How to Make an Image Background Transparent in GIMP

Open source and free to install on Linux and Windows.

How to change the background of an image in the GIMP application.

It is inferior in functionality to Photoshop, but nevertheless contains ample opportunities:

Setting up the working environment.
Convenient full screen mode.
Photo correction: transformation, perspective, color correction, various filters.
Retouching.
Supports various equipment and file formats, including psd.

GIMP allows you to work with layers, paths, masks, channels, use drawing tools, selection tools, text decoration, add plugins and scripts. From the official website of the program you can download very detailed instructions in Russian. In fact, the application simplifies the functions of the famous Photoshop editor. Used for quick editing of photos and drawings, for example, icons for the Internet. The advantage compared to Photoshop is that it loads much faster with average computer characteristics.

Often when preparing images for the Internet, you need to change the background in GIMP or make it transparent. This does not require special skills, but requires patience, perseverance and accuracy.

Creating transparency

If you want to create a new image that has a transparent background, do the following:

Once the image is ready, you must save it in one of the formats that supports a transparent layer, such as png or gif.

IMPORTANT. The popular jpeg format does not support this feature, and transparent layers will be replaced with white ones.

You can remove the background from the finished image as follows:

You can make a correct selection in GIMP using the following tools:

After removing the selected background, you can adjust the edges with an eraser, removing excess. Also, if there are unnecessary areas inside the image, you can again select it using the above tools and press Delete.

Changing the background

GIMP, like Photoshop, has tools for replacing the background and creating simple collages. Do the following:

Open the image. Select the background using one of the tools described above. Change the background.

Transparency of a layer or background allows you to overlay different parts of an image or merge several images into one. This is the principle of animation in particular. In Gimp, as in other raster graphics editors, you can create a new file with a predefined transparent background. You can set background transparency for an existing file, even saved in formats that do not support it. Finally, you can use different effects based on transparency.

Behind transparency in Gimp The so-called alpha channel responds. Let's consider all three options listed above in their simplest form.

1. Create a new file with a transparent background. Open the menu File — Create. A window will appear in which you can set all the parameters of the new image. Template and image size are the main parameters. The rest are called by pressing the plus sign next to the phrase Advanced options. Among the advanced options is the Transparent background option. To get to it, click the triangle next to the word Background and choose Transparent. Please remember that the jpg extension does not support transparency.

2. Another option. We already have an image in jpg format - this is a frame downloaded from the Internet, which for some reason has lost its transparency in the center. What should I do with it? , which must be there so that you can insert a photo inside. It is clear that we need to remove, that is, erase this very middle. Usually it is white, so you can use a tool that in Gimp is called Select Contiguous Areas, but out of a habit left over from Photoshop, it is called the magic wand. Everything would be fine, but for some reason, instead of the cut out area, the background color still remains. Not transparent. You can correct the situation by adding an alpha channel to the image. So, select either in the top menu or, in the contextual right-click, Layer - Transparency - Alpha Channel. Now, when you delete any area, the space underneath it becomes transparent.

Now you can safely click the magic wand in the center and press DELETE. The desired transparency will appear in the center of the frame. For greater effect, you can blend the selection a little before cutting. For this we choose Selection — Shade. Set the required number of raster points or other units. Only then do we carry out the removal operation. Here's what might happen.

Since the selection will not be needed in the future, remove it: Selection — Take off.

3. Finally, let's look at one of the simple but very interesting effects called Map without seams. This filter is also called a seamless transparent background. We use the same frame for work as before. Let's look at the screenshots. Open the file with the frame, select from the menu Filters — Map — No seams. Next we work in the window Layers, Channels, Paths, Undo. If this window is not visible, then activate it and make it visible through the menu item Window.

This article will tell you how to make a transparent image background in the GIMP graphics editor. Although it is not difficult to make a transparent image background in this editor, a novice user of this editor may have difficulties mastering the interface, and, accordingly, with a transparent image background. This article tells, among other things, how to carefully cut out part of an image from a selected picture, because in some cases you can make a transparent image background in this way.

