View photoshop alpha channel

I am working with Final Cut Pro 5 by Larry Jordan, p. 402, Creating a Traveling Matte. He says to double click a tiff file and load it into the viewer. In the book the transparent checker board appears behind a white snowboarder in the Viewer. (It is a traveling matte we are working on using the three video layers.) When I double click it to put the tif into the viewer, it is black behind a white snowboarder, not the transparent checkerboard he shows in the book. Needless to say, what he describes as working does not work since I have black instead of transparent showing in the Viewer. Is there something wrong with this tif file or is there a setting somewhere that will let me see the black area as transparent? I tried changing the type of alpha channel from black to white to straight to none. Nothing works. Is there some other setting in Final Cut that will let me look at the area behind the white snowboarder as transparent instead of black in the Viewer? The book is trying to put a video inside a graphic image of a snowboarder. V1 at the bottom, V2 is the tiff, V3 is another snow scene.

You are correct and I really appreciate your answer. However, I also found that I had to delete the tif file that was in the timeline when I double clicked the sequence to put it in the timeline. (The author said to double click the sequence and load it into the timeline. V2 was the tif.)Then I had to drag the tif file from the browser to replace the tif file I had just deleted. Then it worked. Somehow there was an error in the material on the computer. The book is terrific, but somehow this tif file that was in the sequence was changed when I put it on my computer.

Similar Messages

Problems with Photoshop Alpha Channels

Hi all
Got a job where I want to use alpha channels to cut-out some images in Photoshop and then put them into an ID frame with a black background. Want to use alpha channels rather than a clipping path as I need the edges to be feathered (have applied 2 pixels of feathering to the selection in Photoshop before saving it).
When I do this and drop it into Quark it looks good but when these images are dropped into ID and then the alpha channel is turned on, with the default Threshold and Tolerance settings, it doesn't look good. It looks like a rough approximation of my alpha channel, all the fiddly bits and bezier curves in the selection have been smoothed out and the feathering has gone. Playing with the settings doesn't really seems to help either. If I turn on the alpha channel in the import options when importing then it comes in as expected but I have quite a few images already in the document that I need to turn on the alpha channels for.
Both PS and ID are CS3. I've tried saving the images both as PSD and tif. Anyone got any ideas? Seems odd that when I import an image with the channel on I can't go to the clipping options and tweak the settings.
thanks,
Iain

Thanks for your reply Bob. I've confused things with my terminology I think. We're drawing a path round the image, using bezier curves where appropriate, making that work path a selection (feathering the edge in the process) and then saving the selection (as an alpha channel) and then using the feathered alpha channel in Quark/ID to knock-out the background. Not keen on using a PSD with a transparent background at the moment as these are just test files while we show the customer what it will look like if we do cut-outs. We are making a couple of different alpha channels per image, with different settings, which would mean multiple files if we used your method I think. Maybe once we get the approval from the customer we could use PSDs as you describe but I was just wondering why the options for affecting alpha channels after importing the image aren't working as I expected.
Iain

Photoshop file to Shake -- alpha channel question

I've been staring at my screen for an hour wondering about this, even though I know it must be simple, so any advice is greatly appreciated:
I have a short video clip of a syringe with no needle. I want to add a VFX "needle" as a composite in Shake. I drew the needle as a .tiff file in Photoshop. I added an alpha channel in Photoshop, so I have R,G,B,A channels in my .tiff file drawing. The alpha channel has a white shape that corresponds to the needle drawing and black for the background. I was thinking that my alpha channel will mask out everything except the Photoshop "needle."
I bring the Photoshop needle file into Shake and set up my Shake script as follows: "Needle" into the left hand input of an Over node and Syringe video into the right-hand input of the Over node.
I was expecting to get just the needle "floating" on top of the syringe video clip, and I would position it to connect up with the syringe. What I got was the "needle" with its square white background floating on top of the syringe clip. My alpha channel from Photoshop did not mask out the white background.
But when I load the needle into the viewer by itself and put my cursor over it and hit the "A" key, the alpha channel is plainly there -- a white area in the shape of the needle and black everywhere else.
Also, in the Node View window, when I put the cursor over the needle and hit the "A" key, the thumbnail clearly shows the alpha channel, a white area in the shape of a needle and black everywhere else.
But when I load the Over node into the viewer, the needle is surrounded by a white background. Does it work to build your mask in Photoshop and bring it into Shake? Is there a parameter in Shake that you have to set to make the Photoshop alpha channel active?
Jim

