Seeking understanding of new tool

**wizard509** · 19 July 2013, 06:32 PM

I hope someone can give me some in-site to this.

Click image for larger version.

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EDIT: This was done using Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 9

**gwpriester** · 19 July 2013, 06:40 PM

Because the bitmap is still a bitmap. It is just the background has been made transparent.

The attached example is your poor quality low resolution image with the background erased. Even though the bitmap shape remains, the background is transparent as indicated by the soft shadow.

You can use the Eraser Tool on the bitmap if you want to remove the rectangular area. The edit is referred to as "non-destructive" because you can undo it and/or remove the effect and your original image is restored.

**wizard509** · 19 July 2013, 06:54 PM

Thanks Gary I wondered about that. So I made a bitmap copy as a png even went so far as exporting as a png to see if that would help but it didn't and it was like you said. It seems to me like if that operation were truly destructive then the background would actually be removed and not just made transparent. It's still useful though.

**angelize** · 19 July 2013, 08:05 PM

As PeteS explained in this thread Why this is considered a destructive operation is because once you erase the background, if your original untouched photo is not used elsewhere in the document once you save and shut the program down it will no longer be held in the program's memory. If you look in the bitmap gallery you will no longer see your originall photo you now have what the program labels a photo matte.

I'm guessing here and I could be wrong but I think what happens when you erase the background is that the program is setting a mask for the alpha channel. The square background you see when you go to outline view or try to put an outline around it represents the area of the mask even though the pixels are transparent they are still there.

**wizard509** · 19 July 2013, 09:34 PM

Thanks Frances, your guess sounds plausible

**Big Frank** · 20 July 2013, 12:28 PM

see this post to achieve that proper outline larry

http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthre...023#post483023

**wizard509** · 20 July 2013, 02:19 PM

Yes, I saw that Frank. I was just wondering and trying to figure out and understand that if what Pete said about that being a destructive process, then why could it not be done that way too.
I'm not completely stupid just mostly

.

**Big Frank** · 20 July 2013, 03:21 PM

actually i don't understand anything about this destructive process malarky
but thats the beauty of working in xara
if an idiot like me can use it anybody can

(that and having lots of backup copies hehehe)

**M4R5** · 08 August 2013, 01:06 PM

I was under the impression that Xara would save the original bitmaps in a Masters folder, but it hasn't. Is it right that there is no way to restore the original bitmap? I can't say I like that approach. It used to be that things like this got done as layers grouped with the object.

Cheers

**PeteS** · 08 August 2013, 01:17 PM

The Masters folder only applies if you are editing a bitmap in a photo document in Designer. If, like the OP (by the looks of it) you are editing a bitmap in a print/web doc then no Masters folder is created, and the original image is untouched on your filesystem.