Make a bitmap image border in toolbar transparent

[coolcurrent4u]

Hello guys,

Am having a problem with the toolbar buttons in v5sp2 common controls.

How do you make the regions of a bitmap button in the toolbar control transparent?

I am using magenta as the background color of my bitmap icon images.

the issue occurs when you add manifest to project files.please check the attached.

[VBClassicRocks]

Don't see an attachment, but you might want to experiment with the
MaskColor property in your ImageList.

[coolcurrent4u]

i try the mask color, but some of the color around the image still remains any possible fix?

[some1uk03]

There is a fix, but for now why don't you use .Gif with transparency?

[coolcurrent4u]

if i use gif, gif uses its own transparency color in imagelist. some times black sometimes white.

[dilettante]

I'd guess that whatever was used to create the image tried to blend the color, so some of the "magenta" is not exactly the same as the MaskColor.

[Milk]

I'd guess that whatever was used to create the image tried to blend the color, so some of the "magenta" is not exactly the same as the MaskColor.

I think dilettante's hit the nail on the head. The app you used to create the image should have some anti-aliasing or 'feather' options which you should turn off. The image you posted clearly has been blended to a magenta background.

[coolcurrent4u]

Just to prove some point, i have remade the icon using photoshop and a number of other software, but it is still the same as i posted before.

i have the icon with background as 32bit, 24bit and even 8bit color depth, but no improvement.

any tip as to software i should use or color?

[LaVolpe]

Just to prove some point, i have remade the icon using photoshop and a number of other software, but it is still the same as i posted before.

i have the icon with background as 32bit, 24bit and even 8bit color depth, but no improvement.

any tip as to software i should use or color?

Photoshop is known for blending into a background color. I've seen this many times with people that wanted to use a image created from photoshop with a magenta background (for example) as the shape of a form. Then using common methods to create a window region for the form, from the photoshop image, were disappointed the result did not match their bitmap. And here's what I told them to do to prove it, same as I'm going to suggest to you.
1. Open your image with MS Paint
2. Fill the magenta background color with another color, like white
3. What does the result look like? I'm sure it will look similar to Milk's image (2 posts up)

I do think posts 6 & 7 are the reason for the magenta edges you see. And those edges are NOT exactly magenta, but a subtle shade difference.

[coolcurrent4u]

Thanks Lavolpe,

So in situations like this what do you suggest i use.

what to you use in making icons with manifest enabled?

Vb does not support 8bit upwards icons, except 256, and the magenta stuff is cracking me up

any ideas?

[LaVolpe]

I'm not familiar with Photoshop. As mentioned by Milk, above, I would think there would be a setting in photoshop to not anti-alias the image with the background. And that's what you want. If photoshop won't save such an image in 8 bit or lower, you might be able to bring it into MS Paint and save it as 256 colors, but MS Paint may do some color changing -- you'll have to experiment.

[AsmIscool]

For graphics I always use the Gimp. Bit complex to learn but it has every option possible once you have. Best of all it is free.

[coolcurrent4u]

AsmIscool

Assuming am good at using Gimp, what you have me do to solve the problem?

[dilettante]

Have you tried just opening your BMP in MSPaint, setting the view magnification large, and then manually painting those "near magenta" pixels to either magenta or your button-edge color?

[coolcurrent4u]

dilettante

Yes i have done that, but its still the same.
some of the edges are removed except the one the closest ones
any more ideas