Thanks much, Zebulun. Toggling premultiply worked. In a side experiment, I later saved my Photoshop image as a .psd file rather than .tiff and when I brought that one into Shake, it came in with its clipping-path/mask working without using premultiply in the Over node. Not sure what the difference would be in how Shake treats the two file formats, but they both achieve the same end result.

Create Photoshop stil with alpha channel?

I'm using dvMatte Pro3 to strip out the green screen.
I'd like to be able to generate a Photoshop CS4 file with the alpha channel, so that I could composite the background in Photoshop, but I haven't been able to get that to work.
Is there a way to do this, or do I generate a matte along with the still and layer them in Photoshop?
BTW - I've also had a bit of trouble directly taking a sequence of a freeze frame out to a Photoshop CS4 file. It creates one using 'Export using Quicktime Converstion', but it is only 100k and not a valid Photoshop file.
I've had to create a new freeze frame from the sequence (with my background rendered into the shot), and then export this freeze frame (not the sequence) using 'Export using Quicktime Converstion' to get a workable Photoshop file.
Always interested in a better method?

Les Caudle wrote:
However, I'm not getting a PSD with the background as an alpha channel.
You won't. The foreground contains the alpha channel. The background is what appears behind the alpha channel
Here's what I've done.
1. Strip out background in FCP7 with dvMatte Pro. The sequence contains a single freeze frame I wanted to output to Photoshop.
I am assuming your clip is a person standing in front of a green screen and you have keyed out the green. That leaves an alpha channel in the shape of your person.
2. Render sequence.
this is probably the mistake you are making although FCP6 and 7 were said to have fixed the export issue. You are attempting to export a rendered sequence. The matte has been filled so there is no longer an alpha channel.
3. As I've been unable to export the sequence to Photoshop (just creates a 100k file that is not a PSD), I take a freeze frame of my render.
I still don't know what this means; telling me the same thing twice is not an explanation so I will disregard is irrelevant.
4. I select this 'freeze frame' and Export using Quicktime Converstion, set the type to image, set it to Photoshop and to Millions+.
All you are doing is exporting a full frame of video. It has no alpha channel. but even if you separated the two video layers, your background plate still has no alpha channel that contains any valid information. It will appear completely solid white if you viewed it using the alpha button in the Canvas.
5. The resulting PSD has the background stripped out, but it is black, not transparent. So, I'm obviously doing something wrong?
Possibly the 'freeze frame' I create is not in 'millions+' - so when it is exported there is no alpha?
I'm totally lost now, why do you care about the foreground? I thought you wanted the background with an alpha? Are you looking at the alpha-only view in Photoshop?
I take full responsibility and apologize for not being able to see through any translation errors that are creeping into our discussion. Like most Americans, I only know English (and enough Spanish to be able stay out of trouble at a Mexican restaurant).
bogiesan

Photoshop not presenting alpha channel as expected (like I'm seeing GIMP does)

