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Solved Issue with overlaying image with transparent background in Movie Studio Platinum 12

I have created an image (png file) with a transparent background using Paint.net image editing software but when I insert the image in the Video Overly track the background appears black, not the gray and white checkerboard that should show as background on the time line. I believe that I created the transparent image correctly in Paint.net. I also tried creating the transparent image using some online image editing software that supports transparency and the same thing happens. I then went to a website that offers free downloads of transparent png image files and inserted an image I downloaded from the site in the timeline and it worked just fine. Any ideas why the transparent images I created aren't working as they should?
by stevenc

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Hi Steven

I have taken some screen shots from Movie Studio Platinum 13.
All tracks on the timeline are either Video or Audio tracks, so it doesn't matter whether the track description box says Video or Video Overlay, the tracks behave exactly the same. You can insert more video tracks if needed by right-clicking on a blank video track.

If your Image file from Paint.net has actually been saved to a proper transparent (checkerboard) background, you will see checkerboard in the thumbnail that appears in Project Media tab and also on the Timeline. If your Project Media thumbnail shows black, then it hasn't been saved properly with Paint.net. I have no experience with using Paint.net - I use Adobe Photoshop. I use to use Photoshop Elements, but now use Photoshop CC 2014.

If you place an Image or Text media into the timeline that has been saved onto a Transparent Background (checkerboard), the default background colour will appear Black when viewed in the Preview Window. If you want to display a different colour underneath the image or text, you must place some Solid Colour media onto a separate/new video track underneath the image/text track.

This is what true transparent Text (same as image file) looks like on the timeline. In my example I placed Solid Colour underneath, so it would not be black.




Regards
Derek :)
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Last Edit:01 Feb 2015 13:33 by DoctorZen
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Thanks Derek for responding. I went back to the Paint.net software and tried again to create an image with a transparent background but this time I saved the file as a gif instead of a png and Movie Studio displayed it properly with the checkerboard pattern on the background of the image. Don't know why it doesn't like the png that Paint.net created.
by stevenc

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