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whitty-boo β€” TUTORIAL::How to make Transparent BG in SAI

Published: 2012-03-08 17:26:39 +0000 UTC; Views: 326536; Favourites: 5095; Downloads: 1747
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Description EDIT 2: Some people have noted that their SAI does not do this. It is because it is not an updated version of SAI that supports transparency. There used to be a journal/ link that I had in the comments which led to a Transparency-supporting SAI, but this link is now down. I do not have a new link; please research and find a transparency-supportive SAI by your own means.Β 


My first tutorial lolol //fail

A lot of people have been asking me how to do transparent backgrounds in Paint TOOL SAI. There weren't any tutorials on dA that seemed to be as simple as how I did it (there were barely any in the first place so.)

If you have some trouble understanding the summarized pictures, here's some more info on it.

Basically, in SAI everything you draw is automatically "transparent". When you save as JPEG, which doesn't support transparency, everything "transparent" is turned to white, like how you see it when you are drawing in the program.

Adding a new layer underneath and making it a different color allows you to see things you missed, preferably the whites. Let's say that when I added the yellow, Casey's white hoodie turned yellow also. That means I need to go in and color it white or else it will become transparent as well.

Saving it as 32bpp makes all the areas you didn't draw on turn transparent.

Some tutorials say that you have to merge all your layers into 1. That is not true. I could have had 3 or 4 layers on that Casey picture, it doesn't affect transparency.


I hope you guys find this helpfull!
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Comments: 1143

whitty-boo In reply to ??? [2014-06-26 04:05:00 +0000 UTC]

This is only from scratch, sorry!Β 

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RazielTheRiddler In reply to whitty-boo [2014-06-26 12:30:00 +0000 UTC]

ah okey dokey

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RazielTheRiddler In reply to ??? [2014-06-09 01:56:57 +0000 UTC]

aah the description helps wonderfully GREAT TUTORIAL!!

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BekaDavisStudios In reply to ??? [2014-06-07 20:52:48 +0000 UTC]

Exactly what I needed! Many thanks!

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Tousom In reply to ??? [2014-06-06 22:21:23 +0000 UTC]

Wow thanks I was looking for something like this the whole time so awesome thank you for the tutorial thanks to you I can make my drawings transparent !!! Best tutorial ever

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rosadaestra In reply to ??? [2014-06-06 20:51:57 +0000 UTC]

The box that has the option of sving it as a 32bpp doesn't evn pop up for me

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rosadaestra In reply to rosadaestra [2014-06-06 20:52:28 +0000 UTC]

and idk how to do all that shit
oh well no transparent backgrounds for me X)

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V4lDes In reply to ??? [2014-06-04 09:58:39 +0000 UTC]

That is exactly what I've been looking for, thanks

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FoxyPika In reply to ??? [2014-05-30 07:51:11 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!
I can finally make transparent backgrounds without the use of an online editor.. ^^

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parma-violence In reply to ??? [2014-05-28 22:40:47 +0000 UTC]

Thx , very helpful!

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Akemi187 In reply to ??? [2014-05-26 23:10:35 +0000 UTC]

Wait, I read that journal, and I have SAI 1.1.0, and the box still doesn't pop up ;-;

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Akemi187 In reply to ??? [2014-05-26 23:08:19 +0000 UTC]

eep nvmm

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Akemi187 In reply to ??? [2014-05-26 23:02:53 +0000 UTC]

The box doesn't appear for me?

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femaledogdemon In reply to ??? [2014-05-20 17:28:32 +0000 UTC]

can you still do this if you didnt draw the image?

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whitty-boo In reply to femaledogdemon [2014-05-21 17:21:25 +0000 UTC]

No.

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electricgrapes In reply to ??? [2014-05-20 13:54:33 +0000 UTC]

yay it worked thanks!

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BohemicDreamer In reply to ??? [2014-05-16 12:19:02 +0000 UTC]

*whEEZE* THANK YOU THIS IS A LIFE SAVER!!

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Miikage In reply to ??? [2014-05-16 03:58:29 +0000 UTC]

What if you want to turn a jpeg pic's background transparent?

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whitty-boo In reply to Miikage [2014-05-21 17:21:47 +0000 UTC]

You will need photoshop for that. I'm probably going to release a tutorial for it.

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Miikage In reply to whitty-boo [2014-05-23 04:58:30 +0000 UTC]

Okay

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Seichee In reply to ??? [2014-05-11 04:57:51 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!

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ureshiiiiii In reply to ??? [2014-05-10 01:35:25 +0000 UTC]

Whoops, nvm.

