topic Re: Jpg sign image without rectangle box in Modeling

Jpg sign image without rectangle box

Anonymous — Tue, 23 May 2023 14:54:16 GMT

Hi,

I am wanting to insert an image onto the fascade of a building in ArchiCad 12. I have the images as .eps files, which I have imported into photoshop and created jpg images. The problem is that when I place and position them in archicad, I get a rectangle background around the image.

For example one of the images is a brand logo on a white background. In photoshop I have selected and deleted the white background, so there are blank pixels where the white was. I output this a a JPG and import into archicad libaray.

I want to place this onto the front of a building to look like this logo is attached directly to the metal panel on the fascade. The white rectangular background I get by instering this as a picture (object, custom image) destroys this.

I would appreciate any advise on how to achieve this.

Regards & Thanks

Anthony

Re: Jpg sign image without rectangle box

David Maudlin — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:03:58 GMT

Anthony:

I think you want to investigate using the Alpha Channel for transparency for the texture

For more information with images, go to Help > ArchiCAD Help, when your browser opens click on the "Search" tab, and input "Alpha Channel" in the search box, in the results list "Material Texture Panel" will lead to detailed information.

You should add a Signature to your Profile (click the Profile button near the top of this page) with your ArchiCAD version and operating system (see mine for an example) for more accurate help in this forum.

HTH

David

Re: Jpg sign image without rectangle box

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:44:40 GMT

Hi David,

Thank you. I am sure the solution is there somewhere .... I just can't find it yet.

From what I read, I should be able to add the JPG image to the library, then select it as an object and edit its texture and in there alter its alpha channel etc.

I can see how the edit the texture of an object, just not sure how to edit the texture of my image.

I can add the jpg file to the library in library manager..... but I can not then select it as an object ?

Am I on the wrong track ?

Sorry for being such a Noobie....

Anthony

Re: Jpg sign image without rectangle box

Dwight — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:17:01 GMT

Jpeg can't have alpha channels - use PNG.

Re: Jpg sign image without rectangle box

David Maudlin — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:01:27 GMT

ozeant wrote:
I can see how the edit the texture of an object, just not sure how to edit the texture of my image.

I can add the jpg file to the library in library manager..... but I can not then select it as an object ?

You need to duplicate a Material, then assign your texture to that material, and then assign that material to the element that you want with the texture. And what Dwight said, you need to be using a file format that supports alpha channels.

David

Re: Jpg sign image without rectangle box

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:25:22 GMT

Right, we are all getting confused here! Firstly, I believe Anthony is trying to apply a custom image to the 'picture12.gsm' object. Materials don't work on this object. It needs an image.

Secondly, the standard picture12 object doesn't have the option to hide the alpha channel, so it still wouldn't work. You will need to try Dwights Parapicture object found here -

http://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/object_depository.php?browse=Depository/01+General

I wouldn't advise loading textures and objects individually through the library manager. Put them all into a folder or several folders and load the folder instead. It's much neater and easier to manage.

In the object itself simply enter in the file name of the texture into the 'image name' field (e.g. logo1), and it should work fine. You will still have to use a PNG or a TIF to have an alpha channel though.

Hope that helps!

Re: Jpg sign image without rectangle box

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:57:32 GMT

Hi all,

Thank you all for the replies so far.... I am getting closer I think

It is very frustrating though !!

Peter you are correct, I was using picture12.gsm. I have downloaded and imported parapicture, I went back to photoshop and output the image as a PSD file with an alpha channel and have placed that into Archicad....

I have positioned the image using the parapicture object and tried turning on and off the alpha channel .... the white box still appears around the image. I am missing a step somewhere. What do I put on the alpha channel in photoshop ?

I have removed all background pixels from the image in photoshop, but nothing makes the rectanglular white background dissapear. In photoshop there is just a logo image with blank pixels everywhere else. But the blank pixels show up as white (rather than transparent) in Archicad

Thanks

Anthony

Re: Jpg sign image without rectangle box

David Maudlin — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:26:19 GMT

Anthony:

Just guessing: the transparency will only work in a PhotoRendering, not in the 3D Window or other views. If it is not working in a PhotoRendering, then you can post screen shots of your PhotoRendering, Material and Object dialog boxes to see if someone can diagnose the issue.

David

Re: Jpg sign image without rectangle box

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:37:46 GMT

Hi Anthony,

We are nearly there!!

In Photoshop, to save an alpha layer you select the area you want (Select > Colour Range works well for solid areas of colour), then in the 'channels' area of the layers toolbar, click the 'save the selection as a channel' button to create an alpha channel. You can double click this to bring up the channel options in order to swop the masked area with the unmasked area if it displays the wrong way round in ArchiCAD.

Save the image as a PNG or a TIF, not as a PSD!

You wont see background disappear in the openGL window - the white rectangle will always be visible. The alpha channel only has an effect when you render it. You wont see anything on the elevations either, just the rectangular outline of the picture object.

If you did need to see the actual shape of the logo in elevation, you will need to use a completely different technique involving tracing over the logo on plan with the slab tool and then saving as a library part. Let me know if you need further instruction on this.

Thank you

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 05:23:12 GMT

Thank you all so much. You are correct, once I saved the image as a PNG file it worked great. Tiff for some reason didn't work, but problem solved for now.

Thanks

Anthony

Re: Jpg sign image without rectangle box

Mats_Knutsson — Thu, 08 Oct 2020 09:21:29 GMT

A 10-year bump .

When publishing an image with alpha channel...what can I use it for? I tried all five image formats with alpha and just opened up in photoshop and they all looked like regular one layer images. What did I miss?

