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Transparent PNGs, honestly explained
A transparent PNG lets a product sit on any background — your site’s colours, a banner, a catalogue. What transparency actually is, how to keep it through editing, and the honest limits of prepping one.
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Step by step
- Start from a cutout you made in a photo editor, or a photo shot on a clean single-colour background that your editor can key out.
- Save and keep the file as PNG — JPG has no transparency and will fill the empty area with white.
- Resize and compress the PNG here for web use, checking edges at 100% zoom for halos.
- Place it on your real background and export the final composite as JPG for listings that need one.
Tips from people who do this a lot
- A faint fringe of the old background colour around edges is called a halo — zoom in and check before publishing.
- Transparent PNGs are heavy; for big catalogues, composite onto your standard background and ship JPGs instead.
- No honest tool removes a background from a busy photo in one click and nails every hair and shadow — be suspicious of any that promise it free.
FAQ
Why did my transparent image turn white?
Something in the chain saved it as JPG. Convert back to PNG immediately and re-check after every step.
PNG or WEBP for transparent product shots?
WEBP supports transparency and is smaller; PNG is the safer choice when other software must open the file.
Is this really free?
Yes — every tool on this site is free. A short ad before your download is what pays the server bills, so nothing needs a paywall or an account.