FreewayTalk
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[Pro] PNG loses transparency on import
I have a PNG with transparency - I can see that the transparency is indeed there by using GraphicConverter etc.
When I ran though the tutorial this kind of stuff worked fine with the included graphics, but when I drag (or otherwise import) my own I get a white background instead of the transparency I need.
I’ve searched this forum and the FAQ etc. and reread the book but no luck.
Can anyone suggest what I might be missing here?
Jon P.
Unless you are importing the image as a pass-through image, Freeway will probably convert it to a JPEG for output. You can override this by selecting the image, then clicking on the Output tab of the Inspector and changing the Type from JPEG to PNG and set Colors to Millions.
Walter
On Mar 9, 2010, at 5:03 PM, Jon Paris wrote:
I have a PNG with transparency - I can see that the transparency is indeed there by using GraphicConverter etc.
When I ran though the tutorial this kind of stuff worked fine with the included graphics, but when I drag (or otherwise import) my own I get a white background instead of the transparency I need.
I’ve searched this forum and the FAQ etc. and reread the book but no luck.
Can anyone suggest what I might be missing here?
Freeway user since 1997
Thanks Walter - but that’s not the answer I’m afraid. Both images were already designated as PNG and even with both specified to millions for the colors it makes no difference.
Jon P.
When I ran though the tutorial this kind of stuff worked fine with the included graphics, but when I drag (or otherwise import) my own I get a white background instead of the transparency I need.
Do you know that you can use any image format for the import? Freeway is as happy to read native Photoshop and Illustrator files as anything else.
When you publish from your Freeway document the images in your pages are output as JPEGs, GIFs or, perhaps, PNGs. But it really doesn’t matter what format they are when you import the images in the first place.
So - JPEG, which is the default output format for full-colour images, doesn’t support transparency. In the Inspector palette, third icon along, you can change an image’s output format to something that supports transparency. GIF does 1-bit transparency - which is pretty crude at times. For 8-bit alpha-channel transparency of the kid you see in your PNG original… choose PNG for the output format, and then set the Colors choice to Millions.
k
Both images were already designated as PNG and even with both specified to millions for the colors it makes no difference.
Set that way in Freeway? Okay, are the images combining with any other graphics?
Got a URL that shows the problem page?
k
On 9 Mar 2010, 9:46 pm, thatkeith wrote:
Both images were already designated as PNG and even with both specified to millions for the colors it makes no difference.
Set that way in Freeway? Okay, are the images combining with any other graphics?
Got a URL that shows the problem page?
k
Yes - they are set that way in Freeway.
The two PNGs are being combined - but just those two.
I have experimented some more an there is a difference between the PNGs that work and the one that doesn’t.
According to “More Info” in Finder … The one that works is PNG - Color Space: RGB - Profile: Calibrated RGB Colorspace - Alpha channel: 1.
The one that doesn’t work is simply PNG - Color Space: RGB - Alpha channel: 0
I guess the Alpha channel has something to do with it but …
Jon P.
I guess the Alpha channel has something to do with it but …
That has everything to do with it. :-)
If they’re being combined, check that you see ‘Combined Graphic’ in the Inspector and that the combined graphic is set to PNG at millions. With combined graphics, you shouldn’t end up with two graphics in the output. You should get one combined graphic.
Did you import either of these as pass-through?
Got a URL yet?
k
Even if you set the PNGs to millions of colours, you need to set your website to millions of colours or transparency won’t work.
Go to File / Document Setup and set Document Graphics to Millions.
That should do it.
Paul Hibbert
its bad luck to be superstitious …
That’s not true. The Document Graphics setting has only to do with the pixel depth of the “proxy” versions of the images that Freeway stores within its document. These proxies are used to construct the design view of the layout, so you don’t have to manipulate (potentially) high- resolution original images in real-time. But unless you lose track of the originals and check “Detach” in the warning dialog, you will never actually use these proxies in your published output.
If the original image was somehow saved without its transparency information, or was damaged at some point so that that channel was no longer readable, you could possibly see this sort of problem. Freeway cannot add transparency back to an image once it has been lost.
Walter
On Mar 10, 2010, at 6:22 AM, Paul Hibbert wrote:
Even if you set the PNGs to millions of colours, you need to set your website to millions of colours or transparency won’t work.
Go to File / Document Setup and set Document Graphics to Millions.
That should do it.
Paul Hibbert
Freeway user since 1997
I had them as ‘combined’ and with the PGM millions settings. There was only one graphic in the output (a PNG) but the supposedly transparent bits were white. I didn’t bother publishing it to an external server because that’s all the was to see - a white square surrounding the image.
As I noted in a later post - the “good” ones used alpha channel 1, the “bad” one channel 0. Now that I’ve edited the “bad” one and it too uses channel 1 all is well.
Thanks again.
Jon P.
Now that I’ve edited the “bad” one and it too uses channel 1 all is well.
Phew! Sounds like Walter’s thought (some issue with the original file) may have been right. We’ll never know for sure though, as you’ve sorted it out.
k
Hey, Walter
As ever I bow to your superior knowledge.
You Da Man
its bad luck to be superstitious …
