Nevermind, it looks like support for background images in terminal widgets has been removed altogether, as explained here- https://bugs.launchpad.net/terminator/+bug/1635704
** Changed in: gnome-terminal (Ubuntu) Status: New => Invalid -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop Packages, which is subscribed to gnome-terminal in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1670875 Title: "Fake" transparency, w/ Flashback session and non-compositing WM, no longer works Status in gnome-terminal package in Ubuntu: Invalid Bug description: In Ubuntu 14.04 and earlier, gnome-terminal's transparent background option works well with gnome-session-flashback and a non-compositing window manager. I actually use xmonad, but metacity --no-composite shows the same behavior: instead of real transparency, the portion of the desktop background corresponding to the terminal window's relative position is drawn as the background, and is updated when the window moves. The attached screenshot demonstrates what this looks like in 14.04 with metacity. In Ubuntu 16.04, this no longer works: a solid black background is displayed instead. However, if I downgrade gnome-terminal to the trusty packages, it works as before. To reproduce: 1. execute sudo apt-get install gnome-session-flashback 2. log in with 'GNOME Flashback (Metacity)' session 3. start gnome-terminal and set background to transparent 4. execute metacity --no-composite --replace ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04 Package: gnome-terminal 3.18.3-1ubuntu1 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-64.85-generic 4.4.44 Uname: Linux 4.4.0-64-generic x86_64 ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.5 Architecture: amd64 CurrentDesktop: GNOME-Flashback:GNOME Date: Tue Mar 7 14:52:53 2017 InstallationDate: Installed on 2017-02-19 (16 days ago) InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Release amd64 (20160719) SourcePackage: gnome-terminal UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install) To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-terminal/+bug/1670875/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages Post to : desktop-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp