Photoshop 7 ALPHA channels

Many people have been wondering how to make invisible sections of textures In-World, so I put together a step-by-step for Photoshop 7 users. Enjoy

-Higbee Protagonist-

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Instructions for Photoshop 7 ALPHA layers:

*This is for images that have no layers and are already in one of the necessary sizes for Images in SL before you save. My recommended are 512x512, 256x256, 512x256.

STEP 1: Select all of the image area that you wish to be visible.

STEP 2: Cut and then paste this area so that it has a separate layer from the background. Reposition with Free Transform if necessary.

STEP 3: If it’s not already on your screen, open your “Layers” Toolbar. Select Channels from the 3 tabs.

STEP 4: Create a new Channel by clicking on the icon at the bottom of the toolbar. This should create your alpha channel.

STEP 5: In the toolbar, click on the left (empty box/eyeball) of the RGB layer to make them all visible. This should give your image a reddish-pink hue.

STEP 6: Select the RGB layer.

STEP 7: Select the image area using your MAGIC WAND, and use “inverse” (in your Select menu) as necessary.

STEP 8: Leaving the image area selected, go back to your Channels toolbar and select the Alpha channel.

STEP 9: Go to the Edit menu, then to Fill, and fill your selected area with White. This should remove the hues from your selected image area. If unhappy with results, Undo this step and repeat as necessary.

STEP 10: In the Channels toolbar select the Layers Tab to return to the Layers toolbar.

STEP 11: Right-click on the Background layer and Delete it. This should give you the selected image area with grey and white checkered background, and you should have only Layer 1 in your Layers toolbar.

STEP 12: Go to your File menu and select Save As. Save the image as a Targa, ignore the warning, and name it what you like. Don’t forget to remember where you put it

STEP 13: Upload and enjoy your new SL Alpha Image!

If you have any other questions, contact Higbee Protagonist in SL or reach me by email: [email]gguyer2@insight.rr.com[/email]

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Thank You!

I seem to have stumbled on a simpler method of getting transparencies. Since I'm not by any means an expert in Photoshop 7, I dont know if there are particular drawbacks to my method, but it seems to have worked for me. Maybe you could let me know, Higbee, if I'm doing something wrong.

When I open a new document, I choose the Transparent option in the contents box (bottom of the new document dialogue window). This gives a checkerboard background, which will be transparent in the saved image.

Now I can paste in other images as layers, for example a clothing template, or bits of othere jpgs, etc. and I can work on my image.

When I'm happy with it, I turn off the visibility in all the layers that I dont want (usually the bottom template layer) by unchecking the eye symbol in the layers window, and then when I save the image as a tga file any area that is showing the checkerboard background will automatically be saved as an alpha channel.

What you're describing is really a "bug" in the Photoshop 7 Targa export plugin. In the initial version, it saves the transparency just like you described, and ignores the alpha channel.

Personally, I find it much easier to have it just save the transparency as the alpha channel, instead of mucking around with selections, filling black and white, making sure they're both aliased well, etc.

Just be aware that if you ever get the 7.1 (or 7.0.1?) update that it will revert it back to using the alpha channel instead of the transparency of the layers.

I find it much easier to use The Gimp but then, I'm insane.

Heh call me an idiot but I never figured out how to use the gimp. Of course the last time I tried it was years ago, but it didnt seem to pop up anything remotely recognizable as far as image editors go. I'm gonna download this newfangled windows port and give it a shot

I will answer any and all Gimp questions (possibly even correctly).

I also have a working method, without having to do all the things to set the layer transparent: I have a file that is only the transparent layer, so I copy it and work on the copy file. I love to cut corners!

The Gimp is perfectly good way to create Alpha layers but Wednesday knows more about them thanI do Additionally, Viola Bach's method should work as well, but I wanted to explain how to get around the bug. Thanks to all who replied!

Higbee Protagonist

I have a PS7 tutorial for doing alpha channels using layer masks (complete with screenshots) in a notecard. I used to hand it out at my texture classes when I was teaching them. If anyone would like a copy just IM me.

In my Customizing you Avatar class, I go through the steps on alphas plus show diagrams on making Targa saves for Photoshop 7. Not sure if its the right way but it works and is only 3 steps.

Been using this proceedure since March.

A number of people have mentioned the gimp but no one has described how to make transparencies with it. I am a total amateur with the program. This way works but is surely not optimal.

Take an image and save as .tga
Open the tga and add an alpha layer under the layers menu.
Use the Select rectangular regions tool to mark a rectangle in an unused area of your picture. Use the fill tool and fill it with black. Then go to filters, and use the ColorToAlpha tool to make the area transparent.

Use the Select Shapes from Image tool to select your object. Do this by cllicking dots around your object. When you get around and click the first dot you made the scissors will change to a square. Then click inside your object and it will be selected.

Move your object to the transparent area, crop to get rid of everything else, and Voila, transparent image.

I remember back in beta I had to figure out this from scratch with PS6, but now after picking up some free texture gift boxes these lasts two months, I've found one or two that include a complete alpha texture in it ready to go. One I know for sure was just labeled 'clear'.
I donno, i guess if i had access to this back then, i woulda never figured out how to make a complete alpha.

Ok guys I dont want to insult your choice of software or anything, but can anyone recommend a slightly less bloated image editor? I dont need anything too fancy, I mostly just want to do alpha textures for windows and simple stuff like that.

Um, this seems way too complicated a way of doing it? What version of The Gimp are you using?

Here's how I do it:
File->New
then in the "New Image" dialog, set the "Fill Type" to "Transparent"

A new image with a grey checkerboard pattern opens. The checkerboard is the transparent area (same as in the SL texture viewer) you draw on top of this, if you erase, you erase to transparent.

