How to Make Icon With a Transparent Background

Ryan Barnett · September 05, 2024

 

Whether designing an app, website, or corporate presentation, transparent branding icons enhance visuals and convey ideas more effectively. Since they are transparent, they blend smoothly with different backgrounds and maintain a consistent look of various interfaces.

This can be achieved through multiple digital software; if you aren't aware of any of them, you are at the right place. Without further delay, read this article and learn how to make an icon transparent through the stepwise guides given next.

Way 1. How to Make Icon With Transparent Background Online With insMind

The foremost approach to making an icon transparent comes with insMind software's AI background remover tool. Instead of using complicated software to create transparent icons, try this tool, which is equipped with AI and automates the process. With just a tap, it eliminates the background from images, turns them into high-quality PNGs, or even lets you add your preferred background behind them.

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As this tool handles intricate details like hair and product edges while removing backgrounds, you must follow the steps ahead to understand how it works in real-time:

Step 1. Search the Background Remover from insMind 

Access the main website of insMind, which is available on Google Chrome, Safari, and other browsers. Hover over its "Free Tools" option at the top-left to get an expanded menu, and select the "Background Remover" option.   

Step 2. Upload Your Icon Image to Proceed on the Webpage

After finding the background remover webpage, drop your icon file in the dedicated area or press the "Upload a photo" button to upload it.

Step 3. Get a Transparent Icon or Add Background from the Library 

Once the icon is uploaded, its background will be automatically removed before it is displayed. Now, head to the top right and download the icon with a background if you need a transparent one. Otherwise, go to the left panel and click on your preferred background to apply it to the icon.

Step 4. Apply AI Backgrounds and Download in Required Formats 

Optionally, use the "AI Background" option from the left panel to access AI-generated backgrounds. Upon deciding on a background or keeping it transparent, navigate to the "Download" button at the top-right. Click that to export the transparent icon to your system in "PNG" format. If you added a background in the icon, choose "JPG" format before hitting the "Download" button.

Way 2. How to Make Icons with Transparent Backgrounds in Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is a well-known image editor with a background remover feature to achieve polished and clean images. It can craft transparent icons but sometimes leaves rough edges that editors refine manually with brushes and repetitive processes. To understand how to use this advanced editor, you must see the simplest operations ahead, showing background removal from icons:

Step 1. Open your icon on Photoshop and click the "Wand Tool" on the left toolbar. From the extended menu, select the "Magic Wand Tool" option at the bottom and move to the top bar.  

Step 2. There set the "Sample Size" to "3 by 3 Average" and "Tolerance" to "32." 

Step 3. Click the background of your icon and press the "Layer Mask" icon at the bottom right. Afterward, hit the "CTRL + I" keys from your keyboard to remove the background. If any traces remain, you can repeat the process again to make the icon transparent and save the image in PNG format. 

Way 3. How to Make Icon with a Transparent Background in Canva 

From whiteboards to flyers, presentations, logos, and resume templates, Canva is an all-around design creator, editor, and template provider. With AI integration, it has an AI background remover to achieve transparency in icons with precision and minimal effort. The following instructions demonstrate how to make an icon transparent to witness its straightforwardness compared with other options:

Step 1. Go to the main page of Canva and access the background eraser tool with a blank page. Press the "Choose File" button to upload the icon with a background.

Step 2. Once it's displayed, click the "Remove Background" button and wait for the removal process to begin.  

Step 3. After finding the desired outcome, go to the top right and press the "Share" button to get an extended list. There, choose the "Download" option to access more download-related options.

Step 4. Toggle the "Transparent Background" option and select "PNG" format from the "File Type" section. Finally, use the "Download" button to export the transparent icon to your desired settings.

Part 4. Other Free Sites to Find Transparent Icons: 10 Leading Websites 

If you don't wish to delve into the complexities of making transparent app icons, there are websites you can use to find one that is transparent. To help you access the best match for your needs, we have listed down the top 10 websites that provide transparent icons in various formats:

1. Shutterstock 

The first on the list is Shutterstock, which provides photos, 3D objects, vectors, illustrations, sound effects, music, and videos for your needs. You can browse transparent icons by adding a related keyword and downloading them in the required format. Also, users can upload an image in PNG and JPG formats and search for icons related to it.   

2. Flaticon 

With more than 2000 transparent icons, Flaticon would be an excellent website to access icons in your preferred color and shape. Regarding shape, you can choose outline, fill, hand-drawn, and lineal color filters to narrow down your search. Additionally, users can select the pixels if they download in PNG format after deciding on one icon.  

3. PNGTree

Another dedicated stock media provider is PNGTree, which provides free vector designs and transparent app icons to download in EPS and PNG formats. Users can narrow their search with topic filters such as flags, cars, flowers, logos, weddings, and watercolors. Besides icons, it can offer PowerPoint, videos, illustrations, backgrounds, and text effects that anyone can access alongside their detailed information.

4. The Noun Project 

It is a relatively new platform for transparent branding icons, but it has a basic editing panel to polish icons before saving them. It claims to have over 7 million icons in liquid, glass, opacity, transparency, and water categories. Through its editing panel, users can fix icon color, background color, and layout from square, rounded circle, and ring options.

5. IconFinder

One of the most popular stalk media providers is IconFinder, but it has limited icon-transparent options, either in pattern, filled, or glass outlook. If you choose one icon, it will let you use it commercially without attributions and modify colors using its color editor. Besides icons, you can browse its 3D illustrations and stickers from solid, outline, semi-solid, and filled outline styles.

6. Vecteezy

Whether you want icons, logic, vectors, images, templates, SVGs, or PNGs, this website caters to all. Particularly under the transparent icon keyword, Vecteezy facilitates more than 154,000 royalty-free icons. Despite that, users can choose other graphics by narrowing their search with license, color, orientation, and content filters.  

7. CleanPNG  

This website is another good option for browsing a transparent icon out of 3000 options because it contains updated materials. Here, you can access backgrounds, cartoons, frames, symbols, and icons related to social media and upload one. It's more like a design community where you can share and receive creative icons and their contributor's names without having any option to download them.  

8. FreePik

To attain the best quality icons and fresh content daily, you must explore FreePik, which even has an AI background remover. Focusing on the icons, it has hand-drawn, special flat, straight flat, lineal color, and rounded linear icons to download in PNG and SVG formats. Notably, you can edit icons before downloading them, as it lets you modify their color, shape, opacity, and various other aspects.   

9. Pixabay

Like FreePik, Pixabay facilitates transparent icons that can be downloaded in SVG and PNG formats with your desired resolution. What's special is that it is linked with Canva, so users can edit their chosen icon with comprehensive design and editing tools. It lets you apply filters of colors, size orientations, and published dates while allowing you to upload your masterpieces.   

10. PNGItem

From animals to furniture, celebrities, cars, symbols, sports, and flower categories, this website contains icons belonging to diverse topics. While exploring one icon, users can apply filters like image size, orientations, and color to get specific results and save time for endless scrolling. Once they choose one design, it only provides detailed information and downloads it in PNG format.      

Conclusion

In essence, this article shows how to make an icon transparent through leading tools like insMind, Canva, and Adobe Photoshop. Besides, it revealed the top 10 websites facilitating transparent icons from unlimited topics and categories. Upon the discussion, it is inferred that one must try AI Background Remover of insMind if they access an icon with background, which is quite common to achieve.

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Ryan Barnett · I'm a freelance writer, content strategist, and SEO consultant. At Photoroom, I write about e-commerce photography and image editing tips. I'm a freelance writer, content strategist, and SEO consultant. At Photoroom, I write about e-commerce photography and image editing tips.