Greetings,
I have a need to edit the channels independently (the values in my image mean things numerically rather than just what it looks like visually - so I need to edit the grayscale values in each of the R - G - B - and A channels seperately).
I've searched through google and other forum posts and others bring up the concept of not understanding alpha versus transparency - but I have yet to see an explanation that fully explains what I'm experiencing.
The closest was http://forums.adobe.com/message/2563436#2563436 But while I saw the exact same symptoms being described, the specific question was never really answered.
Hopefully, a concrete example with pictures will be able to communicate the issue and solicit a useful explanation and/or solution.
While, I'm specifically working with an RGBA image, below is a screenshot of a PNG that demonstrates the exact same behavior or symptom. The screenshot below represents the PNG inside GIMP and PS CS4. BTW, if you'd like to see or play with the image yourself, you can grab the same image at http://www.libpng.org/pub/png/img_png/imgcomp-440x330.png
GIMP, interestingly enough loads the PNG as expected - I see the transparency of the image treated as a true alpha channel.
In PS CS4 however, the transparency seems to be somehow embedded in the Red - Green - and Blue channels; but NO seperate alpha channel.
I can create the alpha channel through Select - Load Selection - Layer 0 Transparency - and pasting that into a newly created alpha channel - but the color channels still have the transparency mixture symptom - rather than showing the JUST the color component of that channel. (Note the channel differences of the GIMP's Red Channel versus PS's Red Channel - Said in another way, the yellow ball in the upper left of the image should have a red value of 255, so the Red Channels grayscale upper left ball should be white like it is in GIMP, rather than Gray as it is in PS).
I never thought I'd experience GIMP being superior to Photoshop - so hopefully somebody can shed light on what is going on - what configuration I may have myself in - or a process to get the channels seperated out in the manner I wish to work with them. Furthermore, maybe somebody can educate the Photoshop community what the difference between transparency and alpha[transparency] is. I haven't found quite the right explanation that makes the light go off in my head yet. As best as I have gleened "Alpha", which can be applied to any kind of channel, typically is in reference to transparency - and is applied as a document-whole transparency (as opposed to transparencies applied at a layer level - such as a layer mask).

I think I've finally determined that modern Photoshops have gone in a different direction that I feel "Alpha" should be done.
(good or bad).
Here are the steps and/or details of how I arrived at that conclusion.
If nothing else this has been very educational on how Photoshop treats alpha.
- Import your alpha'd PNG with SuperPNG format (see above on how to make sure you use the SuperPNG plugin to load the .png).
- In the SuperPNG dialog select "Alpha appears as seperate channel"
- Create a layer from the Background and Delete the original Background
(since the Background is locked and we can't edit the Background - we want to add a layer mask based on the alpha)
- Ctrl-Left Select the "Alpha 1" channel - Ctrl-C - and hit the "Add Layer Mask" button (square with the circle at the bottom of the LAYERS rollout)
- For this demo and clarity, I went ahead and deleted the alpha "Alpha 1" that came in through the SuperPNG plugin
So now I have the Layers like I kindof expected the main document to just come in as (kindof though - it is presented in a Layer Mask rather than Alpha Channel).
What is interesting - which you'll see if you toggle the layer mask on and off
(shift-click the mask thumbnail in the layer)
Note how the thumbnails in the channel views render differently during the toggle.
When the mask is off you see the individual color channels like I expect - black where there is an absence of that color.
However when you enable the layer mask - the individual color channels show in semi-transparent/checkerboard.
So this is exactly how the color channels are presented when loading in a .png (WITHOUT the SuperPNG plugin) or an .rgba
..you get the semitransparent views of the color channels - BUT the difference is - you have no way to directly see or edit the Alpha channel.
nor are the color channels represented as completely opaque versions.
What is really interesting - it is there though - if you Ctrl-Left Select the layer, Ctrl-C, and "Add Channel Mask" - you'll get the Alpha mask.
HOWEVER, the big issue is that you can't toggle or edit the Color-Channels like the Layer counterpart above;
they are ALWAYS the semitransparent/checkboard version; AND now we basically are double applying transparency
(due to the still embedded alpha/transparency AND the newly create "Alpha 1" channel)
I think this a bug (or a poor reimplementation of modern Photoshop releases; I believe older Photoshops used to break out Alpha in the "arguably correct" way - and in fact the way GIMP currently does).
Or maybe there are other explanations - like abstracting some of this complexity away from less advance users, etc?
So the SuperPNG plugin was useful in experimenting, understanding, and demonstrating what is going on.
However, if I'm trying to read in .rgba directly, I don't think I have a way of making the "Alpha appear as a seperate channel" as I think any image with "alpha" component should.
(png, tiff, rgba, etc).

How do I save a PNG file with an alpha channel in Photoshop CS5?

I have a PNG file created in Photoshop and I need to save it with an alpha channel for web purposes. I tried 'Save for Web & Devices' and selecting the Transparent box. Then, after saving, when I select 'get info' for the file it says there is no alpha channel. I'm stumped I can't seem to create an alpha channel from within Photoshop while I'm editing. Help!

