Guide to creating 32-bit bitmap's in Photoshop

[Matt T]

:D could somebody PLEASE explain to me how I can create 32-bit bitmaps in Photoshop CS? I've been playing around for hours and I'm almost going out of my mind. any help at all would be appriciated...

[Matt T]

please! I know alot of people know... :(

[QuarterSwede]

I don't know but I'll bump the thread. I thought it was easy in PS7; I haven't used CS yet, sorry.

[Matt T]

could you tell me how to do it in ps7? it might be the same...

[QuarterSwede]

Ctrl+Shift+S (Save As...) > choose .bmp > then a dialog comes up (BMP Options) asking you which type (16, 24 or 32 bit) and which file format (Windows or OS/2). Just tell it to use 32 bit and Windows then select ok. That's it.

[CDog]

Any decent software should have a colour mode option...

...I mean, it couldn't get any easier.

[insanekiwi]

offtopic: CDog..what theme is that? where can i get it?

[Debugger]

Funny...

A 32 Bit Image is RGB image plus an alpha channel to define its transparency. CMYK( Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black ) is for printing... never ever convert a RGB image to CYMK. You will lose a lot of colors if you do.

[wing.]

  Debugger said:

Funny...

A 32 Bit Image is RGB image plus an alpha channel to define its transparency. CMYK( Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black ) is for printing... never ever convert a RGB image to CYMK. You will lose a lot of colors if you do.

:yes: hes right cdog is wrong ( i hope :p )

u got to change the mode from RGB to index then save then a box comes up and then select 32 bit u have a 32 bitmapped image :p :cool:

(if ur saving it as a .bmp)

:cool:

[zhangm Supervisor]

Save as PNG in PSCS/Gimp/PSP.

Open PNG in MSPaint.

Save as 24bit BMP.

Will really save it as 32bit BMP.

*Edit: Doesn't indexing an image cause color loss if you got more than 255 colors?

[wing.]

  CDog said:

Any decent software should have a colour mode option...

http://www.matthewcornish.org/temp/neowin/colourmode.png

...I mean, it couldn't get any easier.

am i blind or is tht not photoshop :|

[Debugger]

No, it's Corel Photo-Paint.

Another wannabe photoshop, like paint shop pro and MSPaint :p

[zhangm Supervisor]

  Quote

Another wannabe photoshop, like paint shop pro and MSPaint tongue.gif

You don't need Photoshop to make art.

Skill, on the other hand... :rolleyes:

[wing.]

  Debugger said:

No, it's Corel Photo-Paint.

Another wannabe photoshop, like paint shop pro and MSPaint :p

Corel Photo-Paint. :|

[CDog]

If you think photoshop is the be-all-end-all of graphics software then you have problems. That or you're a sheep.

Anywho, yes you're right and in fact, you can't save 32bit CMYK BMP images due to the colour loss if you did. It can't hold the colour seperation data. I do a lot of stuff for print so, forgive my mistake...but do me a favour and quit all this wrist action over photoshop...

[Matt T]

I'm really not worried about colour loss: I'm making a logon and i need a bitmap that's transparent. so colour loss isn't an issue.

and btw, thanks for your help so far guys ;)

[Debugger]

I acknowledge the fact that photo-paint is a good software for image manipulation. But, i still think that photoshop is the best tool for this task. In fact nearly all the adobe products are the best in their own domains perhaps except indesign, which is not as good as the good ol' widely used Quark Xpress

Anyway, that's just my opinion :)

[Debugger]

Cubiz, saving the image in cmyk mode wont work for transparency.

1- Make sure your image is on a transparent background in photoshop

2- 'File -> Save for the web' and save it has a png.

[Matt T]

I thought if it was an image for a logon, it had to be a .bmp

[QuarterSwede]

  Cubiz said:

I thought if it was an image for a logon, it had to be a .bmp

It does have to be a bmp. XP hardly even supports .png. Just look at the way it displays them in IE.

The alpha channel thing. If you add an alpha channel won't that force Photoshop to save in 32 bit mode? It should at least give you the option.

[zhangm Supervisor]

In most logon screens I've delt with, the alpha colors are either 255,0,255 ("magic pink"), or 0,0,0 (black).

Try making a single px of magic pink and using that as your transparent graphic.

[pringlex]

The BMP format doesn't support transparency. What you probably want to do is set the parts of the image you wish to be transparent to R255 G0 B255 and then save it as a 24bit bitmap.

[amr_01]

in photoshop cs, i click save-as, select bmp, select where i want to save it, then it comes up with a window that gives me an option to save as 32-bit.

[nexx]

If you want transparency, then you'll need to give it an alpha channel. Bring up the layers toolbox and create a new layer, add whatever you want to the alpha channel then choose 32bit when saving.

Most programs however use the 'magic pink' colour to define transparency though.

[QuarterSwede]

  amr_01 said:

in photoshop cs, i click save-as, select bmp, select where i want to save it, then it comes up with a window that gives me an option to save as 32-bit.

As a reference, that is exactly what Photoshop 7 gives you (talked about earlier in thread).

  nexx said:

If you want transparency, then you'll need to give it an alpha channel. Bring up the layers toolbox and create a new layer, add whatever you want to the alpha channel then choose 32bit when saving.

Most programs however use the 'magic pink' colour to define transparency though.

True enough.

If you give me a chance, I'll try exactly what you are trying to do later.

[Matt T]

thanks for your help guys (Y)