Hello everyone, it's Jen from Olde Tinkerer Studio
In this quick tip tutorial, we will be learning how to import an image with transparency into Blender
In order to have an image that works, we need one with a transparent background
Download a leaf texture (the link to the one I am using is in the description)
Since this texture is a jpg file, we will need to remove the black background
After you have unzipped the download, open the (diffuse) leaf in GIMP
For this tutorial, we will only be using the left-side of the image
Select the Crop tool and drag a selection around the left-side of the image
When you hit “Enter” you will now have the image we need
Right-click on the layer and select “Add Alpha Channel”
Select the Fuzzy Select tool
Since we have a perfectly black background, we can leave the default settings as they are
Click on the black background
Go to Edit > Cut and remove the background
Deselect everything by going to Select > None
Export the image as a png file (so we keep the transparent background)
Open Blender and go into Top Orthographic view
Delete the default Cube and add a Plane
Scale the Plane to the approximate size of the image (this can always be changed later)
Under the Shading workspace add a material to the Plane
Add an Image Texture Node and open the leaf texture
Connect the Color output of the Image Texture node to the Base Color input of the BSDF node
We need to UV unwrap the image and make some adjustments
Under the UV Editing workspace, select the leaf texture from the Browse Image dropdown menu (if you don’t already see it)
In order to unwrap the image, tab into Object Mode and apply the scale (CTRL A)
Tab into Edit Mode, and unwrap the Plane (U > Unwrap)
Select the top edge of the unwrap and move it up along the Y-Axis (so the unwrapped UV covers the entire leaf image)
Under the Shading workspace, scale the Plane so the leaf image fits properly
Apply the scale (CTRL A)
In order to make the background into an alpha channel (transparent) we need to make changes to the node setup
Connect the Alpha output from the Image Texture to the Alpha input of the BSDF node
Under the Texture tab, twirl open the Settings section
Change the Blend Mode to “Alpha Clip”
Now you know how to import image textures with transparency
I hope you found this useful, have a good day