha, glad I could help

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

allthatjazz123 [2011-04-02 20:42:00 +0000 UTC]

This is really helpful

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

somuchluv In reply to allthatjazz123 [2011-04-20 03:48:58 +0000 UTC]

you're welcome ^^

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Rudami [2011-01-23 19:50:07 +0000 UTC]

ZOMG just what i needed

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

somuchluv In reply to Rudami [2011-01-24 21:51:24 +0000 UTC]

im glad

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Rudami In reply to somuchluv [2011-01-24 22:00:33 +0000 UTC]

could you believe i was about to start erasing all the white stuff pixel by pixel?
D:

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somuchluv In reply to Rudami [2011-01-24 22:47:10 +0000 UTC]

lol, its okay

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Rudami In reply to somuchluv [2011-01-24 23:37:02 +0000 UTC]

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Sunset42 [2011-01-03 23:45:21 +0000 UTC]

Thanks so much! Now I can stop using the color code of the background.

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Sardiine [2011-01-01 22:13:21 +0000 UTC]

This saved my life <3 Thanks for putting it up!

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District-12-Tribute [2010-10-06 21:29:44 +0000 UTC]

whats six

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somuchluv In reply to District-12-Tribute [2010-10-07 05:14:53 +0000 UTC]

Step 6 is the result of selecting the first area to be deleted and clicking Cut

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District-12-Tribute In reply to somuchluv [2010-10-07 20:11:16 +0000 UTC]

thanks

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

somuchluv In reply to District-12-Tribute [2010-10-08 11:52:50 +0000 UTC]

no prob :]

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blue-yonder-skies [2010-09-11 00:12:18 +0000 UTC]

Thank you! I was so confused XD.

By the way, is there a way to make all of one color in a picture transparent? Like, can you make sure that only the red in the image is made transparent?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

blue-yonder-skies In reply to blue-yonder-skies [2010-09-11 00:19:24 +0000 UTC]

Nevermind, I just found out how.

Thank you for the tutorial!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

somuchluv In reply to blue-yonder-skies [2010-09-11 05:21:38 +0000 UTC]

haha, you are welcome :]

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