Is there a way to open an existing image with a white background instead of the checkerboard pattern (i.e., erase or remove portion of image and see white instead of checkerboard in the “empty” space)?
There isn’t. The checkerboard is where the alpha is showing though, and if it was a solid color, you wouldn’t know there were transparent pixels there.
The quick solution is to add a layer, fill it with white, and move it behind the current one.
Are you wanting to save the image without alpha as well? Or is it just the representation that you don’t like?
Thanks; I guess I am thinking a bit retro here, back to “spotting” grayscale scans prior to print production in the 1990s. Not really an issue now, the more I think about it…