How to remove background in GIMP?

You must have faced multiple situations when you wanted to remove the background of an image but you didn't know how to do it successfully.

And then you may have Googled a query similar to 'transparent background remover' or 'how to make the background of an image transparent.

The point which I want to convey is that you may get online tools that claim to remove the backgrounds of your images successfully but are not that helpful.

It is so because they have pre-written code for their tool which may or may not be relevant to the requirement of your image.

So, here rises the need to have the power of editing in your hand and not to be dependent on a pre-coded tool.

One such powerful tool which you can use for removing the background of an image is GIMP.

You can also use other software similar to GIMP but the reason why I recommend using it to remove background from an image is that it is free software but have a good number of useful features.

While other software such as Adobe Photoshop can be costly for a beginner who has just started to learn photo editing. If you are not aware of what GIMP is, you can have a look at this short GIMP Tutorial in which I have broken down nearly all its basic features which you need to know before using this software.

In this article, I will be discussing how you can make the background of your desired image transparent using GIMP software.

You can use these images for your Instagram, YouTube or Facebook logo and other purposes as well.

Read Also: How to Resize an Image in GIMP

So, without wasting any time, let's get started...

The best ways to make the background of an image transparent using GIMP

There are several tools in GIMP which you can use to follow different methods which would ultimately help you to remove the background from your image.

But some of these ways are too complicated to be understood as a beginner.

So, in this post, I have summarised the easiest methods using which you can remove the background from your images successfully without getting into any complications.

Method 1: Fuzzy Select Tool

This method is very useful for images where there is a clear distinction between the background and the foreground.

If you are not aware of what foreground is, here is the part which you want to keep from your image while removing the background.

To remove the background using Fuzzy Select Tool in GIMP, follow the below steps-

Advice: If you are a beginner to GIMP, I recommend that you go through my beginner's tutorial to GIMP where you'll get to know about the basic tools and terms related to GIMP which I am going to use in this article.

1. Open GIMP on your PC or laptop and double-click anywhere in the working area.
   
2. After that, the file picker window will open on your screen. Here, select the image whose background you want to remove.
3. Now the image you selected will get opened on your screen. On the lower right side of your screen, you will find the Layers panel where you will find the name of your image mentioned. Right-click over that layer name (mentioned as the image name) and select Add Alpha Channel.
   If this option is greyed out it means that the option is selected and you are ready to get started.
   
   
   Note: Adding Alpha Channel ensures that when you delete your background, it gets deleted to transparency.
4. After that, head over to the toolbox present on the top left of your screen. From here select the Fuzzy Select tool.
   Note: If you cannot locate the tool in your toolbox section then look for the Select by Color option and right-click on it. After that, a drop-down menu will appear from which you can select the Fuzzy Select tool.
5. When you select the tool, you'll get the advanced tool panel for the tool where you can adjust the setting for your selected tool. It will be located either on the top right corner or the lower left side of your screen. In this panel make sure that you have Antialiasing, Feather Edges and Draw Mask selected.
   
   
   Note: Antialiasing: This will ensure that when you cut your foreground from the background, the edges get smooth so that the image looks normal and not a rough cut-out.
   Feather Edges: This option ensures the clarity of the fine details of the outer parts of your image when you cut it out from its background. The effect of this option becomes more prominent when using the Paths Select method which we'll discuss later in this article.
   Draw Mask: This option draws a coloured overlay over the party of the image you have selected to distinguish it from the rest parts of the image.
6. After selecting the tool, click on the area of your image which you want to remove. A patch of pink colour or grey and white colour will cover the part of your image which is selected.
   
7. You can hold and move your mouse pointer to move your selection. The entire background will not get selected at once (usually).
8. After you have selected a part to be deleted, press the delete key from your keyboard. If pressing the key does not work, then head over to the taskbar and select the Edit tab and from its drop-down menu select the Clear option.
   
9. After you delete the selected part, it will turn black and white indicating that it's transparent. Now, repeat this process to delete the rest of the unwanted parts of your image.
   
10. After you are done with all the deleting work, to save the file head over to the taskbar located at the top of the screen. Select the File tab from there and then from the drop-down menu click on the Export As option.
    
11. Now, a new window will appear on your screen. Here, click on the Select File Type (By Extension) and select the PNG option from the displayed list. Now click on the Export button and your file will get saved with a transparent background.
    
    
    Note: Here we have chosen the PNG as our file format because it allows us to save our image with a transparent background which JPEG cannot do.

Read Also: Google Home Mini Vs Amazon Echo Dot (3rd Gen)

Method 2: Select By Color Tool

This method works best on images that have simple single-coloured background such as illustrations.

1. Open your image in GIMP using the previous method.
   
2. After that make sure that you have added Alpha Channel to your current image layer. Again, make sure that Antialiasing, Feather Edges and Draw Mask are selected.
3. Now head over to the toolbox and right-click on the Fuzzy Select tool. A drop-down menu will appear from which you need to select the Select By Color option. (In some cases you may find the Select By Color tool directly in your toolbox)
   
4. After you are done with selecting the tool, click anywhere in the background of your image so that it gets selected.
   
5. Now press the delete key from your keyboard or click on the Clear option from the Edit tab located in the taskbar, on top of your screen.
   
6. After deleting the background, go to the File tab and select the Export As option from there.
7. Now, from the next window which appears, save your image in the PNG format following the similar pattern as followed for the previous method.

Method 3: Paths Tool

This method is ideal for images which complicated background or foreground (such as hair or bushes). This method takes a bit more manual work and patience than other methods need.

1. Open your image in GIMP and make sure that Alpha Channel is added to your image layer.
   
2. Now select the Paths Tool from the GIMP toolbox located in the top left corner.
3. Using this tool, start outlining the part of the image (foreground) which you want to keep. You can adjust the outline by using the handles around it.
   
4. After you are done with the tracing work, join the outline to the original point, where you started from, by pressing the Ctrl key from your keyboard and then clicking the original point.
   
5. Now, press the Enter key from your keyboard. Your selection is now selected which we need to invert to delete.
6. So, head over to the taskbar and click on the Select tab and from the drop-down menu, which gets displayed now, select Invert.
   
7. Now your background is successfully selected and you can delete it by pressing the Delete key from your keyboard or selecting the Clear option from the Edit tab.
   
8. Now to remove those highlighted lines (indicating selection), again head over to the Select tab and this time from the drop-down menu, which gets displayed, select None.
   
9. After carrying out the deleting work, you can save your image in the PNG format by following the above method.

Conclusion

Deleting the background in GIMP is an easy task if you follow any of the above three methods carefully and requires little technical knowledge. You can then use your converted image as your YouTube, Facebook or Instagram logo or for any other purpose, as you need it.

If you get stuck at any of the above steps, you can always reach out to me through the comment section. I'll be happy to help :)