Combining gif and ico images in Photoshop??

Hi guys,

Here is one for the Photoshop gurus.

I have two images, one is a gif and the other an ico. The icon file is a magnifying glass, with the glass part being semi-transparent, ie, when it is on my desktop I can partially see the underlying desktop.

I would like to put that magnifying glass on top of my gif image, so I can partially see the gif image underneath, to form a new image which I wish to upload as a texture.

I can see that as my first step I need to convert both the gif and the ico image to other formats, but which ones? I have Photoshop CS2, but I have not yet got to grips with it.

If any kind soul can give me some advice on the steps I should follow I would be most grateful.

Rock

To open an ICO file in Photoshop, you'll need a plugin. Google for "Phtoshop open ico" and you'll find tons of choices.

As for turning an icon into a texture, I wouldn't recommend that. Icon images are tiny, generally just 32x32. If the prim you intend to apply the texture to is also really tiny, and you're confident that most people won't ever zoom in on it, then it might work. But realize that as soon as someone does zoom in on a texture with so few pixels in it, it's gonna look pretty terrible.

Also, what is the copyright license on the image? Do you have permission to use it for anything other than its intended purposes? I would tend to doubt that an icon image would come with permission for use for any purpose other than to represent a particular program. Even if it's a generic icon, not associated with any specific program, you probably don't have permission to use it anywhere other on your own desktop, or for any purpose other than actually as an icon.

As for the GIF file you want to put in the background, the same questions apply. Is it also really tiny? And what copyright permissions do you have for using it?

For these reasons, and more, you'd be much better off making your own imagery from scratch.

Anyway, to answer your question about formatting, your working document in Photoshop will be a PSD by default. The two images would be pasted onto individual layers within the PSD. The output format for upload to SL will be any of the four formats that SL can use, TGA, PNG, BMP, or JPEG. I recommend TGA. For more information on file formats, see the sticky at the top of the forum.

First of all, may I say thank you for responding to my request for help. But having said that, I must also take exception to your probing regarding copyright, and whether I have permission or not.

With regards to the gif file, that is entirely of my own creation. With regards to the magnifying glass icon that is part of a commercial icon set that I have purchased, and the license agreement allows me to use or modify the icons as I see fit, for either personal or commerical use. But what I fail to see, is what on earth that has to do with you, and what business is it of yours?

Is it a condition of this forum that every request for help requires proof of copyright permissions on all images used? Did you write your reply to my post using a legal copy of your operating system? Whether your operating system is legal or not, is a question for the copyright law enforcement, the copyright law in the appropriate jurisdiction, and the aggrieved party. As I am not an expert in OS copyright law, in no single jurisdiction, let alone all of them, and as I am not an aggrieved party, I will leave the question of the legality of your OS to those it directly concerns, and hope that the same stance is taken towards myself and others who pose questions here about textures, images, graphics and the like.

Now that I have de-bristled, the gif image is 148px x 48px, and the icon is 48 x 48 px. The gif will form part of a HUD I am whiteboarding right now, and the magnifying glass will be used on top of the gif image to form a HUD search function (I intentionally sought out a commerical package that would allow this, and had the nice semi-transparent effect I was looking for). If I was capable of generating these kind of graphics 'from scratch' as you suggested, I would hardly be bothering the forum with any requests for helps or tips.

I know a little about Photoshop, but I am no expert by any means. I know how to load an image and make it a layer, and how to load a second image into another layer. What I don't know is how to then 'merge' the two layers into a single layer image. The icon file has an alpha channel, but the icon management programs I have can load it, then Export it out as a BMP file, but I am not sure if BMP has alpha capability, so my first question is, what would the forum reccomend: that I convert the icon file BEFORE loading it into Photoshop, and what program would do that for me. Or that I load the icon directly into Photoshop, using a plug-in?

The gif file looks like a weathered board, and what I want out of this process is that board, with a magnifying glass on it, with the board being partially visible through the glass of the magnifying glass. The icon file has a solid black black background, which is made the transparent colour, and the glass has black in parts of it, so the underlying graphic can be seen through it. The graphic size is perfect for my requirements, the HUD is a fixed size, so won't be zoomed.

All advice gratefully received,

Rock

You're welcome for the help. There are some things we need to straighten out though if we're going to continue.


You seriously need to calm way down on the copyright question. Relax, man. You're so misinterpreting the issue here, it's almost scary.

I wasn't "probing". The questions I raised were not direct inquiries from me to you. They were simply examples of the questions every single person should ask themselves when considering whether or not to use a pre-existing image. Many people are under the mistaken impression that anything on the Internet is "public domain", so they assume that if they can grab an image of the Web, they're free to use it any way they want. There's nothing wrong with taking a minute to point out that that's not the case.

Look, if someone were considering taking your work without your permission, and a message like this caused him or her to realize that that wouldn't be the right thing to do and then stopped, I'd think you'd be grateful for that. Talking about copyright concerns in these kinds of discussions is for everyone's benefit, and it happens all the time. I find it extremely puzzling that you'd be so offended by it.


Great, so there's no problem.


It's my business only in so far as I'm a concerned citizen. I wasn't accusing you of anything. I was simply expressing the kinds of concerns everyone should have when using other people's imagery. Again, I'm puzzled that you would be offended by that.

I believe in the free exchange of knowledge, and in the responsibility of those who are well versed on relevant topics to help educate those who are not. The subject of copyright is relevant whenever anyone says "I've got this here _______ that I didn't make, and want to do _______ with it." Throwing out a healthy "Make sure you've got permission before you do that" is the responsible thing to do as a member of any society that values copyright. Not to discuss it would potentially be to promote thievery by omission, an extremely irresponsible thing to do.

