Snagit 32-bit image with a clear alpha channel

Hi, i'm using Snagit 9 and take screenshots in bmp.
If I just copy-paste an screenshot, it doesn't publish in HTML. It publishes only if I save it by name on my desktop and then insert into HTML from there.
I was told that the reason for that is that my screenshots are 32-bit image with a clear alpha channel, which makes it transparent when used in HTML. Can this be the reason? Is there a way to configure Snagit so that it doesn't store captured images in clear alpha channel?
Thank you, Liz

lizb

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overworked

Posted 2 years ago

2 years ago

Rick Stone

5256 Posts
2482 Reply Likes

Hi there

To my knowledge, only two file types offer an alpha channel. One is the GIF file type. But with GIF, your color palette is something like 255 colors. The other type is PNG. So BMP files won't work. Although, using SnagIt, you may open a BMP, then save it as a GIF or a PNG. Then open it in that new format and add the transparent background.

Your statement about "saving in HTML" is a bit confusing. Images are never saved in an HTML format. They simply exist as whatever file extension was used depending on their format. HTML code *REFERENCES* saved images. It sounds like you may be confusing that issue a bit.

Lastly, I believe some browsers may not be able to understand the alpha or transparent channel with some images. But I think that may be something older browsers have issues with. Newer browsers seem to display them fine.

Cheers... Rick :)

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2017-04-22T21:26:39+00:00

Rick Grunwald

1405 Posts
963 Reply Likes

He's right Liz - use PNG for smaller file sizes and your web pages will load a lot faster. If the BMP files are needed, ad the link to a small PNG

2017-04-22T22:13:48+00:00

Paul

1586 Posts
1177 Reply Likes

I'm with the two Ricks. That level of detail cannot even be rendered on a screen, only in print format. PNG is the best format for displaying web images. It compresses as well as JPEG but upscales much better.

10 years ago, when broadband speeds were a fiftieth of what they are today, a client asked me why their web page took over 30 seconds to load. I swapped out th e3 inch by 1 inch 20MB BMP logo image they had put in for a 90KB PNG file. The page loaded instantly. I never told them what I had done, they never saw any discernible difference in image quality and they thought I was a GOD!.

By the way as Rick mentioned the PNG spec also supports A channel.

Win win.

Paul

(Edited)

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