Transparency
The ability to make portions of an image transparent, essential for creating logos, icons with clear backgrounds, and image compositing.
Transparency makes specific image regions see-through, controlled by the alpha channel which defines each pixel's opacity (0-255 or 0-1). This enables 256 levels of semi-transparency from fully transparent (alpha 0) to fully opaque (alpha 255).
Major formats supporting transparency include PNG (8-bit alpha), WebP, AVIF, and GIF (1-bit transparency only). JPEG does not support transparency, so PNG or WebP must be used for images requiring clear backgrounds.
The background removal tool automatically detects subjects and makes backgrounds transparent. Transparent PNGs are standard for logos and icons, allowing natural placement over any background color on websites. CSS opacity controls entire element transparency but is conceptually distinct from image-level alpha.