MACROMEDIA FREEHAND 10-USING FREEHAND Use Manual page 435

Using alpha channels, you can export bitmap images with complex masking and
transparency for use in Web page graphics, multimedia, video images, and image-
editing applications. An alpha channel is a graphic layer that defines transparent
and opaque areas, and quickly defines an outline or edge of an object.
An alpha channel masks, or outlines, all objects on a page, and reveals a
background graphic through an image. FreeHand can export an alpha channel in
the BMP, PNG, Targa, and TIFF, formats.
When the image is opened in an application that supports alpha channels,
the edges of objects in the image can be easily defined.
Original (left) and exported alpha channel (right)
Choose File > Export.
1
Choose the TIFF, Targa, PNG, or BMP bitmap file type, and click Setup.
2
Select Include Alpha Channel to create an alpha channel automatically on export.
3
To include transparency, select Alpha Includes Background. For more
4
information, see "Defining transparency" on page 436.
Do one of the following:
5
•
In Windows, click More. For Color Depth, select the 32-bit With Alpha (for
PNG, choose 32-bit or 64-bit With Alpha). Click OK.
•
On the Macintosh, for Color Depth, select the 32-bit With Alpha (for PNG,
choose 32-bit or 64-bit With Alpha).