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whitty-boo β€” TUTORIAL::How to make Transparent BG in SAI

Published: 2012-03-08 17:26:39 +0000 UTC; Views: 326297; Favourites: 5097; Downloads: 1746
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Description EDIT 2: Some people have noted that their SAI does not do this. It is because it is not an updated version of SAI that supports transparency. There used to be a journal/ link that I had in the comments which led to a Transparency-supporting SAI, but this link is now down. I do not have a new link; please research and find a transparency-supportive SAI by your own means.Β 


My first tutorial lolol //fail

A lot of people have been asking me how to do transparent backgrounds in Paint TOOL SAI. There weren't any tutorials on dA that seemed to be as simple as how I did it (there were barely any in the first place so.)

If you have some trouble understanding the summarized pictures, here's some more info on it.

Basically, in SAI everything you draw is automatically "transparent". When you save as JPEG, which doesn't support transparency, everything "transparent" is turned to white, like how you see it when you are drawing in the program.

Adding a new layer underneath and making it a different color allows you to see things you missed, preferably the whites. Let's say that when I added the yellow, Casey's white hoodie turned yellow also. That means I need to go in and color it white or else it will become transparent as well.

Saving it as 32bpp makes all the areas you didn't draw on turn transparent.

Some tutorials say that you have to merge all your layers into 1. That is not true. I could have had 3 or 4 layers on that Casey picture, it doesn't affect transparency.


I hope you guys find this helpfull!
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Comments: 1143

LeoDudeXtreme [2020-09-19 23:16:52 +0000 UTC]

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TheForestGirl321 [2020-04-26 20:02:15 +0000 UTC]

FalconeXx Β  ehpgh]dihfva
pvha
Β tysm

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StarTrailYT [2019-08-21 12:26:19 +0000 UTC]

do you have the link for that updated version? I want it pls ;-;

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claritycat17 [2019-05-07 21:48:49 +0000 UTC]

I have SAI v2. Does that matter?

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atrum-ovis [2019-04-20 14:49:08 +0000 UTC]

I feel so stupid for never learning this earlier. Thank you!

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sundialle [2019-04-06 02:30:22 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!

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Moshiecake [2019-02-14 02:59:32 +0000 UTC]

Thank you <3Β 

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ANocturnalBeast [2019-02-12 21:57:19 +0000 UTC]

THANK YOU!

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DerpyButt23 [2019-02-06 20:07:36 +0000 UTC]

THANK YOU

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Fistdantilus [2019-01-01 02:53:51 +0000 UTC]

Super helpful! Thank you for making this

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Shrewbiez [2018-12-20 01:36:22 +0000 UTC]

For those who don't get the popup,Β 
Go to Canvas (3rd button on top) > Background > Transparent(Whatever you want)

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MiladyPearl In reply to Shrewbiez [2019-02-17 12:09:12 +0000 UTC]

omg i love you

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dreameroftheblue In reply to Shrewbiez [2018-12-31 12:49:23 +0000 UTC]

thank you!

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Rubellise In reply to Shrewbiez [2018-12-26 23:22:27 +0000 UTC]

I don't have a transparent option.

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SakuraNights [2018-12-15 05:08:15 +0000 UTC]

Just saved me a headache and a ton of trouble! Thank you!

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MeArtSucksNads [2018-12-05 02:35:36 +0000 UTC]

Yo this helped me so much! I got a commission finished to the T thanks to this!

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SlimyParty [2018-11-26 03:29:26 +0000 UTC]

I recently purchased Doxy's final brush set and I had to get a different crack version of sai. But when I tried to make a transparent BG to my piece it didn't give me an option to choose the format. I don't know if it is a different version of sai that didn't allow the format but I honestly don't know what to do because for every Crack I've tried it doesn't really show my saved brushes. Anyways hope I can get a Reply

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Majsalau22 [2018-11-02 17:42:02 +0000 UTC]

I tried to save in PNG, but i don't have this window...
What did i do wrong?

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Ariannedione11 In reply to Majsalau22 [2018-11-24 07:05:51 +0000 UTC]

me too.

