Wanted: Freeware to create transparant images

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Ridefort

I am looking for software to create transparant images; Does anybody
please have some pointer where to locate some programs?


TIA
Andre Linoge
 
Ridefort said:
I am looking for software to create transparant images; Does anybody
please have some pointer where to locate some programs?
Click to expand...

Many paint programs can do it, for example Pixia, small, quick and
freeware, with lots of tutorials available on the web.

Get Pixia here:
http://park18.wakwak.com/~pixia/

Pixia's interface is simple and efficient, but you need to study the
help file a few minutes to know what all the different controls are
for.


This web page is a tutorial about creating transparent images with
Pixia:

http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA023468/png_e.html


Here is a tutorial about Pixia and how to use layers in it.
It goes from beginner to layers handling with every step illustrated
with screenshots.

http://www.angelfire.com/fang/derangedrook/pixiatutorial.html

If you need more tutorials, put something like this in google:

pixia tutorial masks
 
I tried making transparent images, but decided they were a waste of
time. No one could see them. ;-)
Semi-transparent images are far superior!
 
Hello Ross...

This might surprize you but web designers use totally transparent images for
various reasons....
They are used to keep structure, create a space, or even forbid people from
downloading
images. I use them all the time.

It is a problem with western way of thinking, that leads them to believe
that a lack of something is not important. However what is lacking, defines
what exists.
 
Ridefort said:
I am looking for software to create transparant images; Does anybody
please have some pointer where to locate some programs?
Click to expand...

I use Image Forge 3.60, which has been no problem...it's at
www.cursorarts.com. (3.60 was the latest freeware version when I acquired
it...a later free version may be available by now.)
 
Anonymous said:
Hello Ross...
This might surprize you but web designers use totally transparent images for
various reasons....
They are used to keep structure, create a space, or even forbid people from
downloading images. I use them all the time.

It is a problem with western way of thinking, that leads them to believe
that a lack of something is not important. However what is lacking, defines
what exists.
Click to expand...

That's kind of a geocentric generalism, don't you think? Not all
Westerners think that way and I'm sure that there are some people in
your part of the world who *do* think that way.

--
Regards from John Corliss
I don't reply to trolls like Andy Mabbett, Doc (who uses sock puppets)
or Roger Johansson, for instance. No adware, cdware, commercial
software, crippleware, demoware, nagware, PROmotionware, shareware,
spyware, time-limited software, trialware, viruses or warez for me, please.
 
I AM in the western world... and know the percentage of blindness around me.
See that I am not saying that everyone is like that? There are some people
that have more perception than others...

Lol you immediately assumed that I was NOT from the western world...
you are ready to attack anyone who challenges your belief system.
Now you see how distorted your perception can be? You saw something
that was not there....

I am from the western world, however I could tell you things that would turn
your perception of the world upside down and inside out.

If you knew more about what I was talking about you would understand
exactly why I stated that in the particular manner that I did.

I don't blabber nonsense without a basis, I just don't explain everything
on a newsgroup post because it would take whole books to do so.
 
Ridefort said:
I am looking for software to create transparant images; Does anybody
please have some pointer where to locate some programs?


TIA
Andre Linoge
Click to expand...

Use Irfanview. Cut a tiny square of white out of some other picture,
save it as a GIF or PNG and tell it that white is transparent. Then
resize that to whatever dimension you need in the software/html.

Quick, easy, and save bandwith/space by only loading a small image.

Heck, it's so easy I'll do it for you.

<http://www.widewaterfilms.com/other/tiny_hole.gif> 821 bytes
<http://www.widewaterfilms.com/other/tiny_hole.png> 96 bytes

Both are 10x10 transparent images.

And don't anybody send me e-mails saying you can't see them. This
reminds me of the comedian that used to ask "How could Wonder Woman
ever find her invisible jet?"
 
Anonymous said:
Hello Ross... This might surprize you but web designers use
totally transparent images for various reasons.... They are used
to keep structure, create a space, or even forbid people from
downloading images. I use them all the time.
Click to expand...

Thanks for explaining the usage of transparent images in web design. Do
you have any preferred references on-line to which you can point?

tia,
-Craig
 
hello Craig,

I learned this trick on my own after seeing some transparent.gif images
or others called spacer.gif when I saved pages,
and wondered what the use of them would be. These are used for various
reasons in web pages.
I have solved problems when I wanted to make several tables with exact cells
or do other effects.

I just looked it up on Google now for you, and found this:

http://www.golivetutor.com/tutorials/misc/transparent.html

Although the original image may be only 1x1 pixel you can stretch it to
whatever size
you want and it wont matter.... since it is invisible :-)

Thus this does what you learn in art if you learn it correctly, that space
(or in art its called
negative space) defines form.

if you look on Google you will probably find more info...

If you want to see how they protect images with transparent images take a
look
at this site http://www.deviantart.com that has big previews of various
artwork...
when you right click and save a big preview you save only a transparent gif
they have overlayed.

at least they had that before since I checked not and could not reproduce
it, maybe they do it on some of the pictures or
stoped it.

If you want more clarification post here...

are you a web designer?
 
Anonymous said:
If you want to see how they protect images with transparent images take a
look
at this site http://www.deviantart.com that has big previews of various
artwork...
when you right click and save a big preview you save only a transparent gif
they have overlayed.
Click to expand...

I tried to find such a protected picture there but all pictures were
normal.

They probably stopped doing it when they realized how stupid it is, it
doesn't protect anything and it just annoys people.

If we keep an eye on the cache folder we see all the downloaded files,
including pictures placed under invisible layers, so the users simply
learn to copy those pictures from the cache folder of the web browser.
 