If you save as a 24bit png with transparent checked photoshop will save the png with transparent background (ie alpha transparency). The png will appear transparent in a web browser.

Photoshop CS6 using javaScript to truncate alpha channel name

Hello,
I'm a production artist and I work with PSD files that were created in Adobe Scene7 Image Authoring Tool. These PSDs contain a background layer along with 1-20 alpha channels. My script has to make a new blank layer for every alpha channel in the document. Then it fills the new layer with light gray. So far, my code accomplishes this. However, I'd like to apply the name of the alpha channel to the layer, but I need the name to be truncated. Every alpha channel starts with one or more characters followed by a backslash and then finishes with one or more characters. Here's an example:
An alpha channel might be named: Floor\floor
In this example I need my layer name to be just: floor. This means all character to the left of the backslash, including the backslash itself needs to be discarded. I was using the subSring() statement to do this. When I try to step through the code, line by line in ExtendScript, I immediately get an error that says Unterminated String Constant and Line 31 of my code is highlighted. I suspect it doesn't like the way I wrote the backslash character, although I surrounded it in double quotes to define it as a string.
Can anyone tell me why I'm getting this error?
Below is my code with lots of comments to walk you through the process. I wrote where the error occurs in red type.
I'm new to JavaScript so I'm not sure my while loop is accurate.
#target photoshop
// The #target photoshop makes the script run in PS.
// declare variable to contain the active document
var myDoc=app.activeDocument;
// declare variable to contain the number of alpha channels, excluding the RGB channels
var alphaChan = myDoc.channels.length - 3;
alert(alphaChan + " alpha channels exist");
// create loop to make new layers based on number of alpha channels, fill layer with gray and apply alpha channel name to new layer
for (a=0 ; a<alphaChan ; a+=1){
// make new blank layer
myDoc.artLayers.add();
// fill blank layer with gray
var color = new SolidColor();
color.rgb.red = 161;
color.rgb.green = 161;
color.rgb.blue= 161;
myDoc.selection.fill(color);
//variable stores alpha channel name
var alphaName = myDoc.channels[3+a];
// variable stores lenght of alpha channel name
var lz = alphaName.length;
// declare index variable to initialize position of 1st character of alpha channel name
var x= 0 ;
// truncate alpha channel name by removing all characters preceding the "\" symbol
while (alphaName.subString(x) != "\"){          (ExtendScript gives an error for this line and highlights the backslash and surrounding quotation marks)
    alphaName = alphaName.subString((x+1),z);
    x+=1;
    z-=1;
return alphaName;
// remove the backslash from alpha channel name
alphaName = alphaName.subString((x+1),z);
// apply truncated alpha channel name to corresponding layer
myDoc.artLayers[a].name = alphaName;

while (alphaName.subString(x) != "\"){
should be
while (alphaName.subString(x) != "\\"){

InDesign CS5 will not import Alpha Channels from images saved in Photoshop CS6

Just searched through the forums to find this thread in the (now-Read Only) Photoshop CS6 Beta forum:
http://forums.adobe.com/message/4310886
Which is exactly the same issue I'm having. I just cropped about a 1000 images with alphas originally created in PS5 and resaved using PS6.
My client still uses CS5 and the images won't recognize the alpha channels in inDesign5.
I see in this thread that it said a fix for older versions of inDesign was being worked on, this was back in April.
Any news on these fixes? (before I open PS5 and resave all these files)

Hi Peter,
The images in question all use alpha channels to mask out the image backgrounds (usually white) in InDesign layouts.
I opened the images in PS6 to crop out excess background (to get file size down) and saved the new files.
When I go to import the images one by one into InDesign 5 (via Cmd-D, Import options ticked) the Alpha Channel pull down menu is greyed out and I'm unable to select the Alpha Channel.
If I open the image in PS5 and resave, I'm then able to access the Alpha channels in ID5... but that's a lot of images to go back through to fix.
I also tried opening the layout in ID6 (where the alpha channels do work) and saving down to the idml format. When opening up in ID5 the alpha channel is no longer recognized and the background of the image that was masked out is now visible.
Cheers,
Alan

