Someone help please (Gimp and Photoshop))

[Andy]

I've tried everything I can think of to get Gimp and/or Photoshop working properly with Ultima 7 shapes. I've indexed the palette, and fed it into the images I'm trying to create. I keep having trouble with transparency. Either I end up with a solid black box around what should be an oval image, a solid white box with the black oval image inside, or I end up with the oval, but with transparent artifacts inside the image. Yes, the proper plugins have been placed inside the proper directories. I have literally spent days going in circles over this.

So, I will ask this: Will someone please post step by step instructions on how to set up Gimp, and/or Photoshop to do Ultima 7 graphics?

I need to know, because I've looked at all instructions that I can find more than once. I'm wondering if it could be my computer configuration that is glitching with it, or something stupid that I cannot see. Below is the palette I've been using.



My scalp will thank you from all the hair I've been pulling out over this. :0)

[marzo]

I've had some issues with this as well. I have found a way that works for any images which do not include some of the latter colors (because they have duplicate color values). I have been using Gimp for this; what I have been doing is as follows:

Preliminary steps:
1) For images without transparency, just edit them as normal (duh);
2) Open an image for editing; I prefer using PNGs. It can be any image as long as it has transparency.
3) Immediatelly go to File -> Save As and click Save, then Replace.
4) In the following dialog, check "Save background color", "Save layer offset", "Save resolution" and "Save creation time", and uncheck everything else. Click "Save defaults" and OK.
5) Get this (http://www.geocities.com/mg_rpg_online/Ultima7-256.zip) palete and import it in Gimp; for importing, go to Dialogs -> Palettes, click the left-pointing arrow, choose Palettes Menu -> Import Palette.

OK, now you are ready to edit U7 images. Here is what you will have to do to get it to work correctly:
1) When you open an image with transparency, go to Image -> Mode -> RGB.
2) Immediatelly afterwards, go to Image -> Mode -> Indexed and select the palette above. Be sure to UNCHECK "Remove unused colors from final palette"!

The bad part is that I have been unable to get the images working right without having to perform these last two steps. And as I mentioned, some of the last colors are duplicates of previous colors; this distinction will be lost by this procedure...

I hope this helps.

[BC]

I've been having the same problem. Any image I changed would end up surrounded by a black box the size of the canvas. I tried Mazro's way and just ended up with a purple box instead.

After reading this post, I tried importing the palatte from a shp file I had extracted with expack (Gimp did not recongnize the file Mazro suggested). Since it is supposed to be transparent, I filled the background with the bottom right color, pasted my image overtop, and saved. It just recreated the purple box. So I searched the forums so I could examine the 'correct' palatte image.

I noticed two things. First, the palatte from my shape file had different colors in the last eight spots. Second the palatte from the frame I opened in Exult Studio with the edit option only had 255 colors (They all matched the correct pallete).

I selected the red from my shp palatte that appeared be the missing one, and added it to the end of the palatte with only 255 colors. (I chose the red as the foreground color, clicked the empty spot on the palatte, and clicked the + button). Then I filled my canvas with that red, pasted my image overtop, choose save as with the options Mazro suggested and the image came out correctly.

I've put the frame in Exult and everything appears fine. Also, reopening the frame in Gimp with the edit option shows the proper grey checked transparent canvas.

[Andy]

Thanks for the help Marzo. I've sent you an email.

Still having problems.

BC:

When I try to edit the image through Exult Studio I keep getting "Can't launch gimp remote -n"....

Is there any chance you could send me your modified palette file? I'm not exactly sure how to make the changes you suggested.

Also, thanks for the response.

[BC]

I had the same problem with the Edit option. You probably need to tell the Studio where to find Gimp.

In Exult Studio, choose file -> preferences. Put your installed path for Gimp in the image editor command window. It should end with - >

\gimp-win-remote -n


Also, spaces in the path to Exult Studio confuse Gimp when it tries to open the file.

For example:

C:\Document and Settings

This is fixed just by moving the Studio files.

[BC]

Actually I did not assign a palette to the image I opened with Edit. I should of said that I had the color map open (this is the same thing really).

To open it go to

Dialogs -> Colormap


All of the images I've opened with the image editor are missing the last color, which is the transparent one. I took color #251 (HTML notation: fc0000) from a shape extrated with expack (have the shp open in Gimp, open the import palatte dialog as Mazro's instructions, and choose Image. Your shape should appear in the dialog window there, Gimp will extract the palatte). Then I guess you could extract the correct palatte from the fixed image.

Basically I then just filled the background with the transparent color.

If you still need the palatte I'll get one saved and try to figure out how to get it to you.

[Andy]

Hmmm..... Well I've tried everything that has been said. I have gotten the solid box problem fixed, but some images still have transparent artifacts in the picture. More experimentation is needed I guess.

[BC]

Which suggestion fixed your problem? Are the artifacts appearing in parts of the image you edit or parts you haven't messed with? Do they appear in Studio or only in game? And can you post an image with the problem? Maybe I could help if I saw an example.

[Andy]

Hey BC.

Sorry, I haven't responded until now. Things have gotten rather busy for me lately.

The suggestion that fixed my problem was opening a .shp file, and adding the red invisible color to my character's palette, then coloring the corners that shade of "invisible" red. The problem that still occurs is that certain areas inside the picture of my character portrait are transparent while running the game. I'll see if I can get a screen shot for you soon.

[BC]

My own response is a little slow for the same reason.

I have a profile now, so you could just e-mail me the portrait and I'll see if what I can do.

If you still want to post a screenshot (maybe someone else would have suggestions), include one outside the game without the transparency problems, as well as one in game with the problems.

[DK]

I've the same problems with transparency.
Seems the palette color with index 0 (and with value of black - RGB 0,0,0) is taken as transparency, so check this before save GIF or PNG; then check if there is another black color used in the pics, better change with a RGB value of 1,1,1 so is different from pure black 0,0,0.
Then, I've found the SHP plugin (for Photoship) have a bug with transparency, so better save the pic in PNG and import them with Exult Studio.