Hello it was my understanding that images with transparent backgrounds were not
support by all browsers. One of my clients really wants to have a small script
font signature image with transparent background (so the large logo background
is visible behind).

Originally i said this was not possible but I tried uploading a PNG with
transparent BG as a test and it seems to be working fine in IE7, firefox mac
and PC and safari.

Are pngs with transparent backgrounds now considered ok to use? in older
browsers how will they appear will they just default to the colour of the page
background?

thanks - Shontelle

GIF with transparent bg works in all browsers.
PNG-8 (256 indexed color palette similar to GIF) also works in all browsers
PNG-24 with transparency (millions of colors similar to a JPG with
transparency) does not work natively in IE6. You need to apply a hack to
make it work with IE6.

Are you using PNG-8 or PNG-24? Have you tested in IE6?


--
Alec
Adobe Community Expert

..oO(shonts)

> Are pngs with transparent backgrounds now considered ok to use?

Yes. For PNGs with alpha transparency you just need a fix for IE 6. IE 7
and all modern browsers have full PNG support, so it's safe to use this
format. It's much more flexible and powerful than the old GIF, which can
be considered obsolete.

>in older
>browsers how will they appear will they just default to the colour of the page
>background?

The transparent background will become visible in some color or another,
but you don't really have to worry about such old browsers. Websites
don't have to look good in NN 4 or IE 5, they just have to be usable.

Micha

HI thanks for the replies.

I used png 32 (created in fireworks)

I have not tested it in IE6 as I do not have it.

but I assume I will need the fix do you have one?? I assume the fix will be a
few lines added to style sheet???

thanks for your time,

Shontelle

Try this:
http://www.twinhelix.com/css/iepngfix/


--
Alec
Adobe Community Expert

..oO(shonts)

> I used png 32 (created in fireworks)

Make sure that you export the PNGs and don't use Firework's own PNG
format, because it contains many additional informations that just
increase the filesize.

> I have not tested it in IE6 as I do not have it.

Try <http://browsershots.org>.

> but I assume I will need the fix do you have one?? I assume the fix will be a
>few lines added to style sheet???

Google "IE PNG fix", you should easily find some. All these fixes use a
proprietary DirectX filter in IE, which enables full alpha transparency
capability.

You could also search for "conditional comment" if you want to put this
workaround in a separate IE-only stylesheet, because the used CSS filter
is not standards-compliant. With using such a special IE stylesheet you
can keep the main stylesheet clean and valid.

Micha