How To Add A White Outline Around A Transparent PNG

• April 13, 2019
• Nick Saporito
• 46 comments

Today I’ll be demonstrating how you can add a white outline around a transparent PNG using a simple and free piece of software called GIMP. GIMP is an open source alternative to Photoshop. It works for Windows, Mac and Linux. You can download GIMP here.

The following is just a brief overview of the steps taken to add a white outline around a transparent PNG with GIMP. If you’re new to the software — especially if you’re a first-time user — it is highly recommended that you watch the following video tutorial:

Continue on for the written instructions.

Outlining Your Transparent PNG with GIMP

The first thing we need to do is open the PNG file with GIMP. Go to File > Open and locate your image. The transparent area will be represented with a checkerboard pattern as depicted below.

If the subject of your image runs all the way to the edges of the document like mine does, we’ll need to add some extra space around the edges of the document to accommodate a white outline. We’ll do that using the Canvas Size setting. Go to Image > Canvas Size.

Add a few extra pixels to each dimension (width and height) in order to accommodate a white outline.

Next we’re going to create a selection around the subject of our PNG by going to Layer > Transparency > Alpha To Selection. This will create a dotted line going around your subject.

Now we need to increase the size of the selection by going to Select > Grow. Choose how many pixels you’d like to grow the selection by. This will determine the thickness of the white outline around your transparent PNG. For my example I used 20 pixels.

You will notice the thickness of your outline increase after applying

Now we’re going to create a new layer and move it below the current layer. Simply go to Layer > New Layer, name it “Outline”, then click and drag it beneath the current layer in the Layers panel to the bottom right of your screen.

By default, your foreground color in GIMP should be set to black and your background color should be set to white, so all we have to do now is fill in the selection with white by going to Edit > Fill with BG color.

Now go to Select > None in order to remove the dotted outline from your screen.

Once you’ve done that you are finished! You’re successfully used GIMP to add a white outline around a transparent PNG.

To save your work, simply go to File > Export As… and make sure you choose to export it as a .png file.

If you have any questions or run into any problems simply leave a comment below. And if you’d like to learn more about how GIMP works, be sure to check The GIMP Series — a collection of 60+ videos where I go over all of the major tools and features in GIMP and explain what they are and demonstrate how they work. Information is listed below.

Learn To Master The Software Gain a complete understanding of your favorite design apps with my comprehensive collection of video courses. Each course grants access to our private community where you can ask questions and get help when needed.   81 Videos   11 Modules The Inkscape Master Class Tutorials, quizzes and practice exercises for learning every tool & feature in Inkscape.   Nick Saporito Price: $17   77 Videos   7 Modules Affinity Designer Master Class Tutorials, quizzes and practice exercises for learning every tool & feature in Affinity Designer.   Nick Saporito Price: $17   98 Videos   7 Modules Illustrator Master Class Tutorials, quizzes and practice exercises for learning every tool & feature in Illustrator.   Nick Saporito Price: $17   70 Videos   9 Modules GIMP Master Class Learn how to use all of the primary tools and features in the GIMP application.   Nick Saporito Price: $17 View All Courses