Turn OFF Transparency in PNG?

[mtruly]

PS CS4

I have a PNG image (which also contains transparency).  It is an image of an object over a background.  (Having the transparency is a nice option should I want to use it, but I don't).

In this case, I want to load the PNG and see the object and it's background... NOT the transparency.

I can open the PNG in other apps and choose to see the transparency or not... but in PS I can not find how to turn this transparency OFF.

How do I turn OFF the transparency and see the image in full (object over background).

Thanks!

Mike

[D Fosse]

Exactly how is it transparent? Can you show a screenshot of the Layers panel?

Try Layer > Layer Mask > From Transparency. Then shift-click the mask icon to disable it:

[mtruly]

Thanks for the ideas!

You can see the checkerboard displayed rather than the actual background.  I want to see the object and the actual background... not the checkerboard.

Here is a screengrab of the layers dialog:

'From Transparency' is not available in the Layer Mask menu on PS CS4.

Thanks again.

Mike

[D Fosse]

No, CS4 didn't have this. It came in a later version, but can't recall which.

[Norman Sanders]

It sounds as though you want to add a blank layer below the current one and fill it with white.

Hold down the Cmd key and click on the New Layer Symbol. Then Edit > Fill with white.

[Nancy OShea]

I would add a bottom layer and fill it with your favorite color.  See screenshot.

[Bojan Živković]

A bit confusing request because you are mentioning actual background. Actual background is transparent what is represented with checkerboard. If you want to change checkerboard (transparency) settings then go to Preferences > Transparency & Gamut. I can not recall but if you can choose None from Grid Size drop-down then you will get solid color background, if that's what you want. You can also try to set Grid Colors to the same color to get solid color instead of the checkerboard.

[mtruly]

Thanks for the ideas.

I'm sorry, the screengrab image above may not be conveying all I want to convey.

I don't want to make the image have a white background. Behind the checkerboard shown in the screengrab... there already IS a background image.

You just can't see it because PS defaults to using the transparency in the PNG rather than giving the user the OPTION to turn OFF (disregard) the transparency and see the existing (desired) background.

Here's a screengrab from an app that handles this situation better and allows you to see the full RGB image (including background) by disabling the use of the alpha channel (which causes the background pixels NOT to be knocked out and replace with a checkerboard):

Oh, and that background is NOT black... there is a gradient to it.

Sadly, it seems at this point, that PS CS4 can NOT give the user the option to use or not use the transparency in a PNG which contains transparency.

Thanks again.

Mike

[D Fosse]

mtruly  wrote

Sadly, it seems at this point, that PS CS4 can NOT give the user the option to use or not use the transparency in a PNG which contains transparency.

I just explained to you that Photoshop has this function in the newer versions. It does exactly what you ask for.

But you have chosen to stay with a version of Photoshop that was released in 2008 - that's ten years ago! If you expect feature updates to keep being distributed to all the old versions, it doesn't work that way. Old versions are left behind, and that's how all software companies operate.

[mtruly]

Sorry, you seem to be assuming what I expect.  I don't expect anything.

I came here to the forum to ask a question (after searching the net first) as to whether the current version of PS that I have (PS CS4), if there was a setting or method  (somewhere in PS CS4) of turning OFF the use of a transparency channel in a PNG... (there does not appear to be a way to do this).

(I'm sure there are many wonderful new features in the newer versions).

Thanks again.

Mike

[Jeff Arola]

There are some plugins for photoshop cs4 that do the same function as the Layer>Layer Mask from Transparency in photoshop cs5 and newer.

What operating system are you using?

[mtruly]

Thanks for the info.

I'm using Win7 64.

Basically, since this does not seem to be possible in PS CS4... I will simply have to be rendering to a PNG without transparency or a different format that uses alpha channel (such as TGA, etc.) where this is not an issue in PS CS4.

(For my animation work, I tend to render to PNGs (and default to rendering with alpha present since all my compositing apps can easily choose whether to use it or not).  I just assumed that PS (my old version) had the option to use or not use the alpha/transparency.

Thanks again.

Mike

[Jeff Arola]

Well, you can install this SuperPng plugin, which gives you the choice of rendering transparency as a

Transparency Channel or Alpha Channel upon open a png.

http://www.fnordware.com/superpng/

As an example, this a png file that was used in photoshop discussion some years ago very similar to this one.

SuperPng dialog upon opening.

Press the Alt/Option key along with Open to get the dialog, then you chose whether to have the dialog show all the time or not.

[Sebastian Bleak]

Hi Mtruly,

I would add a new layer below your current image and fill the layer with a color. That will remove the transparency grid and allow you to see your image clearly. You can "Save As" to give it a new name and you'll have both available.

Hope you find this helpful!

-Sebastian

[mtruly · Accepted solution]

Jeff,

Thank you very much for the link to the SuperPNG plugin.  I have installed this in PS CS4 and it seems to work great for letting me disregard the transparency/alpha channel in a PNG when I don't need that info.

(PS CS4 does not have this capability natively.  But later versions of PS can be made to disregard the transparency info of a PNG).

Thanks again.

Mike