You don't WANT white. You WANT the checkerboard. The checkboard means that part is transparent. A white background will be very ugly. Make sure you are in
RGB Color and not Indexed Color.
Folks, PLEASE use the
Logo Creation Guide. Study it. Absorb it. Live it.
I keep getting e-mails "So I see in your guide you say to create a BMP..." and I want to tear my hair out.