As I said, if it were your copyrighted work at stake, I'm sure you'd be grateful that there are people out there who are committed to helping to protect your rights, eve though they don't even know you. Just because you allegedly do have the requisite permissions in this particular case doesn't lessen the importance of such responsible discussion. So lighten up, will ya?


What part of the answers to your questions didn't you understand? The copyright stuff was interwoven throughout my post, but all the answers you needed to everything you asked (and more) were all in there. There were no "conditions", and you know it. Quit trying to make it into something it's not. I think we're all more intelligent than that.


Of course. Why wouldn't I?

I take it from the question that your belief is that most people use pirated operating systems. Otherwise you probably wouldn't be so quick to assume your question would have any weight to it. Since most people naturally assume everyone else does the same things they do themselves, I now must believe that your own OS probably is not legit. Otherwise it simply wouldn't have occurred to you to ask. It certainly wouldn't have occurred to me.

For the record, I've got three operational computers here in front of me, and probably half a dozen old, out dated ones in the closet. They all have legitimate operating systems on them. All but one have the very same OS they came with out of the box. The other has an upgraded OS that was installed from a store-bought CD.

I can assure you that OS pirates are in the minority of computer users (grown up computer users, anyway). While OS piracy is certainly sizable, the fact is most people's OS's are legit.



That's where we differ. As an artist who produces copyrighted work as a matter of course every single day, I do consider myself an aggrieved party in principle whenever ANY infringement happens, even if it's not my own work in question. You'll find the same is true for a great many of the people who routinely post instructional information here. We're all a community. Injure one of us, you injure us all. We all have a responsibility to look out for each other. Had I not raised the subject, I can promise you someone else would have. As I said, it comes up all the time.

If you don't like the fact that people here actually care about this subject, you'll probably want to avoid this forum in the future. That would be a shame. I'd much rather were grateful for the fact that people here actually care whether or not your work gets stolen. But the fact that you were so offended at the mere mention of copyright as a subject of import leads me to believe you probably routinely infringe upon it without a care in the world for those from whom you are stealing, and that's really sad.

If that's the case, and I stress IF, then I don't mind saying that you would disgust me. If it's not the case, and I really hope it's not (I can't know for certain whether it is or it isn't, of course), then I most sincerely apologize for any perceived offense. I can 100% assure you either way that no offense was intended at any point in my previous post. I'm amazed and surprised that you reacted the way you did here. Once again, this subject comes up all the time, and in all the years I've been posting here, I've never seen anyone else get so bent out of shape over it as you appear to be.


Ah, if it's for a HUD, that makes a lot more sense. I hadn't thought of that. Small sizes will be perfect then.

One thing you'll want to be aware of though is that as an OpenGL application, SL requires that all textures be measurable in powers of two. You'll need to pre-size the images appropriately in Photoshop or else SL is going to do it for you at the time of upload. Photoshop will do a much better job of it than SL will, so you're always better off sizing things properly yourself. For more information on texture sizes, see the sticky at the top of the forum.

For your GIF background image, if that 37:12 aspect ratio you currently have is important to preserve, I'd suggest you paste the 148x48 image onto a 256x64 canvas, and then set the repeats in SL to 0.578x0.75, so that just the 148x48 portion shows on the prim.


You can't be serious. The best artists in the world ask for tips from others all the time. No one is so good or so accomplished that they've got nothing left to learn from anyone else, no one. The day you no longer need to ask for help is the day you admit defeat, roll over, and die. So unless you're planning on doing that, ask away, no matter how high or low you think your present skill level is.

So you know, lots of people who would be perfectly capable of creating that magnifying glass (including you, I'm sure, if you'd open your mind to the possibility) come here to ask all kinds of questions every day. And you said you did create the background image yourself, so clearly you were capable of that, right?

I'm not saying you necessarily have to do it yourself. Just don't feel like that if you could, it would mean you wouldn't need to ask anything about it ever again. That's just not how learning works.

(Oh, and by the way, just so you know, I would recommend you never again use a GIF file as a source format for a texture. You want to use formats that have full color palettes. GIF, with support for just 256 colors, is about the worst choice for a texture source there is. GIF really only has value on the Web. Don't use it for anything else, ever.)


If you want to merge two layers, the menu command is Layer -> Merge, or the keyboard shortcut is ctrl-E. Whatever layer you currently have highlighted will merge with the layer immediately below it in the stack. If you have more than one highlighted, then the entire highlighted group will merge.

That said, don't merge your layers. Keep your layered work preserved as a PSD, always. That way, you can always go back and make changes if you ever need. When it comes time to output for upload, all of the output formats (TGA, PNG, BMP, and JPEG) are inherently layerless. Your working document could have one layer or a million layers, and the output file will come out exactly the same.

Anyway, what I think you're really trying to ask is not how to merge the layers, but how to get that alpha transparency from the magnifying glass to work when the magnifying glass is on a layer. The answer is you want to copy the alpha channel to a layer mask. If you need instructions for how to do that, ask, and I'll post them.


32-bit BMP files do exist. They're relatively new though as graphics formats go, and not all programs support them. What I would suggest is you take whatever icon management program you have, output a BMP from it, and then see if the alpha channel is still there when you open it in Photoshop. If it is, great. If not, see if the program has other options. If it can do TGA or PNG, that would be better.

Really though, you'd be better off using an icon plugin inside Photoshop. That way, you don't have to bother converting formats. Simply open the file in PS, and get to work.