Simplest Windows app which can define which color in a png file will be transparent?

mkanet · #1 10-20-2005, 01:31 PM

I downloaded some PNG files which the color black shows up as black instead of transparent in the sagetv menus.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I only have 4 simple icons....

Thanks in advance!

salsbst · #2 10-20-2005, 02:29 PM

I don't think anyone would call it simple, but it is free and I think t can do this:

Serif Photo Plus: http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/

mkanet · #3 10-20-2005, 02:39 PM

Thanks salsbst.

If I know for sure it will do it, I'll install it.

salsbst · #4 10-20-2005, 02:50 PM

Two notes:

a) I haven't actually tried to do this. I just know that it supports transparency and PNG.

b) It's possible that it is Sage (or Java) that is at fault, and that the PNG files are fine.

Did you try viewing the PNG in a browser like Firefox or IE?

salsbst · #5 10-20-2005, 02:55 PM

Uh, actually it looks like even the mighty IE can't do PNG transparency: http://blogs.msdn.com/dmassy/archive...05/209428.aspx

You might want to look into converting to GIF if it turns out that the problem is in the rendering and not the file. It looks like support for the PNG transparency feature is a bit spotty.

mkanet · #6 10-20-2005, 03:34 PM

I'm just looking for an idiot's tool do convert the black color in the pictures attached to transparency. I have no idea how to make Internet Explorer do that. Anyone willing to convert those pics that I attached for me?

spike5884 · #7 10-20-2005, 05:49 PM

Great Free program. Not simple, but it does do the transparency as can be seen from the two links.

The Gimp

The Gimp: Making Colors in a GIF Transparent
Tips for using Gimp

Attached are your images re-done in gimp.

mkanet · #8 10-21-2005, 12:49 AM

Thanks Scott! I am now able to make pngs with transparency. The Gimp seems like a pretty good app. Check out the dynamic menus' icon for "Online Services" attached

stanger89 · #9 10-27-2005, 05:59 PM

If you're still looking, IrfanView (free

) can convert to PNG, and if you go into options and pick the "Save Transparency Color" it will let you click on the picture to pick the tranparent color. Don't know how it works in Sage yet though.

mkanet · #10 10-27-2005, 06:08 PM

I used Irfanview for a couple of years now. That's actually the picture viewer I use.

The funny thing is that I spent a good amount of time trying to get Infranview to choose the transparency color before starting this thread

I finally realized that Infranview only has the option to select transparency color when saving as GIF and ICO... not PNG. I could only keep an existing transparancy color when saving as PNG. I shrugged it off and figured it was an Infranview bug.

mkanet · #11 10-27-2005, 06:24 PM

PS: In the latest Irfanview Internet download, if I use the PNGOUT plugin, I get the error: “PNG Save error !” So, there isn't really a way to it yet that I know of.

stanger89 · #12 10-27-2005, 06:33 PM

Pick "Save Transparency Color" but not the PNGOUT plugin thing.

mkanet · #13 10-27-2005, 06:46 PM

I know, that's what I've tried over and over again. After that, it's "supposed" to bring a little preview window with the picture so you can select the transparency color. When you select to save transparency color, I think it means to keep the existing transparency color. It's not going to select a transparency color for you

stanger89 · #14 10-27-2005, 07:38 PM

I don't know, when I did it, it popped up a preview window, and made the color I picked tranparent. But then again, I was converting from a TIF.

lotusvball · #15 10-27-2005, 09:12 PM

The best free program I found that does this is Paint.Net.

http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net/

It is similiar to photoshop but free.

mkanet · #16 10-28-2005, 12:06 PM

I like Paint.net. Its a perfect replacement for mspaint.exe on XP. Now... all I need is to figure out how to make a PNG transparency with this app

The UI looks very nice and the app loads very quickly.

mkanet · #17 11-05-2005, 01:14 PM

I know you guys are going to think I'm retarded, but I'm still having an issue LOL.

For the life of me, I can't figure out why the transparency color isn't being recognized by SageTV. Can you guys verify that the PNG I've attached has it's transparency color is done correctly?

As you can see in the snapshots taken, the PNG's transparency shows correctly in my web browser, but doesnt work at all in my Program Guide.

Thanks so much for all your help!

salsbst · #18 11-05-2005, 01:32 PM

I don't have an answer, but is there a reason why you don't want to use a GIF? Does GIF not work either?

mkanet · #19 11-05-2005, 01:41 PM

I wanted to use png to keep it consistent with the rest of my sageTV image files. Can any of you guys see if the png I posted is indeed a true png with transparency?

I think stanger89 might have a good idea why it doesnt work in SageTV *IF* there's nothing wrong with the png file I created.

Wheemer · #20 11-05-2005, 01:52 PM

It's not showing up as transparent in photoshop...

Try this one:

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