Adding transparency

I want to create a transparent background so I can test my image with several different colored backgrounds. I am using Firefox 8 as my graphics package. Not doing a good job at the moment! It looks fine if I just have a white background but rubbish otherwise.

Is it possible to have effective transparency on this image? Tried for 2 hours today so far!

My file is attached.

Thanks,

Jon

 

You are probably saving it as a GIF rather than a PNG, which has alpha transparency capabilities.

Bear in mind that Internet Explorer 6 doesn't like transparent PNGs and outputs the transparency as grey areas but their are code fixes for this.

 

I'm not too hot on graphics so have a little difficult with even the terminology! All I want is to show the text and logos on any colored backgroup I like. At the moment, it is white. Any ideas on what I need to do?

 

the problem with transparent gifs is the dithering used to blend the graphic into the background so it doesnt look pixelated. Photoshop etc has an option to turn off dithering.

if the backgrounds are similar hues/shades then the dithering isnt that noticable. If your switching from red ro blue to white to black it will only look right on the background you chose to create it with in the first place.

 

Ok, so I can create the graphic with a colored background already there, which matches my webpage background. But when I use the paint bucket tool I find it looks pretty horrendous. Not sure if thats due to incorrect tolerance settings or what but I have played around with it without any luck!

 

Ah, I thought you meant you wanted it to be transparent for web site use on different backgrounds on a site.

Well depending on what program you are using, you should be able to have the background on a separate layer then it's simply a case of changing that layer.

 

Well, I am not sure the best way to do it. But essentially I just need that image on a different colored background. I have tried it on a darker background and it looks terrible, but fine on a white background. I have another version in jpg format. But that is just one image and it is on a white background. I can't see how adding a layer to that would do anything because it would be behind the white layer surely?

jpg version attached.

 

If you only have the image with a white background already, I don't see any way around it other than to re-create the image. I'd imagine that even if you did, you have the logos on there which will be cropped from images with white backgrounds so changing the background behind those will always be messy.