Uploading a transparent PNG to Etsy, where the empty areas render black rather than white.
Editing and retouching
Transparency
Also called transparent image, see-through background or image transparency. Here is what it means, when it changes what you export, and what people get wrong.
Editing and retouchingRuns on your deviceUpdated 10 August 2026
The short answer
Transparency is the part of an image where there is nothing to show, so whatever sits behind it shows through. It can be all or nothing, where a pixel is either solid or invisible, or graduated, where pixels are partly see-through to give soft edges and believable shadows.
Updated
The short version
Transparency at a glance
| Quick fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Two kinds | Binary (on or off) and graduated (256 levels) |
| Stored in | An alpha channel |
| Formats that keep it | PNG, WebP, AVIF, TIFF, HEIC, GIF (1-bit) |
| Format that cannot | JPEG |
| Shown in editors as | A grey and white checkerboard |
Slide the table sideways to see every column.
What is the difference between binary and graduated transparency?
Binary transparency gives each pixel one of two states, visible or not. GIF works this way. It is fine for a hard-edged shape such as a square icon, but on any curve or diagonal it produces a stepped, jagged outline, and it cannot represent a soft shadow.
Graduated transparency lets a pixel be partly opaque, using the 256 levels of an 8-bit alpha channel. This is what PNG, WebP, AVIF, TIFF and HEIC provide. It is the reason a properly cut product photo can keep an anti-aliased outline, a strand of hair or a shadow that darkens whatever it is placed on.
Why does transparency vanish when you save a JPEG?
JPEG has no channel in which to record it. The format stores brightness and colour only, so there is nowhere to put the fourth number that says how see-through a pixel is. When you export a transparent image to JPEG, the editor composites it against a background colour first, almost always white, and that fill becomes ordinary pixels.
The same thing happens quietly in a lot of other places: pasting into a document, uploading to a service that converts everything to JPEG, or flattening a layered file. Once it is baked in there is no way to recover the transparency, so keep the original PNG or the layered master.
Where does transparency cause problems?
Transparency is not always welcome at the destination. A few cases worth knowing before you upload:
- Etsy does not support transparent PNGs, and transparent areas show up black in listing photos.
- Amazon's product image requirements state that the main image needs a pure white background (RGB 255,255,255), so a transparent file has to be flattened onto white first.
- Walmart Marketplace also expects a pure white background on the main image.
- Print workflows flatten transparency at output, and complex transparency can behave unpredictably in older print pipelines, which is why hard-edged products are often supplied with a clipping path instead.
Transparency earns its keep where the backdrop is genuinely variable: logos over a coloured header, product shots dropped into themed sections of a store, overlays, app icons, and anything you may want to recolour behind later.
What people get wrong about transparency
Each one is a real failure mode, not a style preference.
Judging transparency by how it looks on a white page in a browser, which hides the fact that the file is actually opaque white.
Using GIF for a transparent logo with rounded corners and getting a stepped, jagged outline.
Questions people ask
Transparency, answered
The follow-up questions people search for once they have the definition.
How can I tell if an image is really transparent?
Open it over a strongly coloured or dark background rather than a white page. If the background area takes on that colour, the transparency is real. If it stays white, the file is opaque and the white is genuine pixels.
Does transparency make the file bigger?
Somewhat. The alpha channel is extra data, though large areas of fully transparent or fully opaque pixels compress efficiently. The expensive part is a long, detailed semi-transparent edge such as hair or fur.
Why does my transparent image show white on my website?
Because the page behind it is white. Transparency shows whatever is underneath, so on a white page the result looks identical to a white background. Put the same file on a coloured section to confirm the transparency is working.
Can a photo be partly transparent rather than fully?
Yes. With an 8-bit alpha channel any pixel can be set anywhere between invisible and solid, so you can fade an entire photo, hold a soft shadow, or keep the semi-transparent look of glass and fabric at the edges of a cut-out.
Same cluster
More from the glossary
Neighbouring entries, so every term in the set is one hop from every other.
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Sources
Where the facts on this page come from. Every link opens the specification, standard or documentation the claim was read at.
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