Then, when done, right-click on the image, file->"save as" then in the "Save Options" set the file type to "By extension" and save the file as whatever.tga

Eggy, it's not "bloated", it's "powerful"

Eggy, you might want to check out the lite version of photoshop that's called photoshop elements. I don't know if it has alpha support or not but I'd be suprised if it doesn't. It's only $99

Ok, I'm still having trouble here...

I've followed the instructions properly (I THINK). I have a PSD file in Photoshop 5.5. The file shows a fish (I'm trying to create some wildlife in my water) and behind him JUST the checkered background.

This would seem to indicate that everything is ready? Is there anything that could be wrong at this point?

The problem is that when I do a "Save copy as", choose TGA, and then open it up again, the background is white.

In addition, I've tried importing it into the game, and the background shows up white there too.

Four questions:

1) If my finished file in PSD form shows the fish, and the checkerboard background only, is it pretty certain that I've done all the channels, cutting, and pasting right? Am I ok up to that point?

2) If I save it as TGA, and open it up again, should the background still be the "checkerboard" pattern?

3) Is there any way to test this graphic before spending $L10 to upload it?

4) Anyone have any idea what I'm doing wrong?

Ah, you have a transparent background - not supported by TGA files - instead of an alpha channel, which is.

- Make the backround white, not transparent.
- Select the background.
- Select inverse.
- Create an Alpha channel.
- You shoul dnow see black covering the whole image, with the selectoin lines showing.
- Use the paint bucket tool to fill the selectoin with white. (White areas will be visible, black areas will be invisible, gray areas will be varying degrees of transparent.)
- Save as a TGA file.

That should do it!

Do "Save As" not "Save copy as." Select TGA from the list. Hit OK. A dialogue should pop up asking what bit depth to save as. Choose 32. You should be good to go.

Eggy, the GIMP is a little hard to figure out at first; the Windows port is not quite as intuitive as most Windows graphics programs. I also found that it was slow and sometimes locked up when trying to open multiple files. But, at heart it is a Unix/Linux program and many such to not port to Windows well. However, I found that creating alpha channels with the GIMP is fairly easy.

Photoshop Elements has very good filters and effects, but version 1 does not support alpha channels. Version 2 is out, but I do not know if alpha support has been added.

I use PaintShop Pro (version 5) at home. PSP does support alpha textures and is easier (IMHO) to use than Photoshop. PSP is up to version 8, and I found it on Froogle for as low as US$75.

Oh, and although my old version of PSP only allows the option to save in 24bit TGA, it still seems to work; maybe they didn't count the alpha channel in the bit depth back then.

Yeah, Eggy, Paint Shop Pro is quick and easy, and the has such "duh" features as "paste as new image", which Photoshop lacks.

If you DO want to use Photoshop, however, you should either get the PS7 patch (and if you stole it, it probably won't work) or steal the targa .dll (targa.dll may or may not be the actual name you want to look for there) from PS6.

Personally, I recommend Photoshop, because it's one of those rare cases where the market leader is acutally the best.

Eggy, you might also want to check out a program called dogwaffle. Stupid name, but a very impressive paint program. There's a version that's completely free. It emulates natural media like corel painter but is aimed at cel animators.

http://www.thebest3d.com/dogwaffle/index.html

Ingot,

Sorry I didn't get back sooner, but the answer to your question is: it should have a checkerboard background. Take Chip's advice and try that, but please remember these notes are for Photoshop 7 ONLY. Due to a design flaw/change it needs a small work-around. Additionally, if u still have issues, I suggest u pick up Photoshop for Dummies. Sounds stupid, but those books couldn't be much better resources for very useful info. Hope this helps atleast a little Good Luck!

HigPro

To check to make sure you got an alpha channel, do this... open the TGA file you just saved. With the TGA as the active document, open the channels palette. You should see channels for R, G, B, and Alpha. If the alpha channel is there you're ready to upload to SL.

Lots of people trying to help, thanks!

With the hints and explanations offered, I went home last night ready to try some things... Bhodi's post seemed to me to be the most likely one to help when I got home, so I checked it out.

It seemed to me that it shouldn't matter if my background was white or transparent if the Alpha channel was working properly, but I selected it and filled it with white anyway.

I then went to the alpha channel and found that I had already created the appropriate mask, in black and white, so a lack of an alpha channel wasn't the problem...

I finally discovered that in Adobe 5.5, when you load an image, it automatically turns off the Alpha channel. If you want the alpha channel used, you must specifically go in and turn it on EVERY TIME.

So, I saved it again... Oh, Chip... For some reason, in Photoshop 5.5, you MUST do a "save copy as" or you can only save the image in the same format you opened it in. It's odd, but <shrug> that's the way they did it.

I then went to upload the file, and the system was DOWN!

ARRGH!

No complaints! I know what it's like trying to work under the kleig lights of thousands of waiting customers! I just started doing badly needed housework, and coming back to try again every 15 minutes.

Eventually (as you all know) SL came back up, and I uploaded the image.

SUCCESS! My first successful texture upload!

After attending the "guess the author" event, I went around and showed off. Sure, this is old hat to a lot of you, but what good is acquiring new abilities if you can find someone tolerant enough to listen to you boast?

Nolan and Lynn Lippman were both polite and tolerant, and looked my fish over. Abby showed up (she helps organize wildlife in Immaculate's public property), and took a copy of it. Nolan gave me one of his goldfish for me to plant and study...

After studying Nolan's goldfish, I used the Open Source scripts in it to animate a school of three of my "Big Eyed Squirrel Fish". My place now has one of Nolan's fish, and a group of three of MY fish swimming placidly around in it!

Thank you all for your help!

Ingot