UNDERSTANDING IMAGE TRANSPARENCY

If you don't want to take the time to understand this concept now (you will need to sooner or later), okay.  Bottom line:  if you use the MCSD logo, please use a white background (page/table/cell) for one of the two images at the bottom of this page.

Study the variables in the chart below.  Note that options a and c have image backgrounds that distract from the image.  In the other four options, the image background is not an issue. In option e, the image background matches the cell background.  In b, d, and f, the image background is transparent.

If you are able to match the background of the image with the background of the table/cell/page (option e), then it looks like the image background is transparent.  If you are NOT able to make this match, then your image needs a transparent background.

If the background is transparent, the background color of the table/cell/page shows through the image background.

There are a few guidelines for making transparent backgrounds:

• Only one color in an image can be transparent.
• The color designated as transparent should not be used elsewhere in the image.
• Only gif images can have transparent backgrounds.
• Photographs are not good candidates for transparency because they have so many colors throughout the images.

Changing the Background Color of an Image in FrontPage 2003

To make this change, you need the Pictures Toolbar.  View | Toolbars.  (Toolbars can be floating or docked.)  Click the image.  Click the transparent color icon.  Click the image background color.  If the image is not already a gif, you will have to save it as a gif.  NOTE:  Some images do not convert well!

Another example of the background/transparency issue is the the seal on the MCSD website.  It appears on the website with the variables in option g.  The image background is the same color as the cell background, so the image looks transparent, when it actually has a navy background.  (For several reasons, this particular image does not convert well into a transparent image.)  But the image can have a white or black background.  These options work well if the image is displayed on a white or black background.

Background Options	Image with Navy Background		Image with White Background		Image with Black Background
Image with a white background, showing the actual colors of the image	a		b		c
Image with a background of a color different from the image's background	d		e		f
Image with a  background of a color the same as the image's background	g		h		i

If you don't want to take the time to understand this concept now (you will need to sooner or later), okay.  Bottom line:  if you use the MCSD logo, please use one of these images on a white background: