Photoshop TIFF and Alpha Channel Export for PowerPoint

See Also: PowerPoint and Alpha Channels

In this tutorial, we will learn how to export a TIF graphic from Adobe Photoshop with an alpha channel that PowerPoint can import. We have used Adobe Photoshop 6 on Windows XP Professional.

1. For this example, we created a new file in Photoshop (File | New) with a transparent background.
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2. Using Photoshop's shape tool, just draw any shape to fill the empty document.
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3. Choose the Layer | Rasterize | Shape.
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4. Choose any color for the foreground and click the Gradient button from Photoshop's tools. Within options (the toolbar below the menu), choose the foreground to transparent gradient.
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5. In the Layers window, Ctrl + click the layer that contains your shape so that all non-transparent areas are selected.
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6. Press the Delete button on your keyboard. You now have an empty screen with a selection (shown as 'marching ants').
7. Drag in any direction with the gradient tool to create a fill that spans from opaque to transparent. Alternatively, you can also use any other non-transparent gradient or a solid fill color. Repeat and experiment until you are satisfied.
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8. Press Ctrl + D to deselect everything. Ctrl + click the layer again in the Layers tab window to select the entire transparency gamut.
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9. Go to the Channels tab and select the Create New Channel from the flyout menu. Click the OK button for the default name that Photoshop chooses for the new channel.
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10. Photoshop will present you with a black background and a selection comprising our shape. Click the Alt + Backspace to fill the transparency gamut with white. Press Ctrl + D to deselect.
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11. Go back to the Layers tab and choose the File | Save As... option.
12. In the file format drop-down box, choose TIFF. Check the Alpha Channels box in the Save Options if it is disabled.
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13. In the next dialog box, choose the IBM PC for the Byte Order and enable LZW Compression.
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14. Back in PowerPoint, just insert the exported TIF using the Insert | Picture command. The screenshot below shows you how the transparent areas reveal themselves.
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