last updated: Feb. 25, 2001

Now for of this to make any sense, you’ll need Paint Shop Pro(PSP) version 7 or better and a little knowledge of graphics programs (I’m not gonna completely hold your hand). If you don’t have it you can download a trial copy from Jasc Software.

Now that you have PSP lets open it up and get started.
First lets open a new file at say 100x100 pixels with a transparent background.  (Thanks Scratch)  It should look something like this. Your choice of WindowBlinds Skin may be different though! :)

Now Select the Shapes button and then from the Tool options pallet select a shape. To best show the Alpha transparency capabilities I selected a semi-transparent button with a shadow.

After you have placed your shape on the new image your ready to add some alpha channel (mask) information to the graphic.  For this tutorial we are only going to get into setting the alpha information by using the current pallette transparency.  In my opinion this is the easiest way to be sure that you get what you want for the final graphic.

First save the graphic in it’s native PSP format so that you won't lose the vector layer ( the one with the button on it) when we convert it to PNG.

Next choose File ->Export -> Png Optimizer (be sure the graphic we created is the active window). Your screen should now look like this:

On the transparency tab choose alpha channel transparency in the first set of radio buttons and existing layer transparency in the second set:

Now click 'Save' and give your PNG a name. Your results should come out similar to this:

These screen shot were taken using Mozilla to render the graphic due to lack of alpha transparency support in Internet Explorer.

Please note that I used this step by step example using preset shapes but the same could be applied to any graphic with an antialiased edges or shadows.  If there is no need for per pixel alpha blending I suggest you use magic pink.