#INKSCAPE MAKE WHITE TRANSPARENT SERIES#

The alpha channel slider is all the way to 100. The fill color for my object is selected, and is set to 'white' (RGBA: ffffffff). Colors show just fine, but white, or any of the lighter shades of any color all show transparent, or a partially transparent. Now, one of the objects in my design is transparent, though it should be white. So, I followed a YouTube video for making the background transparent. When I exported a PNG, it exported it with a white background, even though it wasn't designed with one. I got a new laptop last weekend & installed Inkscape 1.1. Let’s hope Inkscape makes this a little easier in the future.I've been using Inkscape for several years now (though, I'm certainly no expert! Everything I know is 'self taught' - mostly discovered by accident. In Inkscape, the process is a little more inefficient because you have to remove the mask first, adjust the black and white gradient (hoping that it lines up how you’ll like it,) and then apply it again. This makes it easy to get your mask lined up exactly how you like it. When creating opacity masks in Illustrator, you can alter the mask directly on the canvas, after it’s already been applied: One downside of using Inkscape for this type of task is the lack of control. I also demonstrate other ways of working with photos in Inkscape, like clipping paths. You can learn more about working with raster images in my Inkscape Master Class where I go over these things in more detail. It’s a great tool to have handy when designing things like headers, banners, flyers, or anything else where your design work includes a mix of vector and raster graphics. I regularly use this feature myself to create partial transparency for images more than anything. ConclusionĪpplying an opacity mask with Inkscape is a rather simple process that can be used to change the opacity of your designs in some pretty creative ways. This makes it easy to reverse the direction of your transparency gradient without having to manually move the stop around with the Gradient Tool. Simply look for the little arrow icon that reads “ reverse the direction of the gradient” when you hover your cursor over it: You can easily reverse the gradient using the tool settings. One final tip I’d like to mention before closing out this tutorial is that you can easily reverse your gradient in the Gradient Tool settings. And just so you know, you can apply your opacity mask to raster images as well: Masks can be applied to virtually anything in Inkscape, including raster images! Just make sure to bring the opacity back up to 100% before applying it as a mask, otherwise your masked object will also have partial transparency once applied.Īs you can see, the outer edges of the subject became transparent, whereas the insides remained opaque. Tip: reducing the opacity of your mask can help you visualize where it lines up with your subject. You can change the positions of the stops in the gradient, the type of gradient, or any other aspect you’d like changed.įor this demonstration, I will change the gradient to a radial gradient: Opacity masks will work with any type of gradient, whether it be linear, radial, or mesh.Īnd here’s how it looks once applied to the subject as an opacity mask: With the radial mask applied, the inside of the subject remains visible, whereas the outer edges transition into transparency. Once the mask is released you can then adjust it. This will release the mask and bring you back to where you started: To remove the mask, select your subject and navigate to Object > Mask > Release. Or, in other words, it can easily be undone. One of the benefits of masking is that it’s non-destructive. If at any point you’d like to adjust the transparency levels of your opacity mask, you first have to release it from the subject. This will apply the rectangle as an opacity mask with Inkscape: How the subject looks with the mask applied. It is positioned op top of the subject.Īll you have to do now is select both the mask and the subject at the same time, then navigate Object > Mask > Set. Position your mask over the subject and make sure that it covers it completely: The mask is a rectangle with a linear gradient applied. For this demonstration, I will be creating a rectangle with a linear gradient going from black to white. Now we need to create the object that will be used as a mask. It’s important to ensure that your objects are grouped together, otherwise the opacity mask will not work as intended.

#INKSCAPE MAKE WHITE TRANSPARENT SERIES#

For this demonstration I will be applying it to a series of objects that have been grouped together: The opacity mask will be applied to this vector avatar. To create an opacity mask with Inkscape we first need an object to apply it to.

Inkscape make white transparent