How to Make a Logo with a Transparent Background

Contemporary websites often employ full page background images, videos, or colors. As such, your logo needs to have a transparent background so to not interrupt the field.

Graphic artists commonly create logos with transparent backgrounds. Indeed, such formatting provides maximum flexibility for the logo’s use. But if you are developing a logo on your own, how do you create one with a transparent background?

The easiest way we’ve identified to create a logo with a transparent background is as follows:

Create your logo (letters, words, symbols, shapes, or some combination thereof) in Microsoft PowerPoint on a plain white background (default) slide. Do not incorporate a background into your logo.
Open your photo editor, I use Microsoft Digital Image Suite, and create a ‘new’ photo canvas. The blank canvas in your photo editor should serve as the transparent background for your logo.
Copy the logo from PowerPoint and paste it onto the blank photo canvas in your photo editor.
Crop the logo photo; leaving a 10-20 pixel buffer on each side.
Save the logo image as a .png file. (Saving the image as a .jpg file will cause it to have a solid white background.)

If you need different color schemes for your logo to accommodate light and dark backgrounds, duplicate the logo in PowerPoint, change the element color combinations, and repeat Steps 2 – 5 above. This process yields identical logos possessing different color schemes.

Final Thought…

Whether or not you intend to legally register your logo as a trademark, I recommend affixing the trademark symbol, ^TM, to your logo. Doing this publicly communicates your intention to use the logo as your trademark. Such annotation aids in the protection of your logo even if it is not registered.

Of course, you need to make sure you’re not infringing on someone else’s logo before trademarking yours. (See Business Name Considerations)