How to Make a Transparent PNG With Paint Shop Pro

Portable Networks Graphics (PNG) images enable you to make certain aspects of an image transparent and have a smaller file size than GIF and TIFF files. You can create a transparent PNG with Paint Shop Pro to make your Web images stand out.

Things You'll Need

• Paint Shop Pro
• Computer

Instructions

1. Start the latest version of Paint Shop Pro from your desktop or program files.

2. Load or create a transparent image. If you already have a transparent image file you can skip to step seven. To make a transparent image file, consult the following steps.

3. Set the format of the image to RBG if it is not already. From the "Colors" menu, select "Increase Color Depth" and click "16 Million Colors (24 bits)."

4. Open the image of your choice. Click on the magic wand tool from the tool bar on the left side of the screen.

5. Right-click the background of your image and a menu will appear. Highlight "Selections" in the menu and then choose "Select All." Right-click the image again. This time, highlight "Modify" and then select "Transparent Color." A menu will appear.

6. From the menu, choose which background color you want to make transparent. When you decide which color, set the tolerance level to 0 (zero) and click "OK."

7. Choose "Set Palette Transparency" from the "Colors" menu at the top of the screen. Click "Set Transparency Value to Current Background Color" and click "OK." Your background is now transparent.

8. Open the PNG Optimizer. Click "File" menu. Highlight "Export" and select "PNG Optimizer." From the PNG Optimizer menu choose either "Single-color Transparency" or "Alpha Channel Transparency."

9. Save your transparent image file. Click "File" and select "Save As." Select PNG for the file type.

Tips & Warnings

• Test whether your image has transparency by clicking the "Colors" menu and selecting "View Palette Transparency." A gray color in an area tells you it is transparent.

• Web browsers older than Internet Explorer 7 do not support Alpha Channel Transparency.

• Image files must already be transparent to create a transparent PNG file.