How to make a transparent GIF

This tutorial will show you how to make part of an image transparent by saving it in the GIF format.

1) Make a new image, any size. For this demonstration I will use 100x100 so that it will easily fit on this page.

2) Fill the background with a color you know is not going to be in the final image. Here I will use a bright red. I will now draw my image, a smiley face, in white with the pencil tool.

3) Now go to Image>Mode>Indexed Color. This will make the image a certain number of colors.

4) Go to File>Export>Gif89a Export. This dialog box will allow you to pick which colors you want to make transparent. Click on the red either in the image or in the color index at the bottom. If there are multiple shades of red, be sure to get them all.

As you will notice, the red part has become grey, indicating that it will be transparent in the final picture.

5) Click OK and choose where to save it and you are finished! The final product (on a black background):

You can also do this with more complex images with more colors, but the process is the same. Just be sure that the color you want to make transparent is not anywhere else in the image.

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