Make Transparent White Background for a PNG Photo

by Atiqur Sumon CEO

A different file format may make it difficult to alter the background. Here is one way for PNG to get its due.

A photo editor is the best person to decide in which file format a picture can be used in any media. But sometimes the client has specific needs and requires only a particular file format. A PNG file is normally requested when the images are required for the web. Of course even Gif and jpg are used but some prefer PNG (Portable Network Graphics). Many web designers need to make the images look richer without adding to the high resolution. This enables them to have better-looking designs for the websites they create. PNG is preferred as it supports transparency. The best way is to have an appropriate backdrop. To make transparent white background for a PNG photo it needs to be PNG-24 or PNG-32. There are different levels of transparency that can be achieved. It allows blurry or feathered effects that are ideal for effects. It works well for website images. Besides the PNG files do not have any loss after editing is done. They are also larger then jpgs and gifs. The only thing that PNG pictures do not support is animation.

The PNG formats can have partial transparency with alpha channels. It has been in use for a while now, and has been further advanced to make pictures more palatable. Some latest browsers do not support all the amazing techie features of PNG. That speaks volumes about the range of PNG, definitely an advanced format. So you can imagine the qualities of your imagery. With the PNG image a lot can be done for the web – you can make a transparent back ground into white or a white back ground into transparent. Due to the dynamic nature of the file format, it has an upper hand of applying several innovative techniques.

By importing the PNG image into software such as Photoshop or GIMP, a lot of enhancements can be done. Now we must differentiate the foreground and background by working in layers.To create a new layer, go to the top toolbar to select LAYER>NEW>LAYER. Then click on the new layer and drag it under the original layer. If it’s a case of making a transparent background into white, replace the second layer with a white background. Hence, one can replace transparency into white easily in PNG.

In case of the reverse, where we have a white background with a subject and we need to put a transparent PNG backdrop, the process takes a little longer time. The tolerance level can be altered to get the right transparent effect. Once the effect is achieved the file should be saved in the PNG format after editing. The layers can all be merged so that they are visible but not flattened. Even Paint Shop Pro has a PNG optimizer in the tool bar. It offers the facility of a single transparency. But go for an alpha channel to get a better edge for the image. The PNG gets better compressed and retains the quality of the image after the edit.