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Sometimes a developer will need to make a transparent GIF, such as for a web page. This should be trivial - you essentially want to say "make every pixel that is color X be transparent", but most standard development tools (VS, Paint, etc...) don't let you do this. While there are lots of expensive graphics programs out there, most developers don't have these.
An easy way to make a transparent gif is using the free Paint.Net (written entirely in .Net).
I find this convenient for simple web imaging needs. Also, Paint.Net has a ton of other features, like gradients, blends, and special effects.
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Isn't there a step 6? I've got all the pixels selected, but then what?
Oops, yes. Step 6: Once the region is selected, then hit the delete key.
Thanks! I have to make temporary icons and toolbar buttons (which are
subsequently replaced by our marketing team with professional ones) and I
hate using Windows Paint precisely because I can't make the "background"
transparent. I'll never be without Paint.NET from now on :)
When saving as a GIF, it asks for the Transparency threshold saying pixels
with an alpha value less than threshold will be fully transparent. How do
we know the alpha of each pixel/color?
King - you can just do trial and error. For example, if you have a red
circle, where everything that should become transparent is black, the
colors are different enough that clicking the black region will select the
entire section, and then you can delete it. However, if the image is a blur
of similar colors - say everything is a similar shade of green, then it
will be much harder to select the region to delete. Best bet is to color
your region-to-delete in an obviously contrasting color, then you can
easily delete it.
Perfect information, got what I needed (my signature as a transparent gif)
in less than 10 minutes start to finish. Good info.
Thanks. I'm a big fan of Paint.Net and use it quite frequently instead of
the costly big guys like, Adobe etc.
I follow the instructions, choosing the white background that I want
transparent but only a few pixel are changed, leaving the remaining white,
white. Not sure why it is not catching all the white pixels in the region.
THAT WAS SO AWESOME!
Brilliant, many thanks. At the end when saving it, need to click 'Defaults'
for the transparency threshold. I had to anyway.
Cool, thanks!
Works like a charm. Before reading this, I've tried to set the transparency
of a color, and then flood-fill it, but it didn't work. Your method,
however, works flawlessly.
Thanks a lot. So god damn simple, I was looking around Paint .NET for the
make transparent tool :-)
Oh my gosh, I've been looking all over Google for how to do this! The
article is so simple! I tried it out in Paint.NET AND IT WORKED! Thank you
so much!
