image editing with dedicated alpha channel

CrazyButcher

is there another low cost / free imaging tool that supports a dedicated alpha channel like photoshop does?
most apps I know premultiply alpha so you dont see colors anymore for alpha = 0 areas, but I want a separate channel.

Eric Chadwick

Gimp?

Michael Knubben

paint.net? you'd have to check for yourself though, sorry

CrazyButcher

paint.net was my hope but no, no dedicated alpha channel, just the usual transparency thingie

Michael Knubben

Pfft. Sorry, man. Seemed like a likely candidate. Would Photoshop lite or whatever not work? Not sure how cheap that is, but I know it comes free with a few things like cameras.

CrazyButcher

good call I have a older version of photoshop elements where they didnt support it, maybe newer ones would, but maybe it falls to much into the "pro tools" features. will look

Eric Chadwick

Gimp is free and supports a separate alpha
http://docs.gimp.org/2.6/en/gimp-channel-dialog.html

danr

paintshop pro ... do they even still make that?

EarthQuake

Yeah you could find a copy of paint shop pro(even recent versions) for way cheap on ebay etc. Like $20-30.

Xoliul

Painter might also ? Not that cheap but cheaper than PS.

CrazyButcher

oh gimp has channels awesome thanks Eric, last time I checked it they didnt

Richard Kain

Definitely GIMP. I've used their alpha channels before for PNGs and TGAs. It can be a bit of a bugger figuring out how to edit them. But they definitely work.