Setting background color/pattern of Inkscape workspace to distinguish transparency

Question

How can I set the appearance of the background area in Inkscape so that I can tell the difference between an image with a white background and an image with a transparent background?

Many other image view/editing programs have a checkered background for exactly this reason, but I couldn't find anything like that for Inkscape.

Oops. Further searching reveals that this is a duplicate of [Transparency vs. White background in Inkscape](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3510482/transparency-vs-white-background-in-inkscape) — blahdiblah, Feb 17 '12 at 02:20

score 101 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 06 '17 at 12:45

101

In InkScape 0.48:

File > Document Properties > Page > General > Background

Move R, G, and B to 0. Adjust A (Alpha) to your preference (experiment to set to your liking).

Note that this approach will set the color you choose as the background for the saved/exported image.

In InkScape 0.92:

File > Document Properties > Page > General > Background > Checkerboard background

Since version 0.92 (January 2017) you can instead choose a checkered background. This won't effect the background of the saved image, but will override the background shown in InkScape.

edited Apr 06 '17 at 12:45

MattSturgeon

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answered May 02 '14 at 02:44

Michael

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The problem with this approach, is that when you export the drawing as a bitmap (.png), the background will be set to the background color. What the original poster wants is to have a transparent background when rendering as a bitmap, but when drawing to have a color other than white as the background. – Travis Griggs Dec 05 '14 at 19:45
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This way you change the document background, which you don't want. What you want is change the user interface background, so that all the area, not only the document area is of the desired color. It can't be a document setting. – Gregor Feb 18 '16 at 08:11
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This works only on the current file. How can I make it the default, so that transparent background will always be shown as checkerboard? – android developer Dec 25 '18 at 11:34
Though what if that does not have an effect?? – Soerendip Nov 17 '20 at 00:22

Mark · Answer 2 · 2016-05-12T14:27:24.267

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A slight refinement to Carl's answer:

Create a background layer. In it draw a large rectangle of your desired background colour.
Lock the layer to avoid selecting the background rectangle object.

edited May 12 '16 at 14:27

answered Oct 23 '13 at 10:50

Mark

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OP wants to see in the inkscape interface if an image has transparent background or not. – Gauthier Jan 28 '16 at 08:55

score 20 · Answer 3 · edited Jul 27 '16 at 06:46

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I've written a feature request for this on the Inkscape bug tracker. This is currently not possible, we'll see if it gets implemented in the future.

see https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/1100755

EDIT Jul 2016: The feature has been added and should be included in the upcoming 0.92 release.

edited Jul 27 '16 at 06:46

MattSturgeon

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answered Jan 17 '13 at 12:16

TBieniek

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Ah, the bane of open source projects: Obvious features that will never see the light of day. – A.R. Dec 18 '13 at 04:08
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There speaks a microsoft aficionado. – demented hedgehog Apr 12 '14 at 00:08
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Fix has been committed to v0.92 (rev 14539) on 2015-12-21. Works well with the [inkscape-bzr](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/inkscape-bzr/) package on Arch – MattSturgeon Jul 27 '16 at 06:23
Older versions of Ubuntu still don't have this. Here are some instructions on how to setup the PPA and get the 0.92 release: http://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/2017/01/install-inkscape-0-92-ppa-ubuntu-16-04-16-10-14-04/ – four43 Aug 20 '18 at 15:15

score 6 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 19 '13 at 16:55

I use a big square, rectangle, oval, etc (whatever covers and hides the image completely), set the color to something ugly that obviously isn't part of the image design, then lower the shape to the bottom of the drawing so every other object is above it. Anything that is transparent will show the ugly color. When I am done editing, I delete the ugly-color shape that I created. Granted, it's a work-around, but it's relatively painless and easy to do.

score 5 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 23 '17 at 15:14

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As of Inkscape 0.92, you can elect to have a chessboard pattern in the background.

Go to document properties, and check this option:

answered Sep 23 '17 at 15:14

Drew Noakes

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Works only on current file. How can I set it for all files, by default? – android developer Dec 25 '18 at 11:35

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 11 '14 at 23:46

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Check out the settings in the File|Document Properties menu.

answered Apr 11 '14 at 23:46

demented hedgehog

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This works only on current file. How can I set it for all files, by default? – android developer Dec 25 '18 at 11:35

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Aug 29 '17 at 18:02

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On Windows, Ctrl + Shift + D, you'll see the Document properties windows in which you can change the document background color. [See screen campture] [enter image description here]1

answered Aug 29 '17 at 18:02

Lincoln Souza

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Sadly works only on current file. How can I set it for all files, by default? – android developer Dec 25 '18 at 11:35

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Oct 06 '20 at 12:29

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I just came across this old post but though that I would add what I do to get new files to keep the features. I create a template .svg file and use that as the base for future drawings.

answered Oct 06 '20 at 12:29

user1123382

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score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Jun 05 '23 at 11:35

A quick update for Inkscape 1.2:

File > Document Properties > Display then click on Page in the Display Section.
In the new window Background Color, pick the color and make sure to change the A field to a value >0. By default, the A value (alpha = transparency) is 0, so whichever color you will choose, nothing will be seen unless you set A>0.

Setting background color/pattern of Inkscape workspace to distinguish transparency

9 Answers9