Chequered background in Photo Editor.

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spamlet - 16 Apr 2008 15:54 GMT

I notice that if I make pictures with transparent backgrounds in Photoshop,
and save them for web as png, they open in Photo Editor with a grey and
white chequered background instead of transparent. Can't see how I might
turn off this presentation of the 'transparent' area?

For me this is not a terrible problem, as I just change the file associate
to Picture and Fax Viewer, but how can I make the pictures so that they open
without the background squares, whoever I might send them too?

Regards,

S

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Michael J. Mahon - 16 Apr 2008 20:48 GMT

> I notice that if I make pictures with transparent backgrounds in Photoshop,
> and save them for web as png, they open in Photo Editor with a grey and
> white chequered background instead of transparent. Can't see how I might
> turn off this presentation of the 'transparent' area?

That's how "transparent" is represented.

If you want a white background behind it, you'll have to put it there
yourself.

> For me this is not a terrible problem, as I just change the file associate
> to Picture and Fax Viewer, but how can I make the pictures so that they open
> without the background squares, whoever I might send them too?

Don't send them with transparent background--make it white.

-michael

"The wastebasket is our most important design
tool--and it's seriously underused."

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spamlet - 17 Apr 2008 18:05 GMT

>> I notice that if I make pictures with transparent backgrounds in
>> Photoshop, and save them for web as png, they open in Photo Editor with a
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>
> -michael

So why do they call it transparent?

I recall I had this problem before when trying to make icons: when it came
to putting them in say Google Earth, the 'transparent' background just made
a square round the icon.
Tinkered with it for a while, but gave up in the end.

The, 'use white' idea will be fine for sending pics that are not meant for
icons or avatars though.

Cheers,

S

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Michael J. Mahon - 17 Apr 2008 22:38 GMT

>>>I notice that if I make pictures with transparent backgrounds in
>>>Photoshop, and save them for web as png, they open in Photo Editor with a
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
> So why do they call it transparent?

Because it is rendered as transparent and lets any background show
through. In an editor/viewer, the area of transparency is often
represented as checkered, so you can distinguish it from non-transparent
colors. If there is no "background" image or color layer, that
checkered area is all you will see.

When an image with transparency is superimposed over another image
in a viewer or browser, the underlying image will show throug the
transparent areas.

> I recall I had this problem before when trying to make icons: when it came
> to putting them in say Google Earth, the 'transparent' background just made
> a square round the icon.
> Tinkered with it for a while, but gave up in the end.

Then it was not rendered as transparent in the image file format.
Usually, one must select whether transparency is to be preserved when
saving an image (to prevent problems when the image is viewed alone,
just as you describe).

> The, 'use white' idea will be fine for sending pics that are not meant for
> icons or avatars though.

Amd where you really want transparency, make sure that when you save
the file, you have selected a format and option to preserve it.

-michael

"The wastebasket is our most important design
tool--and it's seriously underused."

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spamlet - 18 Apr 2008 14:15 GMT

>>>>I notice that if I make pictures with transparent backgrounds in
>>>>Photoshop, and save them for web as png, they open in Photo Editor with
[quoted text clipped - 44 lines]
>
> -michael

Thanks very much Michael.
Those are all helpful tips.

Cheers,
S

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