Gimp Tutorial: Eraser to Transparent Background Removal

[Jessyleppert]

How do you erase Clothes?

[carlleonardblue]

;when i copy and then paste into the phpto comes bigger than the background why????????????????????????

[jesusisshowergel]

my l key is broke i cant do ctrI I

[XxMadMax593]

how did you get that box on the right?

[AmericasLegand]

wtf I can't erase!!

[SoundsTakenable]

My eraser won't erase in transparent despite all of the things you said in the video. Is there a setting for the eraser that will help me to do so?

[Niqua10023]

hEY! sAY IF i WANTED TO SAVE IT AND KEEP IT!!? And wanted to upload it to Da's Art or something liek that and it won't let me how can I do that?

[SCPirateParty]

bloody brilliant! thanks for the help!

[elsetserrillo]

Goodness, these are so useful! Thanks a lot :)

[jonasldg]

how do i make an area half transparent?? like if im for an example is making a texture for a gun, and i only want the shading of the transparent part to be there, im trying to add camo,

[Valyoyoable]

Wow...i'm a beginner and this trick i didn't knew..and i was just looking ofr this kind of way...even if it take you long, but the results talk for themselves...Tnx a lost for this tutorial.I learned a lot from it !

[shannaahrose]

After I've chosen select then invert, it still deletes the whole thing. Why?:(

[wattsup2007]

Does GIMP have a soft brush?

[SliszMeisterGeneral]

cheers, big help for cutting out

[chris177511]

I dont have that thing you have on the left side for the layers stuff.. how do i get that to open??

[malgalin]

@chris177511 ctrl+L

[AngelsArcher]

Wow thanks, I've been working with GIMP for some years now but I still need to learn some more tricks. It actually worked :D

Btw, did you take this picture in Dublin? Cause I think I made a picture of the same statue.

[malgalin]

@AngelsArcher Yes I did :)

[finnbjerke]

Ive seen 5 of your vids, excellent work mate thx.

[YusufDanial]

lol you put that guy in hell

[Delta50Eagle]

wtf its not working!

[Sethema]

I love your voice <3 <3

[demonkingDX]

Since using Gimp is Free. I would like to know which is better, Gimp or Photoshop?

Really need opinions.

[rmr4884]

after i ve erased everything and the backgrounds transparent how come i copy the image and and paste it in the new background it wont show up, you just copied and pasted and it popped up clear as day, the layer is being added when i paste it but i cannot see any picture???

[carlosmbridges09]

Hi there! Thank you so much for this tutorial! I am a game level designer and , naturally, transparent areas are extremely important in texture/material generation - this has helped me no end - cheers!

[einmiki]

excellent tutorial! it helped me erase the background and cut perfect edges!

thanks

[schnautzr]

Hey, wonderful! This is exactly what I was looking for-- instructions for how to erase with transparency! I was quite pleased to find the answer in the first 3 minutes of your video! Love the Aussie accent, btw. Makes the video that much better. :)

[panzermort]

seems crasy you have to add alpha channel for erase

but ty

[7twilightprincess]

thank you! been tryin to work that out for ages!

[reneed68]

Well this was helpful. NOT

[DreamingOfHorseback]

Hi

after i did the invert and had it selected when i pressed the delete key it didnt work

is there another way to delete it, as it might work a bit differently considering im on a Mac

[thegrimreaper2121]

what u hit to control shift and what? to disselect evrything? i didnt understand that word u said

[thegrimreaper2121]

what u hit to control shift and what? to disselect evrything?

[inyoface253]

Christ I must be the dumbest person on the planet but this thing is simply not working for me. I'm doing the whole 'add alpha channel' by going through 'layers' - > transparency. However, when the image is exported to jpeg I just get a white mark of the thing that I want to erase into the background. Now, I also did the xcf- gimp's native file- whatever it's called- and now I don't even have an image.

What do I keep doing wrong?? I have a mac- but I dont think that that should be an issue. Ah!

[xSupaLolCatx]

@inyoface253

Unfortunately, only PNG supports transparency as far as I know. Try saving it as a png, it should work.

[hotpocketman12]

0:01

[Avionicgenius]

You're going to have to use better quality cam recorder...

