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1 bit Tiff Transparency and Coloring


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Is there a way to import a bitmap tiff and make it transparent and change the color?  I know there must be a way as I've opened .ai files in Affinity Designer that use these tiffs and they come in transparent and in the correct colors.  I just can't seem to figure it out.

 

 

 

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I just can't think of a way without using Affinity Photo. When we add mask using intensity then you could have a colour fill layer and then use the tiff as a mask. We are thinking of adding mask with intensity for Photo so Designer will pick that up at the same time. 

 

We will make it even easier again when we have Affinity Publisher buts that's even a longer wait.

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Hi Tony,

thanks for the prompt reply! Such a feature is a must for us pro workers. In AIllustrator the 1 bit tiff can be imported and colored on the fly leaving white transparent. Being an affinity Designer early and enthusiastic adopter I really think this feature should be implemented as a priority. I am not a programmer but now I am curious about how Adobe did the magic because in the old days also freehand treated 1 bit tiff the same way. Is that difficult to implement that feature?

 

Many thanks

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Here is a video of an .ai file in AD that uses 1 bit tiffs.  It seems to be working although I can't quite figure the correct way to change the color.  I just know this kind of does what I'm looking to do.  If you look at both sides of my split screen you can clearly see these are transparent images and not vectors.  I would think since this works that the functionality is already built in.  I hope I'm not being difficult but this is something I use in pretty much all of my artwork.

 

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2520920/AD_tiff_tranparency.mov

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Thank you for the reply Tony.  That's great news!  Will you be adding this to the UI in the future?  Can this be something that is done when loading Freehand files also.  I noticed it works when loading .ai files but not freehand files.

 

I'm really excited about what you guys are doing here.  Keep up the good work!

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slv987,

Check Layer -> Rasterize to Mask.

It seems a little buggy. I've managed to crash Affinity more than once but still can't do it consistently.

 

Thanks MEB,  Found it.  I saw that a few days ago but didn't know how to use it.  I was expecting to see some sort of a check box to enable the alpha or transparency and then just select a fill color for it.  Doesn't work exactly like I would have imagined but seems to do the job.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 8 months later...

Ok it seems this issue couldn't be solved. I have no chance to replace Adobe Illustrator. Sad, very sad.

It is interesting that if you open an illustrator file with a 1 bit tiff in it that it comes in transparent.  Makes me think that it can be done.  I've messed around with the work around they gave but it's super clunky.  Not going to work for me.  I'm still hoping they will implement it at some point but I'm not holding my breath.  Still waiting for spot colors and advanced printing features also.  I was hopeful we would see some of these features so we could ditch Illustrator but it looks like we're stuck with it for awhile.

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I don't have enough knowledge of programming to understand why they can't implement the features we need. One thing I know for sure is that the day I discover the apps useful for my job I will leave the adobe mob attitude. Only next time I won't pay to test the app.

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  • 2 months later...

For me the ability to add a transparent tiff and recolour it using the swatches is critically important. As has already been mentioned in this thread, this is something that can easily be done in the Adobe suite and as far back as at least Freehand 5.5. I've tried using the rasterise to mask method, and while it works it's not really a substitute for simply placing a file and picking a colour, and can be a bit hit or miss. It's also too fiddly if you then need to duplicate a section.

 

For example: I'm trying to overlay a pattern on a section of wall in an illustration. I have a strip of pattern which I want to repeat that has been rasterised to mask. If I duplicate the mask it then starts to mask the first instance of the mask when I try to move it. Theres no way to merge the masks as far as I can see. I'm thinking I'm going to have to go back to Illustrator to finish this one.

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For me the ability to add a transparent tiff and recolour it using the swatches is critically important. As has already been mentioned in this thread, this is something that can easily be done in the Adobe suite and as far back as at least Freehand 5.5. I've tried using the rasterise to mask method, and while it works it's not really a substitute for simply placing a file and picking a colour, and can be a bit hit or miss. It's also too fiddly if you then need to duplicate a section.

 

For example: I'm trying to overlay a pattern on a section of wall in an illustration. I have a strip of pattern which I want to repeat that has been rasterised to mask. If I duplicate the mask it then starts to mask the first instance of the mask when I try to move it. Theres no way to merge the masks as far as I can see. I'm thinking I'm going to have to go back to Illustrator to finish this one.

 

Agreed.  I'll never be able to switch to AD as my day to day program unless this is done.  The rasterize to mask work around is not a great solution it takes a lot more time and it's pretty glitchy.  It should either come in transparent like AI or a simple checkbox to make transparent like Freehand.  I absolutely love this program and would like to switch my whole art department to it but this feature is holding us back at the moment.

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Quick update to my earlier post- I managed to get the pattern all done in AD in the end, just needed to go back a bit. At first I was adding a section of the pattern, rasterising to mask, and then trying to add/duplicate the pattern further, which was causing problems. So I went back a few stages, did all the duplicating, etc first, grouped all the copies together and then rasterised to mask.

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