diff --git a/config.def.h b/config.def.h
index 1edb647..697d511 100644
--- a/config.def.h
+++ b/config.def.h
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 /* Default settings; can be overriden by command line. */
 
 static int topbar = 1;                      /* -b  option; if 0, dmenu appears at bottom     */
+static const unsigned int alpha = 0xf0;
 /* -fn option overrides fonts[0]; default X11 font or font set */
 static const char *fonts[] = {
 	"monospace:size=10"
@@ -13,6 +14,13 @@ static const char *colors[SchemeLast][2] = {
 	[SchemeSel] = { "#eeeeee", "#005577" },
 	[SchemeOut] = { "#000000", "#00ffff" },
 };
+
+static const unsigned int alphas[SchemeLast][2] = {
+	[SchemeNorm] = { OPAQUE, alpha },
+	[SchemeSel] = { OPAQUE, alpha },
+	[SchemeOut] = { OPAQUE, alpha },
+};
+
 /* -l option; if nonzero, dmenu uses vertical list with given number of lines */
 static unsigned int lines      = 0;
 
diff --git a/dmenu.c b/dmenu.c
index 65f25ce..3e56e1a 100644
--- a/dmenu.c
+++ b/dmenu.c
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 
 #include <X11/Xlib.h>
 #include <X11/Xatom.h>
+#include <X11/Xproto.h>
 #include <X11/Xutil.h>
 #ifdef XINERAMA
 #include <X11/extensions/Xinerama.h>
@@ -25,6 +26,8 @@
 #define LENGTH(X)             (sizeof X / sizeof X[0])
 #define TEXTW(X)              (drw_fontset_getwidth(drw, (X)) + lrpad)
 
+#define OPAQUE                0xffU
+
 /* enums */
 enum { SchemeNorm, SchemeSel, SchemeOut, SchemeLast }; /* color schemes */
 
@@ -53,10 +56,16 @@ static XIC xic;
 static Drw *drw;
 static Clr *scheme[SchemeLast];
 
+static int useargb = 0;
+static Visual *visual;
+static int depth;
+static Colormap cmap;
+
 #include "config.h"
 
 static int (*fstrncmp)(const char *, const char *, size_t) = strncmp;
 static char *(*fstrstr)(const char *, const char *) = strstr;
+static void xinitvisual();
 
 static void
 appenditem(struct item *item, struct item **list, struct item **last)
@@ -602,7 +611,7 @@ setup(void)
 #endif
 	/* init appearance */
 	for (j = 0; j < SchemeLast; j++)
-		scheme[j] = drw_scm_create(drw, colors[j], 2);
+		scheme[j] = drw_scm_create(drw, colors[j], alphas[i], 2);
 
 	clip = XInternAtom(dpy, "CLIPBOARD",   False);
 	utf8 = XInternAtom(dpy, "UTF8_STRING", False);
@@ -640,6 +649,7 @@ setup(void)
 		x = info[i].x_org;
 		y = info[i].y_org + (topbar ? 0 : info[i].height - mh);
 		mw = info[i].width;
+
 		XFree(info);
 	} else
 #endif
@@ -657,11 +667,13 @@ setup(void)
 
 	/* create menu window */
 	swa.override_redirect = True;
-	swa.background_pixel = scheme[SchemeNorm][ColBg].pixel;
+	swa.background_pixel = 0;
+	swa.border_pixel = 0;
+	swa.colormap = cmap;
 	swa.event_mask = ExposureMask | KeyPressMask | VisibilityChangeMask;
-	win = XCreateWindow(dpy, parentwin, x, y, mw, mh, 0,
-	                    CopyFromParent, CopyFromParent, CopyFromParent,
-	                    CWOverrideRedirect | CWBackPixel | CWEventMask, &swa);
+	win = XCreateWindow(dpy, parentwin, x, y, mw, mh, border_width,
+	                    depth, CopyFromParent, visual,
+	                    CWOverrideRedirect | CWBackPixel | CWBorderPixel | CWColormap | CWEventMask, &swa);
 	XSetClassHint(dpy, win, &ch);
 
 
@@ -747,7 +759,8 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	if (!XGetWindowAttributes(dpy, parentwin, &wa))
 		die("could not get embedding window attributes: 0x%lx",
 		    parentwin);
-	drw = drw_create(dpy, screen, root, wa.width, wa.height);
+	xinitvisual();
+	drw = drw_create(dpy, screen, root, wa.width, wa.height, visual, depth, cmap);
 	if (!drw_fontset_create(drw, fonts, LENGTH(fonts)))
 		die("no fonts could be loaded.");
 	lrpad = drw->fonts->h;
@@ -769,3 +782,40 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	return 1; /* unreachable */
 }
+
+ void
+xinitvisual()
+{
+	XVisualInfo *infos;
+	XRenderPictFormat *fmt;
+	int nitems;
+	int i;
+
+	XVisualInfo tpl = {
+		.screen = screen,
+		.depth = 32,
+		.class = TrueColor
+	};
+	long masks = VisualScreenMask | VisualDepthMask | VisualClassMask;
+
+	infos = XGetVisualInfo(dpy, masks, &tpl, &nitems);
+	visual = NULL;
+	for(i = 0; i < nitems; i ++) {
+		fmt = XRenderFindVisualFormat(dpy, infos[i].visual);
+		if (fmt->type == PictTypeDirect && fmt->direct.alphaMask) {
+			visual = infos[i].visual;
+			depth = infos[i].depth;
+			cmap = XCreateColormap(dpy, root, visual, AllocNone);
+			useargb = 1;
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+
+	XFree(infos);
+
+	if (! visual) {
+		visual = DefaultVisual(dpy, screen);
+		depth = DefaultDepth(dpy, screen);
+		cmap = DefaultColormap(dpy, screen);
+	}
+}
diff --git a/drw.c b/drw.c
index 4cdbcbe..fe3aadd 100644
--- a/drw.c
+++ b/drw.c
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ utf8decode(const char *c, long *u, size_t clen)
 }
 
