Probably, every user of a personal computer from time to time has to deal with the need to work with photos or pictures. Of course, on the PC of advanced users, the famous Photoshop is probably worth it, in which you can do any manipulation of the image. But what to do for those who do not have this program or who do not know how to use it? The easiest way out of this situation is to use the standard Paint. In some cases, it can successfully replace more professional and complex programs. In this article you will find answers to questions about how to make a transparent background in Paint, remove or change it to another.
Easy way to change background
We will describe how to change the background in Paint using the green screening method (that is, the green screen method). Regardless of whether you need to remove the background of the image or replace it with a solid fill (pattern), you can do this using the above method. Note that it describes the change in the background not in the standard Paint, but in Paint.NET, which does not come with standard applications, and it must be downloaded and installed separately.
Beginning of work
Before changing the transparent background in Paint Windows 7, open the image that you will adjust. This is done by right-clicking on the file and selecting the appropriate item in the drop-down menu (Open with - Paint). Keep in mind that compatible formats include BMP, JPFG, and GIF, but you won’t be able to work with others.
If the image exceeds the screen size, you need to go to the lower left corner and make an 800 percent increase by clicking on the magnifying glass located on the toolbar and selecting the number 8.
Choosing a color palette and drawing an image outline
On the color palette, you should make a choice of yellow-green (also called lime) color. Usually they choose it because it requires a contrasting color to the rest of the picture, and the selected tone is quite rare in the images.
After that, using the Line tool, an object is selected that will be cut. In the event that the image is placed on a white background, you can use the "Pencil" to fill in the missing pixels. Due to this, a wide line of green appears around the picture.
Next, click on the lime color with the right mouse button and, using the "Select" tool, outline the background areas of a rectangular color. This should be done carefully, trying not to enter the object. It’s not worth worrying about the extra triangles remaining around the outline of the picture , they are removed later using the Eraser tool. Having activated it, you need to select the smallest possible squares in the menu that appears.
After all the manipulations, an object is obtained, around which there will be a green screen. If you are interested in how to change the background in Paint, then you need to zoom out the image to 100 percent (1 in the zoom menu) and click on the paint bucket in the panel (the Color Fill tool). Then, in the palette, select the desired color and click anywhere on the green background. After that, the background will be different.
Move image to new background
In order to move the image to a different background, you need to select white color in the palette and use the Fill tool to paint over the entire lime background. After that, the key combination “Ctrl + A” is pressed and the second (lower) button is activated on the pop-up toolbar . After making sure that the new background opens in another program window, you need to copy the image (Ctrl + C key combination) and paste it into this second window (Ctrl + V key combination). The work is ready! It remains only to save it.
A few nuances
When editing detailed images, it will be much easier to work if you zoom in on the image. This can be done by selecting the “Scale” sub-item in the “View” menu or simply by clicking the “Zoom” button located on the ribbon.
Keep in mind that larger image sizes will require more time to stroke. To reduce the size of the image, press “Ctrl + A” and drag the marker located at the lower left. It is important to observe the proportions so that the image does not turn out distorted.
In the process, errors will inevitably occur, and therefore you will have to edit the line. In order to be able to quickly undo previous actions, it is recommended to constantly keep your fingers on the key combination “Ctrl + Z”.
If the image has a border in the form of a curve, it is advisable to use the Curve tool. To do this, click the corresponding button on the toolbar, draw a straight line from the beginning to the end of the border section, which then needs to be pulled left or right, describing the curve.
In order for the green screening method to work, in Paint Winwows 7 a transparent background must be set in the settings for the inserts. If you do not set this setting, then the background will be added from the original image. The control panel for the insertion settings will appear on the left side of the edited image, below the main panel when one of the selection tools is used.
Background removal
If there is a need to transfer an object to another background, then inevitably you have to deal with the question of how to remove the background in Paint. This is done very simply:
- using the Magic Wand tool, the background is selected;
- the selected part is deleted using the Delete button or the “Clear Selected” command from the “Edit” menu, as a result of this, a background appears in the form of a “checkerboard” conditionally showing transparency;
- the resulting image is saved (preferably in PNG or GIF format ), which can then be used at will.
Step-by-step instruction in Paint: how to make a transparent background
First step . In the “File” menu, select “Open” and, by clicking on “Browse”, open the desired picture.
Step Two Before making a transparent background in Paint, in the toolbar you need to select "Magic Wand" and set the sensitivity for it at 50 percent. With complex backgrounds, sensitivity should be set at 25-40 percent.
Step Three It is necessary to click "Magic Wand" on a white background, which after that turns into a pale blue.
Step Four You must delete the background selected in this way by pressing Delete on the keyboard or through the "Edit" menu - the "Clear Selection" item.
As a result, the background will become transparent, although in Paint it will have a checkerboard color. However, this does not end the work on how to make a transparent background in Paint.
Step Five After all the above manipulations, some areas in the image will still remain white. In order to make them transparent, you need to repeat the previous steps for them.
Step Six The resulting image with a transparent background must be saved by selecting the "Save" item in the "File" menu and specifying the file name, and in the drop-down list, selecting the desired format (PNG or GIF).
Conclusion
We examined how to make a transparent background in Paint, if you don’t have Photoshop at hand. Despite the apparent complexity, even inexperienced users can cope with this. With due attention and accuracy, the result will not be inferior to the work done in Photoshop.