Getting alpha channel to export from AFX to Photoshop

I have an image in After Effects CS4 with some text on it and a transparent background. I need to export this as a png (retaining the background transparency). I've tried to do this in many ways (as single frame or as png sequence after reducing work area to my single frame, and as prematted or straight alpha (both with RGB 16million Plus) . . . but I keep getting a black matte in background. Tried exporting both as png and as photoshop file.
Can someone explain the correct way of doing this? (The alpha channel does transfer to photoshop, so if there's a simple way to use that to mask out the background (or mask in the part of the picture I need) I guess that would suffice. It was just mean I need to make my text brilliant green or something in AFX and then convert to black in photoshop.
Is this some kind of bug or am I just missing the simple way to do this?
Thanks for any help.

Thanks Mylenium.
Can you explainyour method in more detail.
I double clicked the later title to create a floatin layer.
Then I went into Channels and CTRL clicked no the alpha layer which makes a selection of the correct portions of the image.
Clicking delete (or inverting selection and then clicking delete) doesn't get rid of everything.
Can you spell out what else I have to click on first - do I go back to the regular image in layers and then hit delete or apply my selection as a mask?
I did manage to fumble through things once, but if you don't mind spelling out the right method, I'd like to learn the right way.
Thanks

Alpha channel from photoshop changes on import to FCP

I'm new to alpha channels. I have an image, to which I added an alpha channel in Photoshop, which now gives me a cut-out of the image. I imported the psd of this into FCP 5.0.4 (I was not allowed by FCP to import a tiff with an alpha channel.) However, the alpha channel on the clip in FCP has now become the whole rectangle of the image area, not just the mask area as it was in Photoshop, so when selected, the whole image is masked. Changing the alpha type, or reversing it, does not make any improvement. Is there a solution to this?
Many thanks
John

David,
I just had a breakthrough with this. The original file was CMYK. Creating an alpha channel and importing it into FCP gave me the problem. Converting it to RGB first, then creating the alpha channel and importing it, solved the problem. Doh!
Your line "sounds like you didn't create one" gave me the clue. Many thanks.
John

Edit in Photoshop and Alpha Channel

When I open an image in Photoshop using 'Open with External Editor', and add an alpha channel, when I save it back to Aperture the alpha mask shows on top of the image, whether or not it is made visible in Photoshop. Furthermore, the thumbnail shows the mask as white and the image shows the mask as black.
Are others seeing this same behavior? Do I have a setting that is incorrect?

Search the discussions on a couple of these terms -- there was a thread or two a couple of months ago.
It turns out (I can't remember who pointe this out! sorry!) that if you put a completely blank alpha channel at the top of the stack of them (that is, under the R, G and B channels in the Channels palette), then save, the image shows up OK.

How do I delete alpha channels in Photoshop Elements?

I need to delete Alpha Channels in Photoshop Elements 12 for photos that are going to be used in publication. How do I do it.?

Go to Select>Delete Selection

Aperture, photoshop layers and Alpha channels - notes

In examining Aperture 2.0 to see if I could use it instead of Adobe bridge in my workflow (which makes intense use of Photoshop) I found that Aperture (and, apparently, OS X) cannot properly display a preview for a .psd file with either layers or an alpha channel. In some cases, the preview image is simply an error message, in others the alpha channel is displayed as black. These problems make Aperture a non-starter for me.
Searching this forum for information, solutions, and/or workarounds, I found some references, but nothing of high value. (Sorry, posters.) Started my own investigation, and discovered some things that might lead to a reasonable workaround. My notes are here:
http://homepage.mac.com/bbarlow641/webinfonotebook/
too long, I think, to put into a forum post. Sorry to link out to somewhere else, but if you're interested, it's worth a click. (Or the linked page may not have "high value" either. But it helped me to think through the problem.)
Ben

