Transparent background keeps turning white?

[xreva]

I'm trying to make a profile signature/banner for message boards.  I have a 500x150 image as a base that I want to copy and paste a transparent image on top of.  I open the transparent image in a new file, then copy and paste, but the background is now white.  Not the entire pic, just the 150x150 image selection that is supposed to have a transparent background.  How do I avoid this?  The image is transparent when open in its own file...  Not sure why the background becomes white when I copy and paste to a new file.

 

EDIT: yep... I figured it out... "Add new layer."  I'm a bit embarrassed 

Edited August 16, 2017 by xreva

[Eli]

6 minutes ago, xreva said:

EDIT: yep... I figured it out... "Add new layer."  I'm a bit embarrassed 

Do not worry. It happens very often