I have to pack in for the night however
[edit.. another day, another thought Is this for a computer desktop image ? Various ways to go if that is the case )
If you have the checker pattern around your picture something like this, then you have more than one layer.
Going back to the original question; Should the background be white or some other colour?
It can be anything you like. A colour, another pattern, a photo frame effect. What exactly is the purpose you intend?
Make sure you Save the image as Gimp .xcf file and that leaves scope for editing in the future.
[edit.. another day, another thought Is this for a computer desktop image ? Various ways to go if that is the case )
If you have the checker pattern around your picture something like this, then you have more than one layer.
Going back to the original question; Should the background be white or some other colour?
It can be anything you like. A colour, another pattern, a photo frame effect. What exactly is the purpose you intend?
Make sure you Save the image as Gimp .xcf file and that leaves scope for editing in the future.