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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: 326507; 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

Sugar-Dazzle In reply to ??? [2016-05-18 14:12:35 +0000 UTC]

YOU FUCKING SAVED MY FUCKING LIFE
I LOVE YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

Sugar-Dazzle In reply to Sugar-Dazzle [2016-05-18 15:39:38 +0000 UTC]

Oh actually you didn't XD
Your journal doesn't work anymore, I can't see the solution on why the window doesn't pop up

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

OMadHatterO In reply to ??? [2016-05-17 06:16:57 +0000 UTC]

Thanks!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

goosetooth In reply to ??? [2016-05-15 11:27:22 +0000 UTC]

Ty!

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RioBlitzle In reply to ??? [2016-05-08 19:05:14 +0000 UTC]

You, my friend, just saved my life.. Thank you so much for this I didn't know the 32bit step!Β 

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

cosmicArtist-2000 In reply to ??? [2016-04-25 05:35:07 +0000 UTC]

WOWOWOWOWOWOWOW HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS?!?!?! THANK YOU!!!! XD
THIS IS SO HELPFUL ^///^

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Stitch2Cute [2016-04-21 03:59:26 +0000 UTC]

the option for 32 something doesn't pop up for me, cuz i have it on my mac... Or maybe does it mean the version i use doesn't have that?

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

Stitch2Cute In reply to Stitch2Cute [2016-04-21 23:51:57 +0000 UTC]

nevermind, i found my problem XD

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

LaLadybug In reply to Stitch2Cute [2016-05-17 17:27:24 +0000 UTC]

hey, i have the same problem aswell, would you mind telling me what it is?Β 

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

Stitch2Cute In reply to LaLadybug [2016-05-18 00:40:25 +0000 UTC]

it's in the original comment. But You Have To Switch To A Lower Version Of PTS Below The 10.9 and the 10.10... So There you have it!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

LaLadybug In reply to Stitch2Cute [2016-05-18 15:04:28 +0000 UTC]

Okay thanks..!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Snowflakebottles In reply to ??? [2016-04-17 22:59:34 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for this! :3

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Vivian-Teh-PurpleGal In reply to ??? [2016-04-15 07:08:37 +0000 UTC]

it doesn't show up for me though, the option to 32bpp ? ?Β 

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

leonaenae In reply to ??? [2016-04-10 02:20:10 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for this!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

yilingIaozu In reply to ??? [2016-04-09 04:36:41 +0000 UTC]

This doesn't seem to work with a picture that doesn't have the BG on a layer under the main image which by default had a white background (ex: lineartists making lineart free to use but without a transparent background). a bit unfortunate but I suppose nothing can be done about it. Great tutorial nonetheless.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Elipsis396 In reply to ??? [2016-04-05 20:53:46 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much.Β 

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Frostyflytrap In reply to ??? [2016-04-05 10:49:35 +0000 UTC]

The journal that you linked does not exist. :/
Well then, what was written there?

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

Frostyflytrap In reply to Frostyflytrap [2016-04-05 20:36:54 +0000 UTC]

Never mind, I just found out that the popup only appears in version 1.2.0. I'm not sure why you couldn't have just said that in the description.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

felix1113 In reply to Frostyflytrap [2016-04-23 05:52:43 +0000 UTC]

You totally saved my life...thanks!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Gondile [2016-04-05 04:09:32 +0000 UTC]

I appreciate it. Thanks.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

DarthTriforce [2016-03-31 23:37:54 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for this tut, it'll be really helpful for sure as I'm just a starting newbie at Paint Tool Sai ^^

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

berrystumpytail [2016-03-31 21:03:35 +0000 UTC]

Does this not work if you're using an overlaying layer or something? Because I'm having that problem-

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

keeraii [2016-03-30 11:30:11 +0000 UTC]

Thank you sooooo much!Β 
You saved my life

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

The-Fandom-Trash-Kid [2016-03-29 22:05:04 +0000 UTC]

Thanks soo much

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

xX-iLuvChocolate-Xx In reply to ??? [2016-03-28 04:23:51 +0000 UTC]

I LOVE YOU!!! THANKS A LOT!!!! YOU SAVED A LIFE

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

ethereal-dancer In reply to ??? [2016-03-26 00:36:34 +0000 UTC]

Super helpful, thanks

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NekoChanTheKitty In reply to ??? [2016-03-20 03:58:52 +0000 UTC]

