png not transparent in email

[Leslie]

Hi, All
Need help. (again)

When I save an image in PSP as a png, (the image doesn't take up the whole area) and then insert into an email, the background turns to a very dark grey. If I open again in psp, the area is transparent. Is that supposed to happen?

Hope I have explained my question correctly.

Thanks,
Leslie

[LeviFiction]

What software do you use for your email?

[Leslie]

Oops, sorry.
Win mail live

[JoeB]

If you are sending it by email by embedding the image in the email then I doubt it can be received with the transparency. If you create a zip file of the image and send that as an attachment it should retain the transparency when upzipped by the recipient.

[Leslie]

Is insert the same thing as embedding? 'Cause I insert.
This is a new happening.

[JoeB]

Is insert the same thing as embedding? 'Cause I insert.
This is a new happening.

I don't know for sure because I don't use Live Mail. When you say that this is a new happening do you mean that you used to send PNG images with transparency using "insert" and the image retained its transparency? If so, then I can only suggest that this time you missed some option available when sending pictures that would allow Live Mail to realize that the image contained transparency and send it with proper tags to show the transparency. The only way I can imagine off the top of my head that Live Mail would be able to do that would be if html tags were implemented, the same way that a web browser, for instance, can display an image with transparency. So maybe that is an available option with Live Mail??

[Leslie]

Yes, win live used to work fine.
Going to get Thunderbird and see if that does the same thing.

[JoeB]

Yes, win live used to work fine.

If Win Live used to work fine using "Insert" and retained PNG transparency and then suddenly doesn't work like that then obviously something has changed. When was the last time it worked as expected? Have there been any updates to the program since then? Did you save this PNG image with the same options as other images where they worked as expected? Have you tried doing it with an image that previously worked and showed transparency upon receipt of the email?

If absolutely nothing has changed in that regard, then the only other option I can think of is that your workflow changed this time - i.e., you did not add the image in exactly the same way that you used to do when it worked as expected. Something, somewhere, has obviously changed or there should be no reason for it not to work suddenly.

[Leslie]

The program hasn't been supported in years.
It worked a while ago. I only noticed it about a month ago, when I started emailing lessons to my moderator and the background was dark. Other than that, I put sigs in my mail. They are not an issue.

I haven't changed anything, and I always use insert.

Frustrating.
Would the png save settings in psp have anything to do with it?

[JoeB]

Would the png save settings in psp have anything to do with it?

That most definitely could be the case. First, you should test with an image that worked previously to see if Live Mail can still send it with transparency like it did the last time you sent the same image. If that works, then it could just be your PNG save settings. Make sure that you always choose the Options button in the PNG dialogue then the Run Optimizer button and go to the Transparency tab and make the same selections there that you did with previous images that worked. Generally speaking, having Existing Image or Layer transparency and Alpha Channel transparency should work for most needs. If you don't run the optimizer each time you won't generally get transparency saved, at least that's my experience with it.

[Leslie]

I haven't used the optimizer very often.
I'll give it a try.

Never had to before.

[JoeB]

I haven't used the optimizer very often.
I'll give it a try.

Never had to before.

You might want to hold on a bit. After many times saving png with transparency I'm now having the same issue as you are - i.e., the transparency not showing. Busy at the moment but will be starting a new subject with the issue and see if anybody can help. I have no idea why I'm suddenly getting this behaviour - AND I don't have Windows 10 so it wasn't an operating system update either. Saving as .pspimage does retain transparency though.

[Leslie]

Sorry you are having the same issue, but I'm glad I'm not nuts. (Well, that's debatable)
Yes, the pspimages are transparent.

[bruce1951]

FWIW I have/had transparency issue with PSPx8. PSP does something to transparencies. I can send a file with transparent sections from Photoline to PSP for some editing. But when it comes back from PSP the transparencies have many artifacts/degredations in them.

bruce

[JoeB]

FWIW I have/had transparency issue with PSPx8. PSP does something to transparencies. I can send a file with transparent sections from Photoline to PSP for some editing. But when it comes back from PSP the transparencies have many artifacts/degredations in them.

What is strange with Leslie and me is that we both previously have saved .png images with transparency with no issues. When I first responded to her posts here I hadn't saved a transparent .png for perhaps a couple of months but had a reason to do so yesterday and, with the same settings I've always used, it didn't preserve the transparency and when viewed in Manage mode - and re-opened in the workspace - shows a grey background where it should show transparency.

The last time I saved as a transparent .png - and it worked - was when I adapted the Nik script to save the temp file as .png when using the script to open that temp file in another program and then return the processed .png back to PSP. I had no issue with the transparency then. And as far as I know so far there is no actual degradation with the saved .png such as you describe, only the lack of transparency. And we can't blame it on Windows upgrades because we both have different Windows systems. So this is perplexing to say the least. I'll have to find a bit of spare time to do some more experiments and also try it with my X7.