Help with Transparent PNGs

[Ian A. Thomson]

Transparent PNGs?

Hi Folks

For the first year of creating the P&BRC:DC volumes I was using a free online service to change jpgs into transparent pngs (turning all the white colour areas into transparency, so that images blend into the page)

Then they started charging, so after a bit of searching I found another service that was just as good. A few weeks ago they also started charging

Anyone out there have access to software that quickly and easily converts jpgs to transparent pngs?

I'd love to welcome you onto the team if I could send you a few images every now and then, and happy to sign you up for a free pdf copy of any volume in which you can do this service for a bunch of images 

Cheers

Edited November 27, 2023 by Ian A. Thomson

[Oracle]

2 hours ago, Ian A. Thomson said:

Transparent PNGs?

Hi Folks

For the first year of creating the P&BRC:DC volumes I was using a free online service to change jpgs into transparent pngs (turning all the white colour areas into transparency, so that images blend into the page)

Then they started charging, so after a bit of searching I found another service that was just as good. A few weeks ago they also started charging

Anyone out there have access to software that quickly and easily converts jpgs to transparent pngs?

I'd love to welcome you onto the team if I could send you a few images every now and then, and happy to sign you up for a free pdf copy of any volume in which you can do this service for a bunch of images 

Cheers

My immediate idea would be to use GIMP, a free software tool, which provides a lot of capabilities. But I'm not sure, if I understood your requirements correctly, so I cannot guarantee, that GIMP is fulfilling these requirements.

[AndreJarosch]

3 hours ago, Ian A. Thomson said:

Anyone out there have access to software that quickly and easily converts jpgs to transparent pngs?

As far as i know the very old Photoshop 2.0 is downloadable for free, and should be able to do that. 

[mfbrandi]

6 hours ago, Oracle said:

My immediate idea would be to use GIMP, … But I'm not sure, if I understood your requirements correctly

You can definitely do a white to alpha conversion in GIMP and then export as PNG.

8 hours ago, Ian A. Thomson said:

Anyone out there have access to software that quickly and easily converts jpgs to transparent pngs?

If you are not having any joy with Oracle and Andre’s suggestions, send me a few images with your requirements, and I’ll have a go. You don’t have to commit to sending me any PDFs. It should be easy to document a workflow that’ll let you do it yourself for free. I will go and play with some stuff now.

Edited November 27, 2023 by mfbrandi
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[mfbrandi]

8 hours ago, Ian A. Thomson said:

Transparent PNGs?

The GIMP is your friend. I am sure you can manage to open the JPG in GIMP and then export the file as a PNG. The bit you have to be careful with is the background colour to alpha (transparency). Here is a quick summary of two ways to do it. Note that they give different results (as should be clear below), but you can use the simpler one if the image is going onto a white background. Use the ‘fuzzy select’ method if the image is being placed over a texture or colour and you don’t want any show-through. The graphic should be clear, but if you have any questions, fire away. Have fun!

[Kloster]

paint .net if on windows

[Brian Duguid]

If it's new art, your artists should be doing it for you. If it's old art, it's dead easy to make a pure white background transparent in Affinity Photo (which many JC creators use), and a bit more work if the background is not clean. I can help with that, if it's not too many images.

[Ian A. Thomson]

6 hours ago, Brian Duguid said:

If it's new art, your artists should be doing it for you. If it's old art, it's dead easy to make a pure white background transparent in Affinity Photo (which many JC creators use), and a bit more work if the background is not clean. I can help with that, if it's not too many images.

Yes, most artists have that capacity, but not all. (Including me who is sometimes the artist! I don't have it) :)

Plus yes, some old images

Affinity Photo looks good, but going to try paint. net & Gimp first as are free

Edited November 28, 2023 by Ian A. Thomson

[Ian A. Thomson]

12 hours ago, mfbrandi said:

The GIMP is your friend. I am sure you can manage to open the JPG in GIMP and then export the file as a PNG. The bit you have to be careful with is the background colour to alpha (transparency). Here is a quick summary of two ways to do it. Note that they give different results (as should be clear below), but you can use the simpler one if the image is going onto a white background. Use the ‘fuzzy select’ method if the image is being placed over a texture or colour and you don’t want any show-through. The graphic should be clear, but if you have any questions, fire away. Have fun!

Yes, this did the job wonderfully. Thanks so much

Seemed to be even less steps than you indicated. (Though those steps were crucial to be knowing what to do!)

Ahah, I see. Two sets of instructions. One for simpler images and one for more complex. Both work! :)

Edited November 28, 2023 by Ian A. Thomson

[mfbrandi]

7 hours ago, Ian A. Thomson said:

Two sets of instructions. One for simpler images and one for more complex.

It is not so much different complexity of source image as the effect you want. If you make all the white in an image transparent (the first — colour to alpha — method), then every bit of an image that is “partially white” (e.g. grey, but much more) will be partially transparent. Like this:

Whereas the second — fuzzy select (magic wand) — method only makes the selected area transparent. So you may find uses for both or only one, depending on the exact effect you need.