Posted by Toby Inkster on 03/01/06 20:28

Troy Piggins wrote:

> A third issue I have is the icons I've used. They are .png files with
> transparent backgrounds. In firefox the transparency is good, but in IE
> it paints the background white. I think I read somewhere this is known
> for IE, but not sure if I remembered that correctly. Should I make them
> .gifs?

No point in making them GIFs. There are two different ways to make IE
support transparent PNGs. Pick one.

1. Reduce the colour depth to 8-bit;

2. Force IE to load the PNG via ActiveX instead of through the normal
image rendering engine. This is pretty tricky, but there are Javascript
libraries out there that make it as simple as adding one or two lines of
code to your page. I like: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/bobosola/index.htm

Each solution has its own drawbacks.

1. The image may look crap (you lose millions of the key advantages of
PNG: colours);

2. If you're carefully layering various things over the top of other
things, ActiveX will float at the very top, ignoring your layering
instructions.

Choose wisely.

FWIW, IE7 will have full PNG support.

--
Toby A Inkster BSc (Hons) ARCS
Contact Me ~ http://tobyinkster.co.uk/contact

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