GIMP tools and menus for creating a transparent picture background

This article will not discuss installing the GIMP graphic editor and assumes that if you are interested in this topic, then you have already installed it. Also, the entire toolbar will not be considered; it is quite large and each part has its own purpose.

The toolbar considers only two tools for creating a transparent picture background:

1. Free selection with arbitrary lines or segments;

2. Identification of adjacent areas by color convergence.

It is in the toolbar that we will need this to make the background of the image transparent.

In the GIMP editor menu itself, we need the file, edit and color item. Moreover, in order to make a transparent image background in GIMP, we don’t need anything. And so let's start adding our image to the graphics editor.

Adding an image to the GIMP graphics editor

To add your image to the GIMP editor for editing and making its background transparent, you can use several options. The first option is to simply drag the image into the main editor window, and the second is to open it from the place where it is located. In the first case, we simply move the cursor over the selected image, press the left mouse button and, holding it, drag it into the program window. In the second case, in the file menu, select the open item, and having selected the desired graphic file on your computer, click the open button in the dialog box. The file you are editing appears in the editor window and you can make its background transparent.

Two Ways to Make an Image Background Transparent in GIMP

There are two ways to make the background of an image transparent in GIMP - this is to select adjacent areas by color convergence and transfer the background color to the alpha channel, or to freely select the image with arbitrary lines, cut it out and create a new transparent image from the clipboard.

The first way to make the background of an image transparent in GIMP

An image in GIMP with a transparent background can be obtained by selecting adjacent areas based on color convergence. To do this, we need an image with a plain background. If the background is not a single color, then you won’t be able to create a transparent image background this way.

1. Open the image in the editor.

2. Select a tool in the toolbar called selecting adjacent areas by color convergence, click on the picture with the image of a magic wand, and then on the open image in the editor, click on the monochromatic color of the picture. Solid color will be highlighted

3. After selecting a solid color, go to the menu section and select the item - color. In the menu that opens, select the item - to alpha channel. After selecting this item, an approximate view of our picture will be shown in the dialog box.

If you like everything, click OK and assign an image in the editor window that will have a transparent background.

Now, in order for the image to end up with a transparent background, you need to export it to one of the file formats that supports a colorless background. If you save the image in GIF or PNG format, the background colorless effect will be exactly the same. I myself use such image formats, even those that do not necessarily have a transparent background.

The second way to make the background of an image transparent in GIMP

If the image does not have a plain background, then you will have to use the second method to obtain a colorless image. This method is a little more complicated and you may need to get used to it and acquire some skills in using the tool to freely select an image with arbitrary lines. Although skills may be required, in essence there is nothing complicated here. You just need to select the main image along the perimeter, placing points at some distance, and ending at the original point.

After highlighting the image with random lines in the GIMP graphics editor, we have to cut it out and create a new image that will have a transparent background from the clipboard.

To cut out the selected image, we will use the menu item - edit. Click on this menu item and select Cut from the drop-down list. After this, the original image will be without the cut-out image, and the cut-out image will go to the clipboard. It's primitive to say with a hole. If you save this image with a hole in PNG or GIF format, you can use it as a mask for another image in the second layer of one or another graphics editor, and get the appearance of part of the image of the first layer under the mask. Now it's time to create an image from the clipboard with a transparent background.

Creating an image with a transparent background from the clipboard in the GIMP editor

To create an image with a transparent background from the clipboard in the GIMP editor, use the menu item - file, and in it select the sub-item - create. In the sub-item - create, select - from the clipboard. After selecting this item, we will have a new window in the editor with an image that will have a transparent background.

All that remains is to export our image with a transparent background, created from the clipboard, into PNG or GIF format. We managed to make the background of the image transparent in the GIMP editor.

Removing the background from a portrait or photograph of an object is done if it clutters the photo or if you need to move the object to another background. This operation can be carried out using a raster graphics editor, for example, GIMP.

Instructions

Be sure to make a backup copy of the original image (or save it under a different name and only then proceed with modification).

