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To delete this white space, just click on the “ Delete” key on your keyboard, or click on “ Edit” and “ Clear“, on The Gimp’s main Window. The magic wand will select all the contiguous white space. To delete these areas, select the Magic Wand tool from the toolbox.Ĭlick anywhere on the white space surrounding the glasses in the picture. If the color you are deleting does not gradually mix with the object on your picture, you can use the magic wand, however, if the picture had a shadow that gradually blends with the background, the magic wand is not a good option. Now, the white areas in the picture have to be cleared so they can become transparent. On The Gimp’s main window, click on “ Layer“, then on “ Transparency” and finally on “ Add Alpha Channel“, this will add transparency to the picture. As you can see, the image has a uniform color (white) as background this is ideal to create a transparent image.
#Gimp remove background shadow how to
A Final WordĬongratulations, you’ve just learned how to fill an area with transparency in GIMP using a couple of different methods! While it can be a bit tedious to have to create the alpha channel manually, it’s not very difficult once you remember that it’s the missing piece of the puzzle.Open your image. Unfortunately, it can also have the negative result of converting white specular highlights from your object when removing a white background, although you can quickly paint with pure white underneath these areas on another layer to restore them. When using other techniques, shadows often need to be modified or entirely faked, which can destroy the composite visual illusion you’re creating unless it’s done properly.Ĭolor to Alpha won’t always make this process so easy, but when it does, it’s a real timesaver. This method has the unusual benefit of making it relatively simple to transfer an object’s shadow onto a new background since the shadow pixels aren’t technically the same color as the rest of the background that you’re removing. I didn’t even have to click, and it removed the background for me!
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With your image loaded in GIMP, open the Layer menu, select the Transparency submenu, and click Add Alpha Channel. I’m going to assume that you have already opened the image you want to work on, but if not, start with that. Now that you have a better understanding of the technical side of digital images and how they can create transparency, let’s take another look at the steps to fill an area with transparency in GIMP. Making a Selected Area Transparent in GIMP GIMP is one of the only image editors I’ve ever worked with that forces you to add an alpha channel manually instead of just adding it for you automatically.Īrguably, the extra step that GIMP requires makes everything more precise, which may be of help to people who use GIMP for technical imagery, but for casual users who just want to edit their photos, it feels unnecessarily confusing. Grayscale pixels can be used to indicate partially transparent areas. White pixels in the alpha channel indicate that the corresponding area is fully visible, while black pixels indicate that the corresponding area is fully transparent. What is an Alpha Channel?Īll digital images are made up of separate color channels, which are combined together to create the colors you see on the screen. If you want to peer behind the curtain and learn more about channels and transparency in digital images, or if you just want to explore the steps in a bit more detail, then read on – I’ll even include a bonus method at the end for automatically converting an entire color to transparency across your whole image. That’s all there is to it! All the magic happens in that first step, and that’s where most people get confused because most image editing apps take care of the process for you automatically.
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Making a Selected Area Transparent in GIMP.
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