Modeling
About Archicad's design tools, element connections, modeling concepts, etc.

placing drawings in elevations

Anonymous
Not applicable
it's just a bit annoying but when i place drawings that have a white background, they show as having a black background in the elevation window but are fine (i.e. transparent background) when i print.

is there a way to turn on transparent background in the elevation window?
15 REPLIES 15
Djordje
Virtuoso
Can you post a screenshot?

Where and how are you printing from?

You are placing the SE views in the layouts, I presume?
Djordje



ArchiCAD since 4.55 ... 1995
HP Omen
Anonymous
Not applicable
i've now been looking into this since yesterday but i'm still having problems.

i have placed a drawing of a tree in an elevation. the tree is in front of the house (and needs to stay there) but i can't make the background transparent. i've had a crash course in alpha channels and i have checked this in corel photopaint. the alpha channel is present and is black.

i need to publish to pdf and get the plans sent off for approval - please help!
Anonymous
Not applicable
Djordje it's you - please help!

i am having these problems when i publish to pdf whether publishing direct from elevation view or from layout book (i'm using ac10).

i have opened the image in corel photopaint and have checked that alpha channel is present and is black.

i will try to attach a picture now...
Djordje
Virtuoso
Derek wrote:
i have placed a drawing of a tree in an elevation. the tree is in front of the house (and needs to stay there) but i can't make the background transparent.
Is the tree a library part? Set the background pen to transparent.
Djordje



ArchiCAD since 4.55 ... 1995
HP Omen
Anonymous
Not applicable
great... didn't work. i'll try again...
Anonymous
Not applicable
i needlessly created a 2nd post for the same topic... apologies.

i don't know much about image files, but the file is simply a 2d picture with an 'alpha channel' for the transparent background.

i have posted a picture in my post earlier today
Djordje
Virtuoso
It is not a drawing, it is a bitmap.

You have to be precise, man 😉

If you want the alpha channel recognized, your best bet is TIFF format. Not sure which one are you using now.

You can also create a cutout GDL from this image, using ArchiFacade. Great and extremely fast - except drawing the fill with the outline of the tree ... but it is also manageable.

Did you use the Figure tool? Checked the Transparent button?
Djordje



ArchiCAD since 4.55 ... 1995
HP Omen
Djordje
Virtuoso
Just tried with one of the TGAs from the standard ArtLantis library ...

It works.

Set it to Transparent.
Djordje



ArchiCAD since 4.55 ... 1995
HP Omen
Anonymous
Not applicable
thanks for your help so far. i have identified the bitmap as a TIFF file. your comments made me realise that i wasn't importing properly! i have been trying to place a drawing instead of a figure.

even though this has been corrected, i am still having a strange problem - some of the tree bitmap is transparent (the bottom part of the tree) and some is not. any ideas?

otherwise i may have to delete the tree altogether...

regarding the ArchiFacade, thanks for the tip but i really can't afford any addons at the moment.