Using Freehand to get buttons with transparency

[Andy Robo]

G'day

Strewth mate, now, I am not a huge fan of Freehand but, yesterday I found that I could create pretty cool buttons with freehand and by working with vectors and using EDIT>COPY SPECIAL... copy as PICT, I could simply paste my non-rectangular buttons into FM, with transparency - fair dinkum cobber!

Now fair crack of the whip mates... I've tried using Photoshop, especially to add drop shadows and stuff like that, but I found myself always having to match BG colours in PS with BG colours in FM, because I couldn't just drop irregular shapes into FM as a 'copy' without an annoying white background. It was a right bugger mates!

What I'd really like is some way of contructing pleasant gradients in freehand - you know, sort of develop the OSX/Aqua look... that would be apples!

She'll be right.

Andy

-----------------------------------------

Split Enz was a NZ band!!!

FileMaker Version: Dev 7

Platform: Mac OS X Panther

[CobaltSky]

Hi Andy,

More likely lime or raspberry than apples, p'raps...

Meanwhile, if you want transparent effects using photoshop on Panther, you simply have to create the images in a photoshop layer which resides above the background. Add a layer, delete the backgound layer (which is always opaque) and you will find that transparency is preserved when you copy and paste into either v6 or v7 of FMP on Panther. Admitedly, transparency achieved in this way is still not portable to Wintel in FMv7... but if you drop a screen capture in as a background layer and then flatten before you copy, you'll have the best of both worlds - or both platforms, at least.

Oh, and Split End was indeed an NZ band, but Crocodile Dundee was *not* an NZ film (just thought you'd like to know... )

[murtje]

Ever tried PNG images? This can be transparant and semi-transparant and you can use this in your FileMaker Pro 7 layout. It works great on both platforms.

Koen

[CobaltSky]

Yes. And .png format (with transparency and translucent effects) is supported by Photoshop. However to get the transparency to be xplat using png, I've found it necessary to insert images into the layout from a file, not via the clipboard.

But the result is worth the extra effort.

FileMaker Version: Dev 7

[murtje]

In FileMaker Pro 6, most of the time I used GIF images. I always insert the images from a file. My FileMaker was most of the time smaller than pasting the images from Photoshop.

Koen

[Leb i Sol]

Hi murtje!

BEFORE you paste the image from Photoshop save it as desired format (gif,jpg etc.) and then re-open it....select all--copy---paste and your images will be the same size....one thing I noticed is that even if you do not flatten your image u can still do a "select all-copy-paste" but at that time you might be pasting PDS image vs. jpg

freehand is a joke in comparison to PS

"I've tried using Photoshop, especially to add drop shadows and stuff like that, but I found myself always having to match BG colours..."

whenever u have "effects" on the layers such as Drop Shadows and Emboss etc. you are bound to have "harder time" of gettign images transparent.

If you post which version of PS you have there are quicker ways....

also, sonsider using a "color mate" arround the "edging"....eg.

if u have drop shadow (black color) then you would mate arround that shaddow with 1-2 px of "expected bacground"....this way u still have transparent images that "really fit" your backround but the "mate" is barely noticable on the diff. background.

http://www.gurusnetwork.com/tutorial/gif_transparency/

All the best!

[Chris Cain]

From the "strange but true" department:

Insert a picture into filemaker.

Rotate it once.

Edit, Cut

Edit, Paste Special, Bitmap

Rotate three times

Set fill to transparent

Saw this on the FMWebSchool site. It doesn't work on all pictures, and seems to depend on the color that's defined as transparent.

The real question here is, how many combinations did someone try before they stumbled on this one? ;-)

[George TOUBALIS]

You said

"freehand is a joke in comparison to PS"

It's different programmes freehand is vector Photoshop is a bitmap programme

freehand and illustrator was developed for designers

Photoshop for all the others

You also said that

""BEFORE you paste the image from Photoshop save it as desired format (gif,jpg etc.) and then re-open it....select all--copy---paste and your images will be the same size....""

try to make a new layer

select it and then [comand option Shift E] and you have a flat icon....

Anyway.... the only way to have a true transparent icon is PNG which you have to insert in your layout.

A button that looks correctly in 1000 backgrounds....

try it... and see!

George

[Ginger Mouse]

Thanks for this thread, this has helped me a lot. I wanted to add that the Freehand method described above can also be used in Illustrator: just create the image or button and then File/Export as a PICT.

[DanBrill]

The real question here is, how many combinations did someone try before they stumbled on this one? ;-)

Took me a while to learn that one too! To get the transparency to work, make sure the background is a true white (RGB=255,255,255). Rotate and smile.

But with FM7 I now use PNGs created in PhotoShop and brought in as a file. (When I try to copy and paste I get a nasty crash. FM6 used to gove me a program busy message. FM7 just crashes altogether!)

Best,

Dan