How To Make A Background Transparent In Inkscape

In this tutorial I'll exist demonstrating how to make your SVG background transparent in Inkscape. This can be done past simply ticking a box in the Document Properties carte.

SVG Format

Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG for short) is the native file format that Inkscape runs on. Whenever yous open up up a fresh Inkscape canvas, you're working on an SVG file in the SVG environs, and that's the format you'll have to salve your document as if you'd like to be able to edit it after.

Making The SVG Background Transparent

When you open up Inkscape you may be confused to see that the background of the sheet is white by default.

Inkscape white background — Inkscape opens with a white background past default

Although the document may announced to have a white background, it'south really a transparent background. They just made it white because they had to fill information technology with something. If yous were to consign anything from your document to PNG format though, you'd clearly see that at that place'due south a transparent background.

If you'd like to make your SVG background transparent in the sense that it displays a grayscale checkerboard pattern (like GIMP and other applications do) instead of white, you can do then past navigating to File > Certificate Properties and ticking the box that read Checkerboard Background.

Once ticked, your checkerboard background should render in Inkscape in real time…

Your SVG background volition be no more (or less) transparent than information technology previously was when information technology was filled with white. This just changes the brandish, which can be really helpful if you lot're working with a lot of white objects.

Filling The Background with Color

Finally, if you lot'd like the background of your SVG to have a color fill, this can also be accomplished via the Document Properties menu. Only click on the white stripe positioned next to where it says Background Color. A colour selector will pop up on your screen.

It's important to note that your SVG groundwork will continue to be transparent despite the color fill as long equally the A column (which represents the transparency of the colour) remains at 0. If you'd like the document to really have that background colour (even on exports) and so yous can bring that column up from 0 to 100.

And that should exercise information technology for working with backgrounds in Inkscape. If yous have whatever questions that weren't addressed in this postal service simply leave a comment below and I'll write back if I can help.

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