Making transparent gifs in Paint Shop Pro 5 is a little different from earlier versions of Paint Shop Pro. The end results are better so the extra step or two is worth it. I will start with the assumption you have an image you wish to save with a transparent background.

Select your background color with the eye dropper tool by placing it on the white area in this case and click the right mouse button. Now (Selections | Select All) and then (Selections | Modify | Transparent Color) set the Color to Background and Tolerance to 0. You should have something like in Fig. 1 below.

Fig. 1

Now you need to change your (Color | Decrease Color Depth | 256 Colors). I used the settings as shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2

Now is where it is different from the earlier versions of Paint Shop Pro. Go to (Colors | Set Palette Transparency). You will then get the screen shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3

After you click the OK you can test it by opening the (Colors | Set Palette Transparency) again and hit the proof button. You should see something like Fig. 4.

Fig. 4

Now all that is left to do is save it as a transparent gif file. (File | Save As) and choose CompuServe Graphics Interchange (*.gif). Set the options to those in Fig. 5.

Fig. 5

The finished product should look like the image below.

Note: This will work fine for most solid colored backgrounds.

Special thanks to Joe for allowing me to host this tutorial. Return to Anne's World Web Page Resources