How To Make a Background Transparent In Canva
Lots of the time when we make graphics in Canva, we want the full thing. The photo, the text, the different elements and effects. But there are situations where we just want the main focus and that’s when knowing how to make a background transparent in Canva is important.
Why would you need a transparent background?
The most common use for a transparent background is when you want to layer images, like scene creators or flat lay images. Say you create a logo for your blog then you want to download this and add it to the bottom of a social media graphic. If you download it with a normal white background, there will be a white block around it when you upload it again.
But if you download it with a transparent background, only the actual logo will appear on the new graphic. Of course, you’ll still need to think about the contrast between the image and the logo to make sure it shows up.
How to make a background transparent in Canva
To start with, create the design that you want to use as normal. Here’s a pretend logo for some camera training to show.
Once the image is ready and just as you want it, select the normal download option. But make sure you select the box for a transparent background. Download the image.
Now you can upload the image again to Canva with the background being transparent.
Create the design you want to add it to and pop the logo in place. If you have a photo behind the image, hold down Command or CTRL to stop the logo image from automatically replacing the photo.
Then resize to the right size for the graphic and you are ready to download the new finished image with the logo in place.
How to remove a background from an image
As well as making a background transparent, you can also remove the background from an image with a single click if you have a Canva Pro account.
This works best on photos that have a clearly defined background but you can test it on all sorts of things.
Click on the Effects panel and the background remover is at the top of the list. Click it and see how the results work, it’s also a great way to create a white background product photo.
If you are happy with it, then you can simply use the image as required. If you think you need to adjust the image to erase or restore some pieces, use the brush tools to do this before you apply the final edit.
Download it with a transparent background and overlap it into other images in the same way as the logo above.
Customising your designs
Features such as transparent backgrounds allow you to customise your designs in lots of different ways. It also makes it easy to add a subtle watermark style effect to images or to add some branding to social media graphics or Pinterest pins. If you want to check out all the other great features Canva has, check out our Canva Tutorials.
How could you use the transparent background feature for your blog?
