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A dumb question, but how do you get a tga file to save out with transparencies? I keep getting a flat-white background when I need the background to be clear. I think I need to use a mask to add an alpha channel. Can anyone explain to me, how exactly to do this?

From what I learned in this topic, you have to save the tga as 32 bit and it will preserve the transparency.

I use Serif PhotoPlus, so I'm not certain how to set up a transparency in PhotoShop.

Strange.... It thought I remember making the hud images in Gimp with full transparencies and they were 24bit as I recall. I think 24 bit = 16bit+6 bit alpha. I think.

No, full-color with alpha is 24bit color (8bit * 3) + 8bit alpha channel, making 32 bits. Gimp might have been referring to the color depth.

Man, I have done everything I can think of. I JUST can't seem to lose the white background. I've tried making a second layer, adding an alpha channel to the the channel box, selecting layer transparency in the layer box, saving to new channel, I've tried it at 0% opaque, 100% opaque, black, white, red, I even tried saving it in the latest version of gimp, I've had Darkside Heartless convert it with Paint Shop Pro. 24 bit, 16 bit, 32 bit. I've read three to four tutorials. Nothing, still the annoying white background from hell.

Alright, here's what I just did:

1. Open Photoshop (I use PS7)
2. Create a new document using \"Transparent\" as the background
3. Use the paintbrush tool to draw some stuff
4. File : Save As (Save as Copy) a 32-bit TGA
5. Close the document without saving
6. Reopen document

Bingo, perfect transparency.

in the layers pallette, select the channels, tab, create a new one, call it alpha ,mess with it.

you'll figure it out.

Hmmm.... I do the exact same thing with a tiff or a gif file and it does the same thing. You are re-opening the tga in Photoshop right? I notice that if I re-open it in Photoshop (the tga file not the psd) I get a white background every single time. But with a tiff or a gif file, I don't have a single issue. I think it might be transparent though. I noticed that when I open it in ogf tool it shows up as white but in image tool it shows up as transparent, so I must have used image tool when I made my old textures for D3 a year or so ago. Apparently ogf tool doesn't support transparencies properly.

It still seems odd to me that Photoshop won't read the transparencies of a tga that was creating in it properly.


Now, you said you used \"transparent\" as the background. Is this another layer under the layer for your drawing?


Makes me wonder if CS2 has some kind of issue with tga files.

did we just have this discussion in another thread the other day??

.....................


yeah, HERE in the Gallery forum.

Mess: when I say transparent, I mean that I have one layer in my document, and it is not 100% opaque. I save it as a TGA, close the window, and reopen the TGA, all in Photoshop, and it all works.

Are you making sure that you're saving as 32-bit TGA, and are you sure you don't have any hidden 100% opaque layers? Photoshop enables all layers before flattening the image to export as TGA, and if you have forgotten about, say, the default background layer, it's going to mess with your image.

I started an image with one layer and I set the background as transparent when initially created the image and set the resolution to 64x64

Duper wrote:did we just have this discussion in another thread the other day??

Yeah and the link you posted to it was already posted above.

LOL! figures.

CS2 doesn't import the alpha channel into RGB when it opens a TGA. It's righteously annoying, but there are ways to get around that. Float the background layer, make a selection from the alpha and delete the selection - that will get your transparency back.

For this reason, it's better to work in .psd or .png until you've got the image complete, then save the final version as 32-bit TGA.

Or use Gimp. That doesn't have the TGA problem, it just has usability problems to compensate.

DarkHorse wrote:Or use Gimp. That doesn't have the TGA problem, it just has usability problems to compensate.

LOL, I know what you mean. And THAT, I speak of as a true-blue Gimper.