Re: Jpg sign image without rectangle box

Nader Belal — Thu, 08 Oct 2020 13:38:13 GMT

@Mats_knutsson

1. Time: It's an 11 year bump
2. Photoshop: Alpha Channel is in Channel Group

3. Alpha Channel: It's name would be "alpha", but there are two main states black and white, were one means it's totally transparent and the other is not. (Greys define the degree of transparency)

4. File format: The last time I used alpha channel was a tif format, others I don't quiet remember but I believe it would cost you nothing.

5. Load into ArchiCAD: you will need to load the pic with the alpha channel to the project library

6. Activating the alpha channel with in ArchiCAD: In "Surfaces" you should indicate to ArchiCAD to take into account the alpha channel by click on "Transparency"

7. If things gets missed up in the way check "Foliage - Leaves Tree Small" in Surfaces

Re: Jpg sign image without rectangle box

Barry Kelly — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 02:09:25 GMT

Mats_Knutsson wrote:
A 10-year bump .

When publishing an image with alpha channel...what can I use it for? I tried all five image formats with alpha and just opened up in photoshop and they all looked like regular one layer images. What did I miss?

Yes the image may look like a standard image with one layer.
But it will have a masking channel that is really just a selection area that is saved with the image as 'Alpha channel'.
It may depend on the software you open the image in as to how you find/see this masking channel.
I don't have photoshop - just use an old program called Paint Shop Pro.
I create a selection and save the selection as an alpha channel (just to confuse things the selection is actually the bit that is not the alpha channel - but the bit you want to keep and see).

So this is the alpha channel saved in the image.

This is what it looks like when used in my window object's user interface.

And here I have deliberately changed the shape of the alpha channel selection so you can see better what it does.

As mentioned this can also be used for images when rendering, such as around the leaves of a tree or person for billboard objects or the holes in a chainlink fence or perforated screen.

Barry.

Re: Jpg sign image without rectangle box

Mats_Knutsson — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 06:18:12 GMT

Really good explanations guys and I know and use alpha channels in surface textures... so I feel a little guilty not being clear about my question. I was going to write an internal document about publishing stuff and normally when it comes to images we use jpg/png/pdf straight out of the box but i couldn't help clicking in the options button and when I saw tha alpha setting i hoped for a simple way to mask out "something" in photoshop much like exporting from Artlantis for montage/green screen stuff. But I don't see any difference in photoshop on a regular ong saved with "color" or a png saved with "alpha channel".
Br,
Mats

Re: Jpg sign image without rectangle box

Barry Kelly — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 06:59:07 GMT

I'm still not sure what you are looking for.
You won't see any difference to the image in Photoshop.
The image of the window I used before (.TIF) has the green background and that is exactly what it looks like in the photo editing software.
But because it has the alpha mask (selection saved as an alpha channel) the green appears transparent when placed in any documents.

I am not familiar with Photoshop, so I am not sure if there is an option somewhere to say show the image with the alpha channel as transparent - if that is what you are after.

Barry.

Re: Jpg sign image without rectangle box

runxel — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 08:24:21 GMT

Mats, are yout talking about renderings?
That's the only place this actually works (afaik, maybe I'm wrong, but I never used that anywhere else).

BTW: I would never publish any other things as images right away from Archicad, because the image-producing engine is old and bad. If you need images from let's say the floor plan make a PDF and batch-convert them into whatever you need.

Re: Jpg sign image without rectangle box

Mats_Knutsson — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 09:56:23 GMT

I'm referring to the dialogue window in the attach. When I choose publisher format as image (all of the different image formats) Archicad gives me these options which I don't know how to use or if they are of any practical use. I never use anything else than color and 100% but I was recording a "how to publish for dummies" video and when these options appeared I kind of got stuck. I could say "don't care about the other options" but if the "buts" are too many it's confusing. I was kind of curious about these options and what they actually do IRL.
I don't render with Archicad except for simple exteriors and sketch renders.

It's interesting to create super basic tutorials when I'm pretty savvy with Archicad and navigate through the woods with my own since long learned workflow. I kind of avoid/don't see the bumps but for a new/occasional user it's confusing with so many trees in the forest...and no visible trail.

Re: Jpg sign image without rectangle box

runxel — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 20:04:46 GMT

Mats_Knutsson wrote:
I'm referring to the dialogue window in the attach. When I choose publisher format as image (all of the different image formats) Archicad gives me these options which I don't know how to use or if they are of any practical use.

I just tested it, so I can safely say: The options indeed don't matter much except for renderings.
With them you can get an Alpha channel.
Grayscale and Black and White are pretty obvious. Just a word: The second one will give you an image with truly one-bit image depth, resulting in cool 80s vibe dithering.
High accuracy color is the stark opposite: It gives you an image with 32-bit image depth (default is 8-bit per channel).

That's already all to know! And as you can see nearly all options can be ignored safely indeed.

Re: Jpg sign image without rectangle box

Mats_Knutsson — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 20:24:03 GMT

runxel wrote:

Mats_Knutsson wrote:
I'm referring to the dialogue window in the attach. When I choose publisher format as image (all of the different image formats) Archicad gives me these options which I don't know how to use or if they are of any practical use.
I just tested it, so I can safely say: The options indeed don't matter much except for renderings.
With them you can get an Alpha channel.
Grayscale and Black and White are pretty obvious. Just a word: The second one will give you an image with truly one-bit image depth, resulting in cool 80s vibe dithering.
High accuracy color is the stark opposite: It gives you an image with 32-bit image depth (default is 8-bit per channel).

That's already all to know! And as you can see nearly all options can be ignored safely indeed.

Haha I will safely ignore them as usual.