Paletted images (those with 256 or fewer colors, such as GIF or PNG files) do not support transparent backgrounds, but you often need a way to make part of your image transparent when displayed on a Web page. For example, you may have a round logo and you want the background of the Web page to display around the logo.
Most Web browsers can choose not to display one color, effectively making it transparent. In Paint Shop Pro you have two ways to make one color transparent:
Use the Set Palette Transparency command to make one color in an image palette transparent. The color can be the background color or any color from the image. To set a transparent color, the image must have one layer only and must use an image palette, which means the image must have a color depth less than 16 million colors (24-bit).
Edit the image in 16 million colors (saving it in .PspImage format), then use the GIF or PNG optimizer to export a copy of the image. With these optimizers you can set the transparency of the image. We recommend this alternative because it does not change the color depth or flatten the layers of your original .PspImage file and keeps all Paint Shop Pro effect and commands available. For more information, see Saving Images for the Web.
If you decide to make one color transparent in your image, use the Set Palette Transparency command to select the color, and then use the View Palette Transparency command to display the transparent color in your image. You can also use the Set Palette Transparency command to change or undo the transparency of a color.
To make one image color transparent:
Choose Image > Palette > Set Palette Transparency.
If you are prompted to reduce the color depth and number of layers, click Yes to continue and then choose the options for decreasing color depth. For more information, see Decreasing Color Depth to 256 Colors (8-Bit).
On the Set Palette Transparency dialog, select an option:
To undo the transparency of a color, select No Transparency.
To make the background color transparent, select Set the transparency value to the current background color.
To assign a specific color to be transparent, click the color on the image itself, enter a value in the edit box of the Set the transparency value to a palette entry option, or click the color box to select from the current color picker.
To view the transparency on the image, click the Proof button.
Click OK. The color is now transparent; however, it may still be displayed until you hide it.
To view or hide the transparency of a color:
Choose Image > Palette > View Palette Transparency.
Understanding Color and Color Models
How Monitor and Print Colors Differ
Making a Palette Color Transparent