bbarlow641 wrote:
Saving the file as a layered TIFF file would preserve the layers - that might be a good idea since Aperture doesn't recognize psb files. But any "saving as" step - as a psb or as a TIFF - creates a second (large) file, so I don't think it's an ideal solution.
I don't know if that helps in your workflow, but the way I handle this is:
• import the raw file into Aperture
• open in external editor (i.e. PhotoShop; external editor format: tiff)
• edit in PhotoShop
• when saving I am asked if I want to save it as layered tiff (provided the preferences are set accordingly: File Handling / Ask before saving layered tiff files);
• here two things are to be considered:
_ the file extension used by PS is "tif", so it has to be changed to "tiff"
_ on my MacBook Pro the Save As-dialog opens showing the correct file location (i.e., the correct subfolder inside the Aperture library), on my Mac Pro the initial location is somewhere else (remembered from the last saving procedure); I have to work around this by first command-clicking in the image window's title bar to open the edited file's location in the Finder, so that I can then drag it onto the Save As-dialog. This is actually slightly annoying, but I did not find out the reason so far.
• Aperture automatically refreshes the saved file.
This way I end up with just this one extra file. The whole procedure would be a bit simpler using referenced files instead of storing them in the library.
My settings in PS do have the "Maximize Compatibility" option set (in the notebooked example, it's set to "ask", normally it's set to "always"). I'm using CS2. Maybe this setting works in CS3 to create the composite? I've heard several people here say that same thing, but it definitely doesn't do it for me...
For me this works, and as far as I remember also worked in CS2; do you see a difference in file size between files saved both ways? How does Preview.app display the file saved with "Maximize Compatibility"?
Since my first post, I've been trying to figure out how to add a PS action that would run an Applescript to tell GraphicConverter to open and close a file, creating a preview. But it seems that while an Applescript can trigger a Postscript action, the reverse (having a Postscript action trigger an Applescript) is not possible.
Might something like a hot folder with an automator scripts attached to it be a possible workaround?
Message was edited by: Bernhard Barkow

Alpha Channel in Photoshop for iWeb instant Alpha?

Hi,
Recently i wish to Make a Picture's Background to transperence.
I try to use a ODD color (green screen's GREEN) as background color so that it'll be easy to delete the background when apply the instant alpha function...but i relize that it doesn't really make sense at all...Most of the parts doesn't process well...
Question:~
+ What s'ld i do in Photoshop before i bring the picture file into iWeb for instant alpha?Alpha Channel and save as .psd?
+ Do any other useful way to solve the issue above?
Thanks!!

Here's what I do:
1 - open the file, double click on the background layer in the Layer pane to unlock it and add a second layer below the original layer.
2 - using your tool of choice delete the background you want removed. If the background is a single color I use the Magic Wand tool. You may have to work with the Tolerence number if there's any gradiants. Other wise I use the Quick Selection tool (again you may have to set the Tolerence level)
3 - When he background is removed you then use the File->Save for Web and Devices option.
4 - in the next window select PNG8 under Preset and check the Transparency box. Colors is set to 256, Dither at 200% and Web Snap 0% (these are all the defaults the first time I used it).
5 - The background should show transparent. It it doesn't click on the color that you want transparent in the Color Table and then click on the far left box in the toolbar directly below the color chart. You can add additional colors if desired.
6 - Save and you're done.
OT

Premiere Pro CS6 won't recognize alpha channel in .tiff file from photoshop

Hey Everyone,
I'm new to Premiere Pro, but I have used Final Cut Pro 6-7. Anyway, I created a 3D text design in Photoshop to use on top of another photo in a video in Premiere. In Photoshop, the alpha channel appears fine. In Premiere Pro it is not recognized. Instead, a white background appears where the alpha channel should be. When I layered the 3D text on top of a photo (in Premiere Pro), the white still appears around the 3D text design. After I imported the file, I did click on the .tiff file and clicked on modify---->interpret footage----->alpha channel (where I deselected ignore alpha channel). Premiere Pro still does not recognize the alpha channel. Should I convert the Photoshop file to another format or is there something I'm not doing? I'm spending more time trying to figure this out than I am on putting this short video/photo slide show together. I would greatly appreciate any help anyone can offer.

Thanks Ann!!! Seriously, you just saved me hours of aggravation. I didn't know I had to select that in Photoshop. I was under the impression that Adobe product files were seamless.

View photoshop alpha channel

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