So, on some sprite sheets where there is transparency in the original sprite, the sheet has a black background. This is fine if you are using a black background anyway, but what if I want to stick a Freeze Prism attack in some comic I'm making? I don't want to randomly switch to a black background!

Any tips on getting around this pesky problem?

Edit: This really should be under the spriting help section, but whatever.

I'm guessing the whole sheet is saved as a PNG correct? If so that's perfect. All you need is Photoshop or some program that lets you have an invisible background to open it and keep that invisible background.
Once you have it open you can copy and paste it into your comic wherever you want, as long as it's open in that program.
If you've made an edit to the sheet while it had an invisible background and saved it, this will remove that invisible background and replace it with a color.

So yeah, hoped that helps. I'm not sure what other programs besides Photoshop use invisible backgrounds though.

Well, I know how to cut out the whole background, but what I'm concerned with is that the Freeze Prism thing is usually TRANSLUCENT. Namely, you can see the background through the crystals, but it is still blue. The problem is trying to put the sprite over a non-black background, and it looks weird. How should I go about turning the clear-blue-black sections into translucent blue ones?

Haha you mis-interpreted my post.

When you open the original file (I take it you've messed around with the sheet before) with Photoshop or another program (I suggest Photoshop if you can get it) the whole sheet will be exactly like how you want it. No background with the effect you want transparent and ready to be placed on any comic or work of art you please, but you'll have to have the comic open in Photoshop for this to work since Paint doesn't have anything to support the invisible background.

turn on anti analize. i think...

After experimenting with the two more popular programs used by spriters, GIMP and Paint.NET, both of them have the capability I was speaking of.

Resave the file from the source you got it from, open it in GIMP, Paint.NET or Photoshop and you will see the checker box pattern as the background and everything is transparent.

Okay, I'm still not sure I'm getting through, so here's EXACTLY what I mean.

Can I have the link to the sheet you're trying to use? I'll figure out a way for you in no time with it.

Here's a link to the sheet for Megacool, a spell for which I haven't yet made a GIF. I might some time, though, as soon as I can figure out how to double the width of some other zipped images without having the dang program make it all fuzzy after I confirm the transformation. I NEED VORPAL SLASH!!!

http://www.spriters-resource.com/gameboy_a...gs2/sheet/13284

Damn they really screwed the pooch on those effects. Now I know why you can't get rid of the black background.

This is why I rarely trust The Spriters Resource for effects and go to The Mystical Forest Zone instead.

I'll make a usable version for you, but I can't promise all the black will disappear.

Nah, no need to bother. I'll probably just find a similar effect from some other thing if I need a freeze effect. Which I will, but not until my character reaches level 7.

Haha well as soon as I read that I just finished fixing the sheet.

If you want to still use it, here ya go: http://i363.photobucket.com/albums/oo73/Re...EX/megacool.png

are you talking about project crash?

Yep. Level 7 is Icy Hellpike, and I need an ice effect for the Rime Blade portion of the attack.

Den man, great work, but you know you could have gimp do it for you(and get all the black out), right?

Open it up in gimp
Alt+L(Layers)
A(Transparency)
H(Add Alpha Channel)
Alt+L(Layers)
A(Transparency)
A(Color->Alpha)

Choose pure black.

Here's the output

Learn something new everyday, I didn't know GIMP could do that.

Thanks again Yumil! That should also help out Nezumi.