HOME | DD

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

Published: 2012-03-08 17:26:39 +0000 UTC; Views: 326521; Favourites: 5095; Downloads: 1747
Redirect to original
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!
Related content
Comments: 1143

keiicchii In reply to ??? [2015-01-11 11:52:44 +0000 UTC]

This is soooo helpful! Thanks a bunch!Β 

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

nightliqhts In reply to ??? [2015-01-10 14:32:18 +0000 UTC]

The is super helpful; I was making everything with a dA colored background xD

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

cactus-child In reply to ??? [2015-01-08 21:03:38 +0000 UTC]

Thank you! I had to transfer everything to firealpaca and it looked terrible after I was done. This will really help! :3

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Kiara137 In reply to ??? [2015-01-06 00:00:12 +0000 UTC]

Oh my gosh, thanks so much!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

BlackBlade58206 In reply to ??? [2015-01-05 02:07:08 +0000 UTC]

Really? That's it? I feel incredibly stupid...

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

MimiWillRuleTheWorld In reply to ??? [2015-01-05 00:11:44 +0000 UTC]

Yay~ thank you!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Alexer14 [2014-12-31 20:25:53 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! This will help me make my own lineart ^.^

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Ileauc In reply to ??? [2014-12-30 01:56:41 +0000 UTC]

thank you

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Vikiuko In reply to ??? [2014-12-29 10:46:26 +0000 UTC]

Yesss i was lookin for this thank you very much :33

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

leetspeaks In reply to ??? [2014-12-28 17:08:55 +0000 UTC]

Thanks, this was loads of help.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

SketchKitty96 In reply to ??? [2014-12-27 21:49:55 +0000 UTC]

Omg so helpful, thanks so much!!Β  Β 

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Tiny-Winy In reply to ??? [2014-12-15 14:06:52 +0000 UTC]

But when i save not open the pop up ;---;

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

leetspeaks In reply to Tiny-Winy [2014-12-28 17:10:18 +0000 UTC]

Check the description

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

themandii In reply to ??? [2014-12-12 00:16:26 +0000 UTC]

Oops, Duhhhh.... Now I figured out why it wasn't working. Thank you!!!!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

fehiki In reply to ??? [2014-12-10 11:28:18 +0000 UTC]

THANK YOUΒ  Β 

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

SnivelGriffoon In reply to ??? [2014-11-27 18:32:34 +0000 UTC]

This helped so much, thank you ^^

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Grey-Terminal In reply to ??? [2014-11-24 09:08:01 +0000 UTC]

But when I save it there pops no setting-window up ???

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

doodlebozo In reply to Grey-Terminal [2014-12-30 17:30:08 +0000 UTC]

Check the description C:

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

Grey-Terminal In reply to doodlebozo [2014-12-30 19:22:32 +0000 UTC]

thank youΒ Β 

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Mochietti In reply to ??? [2014-11-23 20:11:37 +0000 UTC]

thankyou ;u;

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

majidemahiro In reply to ??? [2014-11-21 08:04:41 +0000 UTC]

Thank you very much!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

FaolanEternal In reply to ??? [2014-11-15 17:59:36 +0000 UTC]

Thanks so much!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Ami-bot In reply to ??? [2014-11-12 16:10:20 +0000 UTC]

Used this for my icon c:

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

BabiiSmileii In reply to ??? [2014-11-09 01:06:34 +0000 UTC]

Thank you SO much!!!!!<3

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

razorsharp2199 In reply to ??? [2014-11-08 16:17:53 +0000 UTC]

Didn't work for me :<

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

Ami-bot In reply to razorsharp2199 [2014-11-12 16:14:08 +0000 UTC]

double check that it's being saved as a PNG and that you have the background layer turned off (no little eyeball)Β 
But you probably need a different version of SAI that supports transparent backgrounds.Β 

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

tuwas1 In reply to ??? [2014-11-08 15:50:03 +0000 UTC]

Thanks, I was having a bit of trouble saving my picture with a transparent background.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

RagingSalamence In reply to ??? [2014-11-03 03:08:39 +0000 UTC]

Window doesn't pop up.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

IceCreamWoman [2014-11-03 01:07:18 +0000 UTC]

The little window didn't pop up X.X
How do I fix that?

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Kurablah In reply to ??? [2014-10-28 02:40:18 +0000 UTC]

Thank youuuuuu! >w<

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

16Zulee16 [2014-10-23 16:30:30 +0000 UTC]

The peoblem was that the window didnt pop up.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

MonkeyDSophie In reply to ??? [2014-10-17 02:57:34 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much! This was awesome!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Jade-TH In reply to ??? [2014-10-11 20:36:14 +0000 UTC]

OMG, it worked! Thank you so much! I found this VERY helpful!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

FireToMySoul In reply to ??? [2014-10-09 19:43:22 +0000 UTC]

Thank you.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

958576623678423a In reply to ??? [2014-10-06 13:07:21 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for the tutorial, helps a lot

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

ghostkingcrow In reply to ??? [2014-09-30 19:07:56 +0000 UTC]

Oh lord, thank you so much! I've been desperate, but now it works β™₯

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

coralinaas In reply to ??? [2014-09-29 03:51:21 +0000 UTC]

OMFG THANK U SO MUCH

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

kurahpikah In reply to ??? [2014-09-27 21:05:33 +0000 UTC]

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Paintdroplet In reply to ??? [2014-09-26 03:55:26 +0000 UTC]

THANK YOU SO MUUUCH!!!Β 

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Kosa17 In reply to ??? [2014-09-21 15:48:31 +0000 UTC]

Aww, thank you so much !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was my never answered question ^^

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

KaoruxChan In reply to ??? [2014-09-14 08:05:47 +0000 UTC]

for some odd reason , when i load up the file which is a bmp one and i do what you had done in the whole tutorial it does not work. And when i changed the file to png and do the same thing it still does not work >~> i don't know what to do anymore.Β 

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

whitty-boo In reply to KaoruxChan [2014-09-18 02:16:02 +0000 UTC]

This only works when you start an image from scratch. Your bmp probably didn't have a transparent background to begin with.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

KaoruxChan In reply to whitty-boo [2014-09-24 22:02:50 +0000 UTC]

oh thanks for replying towards my comment but i already found out what it was and sorry for the late replyΒ 

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Artizay In reply to ??? [2014-09-09 21:12:45 +0000 UTC]

Er, I saved my drawing as a .PNG, but it ended up with a white background anyway. I'm not sure if I did something wrong, or if it just doesn't work...

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

Artizay In reply to Artizay [2014-09-09 21:14:12 +0000 UTC]

Oh, whoops, I figured it out. Turns out that the .PNG option didn't show up. Thanks anyway!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

crazzycat5 In reply to ??? [2014-09-08 06:31:21 +0000 UTC]

Very helpful thank you!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

Darkheart-Vampire In reply to ??? [2014-09-06 22:41:34 +0000 UTC]

A HUGE THANK YOU!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

HappyLionHorseArt In reply to ??? [2014-09-04 15:17:24 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much!! It really helps <3

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

light-aqua In reply to ??? [2014-09-04 08:11:24 +0000 UTC]

thank you!!!!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

TheCatnamedFish In reply to ??? [2014-09-03 00:49:12 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!! This helped lots!!!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0


<= Prev | | Next =>