Re: can't export as picture frame

A while ago, posted the following:

 >>> I have an image that I want to turn into a picture frame.
 >>> I have one color that fills most of the image,
 >>> with my intended frame around it.
 >>>
 >>> When I try to export it as a frame, it says:
 >>>    +----
 >>>    |'...' is not a valid picture frame.
 >>>    |Picture frames must be 24-bit true color
 >>>    |and contain one or two layers with transparency.
 >>>    +----
 >>> (. . . description of catch-22 . . .)

To which one kind soul replied:
 >> If its not a regular layer Promote the layer.
 >> Make a selection of the area you want to be transparent then delete
it.
 >> You now have a frame on a single layer with transparency.

And I tried it, any it worked like a charm.

However, I'm at it again, and encountering the same error.
At the point I first encountered the error,
my frame and the space inside it covered the entirety
of my single layer, which was "Background".

After stumbling in the dark, I looked at the note above.
I did Selections->Select All,
then Selections->Promote Selection to Layer;
this gave me an additional layer called "Promoted Selection".
I then used Magic Wand to select the stuff in the middle I didn't want,
and hit <DELETE> (per above).
It didn't *look* like anything had happened,
until I turned off the Background layer,
whereupon the stuff in the middle was gone
and the checkerboard pattern for "nothing is here" appeared.
So, this certainly looks like "one or two layers with transparency".
However, I still get the same error.

I tried setting the color depth to 32K colors and to 64K colors,
both 24-bit, and neither helped.
What is "24-bit true color", anyway?

Anyway, can someone point out where I'm going wrong?

Thanks.

TheChysler wrote:
> 
> A while ago, posted the following:
> 
>  >>> I have an image that I want to turn into a picture frame.
>  >>> I have one color that fills most of the image,
>  >>> with my intended frame around it.
>  >>>
>  >>> When I try to export it as a frame, it says:
>  >>>    +----
>  >>>    |'...' is not a valid picture frame.
>  >>>    |Picture frames must be 24-bit true color
>  >>>    |and contain one or two layers with transparency.
>  >>>    +----
>  >>> (. . . description of catch-22 . . .)
> 
> To which one kind soul replied:
>  >> If its not a regular layer Promote the layer.
>  >> Make a selection of the area you want to be transparent then
delete it.
>  >> You now have a frame on a single layer with transparency.
> 
> And I tried it, any it worked like a charm.
> 
> However, I'm at it again, and encountering the same error.
> At the point I first encountered the error,
> my frame and the space inside it covered the entirety
> of my single layer, which was "Background".

A frame has to have transparency. A background layer, if it
exists, is not permitted to have any transparency. To convert
a background layer to a regular layer that supports transparency
do Layers > Promote Background Layer.

> After stumbling in the dark, I looked at the note above.
> I did Selections->Select All,
> then Selections->Promote Selection to Layer;

Why did you promote the *selection* to a layer? You were told
to promote the *layer* as in Layers > Promote Background Layer.
Do the right thing and you'll get the right result :) (Yes, I
know, the word "promote" occurs in two places and that can be
confusing if you don't pay attention to what it is that you are
promoting.)

> this gave me an additional layer called "Promoted Selection".

Since you selected everything and promoted the selection in
effect you just duplicated all the content in your image as
a new layer.

> I then used Magic Wand to select the stuff in the middle I didn't want,
> and hit <DELETE> (per above).
> It didn't *look* like anything had happened,

Well, it wouldn't, would it? This is because you deleted a bit
of duplicated layer to make a transparent hole and through this
transparent hole you could see exactly identical content on
the layer below. Hence no visible change.

> until I turned off the Background layer,
> whereupon the stuff in the middle was gone
> and the checkerboard pattern for "nothing is here" appeared.

Officially, it's the transparency checkerboard :)

> So, this certainly looks like "one or two layers with
transparency".
> However, I still get the same error.

No, it's one layer with transparency - the one you made by
selecting everything and turning the selection into a new layer
by promoting it - and a second layer without any transparency.
That one is the background layer whose visibility you turned
off. It's still there though, even if you can't see it, and it
can never be transparent because background layers don't support
transparency. You can get rid of it by first making it active in
the Layer Palette and then selecting Delete from the right-click
context menu. However, the best way to do this is the way you
were told. Just promote the background layer before you start
to do anything else. Then you won't have any extra layers to
clean up later.