This tutorial is brilliant and I had no idea it was this easy. Thank you SO MUCH!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

DragonsOfTheStars [2016-03-19 12:24:45 +0000 UTC]

THANK YOU! I found this VERY useful, I am so stupid.. I thought it didn't help, then I reread it and found that I was saving it to 24 instead... I'm such an idiot.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Stitch2Cute [2016-03-17 00:32:18 +0000 UTC]

THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE TUTORIAL!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Mymra [2016-03-14 10:47:43 +0000 UTC]

Been trying to figure this out for AGES! Thank you so much for making this <3

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Macaron-Princess [2016-03-13 02:10:54 +0000 UTC]

Very helpful! ^^ Thanks for this.~

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

RoseKiiss [2016-03-09 02:14:41 +0000 UTC]

The png option doesnt pop up for me, and it says the journal is unavailable.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Bexdrey In reply to ??? [2016-03-06 21:43:02 +0000 UTC]

Can I have a link to get the transparent supporting SAI?

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

VAMP-AMP [2016-02-27 02:54:44 +0000 UTC]

the link to the journel no longer works ; - ;

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

eruldraco [2016-02-15 06:26:56 +0000 UTC]

Hey thanks a lot, this helped me!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Novosis [2016-02-09 01:32:33 +0000 UTC]

thank you~~ I love this! It helped me out a lot ^3^

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YagiMatsu [2016-02-07 16:10:54 +0000 UTC]

This is so helpful! It's also a neat way to do transparent backgrounds as well. ^^

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ChibiDragonGaming [2016-01-31 20:31:44 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much for this! I've been trying to figure this out for a while! If only I found this sooner! Thank you!~

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

MasterAlpaCHINO [2016-01-20 17:25:05 +0000 UTC]

For anyone still having problems; update your version of SAI.
included the correct version in her journal .

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

SATOBSCENE In reply to MasterAlpaCHINO [2016-03-05 18:44:45 +0000 UTC]

Thank You ^^

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

hrg1nona In reply to ??? [2016-01-19 02:34:33 +0000 UTC]

When I do it the window that says 24 or 32 bpp doesn't pop up.. Help pls >_<

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

black60dragon In reply to ??? [2016-01-17 20:08:52 +0000 UTC]

oh.... I always clicked 24bpp because I assumed f each pixel had oppacity that meant the white background would too.


Thanks!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

dxstinesia In reply to ??? [2016-01-15 01:50:55 +0000 UTC]

This tutorial is really fucking useless in my opinion, and the title is very misleading. It's showing how to see if your background is transparent, not how to make it transparent in the first place. How the hell do you MAKE it transparent? Do I just have to spend 99 years trying to remove each part of the background? I'm NOT the person who is willing to spend 942 centuries on a piece of art. Is there ANY fast way to REMOVE a background on SAI?

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

abigaia In reply to dxstinesia [2016-01-15 05:16:23 +0000 UTC]

You just delete whatever layers are beneath your actual drawing, if there are any. The tutorial is showing how SAI does not showΒ transparency, but proving that it does support it when you add a colored layer underneath. The white background you always see can just be misleading.
So, just delete any extra "background" layers and follow the last bit of the tutorial if you don't care for the colored layer test part.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

dxstinesia In reply to abigaia [2016-01-15 21:38:22 +0000 UTC]

..............................Oml.

I just asked IF THERE IS a SIMPLER and FASTER way to remove a background in SAI without spending 99 years trying to erase the background from a file I DON'T have a PSD FOR/DIDN'T DRAW.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

abigaia In reply to dxstinesia [2016-01-15 21:47:18 +0000 UTC]

Use Google.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

dxstinesia In reply to abigaia [2016-01-15 23:24:37 +0000 UTC]

I've tried, not a single tip or anything about it. Just vague-ass tutorials.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

AllenPaw In reply to dxstinesia [2016-01-16 01:25:49 +0000 UTC]

than use an other Drawing Programm: the end :>

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

dxstinesia In reply to AllenPaw [2016-01-16 02:14:48 +0000 UTC]

Smartass.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 3

sapphiremantis In reply to dxstinesia [2016-01-23 16:27:52 +0000 UTC]

Look, we understand you have trouble using SAI. Fine.

If you can't take patience in art, then that's your own fault, not the tutorial's. This tutorial is very useful- it just isn't useful to you. No need to bash.

Shovels aren't meant for cutting down trees.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0


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