Remove a Background
Replace the background of an image with transparency to show the page background or any other colors or objects the image is placed over.
Replace background color with transparency to create logos, overlap two or more images, add watermarks, or save cursors to reuse in other images.
Snagit offers three easy ways to remove the background from an image:
Tip: To easily identify transparent areas, set the canvas to a color that contrasts sharply with the image. Select Image menu > Canvas Color (Windows) or Change Canvas Color (Mac). After you remove the background from the image, set the canvas color to transparent again.
Fill Tool
The Fill tool removes color from images that have a solid background or from areas that have an outline.
- Click the Fill tool in the Snagit Editor toolbar.
Note: If the tool is not visible in the toolbar, click the More dropdown. - Click the Fill dropdown and select Transparent (checkerboard pattern).
- Click an area on the canvas to make transparent.
Tip: Adjust the Tolerance slider in the Tool Properties to fill more or less of the image.
For more information, see the Fill Tool.
Selection Tool
The Snap to Object option allows you to remove the color around shapes.
- Click the Selection tool in the Snagit Editor toolbar.
Note: If the tool is not visible in the toolbar, click the More dropdown. - In the Tool Properties, select the Freehand shape.
- Select the Transparent background fill option.
- Click and drag to draw a selection around a shape or icon you want to preserve in an image.
- Click Snap to Object to bind the selection to the edges of the selected element.
- Right-click (Windows) or Control+click (Mac) and select the Invert Selection option.
- Press Delete to replace the inverted selection with transparency.
For more information, see the Selection Tool.
Magic Wand Tool
The Magic Wand tool works best to remove solid or gradient backgrounds.
- Click the Magic Wand tool in the Snagit Editor toolbar.
Note: If the tool is not visible in the toolbar, click the More dropdown. - Select the Transparent background fill option.
- Click a color you want to remove.
- Adjust the slider in the Tool Properties to select more or less of the image.
- To include all instances of the selected color(s) in the image, click to enable Global Color Selection in the Tool Properties.
- Press Delete to remove the selection.
For more information, see the Magic Wand Tool.
IMPORTANT
To maintain transparency, save the image to a file format that supports transparency: CUR, GIF, ICO, PNG, TIF, or SNAGX.
To maintain transparency, save the image to a file format that supports transparency: CUR, GIF, ICO, PNG, TIF, or SNAGX.