> I tried setting the color depth to 32K colors and to 64K colors,
> both 24-bit, and neither helped.

No, it wouldn't. It just destroys colors in your image so there
are fewer of them, which isn't normally a good idea.

> What is "24-bit true color", anyway?

Each computer byte contains 8 bits. Using 8 bits you can represent
256 levels of color from 0 to 255. To get a color image you need
to combine a red color channel, a green color channel, and a blue
color channel. The color at each pixel of the image is represented
by a combination of one byte for red, one for green and one for
blue. For example, yellow would be red 255, green 255 and blue 0
while cyan would be red 0, green 255 and blue 255. Since there are
three bytes and each of them has 8 bits, the total number of bits
is 24 so it's called 24-bit color. (The "true" part comes from
the old days of computing where displays couldn't show all those
colors until the day when they finally could and the color was
declared "true". That 32K and 64K color stuff dates from those
days too and you don't need to have anything to do with it any
more.)

> Anyway, can someone point out where I'm going wrong?

Yes, you're not following the original instructions exactly. Do
Layers > Promote Background Layer, not Selections > Promote To
Layer.

Spandex Rutabaga wrote:
> 
> TheChysler wrote:

> > What is "24-bit true color", anyway?
> 
> Each computer byte contains 8 bits. Using 8 bits you can represent
> 256 levels of color from 0 to 255. To get a color image you need
> to combine a red color channel, a green color channel, and a blue
> color channel. The color at each pixel of the image is represented
> by a combination of one byte for red, one for green and one for
> blue. For example, yellow would be red 255, green 255 and blue 0
> while cyan would be red 0, green 255 and blue 255. Since there are
> three bytes and each of them has 8 bits, the total number of bits
> is 24 so it's called 24-bit color.

This is the color part of 24-bit color. A background layer has
three bytes (one for each channel) at every pixel. A regular
layer has an extra byte at each pixel. It is used to represent
the level of opacity from 0 (fully transparent) to 255 (fully
opaque). (Just to make things more complicated this range of
opacity is represented as a percentage in the Layer Palette or
in the Opacity setting for tools like the Paintbrush or Eraser.)
The Eraser and the Background Eraser are the only tools in PSP
that work directly on the transparency channel of an image.

TheChysler wrote:
> A while ago, posted the following:
>
>>>> I have an image that I want to turn into a picture frame.
>>>> I have one color that fills most of the image,
>>>> with my intended frame around it.
>>>>
>>>> When I try to export it as a frame, it says:
>>>>    +----
>>>>    |'...' is not a valid picture frame.
>>>>    |Picture frames must be 24-bit true color
>>>>    |and contain one or two layers with transparency.
>>>>    +----
>>>> (. . . description of catch-22 . . .)
>
> To which one kind soul replied:
>>> If its not a regular layer Promote the layer.
>>> Make a selection of the area you want to be transparent then
delete
>>> it. You now have a frame on a single layer with transparency.
>
> And I tried it, any it worked like a charm.
>
> However, I'm at it again, and encountering the same error.
> At the point I first encountered the error,
> my frame and the space inside it covered the entirety
> of my single layer, which was "Background".
>
> After stumbling in the dark, I looked at the note above.
> I did Selections->Select All,
> then Selections->Promote Selection to Layer;
> this gave me an additional layer called "Promoted Selection".
> I then used Magic Wand to select the stuff in the middle I didn't
> want, and hit <DELETE> (per above).
> It didn't *look* like anything had happened,
> until I turned off the Background layer,
> whereupon the stuff in the middle was gone
> and the checkerboard pattern for "nothing is here" appeared.
> So, this certainly looks like "one or two layers with
transparency".
> However, I still get the same error.
>
> I tried setting the color depth to 32K colors and to 64K colors,
> both 24-bit, and neither helped.
> What is "24-bit true color", anyway?
>
> Anyway, can someone point out where I'm going wrong?
>
> Thanks.

When you promoted the layer. and as it was a select all you duplicated the 
layer so now have two. you found a way to get the look you wanted But even 
with that background turned off you still have two layers so Delete that 
background. You now have a single Layer with Transparency.

The easy way to change the background layer to one that can have 
transparency is to have the image open then got to Layers in the menu bar 
look down near the bottom and you will see "Promote Background layer"
that will do it without creating a duplicate


-- 
Trev
You can always tell a Yorkshire man,
But you can't tell him much.