How to Create a Transparent GIF in Paint Shop Pro

One feature of the GIF format is that you can make image backgrounds transparent, allowing the images to stand out on a Web page. Transparent GIFs are necessary for creating animations. Make your GIF transparent with Paint Shop Pro, a popular Web graphics program.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Computers
• Paint Shop Pro
• Paint Shop Pro

1. Start Paint Shop Pro and open the image.

2. Click on the Magic Wand tool in the toolbar to the left. Position it over the background of the graphic and click the right mouse button.

3. Choose Selections, then Select All. Click Selections again and choose Modify, then Transparent Color.

4. Choose Background Color from the menu and set the Tolerance level to 0. Click OK.

5. Click on the Colors menu and choose Set Palette Transparency. Click the middle button, "Set transparency value to current background color." Click OK.

6. Click on the Colors menu again and select View Palette Transparency. The transparent areas will now show up as gray checks behind the image.

7. Choose Save As from the File menu.

8. In the box that appears, click the Options button. The options should be set as Version 89a (the version most supported now) and Non-interlaced. Save the image and click OK.

Tips & Warnings

• If an image has several background colors, use the Freehand selection tool (which looks like a lasso) to "draw" around the image.

on 11/22/2005 To see the image transparent, click "view image transparency" from the colors menu. This is for version 5.0.

on 11/22/2005 Click yes on the dialog box that pops up. "Optimized medium cut" and "nearest color" are selected. Click ok. Select where it says "set transparency value to current background color," then click ok.

on 11/22/2005 Set your background color to a different color than anything else in your image. Put that color everywhere where you want the image to be transparent. Go to "Colors" then "Set Palette Transparency."