Graphics you place on a web page or in a Silverlight application can sometimes be more effective if the image file boundaries are not seen. This is especially true when the main subject in an image is non-rectangular.
Here is a blog post I wrote about a kitchen utensil:
A graphics file has a rectangular image area. If the main subject is not rectangular, a background color generally fills the areas where the subject isn’t to make the image rectangular. And when the main subject IS rectangular, it might be smaller than the dimensions of the graphics file, so a background color fills those areas the subject doesn’t extend to.
Compare the graphic in this blog post where the graphic has a transparent background and is seamlessly integrated into the page:
Some graphics formats (png, gif) allow transparency.
There are several ways to achieve transparency and semi-transparency with graphics in a Silverlight application or on an ASP.NET Web page that I will describe in an upcoming blog post. Stay tuned.