16 Feb
Posted by Sherif as Ask Your Host, howto
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I use gimp to edit or create images. Lately I got an email asking: how can I change the background color an images, so it can better blend on any background on my web page? I would change the color to transparent rather than a specific color and here is how I would do it:
If you don’t have Gimp, download it from here. It’s a high quality image manipulation software that you can download under the GNU license.
Open the image in Gimp

From the Layer menu item, click on Transparency and then click on the “Add Alpha Channel” the first item in the submenu.

Click on the fuzzy selection tool from the Toolbox panel and highlight the background area on your image that you want to make transparent.

Click on the “delete” button on your laptop, or select the menu item “clear” under the Edit menu. You will start seeing the background color change to transparent. Shown in the software as gray squares (see image below).
Now you can save the new image and you should be done.

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2 Responses
Lisa Wilson
March 9th, 2012 at 8:45 am
1Hi, I was so happy to see this post because I have been trying to make backgrounds on different images transparent to no avail. I downloaded GIMP just yesterday and tried this and it doesn’t work. I am so frustrated. I’ve been assigned the task of making flyers for a group I am in and I want them to look professional. Are there certain specifications for the image in order for this to work? When I go to save the image it says the colors can not be reduced and the image will be saved as opaque? So it seems this does work but there may be a problem with the images I am using.
Could you go into more detail about the images? Format, size, etc? This is making me nuts! any more help would be greatly appreciated!
Sherif
March 9th, 2012 at 9:04 am
2Hi Lisa, thank you for going through my post.
I understand your frustration, but keep in mind working with images takes time and has it’s own learning curve. That’s why some people only specialize in doing images.
I myself am not not an expert in image manipulation, but will try to re-visit my post and add more detail over the weekend. The steps I have laid here were from images that I updated to remove the background and fit on any background.
If you want me to look at your image, feel free to contact me.
Regards
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My name is Sherif Elsisi and on this blog I share my knowledge, discovery and experience with hosting issues, Webmaster tools, security and usability.
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