To remove the background, the first method is to select the Scissors tool. Use it to outline the object around which you want to remove the background. Having closed the contour, adjust the positions of its points, and if necessary, add new, intermediate ones, the positions of which must also be adjusted. After that, click the middle of the object and the outline will become solid and the dots will disappear.

Copy the selected object by pressing Ctrl+C. Create a new image of such a size that this object fits into it. In this case, select the desired background color. Paste the contents of the clipboard there by pressing Ctrl+V. Select the Rectangular Marquee Tool and click on any point outside the outline. After that, save the result under a name that does not exist yet. In a similar way, you can paste the contents of the clipboard into an existing picture with a background. After this, do not forget to move the object using the arrow keys to the desired location before deselecting it.

You can do without creating a new image. To do this, select “Invert Selection” from the “Edit” menu. The object will no longer be selected, but the background will become so. To remove it, press Ctrl+K in the old version of GIMP, and Ctrl+X in the new one. After that, select the desired background color and perform the operation “Image” - “Flatten Image”.

To remove the background using the second method, use the Eraser tool instead of the Scissors tool. Select the background color you want, and then set the eraser diameter so that it can easily erase the background around the object. Having cleared the space around it, remove the remaining areas of the background using the Rectangular Marquee tool and the keyboard shortcut Ctrk+K (or Ctrl+X). Then flatten the image as above.

To now move the object to another background, select the Magic Wand tool and click anywhere in the background around the object. Then perform the operation “Selection” - “Invert Selection”. Press Ctrl+C. Once you open a file with a different background, paste an object into it by pressing Ctrl+V, turn on the Rectangular Marquee tool, adjust the position of the object using the arrow keys, and then click anywhere on the background. Save the result under a different name.

The GIMP program is deservedly considered one of the most powerful graphic editors, and the undisputed leader among free programs in this segment. The capabilities of this application in the field of image processing are almost unlimited. But many users are sometimes confused by such seemingly simple tasks as creating a transparent background. Let's figure out how to make a transparent background in Gimp.

First of all, you need to understand which component in GIMP is responsible for transparency. This composite is the alpha channel. This knowledge will be useful to us in the future. It should also be noted that not all image types support transparency. For example, PNG or GIF files can have a transparent background, but JPEG files cannot.

Transparency is required in various cases. It may be appropriate both in the context of the image itself, and as an element for superimposing one picture on another when creating a complex image, and can also be used in some other cases.

The options for creating transparency in GIMP depend on whether we are creating a new file or editing an existing image. Below we will look in detail at how you can achieve the desired result in both cases.

Create a new image with a transparent background

In order to create an image with a transparent background, first of all, open the “File” section in the top menu and select “Create”.

A window appears in which you set the parameters of the created image. But we will not focus on them, since the goal is to show the algorithm for creating an image with a transparent background. We click on the plus sign next to the words “Advanced options”, and an additional list opens in front of us.

In the additional settings that open, in the “Fill” item, open the list with options and select “Transparent layer”. After that, click on the “OK” button.

Then, you can proceed directly to creating the image. As a result, it will be located on a transparent background. But just don't forget to save it in one of the formats that supports transparency.

Creating a transparent background for a finished image

However, most often it is necessary to make the background transparent not for a picture created from scratch, but for a finished image that needs to be edited. To do this, again go to the “File” section in the menu, but this time select the “Open” item.

A window opens in front of us in which we need to select the image to edit. After we have decided on the choice of image, click on the “Open” button.

As soon as the file opens in the program, we return to the main menu again. Sequentially click on the items “Layer” - “Transparency” - “Add alpha channel”.

Next, we use a tool called “Selecting adjacent areas,” although most users call it a “magic wand” because of its characteristic icon. The "Magic Wand" is located on the toolbar on the left side of the program. Click on the logo of this tool.

After this field, click on the background with the “magic wand” and press the Delete button on the keyboard. As you can see, as a result of these actions, the background becomes transparent.

Making a transparent background in GIMP is not as easy as it seems at first glance. An uninitiated user can spend a long time sorting through the program settings in search of a solution, but never find it. At the same time, knowing the algorithm for performing this procedure, creating a transparent background for images, each time, as you get better at it, becomes easier and easier.