Adobe Fireworks CS6 Transparency checkerboard

[Scott37280361bde4]

I'm not sure what I've managed to change or do to this software package.  I cannot for the life of me figure out how to have transparent images have the checkerboard appearance they normally have.  I cant seem to find the setting to re-enable this.  At present anything i set to transparent such as a background appears white.  please help, this is driving me insane.

[L e n a]

Could you please tell us if the checkerboard representing transparency no longer appears, or if you simply haven't set it?

1 - To set it :

1-a - either when creating the document, you choose a transparent fill

1-b - or once the document is created, you can change it from the property panel, background color and choose transparency color

2 - If the transparency checkerboard is still not displayed, try rebuilding the preferences..

To do this, you need to explore the

C:\Users\YOUR_USER_SESSION_NAME\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Fireworks CS6\English 

(or replace english with your language folder)

You'll find two files :

• Fireworks CS6 Preferences.txt, which is the preferences file
• Fireworks CS6 Panel Prefs.xml, which is the default reference for preferences when rebuilding them.

So,

1. quit Fw,
2. simply rename the TXT file
3. and restart FW...
4. a new pref's file should appear.... 

Does the problem persist?

[Scott37280361bde4]

The checkerboard no longer appears, where it "SHOULD" be checkerboard denoting transparancy I only get white.  Such as any background I select transparent for appears white.  I have performed the steps to delete the preferences.txt file but when i restarted fireworks the issue still persists AND i've noticed that file was not regenerated as you stated.  

[Scott37280361bde4]

Scratch that.  The file does get regenerated but not until I close fireworks again.  Regardless the issue still remains.   I've tried uninstalling and re-installing but the problem follows this procedure as well.

[Scott37280361bde4]

Do you have any other suggestions to try?

[Nancy OShea]

Do you have any other suggestions to try?

By @Scott37280361bde4

==========

Get modern software. 

Legacy FW ended in 2012. It's not compatible with modern equipment or able to support current file types like AVIF and WebP.

ADOBE TOOLS:
===========
- Illustrator CC: https://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator.html
- Photoshop Elements: https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-elements.html
- Photoshop CC: https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html

OTHER TOOLS (raster & vector):
===========
- Affinity Photo & Affinity Designer: https://affinity.serif.com
- CorelDRAW Graphics Suite: https://www.coreldraw.com/
- GIMP: https://www.gimp.org/
- Gravit Designer: https://www.designer.io/en/
- Inkscape: https://inkscape.org/
- Krita: https://krita.org/
- Paint.NET: https://www.getpaint.net/
- PaintShop Pro: https://www.paintshoppro.com/
- PhotoPea: https://www.photopea.com/
- Photo Pos Pro: https://www.photopos.com/PPP3_BS/Default.aspx
- Pixlr: https://pixlr.com/
- Vctr: https://vectr.com/

Hope that helps.

[L e n a]

You say you've reinstalled Fw... have you tried a clean install using the CC Cleaner Tool ?

Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool

https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html

[Scott37280361bde4]

Yes I have tried the cleaner tool several times.  Are there registry settings or something that are remaining that the tool doesn't remove?

[L e n a]

In fact, the Creative Cloud Cleaner tool is designed to remove all items placed during installation, as well as all keys and values placed in the registry.

I seem to remember a few years ago having this problem, but I can't remember how we solved it then. Maybe on the forum at the time with Matt or John... I can't find any notes in our internal database.

Just a question, do you have any plugins added to your basic installation?

[Scott37280361bde4]

I don't believe I have any plugins added.  This also just went from working as intended to providing this new and unwanted behaviour from closing and opening the software where nothing else on the machine it is installed changed.  I didn't add anything or install anything new.  I simply opened and noticed this new behavior.  Is it possible that something within windows is forcing this behaviour?   I haven't observed any different behavior in any other programs though.  I would really love to find a solution to this problem.

[Scott37280361bde4]

I have also noticed that if i do the following.  Create a new .png file with transparent background (background appears white instead of checkerboard), then if i draw an object, something like a rectangle with red fill, then set the transparency of that red rectangle to 25, the red rectangle shows a red checkerboard pattern to show the transparency.  

[L e n a]

Has your operating system updated itself? There may be a library that affects this kind of behavior, or that conflicts with it.

On the other hand, what's curious is that on the screenshot, the transparency checkerboard is not only present under the red rectangle, but on the entire canvas. it would seem from your explanation that on your rendering, the checkerboard only appears under the red rectangle... or have i misunderstood?

[Scott37280361bde4]

No operating system updates of any kind.

In the .jpg i posted.  The background checkerboard appears correct in the jpeg in that when I mouse over the background it changes to the checkerboard pattern which is what I would expect.   However in fireworks there is no scenario in which I am able to get my background to appear with the checkerboard pattern as you would expect.  Let's say I create a brand new blank .png and I set the background to be transparent.  it ALWAYS shows white.  Up until last week if i created a new .png with a transparent background I would get a background with a checkerboard pattern.

[Scott37280361bde4]

Here is another screenshot with the preferences menu window open.  You can see around the edges of the window it shows the checkboard transparency, but only for an outline not the entire background.

[Scott37280361bde4]

I just tried using the cleaner tool.  I also went and removed the fireworks cs6 folders remaining in a few locations. 

I then re-installed fireworks.  Upon opening fireworks it still remembers that I was on day 23 of my trial (had not entered my product info after last install) and the recent files that had been opened.  Still not able to have transparent backgrounds.  Clearly the cleaner tool does not remove all files regarding fireworks.

[Scott37280361bde4]

I attempted a new install on a different machine.  The installation process is successful and I am able to create a new .png with a transparent background that appears with the expected checkerboard pattern.  I'm really at a loss for what to try next.  Do i really need to wipe the OS in order to have this work properly again?

[rayek.elfin]

It seems to be an issue with your graphics drivers. Since it works on the other machine, have you tried updating your graphics drivers?

Also, an update of your graphics drivers might actually have caused this issue as well - in particular seeing that you suddenly started to experience this problem. Windows might have auto-installed a newer driver, and Fireworks being so old and no longer supported, the newer driver might break Fireworks' display behaviour. One thing to try is to install an older graphics driver...

What is your graphics card/chipset?

[Scott37280361bde4]

Graphics drivers have not changed since April of 2023.  I have auto update disabled.  

It's pretty clear there are settings for fireworks stored elsewhere that the cleaner doesn't remove.  I've tried uninstalling again a few times and it still remembers that I was running on a trial as well as a few other settings (for example, the default values for width and height when creating a new image remain from the last uninstall and cleaner run).  If someone could point me in the direction of where those settings might be stored I would like to delete those as well.  Whether it be registry entries or whatever it is.

[rayek.elfin]

You've checked that the Fireworks CS6 AppData\Roaming folder and fireworks preferences are removed?

C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Fireworks CS6\English\Fireworks CS6 Preferences.txt

Also check for other remaining instances of those files / folders on your system.

And I would actually install the latest graphic drivers. Yours are over a year old.

The fact that your grid displays only around a dialog where its shadow affects it, is obviously a display rendering glitch in Fireworks (as far as I can tell based on that latest screenshot).

Does the grid glitch out when you move that dialog around?

[Scott37280361bde4]

no the grid stays in that perfect box around whatever dialog I move around as if to say "I recognize that the background is transparent, but some setting is saying to display the normal checkerboard background as white"