I need an graphical Editor to create PNG files with alphatransparency

Question

Unfortunately, Photoshop currently is the only graphical editor I can use to create PNG files with alphatransparency.

I really hate it. But I need it. But can't afford it.

Pixelmator looked so good, but it crashes over and over again. On my brand new MacBook Pro. Really, that's not an option.

Gimp: It crashes imediately after start. And I really don't like this X11 thing. Does not work on my mac.

Gimpshop: Same problem.

I didn't install anything except Opera browser, XCode and iWork.

So: What else can help me out?

I usually have JPEG images and I need to cut out an object in that image and save as PNG with alphatransparency. I need to do some nice masking edit in alpha chanel, so that it looks smooth in the background.

What tools do you use for your iPhone Apps to do that?

Answer 1

Paintbrush is pretty simple, but it's free and works natively on Mac OS.

Answer 2

I like to use to Skitch for some things. Its free and simple and for OS X and useful for somethings (resizing, screenshots, format changes, and other simple tasks).

Answer 3

I suggest Adobe FireWorks

Hope this helps...

Answer 4

You could always create a free account on Aviary. They have a rather excellent image editor called Phoenix or you could use their vector editor Raven. I couldn't recommend them enough!

Answer 5

I like Acorn, by Flying Meat.

Answer 6

What I would look for, is actually an icon editor - something like the ones listed here:

http://interfacelift.com/icons-mac/software.php

Almost all the graphics work we do on the iPhone is much more pixel oriented than most image editors these days are built for, which is where programs that are built explicitly to handle good pixel level operations come in.

Note that I have not tried any of them yet, though I have been meaning to give it a try over Photoshop (which is overkill and not the greatest for this kind of work)

Answer 7

I use Pixelmator and it's usually really solid. Are you sure there isn't something about your configuration that's destabilizing it? Maybe a misbehaving input manager or haxie, for example?

Answer 8

Inkscape is worth a look.

It may not be Mac OS native but its free and does a great job. You can certainly use it to mask out photos and export as alpha PNGs but it's real power is churning out awesome vector images.

I also recommend Pixelmator (I know that you said you had problems but I think it's definitely worth finding out why it kept crashing and fixing it). Pixelmator really is a formidable alternative to Photoshop.

Answer 9

Acorn (as already mentioned) is great, and very lovingly-crafted indie Mac software. I've also used Seashore for things like nav bar or toolbar buttons where I had to mess with the alpha channel as its own thing, because it felt to me like it did a better job. (It wouldn't be my full-time tool, though.)

Answer 10

Under Windows 7, Paint.Net works well for me.

Does a nice job with layers and supports PNG images well.