newbie ! help needed !

from WinCustomize Forums
hi, i m a newbie. my prob is, when i make a graphics, it seems ok. but when i apply it to some soft to skin it, the transparent parts dont seem smooth. for example, i made a skin for sysmetrix & in the original graphics, i colored 255,0,255 for transparent areas. but when i applied it on sysmetrix, i c'd see some areas with the 255,0,255 at edges & the edges werent smooth at all. plz help me with it. how can i make the edges smooth & so that no transparent color can be seen?
thanx in advance.
3,552 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
i've never skinned so i don't know what image types to use, but in my experience - working in transparancies, you want to be using PNG files.. when an image (like a gif) goes transparent with a black edge, for example, the black shades that taper off into nothing are fixed against white. so instead of a true smooth fade off to nothing it fades off into white and gives you a nasty jagged edge. if that is the problem you are having, use PNG's or the latest TIFF formats, if they are accepted.
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
i dont think sysmetrix takes png's. as much as i know, it accepts only bmp's with 255,0,255 as transparency color. thanx anyways.
Galactic Civilizations III
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Unless you use gif, you won't get smooth edges. My little experience with sysmetrix is that boxy shapes usually look better. I stopped using sysmetrix once I got desktopx. It can do most all that sysmetrix can, and it lets you use pngs or tgas to get smooth borders.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
If you have edges that aren't exactly 255,0,255 it will show pink. For example, 254,0,254 will show very pink. This happens when your image approaches the pink and blends slightly. It's sort of tricky to get smooth looking curves in sysmetrix. But, if you look at The Skin Factory WMP skins, you will see that it can be done quite well if you have the skill and patience.
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Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
thanx, chas. guess i have the patience but not the skill yet. so can u plz suggest any tutorial where these stuffs r discussed in detail?