Transparent GIFs are image files where one color in the image is identified as being transparent, i.e. it has no color of it's own and takes on the color of the background on which it is set. This allows some interesting effects since it is possible to "stack" transparent GIFs on top of one another and easily produce some illusions of depth, but the main use is simply to add a picture to an HTML document without also adding a "halo" of the GIFs own background color.
Transparent GIFs are in a format called GIF89a. Older graphics software doesn't produce this format. I was using Lview1B which doesn't produce it, but the latest version, Lview1D does produce it. That's the good news. The bad news, if you are a windows 3.1 user, is that Lview1D is a 32-bit program and you will also have to download a piece of software called Win32s which allows your 16-bit machine to run 32-bit programs. The final piece of news, however, is good. I've loaded both pieces of software with no problems. You can retrieve them from theLview Home Page. This is shareware and it will cost $30.
To make the GIF transparent, load the file and click on "Retouch", "Background Color", and "Dropper". This gives you a little "eye-dropper" with which you can determine the exact color of a single pixel on your graphic. Point it to the background area of your picture and jot down the color - it will appear as three values between 0 and 255 representing the red, green, and blue portion of the color. 255,255,255 is white and 0,0,0 is black. Next click on "File" and "Properties", this will produce a screen full of options. Click on "GIF" and make sure that both "Save interlaced" and "Save transparent color information" are selected. Then click on "Contact Sheet", make sure that "Transparent Text Background" is selected, and click on "Edit Color" in the background area. This will give you a screen on which you can enter the three values you saved earlier. Finally, make sure you save the file as a GIF89a or all of the above will become a no-op.
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