Creating Transparent Images

Caricature Studio 5.0 features a transparency tool which allows you to "erase" areas of an image that will appear transparent when pasted on top of another image. You can also use the Head On Body function to achieve the same effect.

  Note that transparent images must be a GIF or PNG image file! If you have an image in another file format and would like to create a transparent image from it, it must be saved in either of these formats.

GIF format: Smaller image size, limited to 256 colors. Best for web graphics or smaller graphics.

PNG format: Larger image size, better quality than GIF format. Best for photo-quality images.

To create transparent images:

1. Open an image file.
2. Select the Eraser tool from the icon toolbar.
3. Erase the areas you would like to be transparent. For instance, if you'd like to crop a head to paste on a body as in the example below, erase all around the head area. Tip: use the crop tool to select the image area first, to minimize the amount of erasing required. Use the Zoom function and different brush sizes for the best accuracy.

  Alternatively, you can use the Chromakey or Transparent Crop tools to create transparencies from images with solid background colors. For details, see the Help section Chromakey Function.

There are many creative ways to use transparent images! For instance, crop your head into a photo with a famous celebrity! Create a transparent image and then paste it into the original photo. See example below:

Original Celebrity Photo.

Your Photo. Create a transparency by erasing around the head.

When you've completely erased around the head, save the file. Remember that it must be a GIF file to retain the transparency, so save it in the GIF for PNG ormat.

Open the original celebrity photo. Insert the transparent image you've just created using the Insert > Clipart function.

  You can adjust the inserted image to more closely match the background image by using filter adjustments such as brightness, contrast and hue. This will allow you to create more realistic looking photos or celebrity fakes. For more details, see the Face Swap section of the Help file.