Paint Shop Pro Transparency Problems

Well, sometimes I can get transparencies to work, sometimes I can't.

I've been through the tutorials, and believe I understand the principles of alpha channels via PSP masks

If I create a channel as described here:
http://www.sluniverse.com/kb/article.aspx?id=10190
I do just fine.

I create a transparent background, plop what image I need on it, then go to Layers--->New Mask Layer--->From Image followed by Layers--->Load/Save Mask-->Save Mask to Alpha Channel, save the image as a TGA and load it.

My problems start when I use the clothing templates (I've been using the SL provided ones as I can't get Chip Midnight's to load in PSP for some reason).

I follow the advice here:
/109/32/80851/1.html
and create my outfit, turn off all the layers I don't want to see (such as the background templates), then create the mask, and load it to the alpha channel. I get my preview, which shows the mask with the promised transparent areas in black. So far, so good. I then save it as a TGA.

BUT when I load it into SL, the areas that should be masked become opaque instead of transparent. In PSP 8, which I have, they were white. Yesterday, I downloaded a trial PSP XI and tried it, and the only difference was that the unwanted opaque areas became black. BTW, I'm not the only one having this problem, as I met another woman at a clothing class who was having the same problem. We talked to the instructor (Rainbow Drake--an excellent teacher, by the by), and she was as puzzled as we.

The way I've been doing my outfits is to create the outfit, merge the layers and paste them onto a transparent background. All the blank areas get filled with the background colour when I do this. Then I use background eraser to get rid of the unwanted opaque background, and proceed as in the first tutorial. Needless to say, this is clunky and I occasionally lose detail in the process. But right now, it's the only way I can create transparencies.

So. What am I doing wrong?

Virrginia, I'm sorry to say I'm having trouble diagnosing what might be going wrong for you. The method in that SL Universe tutorial is essentially the same as the one in the sticky here. The basic steps for both in a nutshell are simply:

1. Create a mask & use it to designate the areas you want to be transparent.
   
2. Save the mask to alpha channel.
   
3. Save the image as 32-bit TGA.

Both tutorials tell you to do exactly that, so I can't imagine why one would work and one wouldn't.

As for all that flattening and merging you're doing, that shouldn't make any difference whatsoever. Nothing you do to your layers should possibly affect your alpha channel in any way. You could have one layer or 10 million layers, and the channel won't care. Channels don't even know layers exist. They're simply data maps, nothing more.

One thing you said does stand out as pointing to a possible culprit. You say when you erase your background, the transparency holds. That sounds like the old experimental Photoshop 7.0 behavior, which was really bad. I didn't think that automation crap existed for PSP, but maybe it does. Have you ever at any time installed any alpha channel automation tools on your computer? If so, then that's your problem right there. Uninstall whatever it was, and it should solve your problem. You may need to uninstall and reinstall PSP just to make sure all the damage is gone.

If that's not what's going on, then all I can say is maybe it's something unique to PSP 8. Perhaps it's got problems just like PS7.0 had. The tutorial here was only tested with PSP versions 9 & 10. I'm not all that up on my PSP history, but I do know version 8 introduced a major overhaul to the program, almost a complete redesign. You might want to check Corel's website, and see if there are any patches for it.

Thanks Chosen--

All that merging and stuff was just me fiddling about. You know the "change things until they work" method. I suppose instead of merging and pasting onto a transparent background, I could also just move all the relevant layers over one by one. Or maybe the grid background layer (which I deselect before creating the mask and saving) is causing problems somehow.

The only PSP programs I've had have been PSP 8, and now the PSP XI. I've never used any automaton tools (a few scripts such as OneStepPhoto Fix, but that's it for automated tasks) I'll try uninstalling everything, then downloading the XI (only) to see if I can fix this.

I wrote Corel, and basically they told be to go to their website and upload their various new files. I would have thought uploading XI would have done the same thing, but perhaps not.

Addendum:

The only difference I can see is that in the first case, I start with a transparent background and make an image on layers above it.

In the second, I start with the Clothing Template, and deselect the layers I don't want before creating the alpha (which I get a good preview on) and saving it. In other words, there is no transparent background, merely a deselected one.

Now, with my limited understanding of alpha and masks, this shouldn't matter. If a layer is "masked" by the alpha channel (ie, under it), the parts masked by the black should be seen as transparent in SL, right?

I had similar issue.
The problem is either I don't know or couldn't find in psp 9 how to save it as 32.
Within program and saving it had tranparent checkered back ground uploaded
in game the background turned white.
Not sure what I did, I will probably have to redo the steps until I figure it out right or try to figure out how to use ps 6 and cs( the pre cs2 version)

Your understanding is correct. Background layer transparency should not affect overall image transparency in any way. TGA files are inherently layerless, so there's no way layer properties can affect them. All the transparency data wil be contained in the alpha channel.

The only thing that's a little off the mark in the way you phrased it is the concept of "under it". Channels do not stack. They simply exist. There's nothing above them, nothing below them. They always affect the image as a whole. There can never be any specific layer that gets masked by the alpha channel or not, it's always the entire image.

As for your analysis of the difference in the two tutorials, if you think that starting with a transparent background layer will be of help, you could always try it that way. Make a new document with a transparent background, and then simply copy all the layers from the clothing template into it.

It just occurred to me as I was writing that last paragraph that perhaps the problem has something to do with the way PSP 8 reads PSD files. I assume with your "start with a transparent background" method, you're creating a brand new file each time, which means you're always working in PSP's native format, not PSD. If that's what's making the difference, then pasting the layers from the PSD into the PSP document might be a solution. Just a wild theory, but maybe. Give it a shot, and see what happens. If it works, do the same for all the templates, save them as native PSP documents (not sure what the extension is), and then always use those as your starting point instead of the PSD's.

I know nothing about PSP (I'm on a Mac); but in Photoshop, the trouble with using the Linden Clothing Templates is that they have (or used to have) more than one Alpha Channel already in place when you download them.

Adding another makes even more; and There Can Be Only One.

It's just a guess, but is it possible that this is your problem?

I know in Photoshop, deleting the Alpha Channels (all of them) before you make your own clears up the problem.

Success!

What I did was I opened a file (transparent background), copied all the layers I needed from the templates (leaving the pre-existing alpha channels behind) and saved them as PSP files. Now these new templates in PSP form work just fine

*whew*

Thanks for everyone's help!