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LiaraTomuki [2018-09-14 14:44:20 +0000 UTC]

oMGOMGOMG TSYM ;; YOU SAVED MY LIFE ASGGAYAGDAGG-

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Sharketter [2018-08-14 06:33:18 +0000 UTC]

Β HALLELUJAH PRAIS JESUS CHRIS

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Turtlemun [2018-08-13 05:31:11 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for this! I'm swapping to Sai from Gimp, so I'm used to having the option of transparency by default. Used it to get the background off this!
Β 

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Dra-The-Dragon [2018-08-02 16:13:41 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!!
It helped me clean out the background in this.
Β 

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WhiteCrystal1st [2018-07-26 03:09:00 +0000 UTC]

wow this was the MOST HELPFUL tutorial EVER

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xsolarsaltx [2018-07-23 21:00:48 +0000 UTC]

bless

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JyoEspy [2018-07-18 03:25:17 +0000 UTC]

thanks for the quick tutorial, made it easy
now I can work on my avi for another forum with transparent background

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Lightlitey [2018-07-08 21:30:05 +0000 UTC]

thank youΒ Β 

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Luminos-Bird [2018-07-08 05:09:17 +0000 UTC]

Thank you ^^

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muxidrud [2018-06-30 15:03:23 +0000 UTC]

thanks!

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StarSketchMEH [2018-06-26 15:44:37 +0000 UTC]

Thanks this was very helpful. This is very useful.Β 

I need a transparent background for this.

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DoramedIII [2018-06-23 01:43:06 +0000 UTC]

Thanks it works :3

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Acrobis [2018-06-13 21:02:26 +0000 UTC]

You are a miracle, thank you so much!!!

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JeckleScourge [2018-06-12 23:07:21 +0000 UTC]

thank you so muchΒ 

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BAATATA [2018-06-12 14:30:27 +0000 UTC]

thank you so much ! this is very useful

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YinYang2309 [2018-05-02 18:22:29 +0000 UTC]

thaaaaaaaaankkkkkkss sooo much I will use this alot thx I was testing hehe

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Arleika [2018-03-27 20:43:46 +0000 UTC]

Thank You, it was what I needed to upload my new avatar! ^^

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lonely-hetaro [2018-03-25 14:11:26 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!Β 
Β 
I seriously needed a transparent bg and you saved my life ;u;

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TuxPenguin09 [2018-03-17 00:54:26 +0000 UTC]

if i save it on 32bpp ARGB png file it turns white into transparent

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Tabascofanatikerin [2018-03-02 06:02:32 +0000 UTC]

Your tutorial helped me out with my first SAI artwork because I needed a transparent background.

Thank you so much Β 

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YumiAm3 [2018-02-22 22:28:04 +0000 UTC]

Thank you soΒ  much! This helped out a lot!!

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Forgotten-Kingdom [2018-02-07 02:24:46 +0000 UTC]

For people who have a "cracked" SAI I found that this works great!Β  Β  Helped me get the transparent background.

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MissSonicex [2018-02-05 09:00:20 +0000 UTC]

Cool this was really helpful. for some reason I find it hard to look up Paint Tool Sai tutorials *shrug* so thanks I appreciate it! <3

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MaddieCruz [2018-02-02 18:12:14 +0000 UTC]

Omg thank you so so much

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TwistedSailor [2018-01-14 01:23:12 +0000 UTC]

Wait, what version of sai do you have?

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Tenten110 In reply to TwistedSailor [2018-02-02 17:26:19 +0000 UTC]

i think its 1.1.0

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GodOfSteak [2018-01-11 02:20:12 +0000 UTC]

I have no idea
It used to work for me and suddenly it doesn't ((

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KirstinLove [2017-12-28 14:58:00 +0000 UTC]

it worked

Thank you so much! Had to reread everything because even though the pop-up appeared I didn't click the right option lol

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Obcii [2017-12-26 22:26:40 +0000 UTC]

Ayye thanks!

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snekmm [2017-12-15 03:34:03 +0000 UTC]

i never get the popup no matter what i do kms

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Shoravius [2017-12-01 05:42:09 +0000 UTC]

thank you so much

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