I have rendered my first couple of flames in Apop using the .png format with transparency, and have noticed a halo in the background, which has become inpossible for me to remove. I also noticed that it is not truely transparent, because when I placed the layer on top of a colored background in PS cs2, it lends a color different to the background color I selected.

Can someone explain to me the benefit of .png over .jpeg, and the use of transparency in Apop? And can anyone provide any suggestions for the above dilemma. I would appreciate anything anyone can offer.

Btw, I use apop 2.05beta and 2.04JFb versions, although I don't use the JF version for rendering, as it has given me a memory limit problem, and does not allow any post render work.

You COULD post a sample

1) .. chances are good that if you had looked at the flame with a WHITE back, you would have seen this coloration that you speak of

2) .. I can't address the HALO .. without seeing it myself .. (see #1) .. I have never noticed that on my images .. and I prefer to render with a solid color background .. ((go to OPTIONS\DISPLAY and turn off Transparent background))

3) .. the purpose of PNG is .. PNG is considered a LOSSLESS compression .. verses .. JPEG compression which loses data and has artifacting problems (especially at color area changes)


I used to render PNG's and switched to JPEG (before they provided the transparent switch) .. because putting a black background behind a transparent flame did not look the same as rendering with a black background

if you'll notice the "postprocess render" switch on the bottom of the render window .. if you render small "test renders" at, say, 640x480, you can render with black, but still look at it with a white background .... very handy

Take a look at this FINE specimen of a gallery .. HERE .. notice the light colored backgrounds ... the fine grain around the periphery is often hidden on a dark background