making a sign

i start with new...transparent background type what i want on it get it looking right
save it as a tga 32bit and when i upload it it is white background not transparent

what did i do wrong?

im using adobe photoshop 7 and ulead a program that came with a draw pad i have and both do the same thing to me

Create an alpha mask.. that's what you're missing...

1. Using magic wand, select areas that are the transparent.
2. Click "new layer" button
3. In the new layer, paint all the transparent areas black
4. Select Inverse
5. Paint areas to be shown white
6. Hit Control+A (select all)
7. Edit.. copy that layer to the clipboard.
8. Select Channels tab
9. Click new channel button
10. Paste your black and white mask into the alpha channel
11. Click the RGB channel
12. Go back to layers tab
13. Delete the alpha mask layer, or I ususally just shut off the view
14. Save as targa... 32 bit (the extra 8 bits are for the alpha channel).

When you're uploading, just like photoshop, you should see the white/light gray checkerboard background.. if you do. You did it right

What's happening is Photoshop is using the alpha mask to determine which areas are transparent, and which are not. You can also get varying levels of transparancy by using gray shades. Hope that helps

14 steps? That's insane!!! Surely there is an easier, less complicated way in Photoshop.

GIMP for creating an alpha layer:
1 Under file on the main dialog choose "new" That opens another dialog box that lets you define, size, set resolution, and background
2 click "advanced"
3 click "fill with" and choose transparency

That's it..............done. Your work area opens with the size, resolution and background of your choice.....in this case a transparent layer ready for you to type text, draw, paste or what ever you want to do.

When your done just save as TGA. No setting 32 bit........it's saved as 32 bit because of the layer you created as a background being 100% transparent. Of course if you just want your texture to be 24 bit simply "flatten" the image instead of "merging". But you will lose any transparency if you do that.

Surely Photoshop has a way of simplifing the making of alpha channels for transparency in textures.

Indeed, Peggy. At the bottom of the channels pallet is a button for "make channel from selection".

Thanks Sylvia..............I was sure there was an easier way. I about had a heart attack reading all those steps.

see i started the sign with a transparent background (saw the lil black/grey squares)
wrote what i wanted to on it saved it as a tga 32 bit and all that like i used to

but when i upload it its black words on a white background not sure if i have a setting wrong somewere or what but got a friend to make them for now

Arua, the problem is that you're using Photoshop 7. That version was highly flawed, and the TGA files it creates are incompatible with 99.99% of all graphics applications in the world. See the Transparency Guide at the top of the forum for more info on this. Upgrade immediately to version 7.01 via the free patch from adobe.com, and you'll be able to make TGA files with alpha channels properly (see below for a really quick tutorial, or see the Transparency Guide for more detailed ones).



Johan, I agree with some of the previous comments, although I would have phrased it a bit more gently. Your process is not exactly "insane", but you are making things a lot harder on yourself than you need to.

Your 14 step process could condensed into just 3 or 4 if you eliminate the unnecessary fluff. There's absolutely no need, for example to make your alpha map on a layer before copying it to a channel. Why not just make it on the channel in the first place?

For the type of image Arua is talking about, just lettering against a transparent background, here's how I'd do it:

1. Put the lettering on its own layer, and then ctrl-click the layer's thumbnail to select everything on the layer.

2. Go to the Channels palette, and click the Make New Channel From Selection button at the bottom.

3. (Optional) To prevent haloing, either run the free Solidify filter from Flaming Pear or else just put a background layer underneath the lettering with similar coloring to the color(s) of the letters.

4. Save as 32-bit TGA and upload to SL.

That's it, just 3-4 steps, depending on whether or not you opt to prevent haloing (which you should). The entire process should take no more than 5-10 seconds, and that's only if you move your hands slowly. Get rid of all those extra steps. You don't need them.

Arua, you can find the upgrades that Chosen mentions at the links below.

PC; http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=1851
Mac; http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=1852

Also, if you want to use the Flaming Pear filters, you will have to download and install them. They are freebies, and you can get them from http://www.flamingpear.com/download.html.

If three or four steps are too many for you, you can download the Actions I have on my website, and do it by clicking a single button.

You can find a link to them at
http://www.robinwood.com/Catalog/Technical/SL-Tuts/SLPages/WhiteHaloStart.html

Doesn't get much easier than that.

Hope this helps!

Thanks, both for the shortcuts and the kind words... lol. I figured there was a better way to do it, but my way worked, and to be honest.. once the mask is made.. CTRL-A,CTRL-C,channels,new channel,CTRL-V is 5 of the 14 steps, and takes a few seconds, so, although I totally agree that it's more steps than needed, it's hardly a long, slow, arduous process. Those 5 (of 14 steps) literally takes about all of about 3 or 4 seconds to accomplish. Once one gets familiar with the steps, it's really quite fast. Still Thanks for the shortcut. Also, hey.. at least I explained what the original poster was missing

OR...

1. Turn off the background layer.

2. Save as a PNG!!!!!!


Same effect. Less work.