A transparent background is the perfect helper when you’re preparing product photos, collages, or other creative edits. And meanwhile it’s easy to set up. All you need is some basic work with selections, layers, and masks. And then in a couple of minutes you’ve prepared a picture that you can use for jobs like creating posters and invitations.

The basic option here is to erase the background by selecting it and then pressing Delete. But there’s actually a handier and more practical option—layers and masks in Zoner Photo Studio X. Use these, and you’ll be able to go back and adjust your selection later. And you won’t have to worry about mistakes.

The Foundation for a Transparent Background Is a Selection

Open the picture in the Editor and choose a selection tool. Generally the Polygonal or Magnetic Lasso will be the best choice.

For this example, we’ll demonstrate work with the Magnetic Lasso. Activate it and enclose the object as precisely as possible. The Polygonal Lasso tends to be better when the object has clear borders.

When making your selection, work bit by bit to create an outline. If you misclick and put a point in the wrong place, just press Delete to delete the last point that you placed.

Add a Mask

Once your selection is ready, add a mask by clicking on the Mask icon and then on Reveal Selection.

All that will remain is the object that you selected. And now you’re basically done—the background is gone.

But you may find out that your selection wasn’t precise. In that case, you can go on and fine-tine it a bit. Activate the Drawing Tools, select the Brush (B),  and draw onto the mask. Drawing in black erases, while drawing in white adds on.

A Transparent Mask Offers Unlimited Possibilities

Now you can save your image. To keep the background transparent, save it to the PNG format. And then you can use your image at any time for things like creating collages, without having to erase its background again.

And if for example you want to add a different background to your picture, just create a new layer and drag it downward in the layer list. Then you can paste or draw anything you want into it. Try a radial gradient, for example.

How you use your picture with a transparent background is all up to you. And meanwhile, you can handle the basic steps in just minutes. Just choose the photo that you want to edit, download Zoner Photo Studio X for free, and take advantage of the 30 free days to get to work.