Easy Access to Alpha Channel

[John-B]

I do a lot of UI graphics and textures for 3D models that have transparency, so having access to the alpha channel, beyond just creating masks from selections, is very important to me. I've tried with the patient help of people on this forum to edit the alpha channel of a TIFF, and have not succeeded. I've also tried to create a new TIFF with an alpha channel without success.  Creating and editing TIFFs with an alpha channel is the one thing I still need to use Photoshop for. Which is inconvenient as I have to use someone else's computer.

I understand it is possible to edit the alpha channel (in theory), but it's not like editing other channels or layers. The pencil icon that indicates when a channel is editable, does not work for the alpha channel (Composite Alpha), it has no effect. You can't paint in the alpha channel, sample color, do fills or effects, or do much of anything. The alpha channel seems to be separate and treated differently from other channels and layers. I'd like to see the alpha channel treated like just another grayscale layer, so that ALL tools work with the alpha channel just as they do with other layers, without the additional steps of creating/merging new masks and layers. Just click the Pencil tool, make the alpha channel editable, and then edit it.

Another, related change I'd like to see is being able to see the entire image even where the alpha channel is black. As it is, you can't see parts of the image where the alpha channel is black. I believe this is possible too, but is not obvious how to do it. Ideally, it would be a toggle to see the entire image or the alpha-masked image.