Creating Transparent GIFs

Creating Transparent GIFs

One very popular way to edit Web graphics is to create transparent GIFs. This process allows you to make one of the colors of your graphic (generally the background color) transparent, so that the Web page's color scheme or background graphics shows through. Most often, it's used to give the illusion that the graphic is part of your Web page. You can use this method to add impact to your pages and to limit the size of your graphics by doing away with elaborate backgrounds.

To be rendered with a transparent background, a GIF file must be saved in the GIF89a file format. This can be done with Paint Shop Pro, LView Pro, Transparency for the Mac, and many other programs. Saving a file in this format is simply a matter of deciding what color is going to be the transparent color when the GIF is displayed.

Example: Creating Transparent GIFs in LView Pro

Windows users can create transparent GIFs in LView Pro. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Load the program, and choose File, Open to open a graphics file. The Open dialog box appears.

2. If the file isn't already a GIF image, choose Retouch, Color Depth, and convert the file to a Palette Image.

3. Select 256 colors in the palette creation and quantizing options, and uncheck the Enable Floyd-Steinberg Dithering checkbox.

4. Click OK.

5. Now you can decide which color will appear transparent. Choose Retouch, Background Color and then click the color that should be transparent. You can also use the dropper (click the Dropper button) to select the color that should be transparent (see fig. 9.9).

6. With the correct color selected, choose File, Save As, and save the graphic as a GIF89a. The background color will appear transparent in a Web browser's window.