How to change a bitmap's opacity?

As far as I know, opacity or other color filters can't be set on the Bitmap itself. You will need to set the alpha when you use the image:

If you're using ImageView, there is ImageView.setAlpha().

If you're using a Canvas, then you need to use Paint.setAlpha():

Paint paint = new Paint();
paint.setAlpha(100);
canvas.drawBitmap(bitmap, src, dst, paint);

Also, incorporating WarrenFaith's answer, if you will use the Bitmap where a drawable is required, you can use BitmapDrawable.setAlpha().

You could also try BitmapDrawable instead of Bitmap. If this is useful for you depends on the way you use the bitmap...

Edit

As a commenter asked how he can store the bitmap with alpha, here is some code:

// lets create a new empty bitmap
Bitmap newBitmap = Bitmap.createBitmap(originalBitmap.getWidth(), originalBitmap.getHeight(), Bitmap.Config.ARGB_8888);
// create a canvas where we can draw on
Canvas canvas = new Canvas(newBitmap);
// create a paint instance with alpha
Paint alphaPaint = new Paint();
alphaPaint.setAlpha(42);
// now lets draw using alphaPaint instance
canvas.drawBitmap(originalBitmap, 0, 0, alphaPaint);

// now lets store the bitmap to a file - the canvas has drawn on the newBitmap, so we can just store that one
// please add stream handling with try/catch blocks
FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream(new File("/awesome/path/to/bitmap.png"));
newBitmap.compress(Bitmap.CompressFormat.PNG, 100, fos);

public Bitmap makeTransparent(Bitmap src, int value) {  
    int width = src.getWidth();
    int height = src.getHeight();
       Bitmap transBitmap = Bitmap.createBitmap(width, height, Config.ARGB_8888);
       Canvas canvas = new Canvas(transBitmap);
       canvas.drawARGB(0, 0, 0, 0);
        // config paint
        final Paint paint = new Paint();
        paint.setAlpha(value);
        canvas.drawBitmap(src, 0, 0, paint);    
        return transBitmap;
}