To make it transparent, you can set the controls BackColor to
System.Drawing.Color.Transparent
To make it Semi-transparent may require a bit of fenagling (spelling,
maybe?).
Create a transparent image, with a light grey mesh pattern. basically
1x1 pixel transparent holes. Then set the Controls .BackgroundImage to
that image.
In the controls set-up:
this.button1.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Transparent
this.button1.BackgroundImage =
((System.Drawing.Image)(resources.GetObject("$this.BackgroundImage")));
with the above, the image has been added to the applications resource
file, so it accesses it through there, I don't recall having to ever do
it manually, but there is a way to load an image by hand (opposed to
using the properties sheet).