Need a solution.

[Bumblebat]

So, basically, I've started using RPG Maker again, and it has been a very, very long time since I've used it last. I'm doing a test run, and I've tried importing new sprites (some of my own, and some that have been posted here.) My problem is that when I choose a sprite for the graphic of a character or event or what-have-you, the ones that I've imported are showing up with a little colored square as the background and I don't know how to go about making this transparent. I've looked around and tried messing with it in paint, but I can't seem to get rid of the little colored square background of my new sprites. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you!

[fruckert]

It's a jpg, isn't it?
You have to save a character file as a png, instead.
Jpg has artifacting around pixels, to make it smaller. Png doesn't.

[Bumblebat]

It's a jpg, isn't it?
You have to save a character file as a png, instead.
Jpg has artifacting around pixels, to make it smaller. Png doesn't.

Thank you. I'll try that.
Update: I tried saving it as a .png, and I'm still having the same problem of the background of the sprite sheet showing up as a colored square around my sprites. I need a way to make the background of the sprite sheets transparent.

[fruckert]

If it's been saved as a JPG once in the past, it'll always have the corruption around the edges.
Where'd you get the sprites?

[Bumblebat]

If it's been saved as a JPG once in the past, it'll always have the corruption around the edges.
Where'd you get the sprites?

Here.

[SaiKar]

If I'm reading this right, it's not .jpg corruption but just the file not having background transparency. When you add stuff to the game, you should ALWAYS do it via the resource manager. In addition to making sure you've got the right sizes and color depth, this lets you click on the background of the image (which will then start flashing a little) so that the game knows what color to make transparent. Give that a shot.

[zuhane]

Bumblebat, here's a breakdown from the very beginning. The two most common formats seen in
RPG Maker are 256-colour bitmaps and PNGs. You can save a paint image as either of these files and
use them in-game.

256-colour bitmaps will always work in RPG Maker, but have reduced colour quality.

PNG images are of much higher quality, but you must do something before you can use them. Photoshop is required
for this. You must open your PNG image in Photoshop first, then at the top of Photoshop, click the tab called "Image"
and then scroll down to "Mode", then "Indexed PNG". This allows the PNG to retain its high quality, but blocks out
other colours from the image. This Indexed PNG can then be used in RPG Maker, but if you edit it in Paint or something,
prepare to Index is again in Photoshop.

As for the boxes around the edges of characters... well... don't place the charsets, pictures, chipsets, etc, directly into
the RPG Maker folders. Instead, open RPG Maker and click on the "Import Resources" button at the top. Find the picture,
then click the area you want transparent. It should flash. This means that the flashing colour won't be seen in-game.
This should be all you need to start having happy, successful times in RPG Maker!!

Hooray, everyone's happy! Look:

[drenrin2120]

Bumblebat, here's a breakdown from the very beginning. The two most common formats seen in
RPG Maker are 256-colour bitmaps and PNGs. You can save a paint image as either of these files and
use them in-game.

256-colour bitmaps will always work in RPG Maker, but have reduced colour quality.

PNG images are of much higher quality, but you must do something before you can use them. Photoshop is required
for this. You must open your PNG image in Photoshop first, then at the top of Photoshop, click the tab called "Image"
and then scroll down to "Mode", then "Indexed PNG". This allows the PNG to retain its high quality, but blocks out
other colours from the image. This Indexed PNG can then be used in RPG Maker, but if you edit it in Paint or something,
prepare to Index is again in Photoshop.

As for the boxes around the edges of characters... well... don't place the charsets, pictures, chipsets, etc, directly into
the RPG Maker folders. Instead, open RPG Maker and click on the "Import Resources" button at the top. Find the picture,
then click the area you want transparent. It should flash. This means that the flashing colour won't be seen in-game.
This should be all you need to start having happy, successful times in RPG Maker!!

Hooray, everyone's happy! Look:

Irfanview is free and does the same thing.


and what ze hell man?

[Prpl_Mage]

Wow, you guys... What Sai said and the last part of what Zuhane said.


Lad, just click the background when you import the sheets (in the previes) and the squares will disappear from in-game.
It's about you choosing that the background colour should be transparent. In some cases they will already flash when you import them which means that the creator pre-made that colour transparent.

[fruckert]

See, this is why I don't usually help anyone.
I don't know anything about 2K3

[Prpl_Mage]

Well Fruck, If they say "Square" - it's most likely the import-transparacy problem.
If they say "Messed up" or "pixel explosion" it's most likely a JPEG problem.
And the last version is Colour depth / size / non-png issues.

[Bumblebat]

Thanks for the help, everyone. I ended up just having to uninstall RpGmaker and getting it from a different source.