Open .tga files with alpha channel in photoshop

Alec Jacobson

September 05, 2011

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Here's the tedious step by step to open a .tga file with transparency in photoshop as if it were a .png file:
  1. Open your image.tga
  2. In the main menu at the top choose Layer > New > Layer from Background... then click OK
  3. Open the Channels dialog: Window > Channels
You should see: If you don't see the Alpha channel then your .tga file doesn't have one
  1. Command+click on the alpha channel's thumbnail (or select the Alpha channel and click the little dashed circle at the bottom of the channels dialog "Load channel as selection")
  2. Choose Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal Selection
  3. With the layer mask selected choose Layer > Layer Mask > Apply
  4. In the the Channels dialog, trash the Alpha channel