RE: [GD-General] 8-Bit Image Editors

[Brian H. <bri...@py...>]

Photoshop isn't as bad as a lot of people think it is for paletted work,
but it does have its, um, issues.

PS7 has completely broken TGA support.  You can't write out a 32-bit TGA
with your alpha channel.  Won't happen.  Loads as white.  PNG support
has effectively been broken/useless since PS6.

Experiment with different dithering types -- dithering can blow any
additional compression you might get after going to 8-bit, so avoid it
if you can assuming you're worried about space.  And make sure that you
tell it to use your palette (Custom Palette option).

However, I have to go with TomF on this one, all I hear are nothing but
raves about that "spiritual successor" to DPaint he posted.

> My best recommendation is to draw what you want in PhotoShop 
> with 32-bit depth and then convert it to use your custom 
> palette when you're done. It can do a "best-fit" of the 
> 32-bit colors into your limited palette and can identify 
> colors that are beyond some "threshold of pain" that you can 
> then reassign. It can also dither between two close colors 
> across an area to give a gradual fill that would be near 
> impossible to do manually.