Handle Background Transparency in Snagit Editor Like You Would in Photoshop

While working on a tutorial for a new site, I needed to remove the black background from some of the screenshots I had done with Snagit. While I have Photoshop, I am not at all familiar with the software. BUT, I use SnagIt on a daily basis. Off to my friend Google to see if I can find a tutorial, Yep Handle Background Transparency in Snagit Editor Like You Would in Photoshop by Austin Krause.

Step 1: Open your image in Snagit Editor or capture your screenshot which will automatically open the SnagIt Editor.

Step 2: Select Draw on the menu > Select the Fill tool.

Step 2: Select under the Styles category > Click the Fill drop-down list.  From the drop-menu, Select Transparent.

Step 3: Click the Fill drop-menu again, this time Select Tolerance > and then 5% or 10%.

Step 4: Use the fill tool to recolor your background area to transparent.  The extra multi-shade white pixels that are around the images outline should also be turned transparent based on what you set the Tolerance to.

Now that your image has a transparent background you can add shadows, colors, or any other effects.  You might also find this useful for pasting images on-top of other images.

If you have any problems with leftover pixels around the outline of your image, just go into the Fill style and set your Tolerance to a higher level. If you set the Tolerance too high it might start removing pixels that you wanted to keep.

Now you have a quick and easy way to remove the backgrounds from images you might want to use on your web pages.

Written July 2012