[TheDianeBond]

Thanks so much Makgalin for this precious info. I have managed to cut out an image for my website! What would we do without people like you? All the best, DI x

[Sluggo702]

Everything worked fine but when I saved the cut out image it had a white background. Where did I go wrong and is there an easy way to get the transparency background back?

[Icecoolbazza]

First of all great tutorial! I was wondering how do I resize the image i'm working on ?e.g. in this example the Larkin Statue. Thanks in advance.

[SKATEFAM0US]

nice tut. quality isnt the greatest but still was able to learn alot. Thanks

[Chusma1]

how can i get the gimp version that yuu have cuz i have a different one??

[Fuzzyhairdudefuzz]

Hey, how do I convert my eraser back to a non-transparent eraser?

I can't seem to find a way..

[malgalin]

@Fuzzyhairdudefuzz You need to get rid of the 'Alpha Channel' (transparency). The easy way to do this is to create a plain white layer to go behind the layer you are erasing.

[byepeeps]

Hi,

For me, the eraser is still coming out white rather than transparent. I create the new layer, delete the old but it still is white. What am I doing wrong?

[malgalin]

@byepeeps In the menus, go to 'Layers' and then select 'Add Alpha Channel' - this way you do not need to duplicate the image at all and it creates a transparency.

[byepeeps]

@malgalin thanks that worked. Not sure why the duplicate didn't but I got it done. Cheers

[eomer1]

Nice thanks, keep it up!

[MTLATuber]

a white background still shows when i erase, even after i made a copy of the layer?! how do i stop that

[malgalin]

@MTLATuber In the menus, go to 'Layers' and then select 'Add Alpha Channel' - this way you do not need to duplicate the image at all and it creates a transparency.

[sourcerror]

@malgalin Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for.

[MTLATuber]

a white background still shows when i erase, even after i made a copy of the layer?! how do i stop that

[Kloper2007]

Thanks for turtorial

[jilltesterman1]

After I free style the part of the pic that I want, what do I press to deselect everything? I heard him say Ctrl + Shift, and I couldn't understand the last one. Help Please

[monkeysinferno]

i think he sed to press ctrl + shift + a

[beem1974]

this helped a lot! yay! thanks much!

[HereComesThePain100]

hey man, the video was a great help. thanks!

[Latinfairy777]

hey ghxx1! you seem to despise Gimp with a passion! you work for Adobe or something?? lol

[saida2323]

@Latinfairy777 lmao Not all of us have a spare 600 dollars lying around

[RaceMeNowhere]

I've followed what you have done in this video and it wouln't work it still apeared white..I even tried it with a .png file help?

[TheCinne]

right click go then to layer and then alpha channel

[BlackNig09]

what version is this?

[Theonegamefreak]

When I make my canvas size bigger for a picture I already have, it turns transparent and I can't draw on it. How do I make it turn white?

[Soulstealer020]

same thing

[malgalin]

You are making the canvas size bigger, but not the image layer. This means you create a transparent edge that is not part of the original image layer.

You can fix this by changing the layer size (or selecting layer to border size from the layers options.)

[Theonegamefreak]

Steps, please?

[Lagartija219]

you have to add the alpha channel to get the transpency then you can erase otherwise you will get white canvas not a transparent canvas

[reggea2100]

i would love to see u do a vid about making clothes in transparency, then colour it etc....'ave noticed most of u vid are like 2 yrs or so ago...are u still living and doin' vid to help newbie like my self? i wanna learn how to make clothes, copy paste etc

[alecom]

Right click the layer and select "add alpha channel". Sorted :)

[sammysam2006]

I superimposed a picture of timmy mallet onto a scene of a volcanic explosion :) wishful thinking lol!

[JaRaComedy]

i cant erase to transparent :( have tried this and it still wont work :(

[sammysam2006]

I had same problem. create a copy and then create a new transparent layer. put the copy layer above the blank layer. right click the copy and click "merge down" this will give you a transparent background when you erase

[JaRaComedy]

thank you :) will try it out soon

[HyperxXKittenxX]

you should ave done the tutorial this guy didnt help me at all thanks so much ;D

[bazookap1mp]

I made a duplicate but it still doesnt make it transparent.........

[RustyGriphphin]

It might have something to do with the different versions of Gimp.

You can solve it by:

1)selecting the layer

2)hitting ctrl+A to select all

3)hitting ctrl+C to copy

4)hitting ctrl+V to paste it as a floating selection

5)right-clicking the floating selection and selecting new layer

6)Deleting the old background layer

You'll notice that it's not in bold like the background layer is. I'm guessing that's why that layer supports transparency and the background layer does not.