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InfinityFTW In reply to ureshiiiiii [2014-05-13 23:33:04 +0000 UTC]

What'd you do to fix it? Mine wont pop-up either.

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ureshiiiiii In reply to InfinityFTW [2014-05-14 00:36:18 +0000 UTC]

Oh, I haven't fixed it, I just realised the person isn't responding to comment's with "it doesn't pop up for me" and stuff. .___.

But I figured out that it's because we must have theΒ older versions of SAI. You need Paint Tool SAI 1.1.0 to access the transparent feature.

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InfinityFTW In reply to ureshiiiiii [2014-05-26 05:26:51 +0000 UTC]

oh, cool. Thanks!

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ureshiiiiii In reply to ??? [2014-05-10 01:34:27 +0000 UTC]

That window asking for the 32bpp thing doesn't pop up on my SAI. ;A;

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DoctorFluffyUnicorn In reply to ??? [2014-05-08 19:14:33 +0000 UTC]

Very helpful, thank you!

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SadderingStones In reply to ??? [2014-05-08 15:48:05 +0000 UTC]

I got the sai, but my picture doesn't seem to turn transparent.

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miss-monomi [2014-05-07 21:27:27 +0000 UTC]

do you know of a way to make a picture with an already white background transparent? i've been hand-erasing but it's rather tedious

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whitty-boo In reply to miss-monomi [2014-05-11 00:11:48 +0000 UTC]

you can. but you need photoshop.

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MidnightErza In reply to ??? [2014-05-01 12:29:41 +0000 UTC]

It's worked perfectly..
THX

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MercyTheFox In reply to ??? [2014-04-28 19:12:05 +0000 UTC]

OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH! I have been trying to figure this out for along time cause I stuck at backgrounds.Β 

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CookieWolfz In reply to ??? [2014-04-24 12:35:40 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much!!! <3

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Obscuro-lil-Anima In reply to ??? [2014-04-21 09:22:02 +0000 UTC]

Great tutorial!
It helped a lot!

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Shurikenai In reply to ??? [2014-04-19 15:44:48 +0000 UTC]

But how can you do it with a non-tranparent picture?

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whitty-boo In reply to Shurikenai [2014-04-19 22:24:22 +0000 UTC]

If the image is already saved and non-transparent this won't work, i'm sorry.

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Shurikenai In reply to whitty-boo [2014-04-20 07:21:44 +0000 UTC]

Oh ok... But the tutorial really helped! Thanks buy th way :3

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Vibey In reply to ??? [2014-04-17 14:10:42 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for sharing!

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Surreil In reply to ??? [2014-04-17 02:35:45 +0000 UTC]

my goodness, you are a lifesaver. Β Thanks for sharing <3

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Pornosaurs In reply to ??? [2014-04-17 00:16:16 +0000 UTC]

Thank you oh so much this was very helpful β™₯

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Monoyuki-san In reply to ??? [2014-04-11 11:19:17 +0000 UTC]

woah! awesome, thanks!Β 

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TheChibiArt In reply to ??? [2014-04-08 01:31:09 +0000 UTC]

I don't get the little window. HALLLP

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DashingPegasus In reply to TheChibiArt [2014-04-18 23:30:48 +0000 UTC]

read the description

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Klutzy-Kitten In reply to ??? [2014-04-04 09:54:01 +0000 UTC]

For some reason when i switch the layer around it doesnt change the image... I tried adjusting the opacity of the colored layer for when i switch it but didnt work. I left it as it was to see if it'll work even with the colored layer as first but didnt either. Im not sure what im doing wrong nyan ~ o3o

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whitty-boo In reply to Klutzy-Kitten [2014-04-04 23:01:48 +0000 UTC]

I'm not either, your explination isn't very clear. Maybe if you can further explain?

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Klutzy-Kitten In reply to whitty-boo [2014-04-05 03:34:16 +0000 UTC]

Never mind XD it worked I figured out what was wrong with it and thanks for the tutorial it was a huge help! nyan~

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LunaHydreigon In reply to ??? [2014-04-03 02:21:50 +0000 UTC]

Yay! I'm so new to this Paint Sai (I started using it today), but now I'm so happy that when I start drawing, it won't save with a white background. xD -Favorites-

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MidnightErza In reply to ??? [2014-03-31 07:35:38 +0000 UTC]

I'll try it later, after that I'll come again...
bwahahaha

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WandeCorde In reply to ??? [2014-03-23 09:47:02 +0000 UTC]

thankssssssss

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Honoro In reply to ??? [2014-03-21 18:07:29 +0000 UTC]

I hate to ask after so many people have, but would you mind sending me the note as well?Β 
I'm terrified of putting a virus on my comp by going to a bad site. xD

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