Home  | Login  | Register  | Help  | Play 

[Guide][GIMP] Lock alpha channel

 
Logged in as: Guest
  Printable Version
All Forums >> [Gaming Community] >> [Legends and Lore] >> Artists of Legend >> Art Academy >> [Guide][GIMP] Lock alpha channel
Forum Login
Message << Older Topic   Newer Topic >>
6/6/2010 23:42:32   
amc.drey
Member
 

What is this all about?

A simple and quick guide and hoping to add something to your knowledge.
Alpha Channel is a broad topic but this guide is all about locking the alpha channel
and it's advantages.

Alpha Channel?

An 8-bit layer in a graphics file format that is used for expressing translucency.
The additional eight bits per pixel serve as a mask and represent 256 translucency l
evels from entirely clear (0) to opaque (255), with levels in between representing the degree of haziness.

Doesn't help much? It's all about transparency!

How to lock the Alpha Channel?



When you click that, the alpha channel will be lock in every layer.

Why lock the Alpha Channel?

This works great if your working on a .PNG (Portable Network Graphics) or an image with a transparent part or
mostly the background is transparent. When you lock the alpha channel, everything that you will do
will NOT affect the transparent areas, only the OPAQUE ares. Didn't get the point? Here's an example,

Here, I made a rectangular selection then applied a black color fill in a transparent background -



Then I applied a gradient map -



Then I repeated the process, applying a gradient map but with the alpha channel being LOCKED.



What happened?

The gradient map only affected the opaque areas of the canvas.

Conclusion?

We can say that this work similar to alpha to selection but in a easier way or works even better!

Applications?

For example, you got a stick figure with a transparent background -



And you wanted to change it to red, just lock alpha channel



and brush everywhere, the background won't be a mess, easy as pie!

Progress -



And when your done -



A neat result.

The END

Thanks for reading, :) In the future, I'm willing to add more guides about alpha channel if everyone likes it,
this forum will have a guide covering everything about Alpha Channels and that is my current goal!

Credits
PCmag encyclopedia for the definition of alpha channel.


< Message edited by amc.drey -- 6/7/2010 2:06:51 >
Post #: 1
Page:   [1]
All Forums >> [Gaming Community] >> [Legends and Lore] >> Artists of Legend >> Art Academy >> [Guide][GIMP] Lock alpha channel
Jump to:






Icon Legend
New Messages No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages Locked w/o New Messages
 Post New Thread
 Reply to Message
 Post New Poll
 Submit Vote
 Delete My Own Post
 Delete My Own Thread
 Rate Posts




Forum Content Copyright © 2018 Artix Entertainment, LLC.

"AdventureQuest", "DragonFable", "MechQuest", "EpicDuel", "BattleOn.com", "AdventureQuest Worlds", "Artix Entertainment"
and all game character names are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Artix Entertainment, LLC. All rights are reserved.
PRIVACY POLICY


Forum Software © ASPPlayground.NET Advanced Edition