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Technical Article   Problem:  Exported map has a gray background instead of being transparent

Article ID: 31150
Bug Id: N/A
Software:  ArcGIS - ArcEditor 9.0, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.3.1, 10 ArcGIS - ArcInfo 9.0, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.3.1, 10 ArcGIS - ArcView 9.0, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.3.1, 10
Platforms: N/A

Description

When exporting a map to BMP, JPEG, or TIFF with the data frame background set to 'no color' and/or setting the 'Background Color' to no color in the export options, the output displays the background as a solid color, such as gray.

Cause

This is a known limit, because these file types do not support 'no color' pixels. As a result when the map is exported, the 'no color' pixels are assigned a default background color value set in the Windows display settings.

Solution or Workaround

Export the map to either a GIF or PNG format and set the Background Color and Transparent Color to white.

  1. Navigate to File > Export Map.
  2. Click the Save as type drop-down list and select either GIF or PNG.
  3. Click the Format tab.
  4. Click the color picker next to Background Color and select white. -show me-

    [O-Image] Set to white
  5. Click the color picker next to Transparent Color and select white.
  6. Click Save to complete the export.

Created: 6/27/2006
Last Modified: 5/11/2011

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Comments

By Anonymous - 05/21/2007 6:55 AM

The article is incorrect or the solution didn’t work.

When exporting a map as png or gif the background of the exported image is also gray. I am using ArcGis 9.1.