Paint Shop Pro Verson 8 .tga files

i use paint shop pro version 8. it will only save the tgs in 24 bit not 32...which gives the file a white background and not a transparent one. when i upload the texture to sl...the texture background is white and not transparent. i cannot seem to be able to create a transparent bg...it is not possible to make original clothing with this white bg...any suggestion appreciated

Save it as a PNG (Portable Network Graphics) file instead.

I don't know if PSP can do 24-bit PNG files, which you'll probably want if you're also doing textures withOUT any transparency. Something like Gimp or Paint.NET (both free) should do them, though.

Follow the instructions in the transparency guide at the top of the forum to create an alpha channel in the image. As long as the alpha channel is present, the end result will be a 32-bit image, even if PSP inaccurately refers to it as "24-bit".

Note, the transparency created by the alpha channel will not be directly visible in PSP, but it will be visible in SL, as long as you've created it properly. Remember, alpha channels are just data maps. They don't automatically have to mean transparency, which is why PSP won't make any guesses as to what you might want any particular alpha channel to be used for. SL always treats channel 4 as a transparency map, ans so will most games, 3D modeling programs, video editing programs, etc. by default, but it doesn't have to be that way. Other programs can optionally use that same channel for mapping any other surface property you can think of, such as reflectivity, specularity, bumpiness, etc.

If you want to see the transparency visually in PSP (or in just about any other raster editor), copy it to a layer mask (or layer group mask) to see its effects. Just remember to delete, or at least disable, the mask before you save to TGA for final output.


If you don't want to bother with all that, then PNG is a fine alternative, as Meade suggests. You won't have as much control, but it is easier to understand.

Or, plan B, do whatever Chosen says.

Haha. Thanks, Meade.

I thought there was the mask creation facility in PSP8 under layers. Once you've created a mask and saved it as Alpha channel the programme should automatically save it as 32 bit instead of 24 bit. Apologies if I'm wrong - I've moved to version 10 and have forgotten a lot of the earlier version.

let me re-phrase my question...i make the texture...go to sl and create a undershirt for example...apply the texture to the shirt...how do i get rid of parts of the SL shirt that i might not want to show?

The parts you want to be transparent must be black in the alpha channel. The parts that you want to be opaque must be white in the alpha channel. Anything you want to be translucent must be gray in the alpha channel. The lighter the gray, the more opaque; the darker, the more transparent.

As far as I'm aware (I am using 12) 8 was the first of the corel owned and does allow current pngs. It also allows the alpha channel via the layer mask function.