For a map that my team is in the middle of developing, we are trying to make custon buttons for the ui. After we get them pot into the game though, the black background for the buttons stays. Is there a way to get rid of the background or is there a difference between using .dds and .tga files for buttons. As an example, i used one of the .dds files that they had as a button and changed it to .tga so i could edit it in photoshop. Is it that in the .dds format, the game reads the black area around it as nothing, or is there something im doing wrong?
I extracted a blizz .dds file and imported it back in and it worked fine, although custom .dds images have the same issue. There's an extra step in saving the .dds that we're missing.
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@Golbezz
Here's the .dds plugin for photoshop, Nvidia
I figured it out. The tga / dds uses Alpha channels to tell it what sections of the image to use and what sections are invisible. If you have Photoshop CS2, go to where the "Layers" window is and there should be a Channel tab on it. Click that, and at the bottom of the list you should see "Alpha" as an object. Click the Eye button to show it. If the whole image turns white, that means the whole image is mapped to be shown. Use brush tool (black) to erase the sections you want to be invisible and leave the part of the image you want shown as white (probably better to work from an entirely black alpha map and fill in parts you want to be shown).
How to get one of the buttons so that i can edit them making my own ones? i was trying with openign mpqs but i could not find any of the buttons there.
You can export files from within the Galaxy Editor. When you're searching the Assets for icons (like if you were to pick one of Blizzards icons for your button) just right click the icon name and hit export.
Once you have the file exported, you'll either need to download a .dds converter, or find a plug-in for Photoshop (assuming that is what you're using) to open .dds files.
For a map that my team is in the middle of developing, we are trying to make custon buttons for the ui. After we get them pot into the game though, the black background for the buttons stays. Is there a way to get rid of the background or is there a difference between using .dds and .tga files for buttons. As an example, i used one of the .dds files that they had as a button and changed it to .tga so i could edit it in photoshop. Is it that in the .dds format, the game reads the black area around it as nothing, or is there something im doing wrong?
I second this question.
I extracted a blizz .dds file and imported it back in and it worked fine, although custom .dds images have the same issue. There's an extra step in saving the .dds that we're missing.
___
@Golbezz
Here's the .dds plugin for photoshop, Nvidia
I figured it out. The tga / dds uses Alpha channels to tell it what sections of the image to use and what sections are invisible. If you have Photoshop CS2, go to where the "Layers" window is and there should be a Channel tab on it. Click that, and at the bottom of the list you should see "Alpha" as an object. Click the Eye button to show it. If the whole image turns white, that means the whole image is mapped to be shown. Use brush tool (black) to erase the sections you want to be invisible and leave the part of the image you want shown as white (probably better to work from an entirely black alpha map and fill in parts you want to be shown).
Hope that helps.
@BloodLX99: Go
How to get one of the buttons so that i can edit them making my own ones? i was trying with openign mpqs but i could not find any of the buttons there.
You can export files from within the Galaxy Editor. When you're searching the Assets for icons (like if you were to pick one of Blizzards icons for your button) just right click the icon name and hit export.
Once you have the file exported, you'll either need to download a .dds converter, or find a plug-in for Photoshop (assuming that is what you're using) to open .dds files.
@BloodLX99: Go
the buttons can be in .tga format also, witch photo shop can do native.