Tutorial to Make a Picture Transparent on Mac and Windows [5 Methods] (2024)

Last Updated on March 5, 2022 by Peter Wood

By making an image transparent, you can emphasize what you want to express effectively. For instance, many people will add a transparent product image to PPT or other branding scenarios. You can create an image with transparent background, layer, or portion based on your need. Many online and offline photo editors can add transparency to your picture. This article mainly talks about some reliable and frequently used software. Thus, you can get more features while fading a picture.

• Part 1: How to Add Transparency in Photoshop
• Part 2: How to Make Background Transparent in Paint
• Part 3: How to Make a Picture Transparent in PowerPoint
• Part 4: How to Change Picture Opacity with Preview on Mac
• Part 5: How to Achieve Photo Transparent Effect Online via Pixlr
• Part 6: Apply Artistic Effects to Retouch Your Transparent Picture

Part 1: How to Add Transparency in Photoshop

Photoshop is one of the most popular photo editors all over the world. If you want to make a certain area transparent in your picture, definitely Adobe Photoshop can be your top choice. If you have subscribed to Photoshop before, you can follow the steps below to make a picture transparent in Photoshop.

Step 1: Run Adobe Photoshop. Click the File menu on the top left corner. Choose the New option from its drop-down list.

Step 2: In the popping-up of the New Document window, unfold the Background Contents list. You can find this option near the bottom right corner.

Step 3: Check the width and height of the layer. Scroll down and choose the Create option to get a transparent layer.

Step 4: Drag and drop your image into the transparent background. Use the Eraser tool or the Magic Eraser tool to make an image transparent in Adobe Photoshop.

Step 5: If you want to make some parts of an image transparent in Photoshop, you can use the Magic Wand tool or the Lasso tool to select the area you want to make transparent. Click the Delete option on the keyboard to create the transparent area.

Step 6: To get a transparent image, you need to set the PNG option or other image formats that can maintain transparency.

Part 2: How to Make Background Transparent in Paint

If Photoshop is too difficult to use, you can make an image with a transparent background on Windows using Paint. Microsoft Paint is a pre-installed graphic editor available on all versions of Microsoft Windows. Thus, you can make a picture transparent in Paint for free too.

Step 1: Right-click on your picture. Choose the Open with option followed by the Paint option.

Step 2: Click the Color 2 option on the top toolbar. You need to set it as the background color of your picture. Choose the Eyedropper tool in the Tools section. Then click the image’s background.

Step 3: Unfold the Select list. Choose the Transparent selection. You can see a √ icon next to the option.

Step 4: Select Rectangular selection or Free-form selection from the Select drop-down list.

Step 5: Hold the left mouse button to draw the area you want to separate from the background.

Step 6: After drawing, choose the Cut option or the Copy option from the right-click menu. Now you can paste it into a picture in Paint. As a result, you can get the copied image with transparent background.

Part 3: How to Make a Picture Transparent in PowerPoint

It is also supported to change the transparency of a picture or make part of a picture transparent in PowerPoint. If you have a Microsoft Office 365 subscription, you can get a transparency tool to make a picture transparent in Office 365. You can find this option from the Picture Tools Format tab. If not, you can still add transparency to your image using PowerPoint. This section will show you how to make the whole picture transparent.

Make a Picture Transparent on Windows

Step 1: Run PowerPoint on Windows.

Step 2: Click the Insert menu. Go to the Shape option to choose a shape. Then draw the shape with the same proportion of the picture you want to add.

Step 3: Click the Format option. Select the No Outline option from the Shape Outline option. After that, right-click the desired shape and choose the Format Shape option.

Step 4: Click the Fill icon in the Format Shape pane. After that, you can click the Picture or texture fill option.

Step 5: Click the File option to get into the Insert Picture dialog. Import the picture and click the Insert option to move on.

Step 6: Now you can move the Transparency slider in the Format Shape pane to make a picture transparent in PowerPoint 2018 and other new versions.

Make a Picture Transparent on Mac

Step 1: Choose the picture you want to change transparency in PowerPoint on Mac.

Step 2: Click the Transparency option from the Picture Format section or the Shape Format section.

Step 3: Choose from different pre-made presets to make a picture transparent on Mac with PowerPoint.

Step 4: Click the Picture Transparency Options to adjust image transparency in detail. You can see the Format Picture pane on the right side.

Step 5: Unfold the Picture Transparency section. Drag the Transparency slider to vary the transparency from 0 to 100%.

Part 4: How to Change Picture Opacity with Preview on Mac

Although Photoshop is compatible with Mac OS, it is not the best way to make a picture transparent on a Mac computer. Apple provides multiple photo editors for Mac users, like Preview and Photos. Just learn more about how to use Preview to change picture opacity.

Step 1: Open the photo to change opacity within Preview.

Step 2: Locate to the top ribbon and hit the Editing button with a pen icon to open the editing menu bar.

Step 3: And then unfold the selection menu by clicking on the downward button with a square box icon. On the drop-down list, choose the Instant Alpha.

Step 4: Hit and hover on the area of the picture you’d like to make transparent. Repeat this step to cover all areas to turn transparent.

Step 5: Press the Delete key to remove the areas highlighted by the Alpha tool. If your photo is not in PNG format, Preview will ask you to convert it to PNG or GIF.

Step 6: Finally, remember to export the photo in PNG or GIF format and check the box of Alpha.

If you save the photo in another format, the transparent area will be filled with white color.

Part 5: How to Achieve Photo Transparent Effect Online via Pixlr

Some people prefer to use online photo editors. It makes sense when you consider they are more portable and compatible. Several online photo editors allow users to make an image transparent online, like Pixlr. All you need is an Internet connection and the guidance below.

Step 1: Go to the Pixlr website in any browser and hit the Launch Web App button in the Editor section.

Step 2: When the Pixlr Editor opens, tap on the Open image from computer option and upload the photo you’d like to edit. Or you can open an online photo with the option of Open image from URL.

Step 3: Click the Wand tool on the left side tool palette and select the area you want to adjust to transparency. Hold down the Shift key to add multiple areas.

Step 4: After selecting all areas, go to the Edit menu and choose the Invert selection on the list.

Step 5: Go to the File menu and choose the New Image option. In the settings window, check both the Create image from clipboard box and the Transparent box.

Step 6: Click on the OK button, a new picture that selected areas are transparent will appear. Then you can download the transparent photo to your computer.

Part 6: Apply Artistic Effects to Retouch Your Transparent Picture

After adjusting the transparency of your picture, you can use WidsMob Retoucher to give your photo emotion. Despite common adjustments, you can take advantage of analog film and film grains, retouch portraits, eliminate image noise and apply other funny photo effects with ease. The intuitive interface and easy-to-use filters are friendly to all users. Thanks to the wide support of image formats, you can retouch images captured by your phone or digital camera. With the help of WidsMob Retoucher, even beginners can create stunning film effects like a pro.

1. Adjust contrast, saturation, temperature, tint, and brightness to your transparent image.
2. Analog various color positive/negative films, special color modes, and legendary film grains.
3. Do skin smoothing and skin whitening to remove some selfie imperfections.
4. Minimize image noise to fix blurry images in clicks.
5. Apply color filter, color opacity, vignetting, and fisheye to your image.

Conclusion

These are professional and easy ways to make an image transparent entirely or partially. If there is no Photoshop on your computer, you can still use PowerPoint or Paint to add transparency for free or use Preview on Mac. You can also use Pixlr to make transparent pictures online. Before using the transparent picture, you can run WidsMob Retoucher to make the image gorgeous without too much effort. The program is free to download and worth having a try.

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