Removing the White in the background of Pics

[Silverkin]

I've downloaded a lot of pictures for my campaign and most of them have a white background which doesn't look too good. What is the easiest way to get rid of that white background in pics and use the tokens in my campaign?

Also some of the tokens are too big that even when I make them as small as possible they are still too big for the grid to fit. What's the best program to use/ or method to use to change the pics sizes?

[Ken L]

You're simply going to just have to use an image editor of your choice to blot it out. There's really no other way.

[Silverkin]

I've never used an image editor before. What's the best one you recommend which is free?

Would I have to hand draw around the edges of the picture? Seems awfully hard to make perfect outline of a picture.

[Andraax]

GIMP. Load image, add an alpha channel, select the outside using the "magic wand" (just click anywhere on the background, it should select all of it), press delete. Then export it as PNG (JPEG will remove the alpha channel).

[Silverkin]

Awesome, that sounds easy, thx! ill give it a try

[Silverkin]

Ok, i downloaded GIMP and then I went file -> open image and got my image of a Gnoll uploaded.

Then I went layer -> transparency -> add alpha channel

Then I clicked on the white part of the picture and hit delete but it just deleted the whole pic. I tried again this time on the actual picture, that didn't work again. I tried another picture and the white portion of picture again but every time it just deletes the whole picture. I've tried a few times now nothing is working.

Could someone help?

[TheMookNet]

Hiya, Silverkin, just a drive-by but... when you "clicked on the white part of the picture," was it with the default pointer, or with the "magic wand" tool?

[Silverkin]

MookNet, you were correct I wasn't using the magic wand. Now I used it and the white part disappeared. So thanks for that!

I have 1 issue with putting my tokens onto pre - created maps I found online. The size of the token aren't going as small as I need them too. And when I zoom out the tokens show up way too big for the grid. Any thoughts on that? You guys have been great at helping me out!

[Silverkin]

One additional question - first time running a small dungeon. If I was to have 4 gnolls in 1 room, and another couple gnolls in a different room. I added the 6 different gnolls onto combat tracker.

I'm using 'mask' so the PC's dont see the gnolls until they enter that room. How exactly am I supposed to run battle/combat tracker with monsters in different rooms?

[Valarian]

If the background is a single colour, GIMP also has a "Colour to Alpha" option under the Colour menu. This replaces all instances of the selected colour (e.g. white) with a transparent alpha channel.