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Targa files and transparency
Hey all,
Am I missing something making 32 bit Targa files in Photoshop CS2? Used to be when you did a save-as on a psd file with a logo, type or other element over an empty background, you got a Targa file with a transparent background. Now it always flattens the image on white or black. No amount of futzing with alpha modes will change it.
My workaround of late has been to bring in layered PS files and copy and paste the layers where I need them, but what a pain. How to fix this?
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5 Replies
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Not sure if targas support layers but FCP only understands PSD layered files. Try PNGs or tiffs with layers turned off.
joe
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Joe,
Prior to CS2 I used to make Targas with transparency (32 bit) all the time. Why would they make the program go backwards?
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Not sure. I only have CS but have never used targa.
joe
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A little more research and I figured it out. (thanks to Chris Cox at Adobe) Targa files since v7 need to have an alpha channel to carry the transparency. So before doing the save-as you need to select everything on the layer and save it as an alpha. I suppose if you’re doing a slew of PS titles in one doc you’d have to make sure each Targa made from it only has the one alpha channel, maybe a pain in the ass, but using layered PS files and copying and pasting from a PS sequence does not preserve the layer name, so that’s a pain in the ass too.
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Chris,
Not sure I understand your expalanation here and as I plan to UG Pshop 5.5 to CS2 soon I’d like to get to the bottom of it as I use tgas all the time. BTW, shame FCP still wont import a tga sequence.
Targas have always only supported one alpha channel and that’s optional (24v32 bpp) so when I save out of PS5 it’s the fourth channel(after RGB) that gets to be the alpha, therefore the transparency, channel.
Can you explaing how this has changed since v7 and also any information you have about premultiplication in CS?
Thanks for your time.
Regards Alan
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