Start with the actual file

Download the file you plan to use. A preview on a shop page or in a message may show a different picture. Keep the original safe and work on a copy. Note its full name so you do not reopen an older version by mistake.

  1. Open the downloaded PNG in an image editor.
  2. Look at the empty corners and the spaces inside the mark.
  3. Write down whether you see white, a grid, or the editor backdrop.
  4. Do not erase anything until you know which area belongs to the logo.

Try two plain backgrounds

PNG can store clear or partly clear pixels. An opaque PNG is still a valid PNG.

Sources for this point: W3C PNG specification.

  1. Place a dark solid layer behind your logo. Keep the logo layer above it.
  2. Change only the lower layer to a pale solid color.
  3. Compare the same empty corner and gap in both views.
  4. If both areas take the lower layer color, they pass this visual check.

Use plain colors for this check. A busy photo makes small leftovers hard to spot. If the editor shows its own grid behind the layer, changing that viewer setting is different from changing the picture.

Spot a grid painted into the picture

Made sample with clear empty areas on the left and painted squares on the right
Teaching files made for this guide. The left source has clear pixels. The right source has an opaque grid. This comparison picture is flat.

We made two source files from the same simple mark. The saved pixel check found clear areas in one and none in the painted grid copy. These are examples, not files from a customer. Open the source copies if you want to compare them in your editor.

Open the sample with clear pixels

Open the sample with painted squares

Check the saved copy as well as the editor

GIMP can add alpha and save clear areas in PNG. Adding alpha alone does not erase a background.

Sources for this point: GIMP guide to saving transparency.

Alpha means information about how much a pixel shows. A label saying Alpha does not tell you that the empty corner is clear. Look at the corner itself.

Sources for this point: W3C PNG specification.

PNG export settings include the saved pixel format.

Sources for this point: GIMP PNG export guide.

  1. Save a new copy with a name you can identify.
  2. Close that copy and reopen it.
  3. Repeat the two surface check on this reopened file.
  4. If the editor view passed but the saved copy fails, check the export and which layers were saved.

Choose the next step

What your check tells you
What you seeWhat to check next
Empty areas show both lower colorsSave and reopen to confirm the result.
Squares stay inside the pictureFind a source without the painted grid or remove those pixels carefully.
A solid white box staysCheck whether it is part of the artwork or an unwanted background.
Outside areas are clear but an edge stays paleUse the separate white halo check.

Check a white halo around the logo

Finish when the reopened file has the intended clear areas on both surfaces. Its letters, dots and inside details must still match the original. A clear background with missing artwork is not a good finish.

Sources

These sources support the points linked above. Each date shows when we checked that source.

  1. W3C PNG specification
    PNG supports clear and partly clear pixels Checked .
  2. GIMP guide to saving transparency
    GIMP can preserve clear areas when saving PNG Checked .
  3. GIMP PNG export guide
    PNG export offers pixel formats and lossless compression Checked .

How we check our articles. Tell us about a mistake.