How Make Pic Transparent: Gimp: Not What You Think!

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With help from fellow Warriors, I got this problem taken care of!

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Hello,

I'm having a problem trying to figure something out using Gimp. I know how to cut out an image in a picture and make the background transparent. However, there are spots inside the image that need to be transparent too.

Now that I have the image I want with a transparent background, how do I remove places inside the pic I have and make those spots transparent as well?

To give you a simple example. Think of a donut. LOL! Say I see this donut in an image and I cut it out, then have it with a transparent background, but the inside, the hole needs to be cut out too with transparency.

Also, I already cut the image out and it has a transparent background. Just need to open it in GIMP and finish the rest.

If you could help me out, that would be most gracious of you.

Thank you,

LastWarrior
#gimp #make #pic #transparent
  • What format is this image? PNG? You may have to use a mask to create another transparent piece inside of the main image. I use Photoshop and fireworks, but not really GIMP. Try recreating it as a vector image and working from there. Or use the majic wand tool to just select the pieces you need. I guess it's hard to help since we can't see the picture.
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    • Profile picture of the author LastWarrior
      Thanks for the reply, but I don't think seeing the picture is going to help much... unless you mean see beyond the visible sense to see what kind of picture it is. It's .png.

      As for seeing the picture, think donut. Outside the donut is the transparent part, but the hole part still needs to be turned to transparent as the original color within it is still the same.

      Say I want to place this donut on a plate that has a floral design. I want it so when I do place the donut on the plate with the picture, the floral design comes through the hole in the donut. Don't mean to be simplistic, just clear in my meaning.

      Thank you.

      LastWarrior
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  • Profile picture of the author rajeevrla
    I use photoshop to edit the images. It has the tool called magic Wand. I guess Gimp will surely have similar one.

    Use the magic wand to select the inner area of the donut, then after the selection is made press the delete key. That selection will be deleted and you will be left with the hole.

    We can help you further if you can post the picture. Usually Magic wand works if the selection area is made up of similar colors. There are other tools too to do the selection if the area you want to select has edges. In this case, we use Magnetic lasso tool.

    I hope this helps.

    Thanks,

    Rajeev
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    Have a great day!

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    • Profile picture of the author LastWarrior
      Rajeev,

      I'll certainly give that a try with Gimp.

      But I don't see at all why seeing the picture is going to help. ?? It's really as simple as a donut. What use will seeing the picture help any? Just trying to learn here.

      Thank you for the reply.

      ==================

      If any others care to reply with suggestions, etc, that would be helpful at the moment. Trying to learn something new is sometimes fun, yet frustrating!

      LastWarrior
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  • Profile picture of the author LastWarrior
    Rajeev!

    I knew there was a lasso tool with Gimp, but wasn't sure if was going to work. I blew the view to 800%, took my time with the lasso, then hit delete. Then saved it without the background color and it came out great!

    Thank you very much for the replies.

    Problem solved!

    LastWarrior
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  • Profile picture of the author rajeevrla
    Hi LastWarrior,

    Great! You problem is solved. Looking into the image can give an insight into what tool to use. As I said there are various tools to do similar work, some are easy to use and some require experience. Magic Wand is very easy to use, you just have to click. But it will fail to work properly if the surrounding area will have a lot of dissimilar colors. At this point, we might try magnetic lasso tool, which always works. But this one is time taking too.

    I hope you understand the reason behind analyzing the image first, before starting to use the correct tool.

    Thanks,

    Rajeev
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    Have a great day!

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    • Profile picture of the author LastWarrior
      Originally Posted by rajeevrla View Post

      I hope you understand the reason behind analyzing the image first, before starting to use the correct tool.
      That part wasn't clear to me. I had thought you meant literally "see" the picture.

      Thanks for the help.

      LastWarrior
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