Photoshop CS Transparency Tips?

I'm an absolute novice when it comes to Photoshop. I use Photoshop CS and I thought I was gonna be in hog heaven when I discovered you can make a new image have a transparent background by default. I naively assumed I could place a tattoo image, for example, into this base transparent image, save it off as a 32 bit TGA and be done. HA!

I now know that an Alpha Channel is needed and in general, I know how to create one with simple black images.

Does anyone have any tips or tutorials on doing this with color images? Is there a simple way to take my color image layer and turn it into a black and white Alpha Channel mask?

Thanks!

Cutter

I'm having similar problems, but with Photoshop 6. I'm also using a tatoo for starters. I tried using a couple of different tutorials, but to no luck. I can upload the file without the alpha channels, but of course that would make my entire upper body white with a tatoo on my back... which isn't exactly what I had planned. When I use an alpha channel, on the other hand, it comes out completely blank, which also isn't exactly what I had planned.

As with Cutter, any help would be appriciated. Thanks to anyone in advance, and good luck to you Cutter.

On your normal layer, select the background then select inverse.
Go to channels.
Click the little box at the bottom that looks like a box with a circle. This creats a new alpha channel.
There you go, transparent backgroud with colors intact.

Check all four channels to be visible--the transparent part will look red. Save as TGA 32 bit with alpha.

Said this from memory, if that's the wrong box, then try the others.

Here’s what I do. I use PS7 but it should work for both 6 and CS.

Make a duplicate layer of the image you want with a clear background.

Desaturate the image then adjust the brightness contrast till it becomes all white.

Copy the layer then turn it off.

Go to the channels tab and make a new layer, this will be the alpha channel.

Paste the white image.

Turn back on RPG channel on the channels tab.

A red haze will appear in the clear sections around the image.

Save as TGA 32bit and you’re done.

Hope this helps
KX

You should be able to select the image with the "wand select" tool. Then open the channels window and click a button that says "copy as alpha" or something like that.

works for me

You select the image, not the negative area around, correct?

Maybe this will help you a bit. I've used alphas for quite a while but they still throw me off sometimes. Any area that is black in the alpha channel will be hidden in your actual image... anything white will show through. Varying degrees of gray will be semi transparent.

i.e., White is complely opaque, it's totally apparent in your image with no transparency... slightly gray is a little bit transparent (might use this on stockings), dark gray is going to be very transparent or barely visible and then black...all gone, it's hiding!

Once you get this understanding, those darn alphas start to talk your language,

You're just painting from white to black depending on whether you want an area to show through or hide.

Sheez, starting yapping and didn't answer your last question. If you understood what I wrote before then you can select either the negative or active area, you just need to fill it with the right color. If the negative area is the area you don't want to be seen you just fill it with black and the visible part will need to be the white area.

I believe there is a channel bug with photoshop cs. I find it is easier to do transparencies on 7. not cs

I use ps cs and this is what I do:


I go into channels tab and create a new alpha layer and make sure it is filled in white

Then I go into the working layer (under the layer tab), use the magic wand and select all the spots I dont want to be seen in SL when I am done (using the shift key to select multiple areas with the magic wand)

With all that selected, I go back to the alpha layer (under the channels tab) and use the paint bucket to fill all the highlighted areas in with black

save as targa, 32 bit then you should be done

hope this helps!

I've tried everything you've all said, more then once. For some reason, though, I am still getting a blank picture when I try to upload into SL. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. If anyone has an extra ideas, tips, hints, thoughts, etc then let me know. If someone who has AIM or Yahoo Messenger is willing to help me one on one in real time then please message me. Thank you.
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-EDIT- Well, someone, someway, I fixed my problem. I'm not exactly sure what I did differently, but it works now. Thank you everyone for your help.

Ok everyone, I don't know if this will help anyone or not, but photoshop 7 automagically works out the alpha channel for you. Whatever is transparent in your PSD, stays transparent in your TGA.

Well, TGA support is from a plug-in. So if we took the TGA plug-in from PS 7, and dropped it into CS it may well work the same way. (I would back up your original plugin file, just in case.)

It might even work in 6, but that's dicier.

So tomorrow, while I am at work, where we have PS 7, I think I will try this. If it works, well, transparency will get a lot easier for everyone.

Something I learned about recently which has been the bane of my alphaing days previously. When using a layer mask for creating a channel, photoshop tries to help by adding a "matte" to the edge of the selection to help paste into other backgrounds. That automatically generated matte is kind of like a very narrow outer glow and it does this without telling you and hides its "fix" well.

Layer->Matte->Defringe is the fix. Defringe the alpha channel by 1 or 2 pixels and thus disappear the white edges that alpha textures show in SL.

Not rocket science, but not very obvious to at least me.

Select the area you want to be able to see...in this case the tattoo. The tattoo should be on a transparent layer for easier selection. You can hold down the ctrl key and click the tattoo layer and select it that way. Just one more way to make selections. Then go to your channels pallet and click "Load selection as channel" at the bottom of the pallet window. The tattoo should appear in the alpha channel thumbnail as white in a field of black. This is your mask. The black areas will be transparent. Save out as a 32 bit .tga the document will be flattened automatically. If you are still having trouble, IM me in game and I will try to walk you through it as you look at the program.

Wannabe, it sounds like you are trying to upload 24 bits.

Make sure that you "preserve alpha channels" and select 32 bits when you save your tga.

Also, look at your alpha chanel pallet, turn on the alpha channel visibility, and the stuff that looks red in the image will be transparent. Make sure that it is visible when you save the tga.

I troubled with making tatoos in CS for a long while, then finally found this thread, helped me a lot but still wasnt getting me the tattoos... then i tried deleting the default alpha 1 and it worked... maybe that's where some of you useing CS are finding problems? Good luck