 Drw *
-drw_create(Display *dpy, int screen, Window root, unsigned int w, unsigned int h)
+drw_create(Display *dpy, int screen, Window root, unsigned int w, unsigned int h, Visual *visual, unsigned int depth, Colormap cmap)
 {
 	Drw *drw = ecalloc(1, sizeof(Drw));
 
@@ -70,8 +70,11 @@ drw_create(Display *dpy, int screen, Window root, unsigned int w, unsigned int h
 	drw->root = root;
 	drw->w = w;
 	drw->h = h;
-	drw->drawable = XCreatePixmap(dpy, root, w, h, DefaultDepth(dpy, screen));
-	drw->gc = XCreateGC(dpy, root, 0, NULL);
+	drw->visual = visual;
+	drw->depth = depth;
+	drw->cmap = cmap;
+	drw->drawable = XCreatePixmap(dpy, root, w, h, depth);
+	drw->gc = XCreateGC(dpy, drw->drawable, 0, NULL);
 	XSetLineAttributes(dpy, drw->gc, 1, LineSolid, CapButt, JoinMiter);
 
 	return drw;
@@ -87,7 +90,7 @@ drw_resize(Drw *drw, unsigned int w, unsigned int h)
 	drw->h = h;
 	if (drw->drawable)
 		XFreePixmap(drw->dpy, drw->drawable);
-	drw->drawable = XCreatePixmap(drw->dpy, drw->root, w, h, DefaultDepth(drw->dpy, drw->screen));
+	drw->drawable = XCreatePixmap(drw->dpy, drw->root, w, h, drw->depth);
 }
 
 void
@@ -194,21 +197,22 @@ drw_fontset_free(Fnt *font)
 }
 
 void
-drw_clr_create(Drw *drw, Clr *dest, const char *clrname)
+drw_clr_create(Drw *drw, Clr *dest, const char *clrname, unsigned int alpha)
 {
 	if (!drw || !dest || !clrname)
 		return;
 
-	if (!XftColorAllocName(drw->dpy, DefaultVisual(drw->dpy, drw->screen),
-	                       DefaultColormap(drw->dpy, drw->screen),
+	if (!XftColorAllocName(drw->dpy, drw->visual, drw->cmap,
 	                       clrname, dest))
 		die("error, cannot allocate color '%s'", clrname);
+
+	dest->pixel = (dest->pixel & 0x00ffffffU) | (alpha << 24);
 }
 
 /* Wrapper to create color schemes. The caller has to call free(3) on the
  * returned color scheme when done using it. */
 Clr *
-drw_scm_create(Drw *drw, const char *clrnames[], size_t clrcount)
+drw_scm_create(Drw *drw, const char *clrnames[], const unsigned int alphas[], size_t clrcount)
 {
 	size_t i;
 	Clr *ret;
@@ -218,7 +222,7 @@ drw_scm_create(Drw *drw, const char *clrnames[], size_t clrcount)
 		return NULL;
 
 	for (i = 0; i < clrcount; i++)
-		drw_clr_create(drw, &ret[i], clrnames[i]);
+		drw_clr_create(drw, &ret[i], clrnames[i], alphas[i]);
 	return ret;
 }
 
@@ -274,9 +278,7 @@ drw_text(Drw *drw, int x, int y, unsigned int w, unsigned int h, unsigned int lp
 	} else {
 		XSetForeground(drw->dpy, drw->gc, drw->scheme[invert ? ColFg : ColBg].pixel);
 		XFillRectangle(drw->dpy, drw->drawable, drw->gc, x, y, w, h);
-		d = XftDrawCreate(drw->dpy, drw->drawable,
-		                  DefaultVisual(drw->dpy, drw->screen),
-		                  DefaultColormap(drw->dpy, drw->screen));
+		d = XftDrawCreate(drw->dpy, drw->drawable, drw->visual, drw->cmap);
 		x += lpad;
 		w -= lpad;
 	}
diff --git a/drw.h b/drw.h
index 4c67419..f6fa5cd 100644
--- a/drw.h
+++ b/drw.h
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ typedef struct {
 	Display *dpy;
 	int screen;
 	Window root;
+	Visual *visual;
+	unsigned int depth;
+	Colormap cmap;
 	Drawable drawable;
 	GC gc;
 	Clr *scheme;
@@ -27,7 +30,7 @@ typedef struct {
 } Drw;
 
 /* Drawable abstraction */
-Drw *drw_create(Display *dpy, int screen, Window win, unsigned int w, unsigned int h);
+Drw *drw_create(Display *dpy, int screen, Window win, unsigned int w, unsigned int h, Visual*, unsigned int, Colormap);
 void drw_resize(Drw *drw, unsigned int w, unsigned int h);
 void drw_free(Drw *drw);
 
@@ -38,8 +41,8 @@ unsigned int drw_fontset_getwidth(Drw *drw, const char *text);
 void drw_font_getexts(Fnt *font, const char *text, unsigned int len, unsigned int *w, unsigned int *h);
 
 /* Colorscheme abstraction */
-void drw_clr_create(Drw *drw, Clr *dest, const char *clrname);
-Clr *drw_scm_create(Drw *drw, const char *clrnames[], size_t clrcount);
+void drw_clr_create(Drw *drw, Clr *dest, const char *clrname, unsigned int alpha);
+Clr *drw_scm_create(Drw *drw, const char *clrnames[], const unsigned int alphas[], size_t clrcount);
 
 /* Cursor abstraction */
 Cur *drw_cur_create(Drw *drw, int shape);