The right file type for image

[ilparola]

Hi all, this is my first post. I am from Italy so i apologize for my poor English.

I start to draw charters for my first adventure game with AGS but i don't know what the best way to export image from Photoshop. If i export jpeg, when i import the sprite on AGS (3.0) i saw many white pixel around my image. This is because i use the brush and the outline is not perfect because of shading(it is the right term?).
The Gif is better for this, but only with the white(transparence color).

I hope someone will understand my question  

Thanks a lot.

[NsMn]

You should use PNG . They work best. You should NEVER use JPG, it makes pictures look awful by spreading the pixels.

[Matti]

If your game is in 32-bit colors, you can import .pngs with a transparent alpha-channel. That way, the brush's shading won't be a problem when using the sprite in AGS.

[GuyAwesome]

JPEGs are bad for sprite graphics, yeah, but I think you're (iparola) also talking about anti-aliasing (the 'shading' you get around lines draw with the brush tool).
Unfortunately, there's not really an easy solution to that. You'll either have to edit the image so the outlines are hard and save them as anything but JPG, or maybe save all your sprites with alpha-channels to keep the smoother edges (what Mr Matti said while I was typing). I think making your game 32-bit colour also makes the final game files bigger, but that's not a problem if you'll be using alpha-channels anyway.

[Khris]

You should either use PNG or BMP. They work best.

Don't ever use BMP. For anything. Regardless of the usage, there's always a file format superior to BMP in every way.

[ilparola]

oh... Thanks a lot to everyone! you are very fast.

Ok, tonight i will try with the PNG and BMP (they are both big size) to understand if the problem is really this; thank i let you know. now i am at work so when at Home i provide you some SS too.

Thanks All!!! 

[DoorKnobHandle]

PNGs shouldn't be big, really. It doesn't matter anyways because when you import them into AGS it actually turns them into another format that is internal to AGS. So you can use any format as long as it works with AGS the way you want it - the resulting game will always be equally big.

[ilparola]

because when you import them into AGS it actually turns them into another format that is internal to AGS.

oh! This is great... so AGS do a sort of compression itself!

Perfect!

[Gilbert]

Don't ever use BMP. For anything. Regardless of the usage, there's always a file format superior to BMP in every way.

No. Since AGS stores graphics in its own format, as long as you don't use alpha channels, BMPs are perfectly fine.

[Matti]

No. Since AGS stores graphics in its own format, as long as you don't use alpha channels, BMPs are perfectly fine.

Well, it's stupid anyway for it's unnecessarily takin away space on your harddisc 

[Gilbert]

It wouldn't affect the product, so what's wrong with it?

[Khris]

No. Since AGS stores graphics in its own format, as long as you don't use alpha channels, BMPs are perfectly fine.

I'm aware of that; it was meant as a general recommendation. It's an obsolete format, takes away much more HD space than needed and gets converted to JPG when uploaded to an image host.
There's a good chance of it causing problems while on the other hand it doesn't have any benefit at all.

Just think of posting a background in the CL, you'd have to convert the file anyway in that case. So why store it as BMP in the first place?

[Gilbert]

Because it depends on what programme you're using. If the programme cannot save as PNGs you can still use BMP directly. There's no further need to convert the image in this case.
I didn't say BMP is the best, but what I mean is that there's no reason (except for HDD space during development and alpha channels) to discourage people to not use it.

[Khris]

Sure, if there are still people who use MS Pain(t) on Win98, I guess BMP is their format of choice

[ilparola]

ok, the solution was PNGs  thanks to everybody!!!!