Hi I was wondering how to make a gif file with a transparent background that does not have the edges messed up when using it on the web like without the white that is left because i want to do that with my logo but I need help.

You need some half decent software that lets you do it. If you send it to me i can do this in Fireworks.

As for the future, there may be some free stuff you can use. I'm no graphics expert, but I think the open source community has some decent software.

John,
The easiest way is to create the image with the same background color as used on the website.
Don't use white. Also, try to touch-up the image by deleting the extra pixels around the edges.

Only other alternative that I know is to create the image in png format.

Try moving the image to imageready then go to file > save optimized as

Thank you.

The only alternate i know is to make the file in png format ....

turn anti-aliasing off

Yes, but turning off the anti-aliasing will usually give your graphic a bad case of the jaggies.

I know this thread is relatively old, I like the replies already here, but I think it needs some embellishment. I'm familiar with the whole .gif thing and have been frustrating myself over the .mng standard which doesn't work in ANY browser.

Gif only supports 256 colors and one transparent opacity. That means it will select one of those colors and denote it as "not there." That doesn't allow for any half transparencies such as the Alpha channel which is supported by the .png standard.

I've only used PSP, so I couldn't give you any instructions on what to do in other editors, and I can't do as much with The Gimp, or other freeware editors, but what I would do is to create the image on a transparent background and save it in the native format, in this case it will be .psp, or pspimage. This saves the layering information and such.

You will need to anti-alias the edge of the image. The quickest way is to make sure your image is set to 16 Million colors and reduce the size using filtering that designates tones for the edge such as "Smart Size." If you can't reduce the image, you can use the selection tool. In PSP it's called "Magic Wand." Select the transparent area, then expand that to as many pixels as you will need in relation to the size of the image. Next you will need to use a second border to the selection. In PSP hold down the control key, then use the "Magic Wand" a second time in the transparent reigion.

You should have a double dotted line running around the edge of your image with one line around the hard edge of the image, and the second within the color of the image several pixels from the other. Select your soften brush, use a comfortable size, set the hardness to 100%, and run it around the edge to remove the "jaggies."

As for the "White Background," you are painting on a white background, or you are saving it with the transparent background while the program will denote a background color, usually white. You would need to put a background color that's close to the color you want, merge the layers, then set the background color as a transparent opacity.

If you use the Ping standard, you will have no problems with all this goofiness, it was going to be the one true web format, but Compuserve developed Gif, knocking that standard out of it's position.

Cap'n!

The best results are achieved with manual selection around the image. Selection skills , a good eye and a steady hand beat automated results everytime.

Andrew