You are correct..


Roger Johansson said:
I tried to find such a protected picture there but all pictures were
normal.

They probably stopped doing it when they realized how stupid it is, it
doesn't protect anything and it just annoys people.

If we keep an eye on the cache folder we see all the downloaded files,
including pictures placed under invisible layers, so the users simply
learn to copy those pictures from the cache folder of the web browser.
Click to expand...
 
Anonymous said:
hello Craig,
Click to expand...
...<stuff deleted>...These are used for various reasons in web pages.
I have solved problems when I wanted to make several tables with
exact cells or do other effects.
....

If you want to see how they protect images with transparent images
take a look at...

are you a web designer?
Click to expand...

No, I'm not a web designer, I'm a distributor/reseller. But I
bastardize sites in my spare time... If I understand it correctly, most
(if not all) of the uses for transparent gifs became obsolete w/the
advent of css.

CSS, using padding and margins or positioning, should be able to provide
pixel-level conrol over layouts. I dunno personally because I don't
have a need for that granularity. Apart from that, tables, frames...css
really changed the way I look at markup.

The one possible use of transparent gifs (prevention of image download)
seems intriguing but I can't find an example. (Happily, most people
don't want to bother copying the photo of Lucky, my 3-legged dog.)

Am I missing something?

thx,
-Craig

p.s. for wonderful demonstrations of frame-like behavior, elegant
tables, menus & such -/all using validated & compliant xhtml & css/-
check out Stu Nicholls' most excellent romp at cssplay.co.uk. I've no
connection other than marvelling at, borrowing from & chatting with the
talented guy.
 
Use Irfanview. Cut a tiny square of white out of some other picture,
save it as a GIF or PNG and tell it that white is transparent. Then
resize that to whatever dimension you need in the software/html.

Quick, easy, and save bandwith/space by only loading a small image.

Heck, it's so easy I'll do it for you.

<http://www.widewaterfilms.com/other/tiny_hole.gif> 821 bytes
<http://www.widewaterfilms.com/other/tiny_hole.png> 96 bytes

Both are 10x10 transparent images.

And don't anybody send me e-mails saying you can't see them. This
reminds me of the comedian that used to ask "How could Wonder Woman
ever find her invisible jet?"
Click to expand...

Well now, the .gif file shows up as a black square, and the .png file shows
up as a gray square after you right click on the page and select all.
Interesting.....

David
 
OFF TOPIC
It is a problem with western way of thinking, that leads them to believe
that a lack of something is not important. However what is lacking, defines
what exists.
Click to expand...

Thinking about this, I find it to have some amazing accuracy.

Example: Is there actually *something* called evil? Or is evil just an
*absence* of good?
It may answer the question "Why did God create evil?" Perhaps He
didn't.

Ross
 
I am looking for software to create transparant images; Does anybody
please have some pointer where to locate some programs?
Click to expand...

If you meant setting levels of transparency, then in order of
difficulty:

GimpShop: http://blog.yumdap.net/archives/20-GIMPshop-for-Windows.html
(Set opacity slider in Layers toolbox window)

Serif PhotoPlus6: http://www.freeserifsoftware.com
(in Layers toolbox window, rt-click to promote to a layer, then set
opacity slider)

Paint.Net: http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net
(Layers->Layer Properties, then set opacity)

PaintStar: http://wang.zhenzhou.googlepages.com
(Transparency can be set only for a pasted image)

PhotoFiltre: http://www.photofiltre.com
(Transparency can be set only for a pasted image)
 
Craig said:
Thanks for explaining the usage of transparent images in web design.
Do you have any preferred references on-line to which you can point?
Click to expand...

The latest Firefox patch fixes 21 security issues.
One of these concerns the use of transparant images:

http://www.frsirt.com/english/advisories/2006/1356

"The eighth vulnerability is due to an error when processing a web page
that layers a transparent image link to an executable on top of a
visible image, which could be exploited by attackers to right-click and
choose "Save image as..." from the context menu and download a malicious
executable masqueraded as a safe image file."
 
Use Irfanview. Cut a tiny square of white out of some other picture,
save it as a GIF or PNG and tell it that white is transparent. Then
resize that to whatever dimension you need in the software/html.

Quick, easy, and save bandwith/space by only loading a small image.

Heck, it's so easy I'll do it for you.

<http://www.widewaterfilms.com/other/tiny_hole.gif> 821 bytes
<http://www.widewaterfilms.com/other/tiny_hole.png> 96 bytes

Both are 10x10 transparent images.

And don't anybody send me e-mails saying you can't see them. This
reminds me of the comedian that used to ask "How could Wonder Woman
ever find her invisible jet?"
Click to expand...

Thanks, thats just what i needed :}. beside that a number of handy
links to usefull programs have been posted to check out.
 
Anonymous said:
Hello Ross...
believe that a lack of something is not important. However what is
lacking, defines what exists.
Click to expand...

That assumption does not seem to apply to Big Oil. But then again, greed is
not just a Western characteristic. For a short example, how about lead-free
gasoline?

--

Let the unseen day be. Today is more than enough.

___Sador the carpenter to Turin
Tolkien, The Unfinished Tales

Ellis_Jay
 
Anonymous <[email protected]> said:
This might surprize you but web designers use totally transparent
images for various reasons.... They are used to keep structure, create
a space, or even forbid people from
downloading
images.
Click to expand...

Anyone using a transparent image to "create a space" isn't a web
designer; they're a hack.

Nor can transparent images "forbid people from downloading images" (by
which I presume you mean saving copies of them to, say, their hard
drive).
 
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