Hope this helped :)

[RenoGregory]

yup that worked thanks

[tdzero]

yeah, this worked a lot faster

[Killerclownmeat]

Thanks mate, your videos are always helping me

[jackfordtrousers]

What little dustbin!? TEH HELL!?

[genesys117]

thank very much, you are such a help, I was feeling hopeless until I found your videos!

Gracias :O)

[jen0ty]

Cant under stand OR see so not helpful.

[sniktawleahcim]

i though there was some magic trick to this in gimp.. but i was wrong.

MS Paint would be just about as easy...

[fabsthegreat123]

Yes very helpful, appreciated.

[HansHenrikPwn]

quality's 2 bad.. f*kin youtube compression :/

[DallasJones]

Thank you to you and Jim! I learned two ways to do what I needed to do with GIMP and will probably be watching the rest of your videos over time. Thanks again!

[meish84]

Cheers for all the tutorials on the gimp. i thought like surf the skies that gimp was too confusing & i found it hard to use. but your tutorials r really easy to understand & make doing what u may think @ first is really complicated & hard to do an easy task. & gimp is free so happy days. :) i hope u make more in the future :)

[Tanye7730]

Thank you so much. That was very helpful. I used the eraser on the entire background because I didn't know about the lasso technique.

[SurfTheSkies]

You're awesome! Thank you so much for doing these tutorials and stuff. I'm certainly going to be looking through them in the coming weeks. I thought GIMP was uselessly confusing until I discovered your channel! Kudos!

[soollll]

peccato che è in inglese e io non lo capisco cosi bn !!!mi piacerebbe riuscirci..

uffffff

[sfs2261]

Very helpful.

[2UpDuc]

How can you just change the background to all white? You have the layer with him and the checker boxed area can you make that into white?

[BiaWhatever]

Thank you :)

[Fallen2grace]

THANK YOU. I've had GIMP for 3 years and never knew how to do this! Thank you British guy! ^____________^

[rccweaver]

think the other version was same as his now no gradiant box or brushes gimp needs to fix there downloads im going crazy

[rccweaver]

i have the version 2.6.3 and when i make a copy there is no checker part and there is no way to erase the background to get the image i want but my brushes work fine not like him im currently downloading a previous version maybe that would help but thanks for the videos and if you could help me out that would be great thanks

[victoryskater]

same here

[paullovesmusicc]

When you're duplicating it, instead of clicking "Duplicate Layer", try clicking "New From Visible".

[csplendrig]

thanks a lot that works.

[swgeek63092]

howcome brush sizes work for you, and not me? also how did you get your options into two different panels? i have the latest version of gimp.. or at least i'm pretty sure i do, but the help files are corrupted and incomplete, as well as brush sizes like i said before.. any help from anyone would be greatly appreciated.. THX :)

[1943possibilities]

Throughly enjoyed the tutorial you presented. I am relatively new to gimp. I found this very helpful. Thanks.

[NINJACHIMP08]

thanks, my other technique of getting transparant backgrounds sucked, thanks

[aaronr2000]

Excellent work. Thanks a ton for the insite. Trying to figure this out on my own was killing me.

[raragam]

Thanks for the insight on GIMP...guess I will check it out now..

[tommprjfc]

Brilliant tutorial man

[KeelyandAlyssa]

ThankS

[curtisford14]

Awesome thank's alot

[swaqqsoviciousz5]

mah dude

ii love yuuuu.!!!

that helped so much

[3AGL33YY3]

thanks that helped so much!!!!!!!

[berapperalive]

some one help me to restore my layers table icant seem to restore it

every time i start gimp its not there

[irltmp]

i believe it's

file->dialogs->create new dock->layers, channels, and paths

[curtisford14]

Oh and thank you

[Monster3234]

dude i was woah...beacuase when i made the paste part it came out on top the imagage! so im like what....then i look at ur tab and it has a t at the beginng and parent at the end so im like im so retarded...lol

[jessiemariemescher]

i forgot how to do this but now i rememba! thanks:P

[reetismatic]

You sexy little monster! I used to know this but I forgot and you saved me hahaah :p

[hoagiesmom]

Just what I needed. Thank you!

