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eZedia Resources
eZedia Tips & Tricks
 This is the House that PNG Built: A Guide to PNG Graphic Files
If you work with graphics, you may have heard the term PNG and wondered what
it is. PNG is a graphic format used to store pictures digitally. eZediaMX
3.0 now supports PNG images because of two major advantages they bring to
multimedia projects:
Alpha Transparency
PNG images can store not only color information (RGB) but alpha information.
This allows you to set variable degrees of transparency within an image. GIF
images have very simple transparency: a color can be either fully
transparent or fully opaque. PNG images allow 254 levels of transparency
between that. This allows you to create images with soft glows, anti-aliased
edges, drop shadows and other effects. With PNG transparency, these graphics
will look good on any background, whether patterned or colored.
Lossless Image Compression
When an image is saved, it is often compressed. When saving as a GIF or JPG,
you will notice a difference in the quality of the image. GIF images reduce
the number of colors in the image, while JPG images produce jagged or blocky
areas known as artifacts. PNG images give the highest compression possible
while maintaining the full quality of the image. That means small file sizes
and perfect quality!
What does all this mean for you, the eZediaMX user? When you use a PNG
graphic, you can layer it on top of anything and it will still look good.
This image shows the sunflower graphic layered on a photographic background,
and on a plain background. It also shows the graphic layered on top of
itself. To try this out yourself, download the sunflower PNG to use in an
eZediaMX document.
But what if you don't have an image editing tool, and can't create PNG's on
your own? Never fear! Drag any image into eZediaMX, click the object's menu
button  and select "Edit Picture". This allows you to edit the transparency
level for individual colors and/or the entire object.
So what's the best format to use when creating images for an eZediaMX
project? It really doesn't matter! Any image brought into eZediaMX is
internally converted and compressed to a PNG. The original file isn't
changed because the new PNG image is stored in your eZediaMX document.
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