Tutorial 10: Creating Transparent backgrounds.
Level: Easy
Learn The GIMP basics first by visiting the online manual
Step 1:
Open up the Image you wish to use. You can find a copy for this exercise
here.
In this Tutorial we will cut an object from the background and then save the file as a .png file with a transparent background. We will then create a drop shadow which we will save as a separate Layer. This is a follow on from Tutorial 9 and both Images are designed to be used in a document published in Scribus.
Select the Paths Tool from the main menu.
Click all the way around the Image with the left mouse button as I have below, remembering to click once over the top of the first point.
Step 2:
From the main menu choose Select > From Path
Then choose Edit > Copy from the main menu.
Step 3:
Choose Paste as > New Image from the main menu
Step 4:
Your new Image should look like the one on the right.
From the main menu Choose File > Save As. Name the file and add the .png extension then click the Save button.
The Save as PNG dialog will then pop up. Choose the settings I have on the right, this will preserve the transparent background and create a high quality file. Click the Save button and you now have a file ready to use in a document like the one on the right.
Step 5:
We are going to create a drop shadow behind the bird and then save the shadow as a separate Image. The reason for this is that many programs have difficulty handling Shadows and transparency together when they create PDF files. If we save the shadow without transparency it gives us some useful options.
From the main menu choose Filters > Light and Shadow > Drop Shadow.
A pop up Script-Fu menu will appear. Use the settings that I have used on the left and then press the OK button.
Step 6:
Open up the Layers menu. If you don't have the layers menu open choose Windows > Dockable Dockers > Layers from the main menu. Click on the pasted Layer of the bird and make sure it is highlighted in blue.
At the bottom of the Layers docker click on the rubbish bin button to delete the layer with the bird.
You are now left with just the shadow.
Step 7:
From the main menu choose Image > Flatten Image. You can Adjust the density of the shadow using the transparency in the Layers menu as below.
I have set the Opacity to 34. From the main menu choose Image > Flatten Image again and you have adjusted the Image to be much lighter as below.
You can now save this file as a high quality tiff file, name the file Bird Shadow or something similar so as you can easily find it.
You can see how we have used the shadow in the image on the right. By saving the layers separately it gives us the option in Scribus (or other Desktop Publishing Programs) to place the shadow between layers. The drop shadow layer has been sent to the bottom layer where as the bird with a transparent background is on the top layer.
