Index: src/main/java/info/magnolia/imaging/operations/load/AbstractLoader.java
===================================================================
--- src/main/java/info/magnolia/imaging/operations/load/AbstractLoader.java	(revision 58442)
+++ src/main/java/info/magnolia/imaging/operations/load/AbstractLoader.java	(working copy)
@@ -74,18 +74,27 @@
         if (loaded == null) {
             throw new ImagingException("Could not load image for " + filterParams);
         }
-        final BufferedImage img = new BufferedImage(loaded.getWidth(), loaded.getHeight(), BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_ARGB_PRE);
-        final Graphics2D g = img.createGraphics();
 
         if (backgroundColor != null) {
+            //This line produces an empty BufferedImage with an alpha channel. String this BufferedImage into JCR or as file into the system as:
+            // - jpg: jpg does not have an alpha channel. Creates an image where the alpha value is used as a color -> black image
+            // - png: works perfectly because PNGs do have an alpha channel.
+
+            final BufferedImage img = new BufferedImage(loaded.getWidth(), loaded.getHeight(), BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_ARGB_PRE);
+
+            // This would work fine for jpg because determining an BufferedImage without an alpha channel
+            //final BufferedImage img = new BufferedImage(loaded.getWidth(), loaded.getHeight(), BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_RGB);
+
+            final Graphics2D g = img.createGraphics();
             g.setColor(backgroundColor);
             g.fill(new Rectangle(0, 0, img.getWidth(), img.getHeight()));
+            g.drawImage(loaded, null, 0, 0);
+            g.dispose();
+
+            return img;
         }
-        g.drawImage(loaded, null, 0, 0);
-        // TODO would this make any difference ? g.drawRenderedImage(loaded, null);
 
-        g.dispose();
-        return img;
+        return loaded;
     }
 
     protected abstract BufferedImage loadSource(P filterParams) throws ImagingException;