Create an alpha channel with Photoshop Elements... how?

[trollboy]

i've been creating some basic skins for a while, but now i want to make something better, like reskinning an aura, but all i get is a black square with some drawings on it, found out that the alpha channels are lost, so... how do i restore/create them using Photoshop Elements?

or do i need a different program?

 

[Waldbaer]

Assuming that this works in Phoshop Elements smilar to Photoshop, you should be able to get transparent parts in Photoshop Elements just by erasing.
If you erase to a color, make sure that you edit in 32-Bit color mode. If you aren't sure about the mode, make a new picture. In the dialogue popping up you should be able to select the mode. If you are surely in 32Bit mode and still erase to a color, select only the fourth channel besides R, G, and B. 100% black in this channel is complete transparency. Although I'm not sure if you can edit single color channels in PS Elements...
When you save your file to convert it to BLP and use it in War3, also make sure that you always use 32Bit Mode.

 

[trollboy]

won't work, the transparent is saved as white when i save it as JPG.

the skin disappears and only the team color part shows when saved as TGA.

and Photoshop Elements doesn't support BLP.


is there any other program i can use??

 

[_-nexXxor-_]

.... only transparency wont work!!!

you have to draw in the "Alfa channel" first you have to create this channel! (duno how) and than, you have to draw only on this channel the parts were you want to have transparency.
as darker, as more transp.

 

[trollboy]

.... only transparency wont work!!!

you have to draw in the "Alfa channel" first you have to create this channel! (duno how) and than, you have to draw only on this channel the parts were you want to have transparency.
as darker, as more transp.

... i know that i need to create an alpha channel, the only thing i wondered was how to do it

 

[Waldbaer]

This blank TGA is a known export problem in Photoshop... did you try to save it as BMP? JPG does not support 32Bit-Mode, as far as I know, so forget it.

 

[trollboy]

BMP. doesen't support 32 bits, TGA. screws the texture, JPG. Doesen't save transparent, is there any other program i can use that's easy to get?

 

[_-nexXxor-_]

... I duno, but a few pople here say that "the Gimp" or only "GIMP" is good for skinning...
wc3sear.ch ==> Tools

 

[ragingspeedhorn]

GIMP is only good if you do not have money for any good programs such as paint shop pro and adobe photoshop.

Saying that GIMP is good when he has photoshop is saying that a Windows XP user should start using 95 again

 

[Waldbaer]

BMP does support 32Bits as far as I know, but it is quite uncommon... but I tried once more and it should work with TGA if you just use transparencies. The bug only occurs if you save a 24Bit picture as 32Bit TGA.
What you should always be sure about: the height and width of your image always have to be ...don't know the english word... in numbers consisting of 2*2*2...*2, e.g. 2 pixels, 4 pixels, 8 pixels, and so on. Most common are 256 or 512 pixels. If your height or width doesn't follow this standard, the convertion with wc3viewer will result in an empty file.
I hope we finally found your problem! Please report if it works or still doesn't!

 

[trollboy]

The only way i can find that creates transparency is by erazer, but that's saved white in most formats, tried a few times with TGA. but i end up with a screwed skin and only the teamcolor part showing, is there any other way to do it? i've seemed to have screwed it op so far in every way i've tried :?

 

[_-nexXxor-_]

ragingspeedhorn
...
Saying that GIMP is good when he has photoshop is saying that a Windows XP user should start using 95 again

^^
I know, but he/she asked if there are oter Progs.... and the only FREE prog I know is GIMP .... or maybe InfraView.... but this isn't good for editing...

@ trollboy
try to open a given skin of which U know that it contains TC.... if U open it with PS(cs2) U will see that there is an "alfa channel Layer" in the Layer selection window!!
that's the way I did my TeamColored skins!!

 

[trollboy]

ragingspeedhorn
...
Saying that GIMP is good when he has photoshop is saying that a Windows XP user should start using 95 again

^^
I know, but he/she asked if there are oter Progs.... and the only FREE prog I know is GIMP .... or maybe InfraView.... but this isn't good for editing...

@ trollboy
try to open a given skin of which U know that it contains TC.... if U open it with PS(cs2) U will see that there is an "alfa channel Layer" in the Layer selection window!!
that's the way I did my TeamColored skins!!

oh... how nice.. since i i don't have PScs2!

 

[_-nexXxor-_]

..... thats fu......
but try the same with PS-elements!!!
....
that's why I set the ( ) It shuld be possible with every version of PS

 

[PurplePoot]

you have to save it as a .PNG and convert that to a .blp

PNG works because it is in RGBA color format. any other file type in this format will also work ( RBGA )

 

[trollboy]

YAY! i've solved it!

i downloaded The GIMP, opened them in .TGA, applied a transparent layer and erazed what i wanted


Problem Solved

 

[ragingspeedhorn]

Lol I am amazed that using The GIMP actually was a good thing. How come you couldent get the stuff to work in Photoshop?

 

[trollboy]

no idea, might be a connection with the fact that saving an PS Elements file in a different format than the standard PS formats ((everytime i saved files in something else, i got the message "Some changes will not be saved using the selected format")), and PS Elements does not have any way to create an alpha layer :?

 

[ragingspeedhorn]

Sounds like an shitty program, get Adobe Photoshop or Paintshop Pro instead.

 

[trollboy]

well, it got a wide array of tools to make the picture look cool

 

[PurplePoot]

why didnt you just use a .png?

 

[trollboy]

why bother? i would've screwed it up anyway

i've found a way to do it with The GIMP

 

[Waldbaer]

@ PurplePoot: Which program is actually able to convert PNG to BLP and back? I use War3Viewer and it only can do BMP, TGA an JPG.

 

[trollboy]

ah, whatever, problem solved.

but i'd like to see the program that can convert .PNG -> .BLP

 

[ragingspeedhorn]

After the stuff on the PNG is done cant you convert that to another filetype then?..