[whitingtons]

awesome again. keep it up.

[JanePstar]

How do you make the background transparent? thats the only isue im having..

[malgalin]

When working with a jpeg the background will always be white instead of transparent.

To add a transparent layer you need to add an alpha channel by right clicking the image and selecting add alpha channel (as basesku suggests below!)

[james01246]

ty so much!!! I have been trying to find out how to get invisible layers on gimp for months!

:D

[pacatooku]

I was very skeptical about the eraser, but it turned out great!!! Thanks a bunch!

[basesku]

u dont need to make a copy of the image to have the alpha channel(transparency)

just right click the image and select add alpha channel :)

good tutorial nevertheless

[ninetimes11]

Another great video many thanks.

[HeadDominion]

cool - but what on earth is the floating layer. Now I'm actually DOING while i watch - much more helpful!

[malgalin]

I think a floating layer is a temporary layer that needs to be anchored back to it's main layer after it's been moved or manipulated in some way.

Personally, I think it is much better to make a floating layer a new layer and the just 'merge all' of them back together again when the image is finished.

But to be honest, I'm just guessing...I always turn floating layers into new layers, so I've no experience in working with them...maybe I'll experiment...

[malgalin]

Yeah, just had a play with it.

A floating layer is simply a pasted layer, but there is a limited amount you can do with it...move, paint etc. and you can't work on another layer until you have either anchored it to the layer below or turned it into a new layer by right-clicking the layer in the layers dialog and selecting new layer

[wolfsnaps8888]

Awesome tutorial. You explain everything! Very nice....and sexy accent by the way...

[egmfan2]

awesome... super helpful...

[vedanta22]

How can we make it transparent(checked pattern)? Which key we need to press? I don't have 'Bleach key' in my key board.

Thanks.

[malgalin]

I think you misheard me...do you mean 'Delete Key'?

[vedanta22]

How can we make it transparent(checked pattern)? Which key we need to press? I don't have 'Bleach key' in my key board.

Thanks.

[elyon1219]

yes it works good and all but my version of gimp doesnt have the razor thing so some of the backround still be left in picture :[ please help me

[malgalin]

razor? do you mean the eraser? it's the little pink thing between the paint brush and air brush tools on main tool bar.

If you mean the crop tool - I think the newer versions of gimp simply have a newer icon for the crop tool. press shift+C as a shortcut key to the crop tool.  Alternatively, hover over each of the tools for a few seconds to see the name of each tool.

Finally, you may have a tool simply switched off. click File > Dialogs > Tools to see a list of all tools and their visibility

[elyon1219]

sorry i thought you said razor on the video and not eraser,but thanks it worked

[vedanta22]

How can we make it transparent(B/W checks)? Which key we need to press? I don't have 'Bleach key' in my key board.

Thanks.

[xantheir]

thank you for suggesting this video for me!

it help alot!

[newjokeaccount]

Ok cool. MERGE button will merge all the selected layers. ;)  See, Im learning. haha

[newjokeaccount]

Thanks a lot. You take your time and are very helpful. You are also nice as most people seem to forget that they too had to learn.

[Sccrchamp102]

you are my favorite person right now

[Laoch111]

Ace.

[colinnoden]

Great tutorials. Just the right speed, detail and clarity of your screen shot for us beginners. The hint about converting jpeg by creating a duplicate layer saved me from tossing my computer out the window! I'm still confused about this " alpha" channel and channels in general. But at least I can finally use the program.

[KittenAvalanche]

Dude-- you seriously give a great tutorial. Thanks for being so mindful to the viewer... I understand that such obvious things should be of primary concern to anyone who makes tutorials, but from the handful I've seen (here on YouTube and elsewhere) MANY other tutorials lack sufficient detail (regarding tool-specifics, locations of tools, etc.) and say "Look what *I* can do!", whereas yours assumes the viewer may not know very much about GIMP, and says "This has been made for YOU, the viewer".

[funkyrockdude]

just started using gimp on my linux eee pc and i find your tutorials great! thx alot

[pg1000000]

thankyou again for these tutorials

[ldwhitley]

thanks so much for the tutorials. they're great to help learn what gimp is capable of.

[Jarock123]

Thanks for the tutorial. It was very helpful.

[jsncirca]

this looks much harder and longer than ur other vid!

but good!!!