Panel background with holes

Questions about deployment and use of Air Manager Instruments

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Detlef
Posts: 304
Joined: Mon Nov 16, 2020 9:43 am
Location: Bavaria

Panel background with holes

#1 Post by Detlef »

Hello,

may be I do something wrong here. I see in AirManager (for desktop) I have three options regarding the backgound: picture, transparent or color. What I really need is, I want to hide the ugly window frames and mainly the top bar, when using an overlay instrument for a gauge that is popped out from the original X-Plane aircraft. I was not able to do that. What I could do was, making an AM instrument that is nothing but a full screen background. That background can have transparent holes then if I use a .png file. Is that the solution I should use?

Thank you for advice
Detlef

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Sling
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Re: Panel background with holes

#2 Post by Sling »

The panel graphic does not have to be an instrument. The bg color is independent from the graphic panel or layout options. Meaning you set the bg color to transparent and then select a png file of your panel with transparent sections for the pop out to show through.

Detlef
Posts: 304
Joined: Mon Nov 16, 2020 9:43 am
Location: Bavaria

Re: Panel background with holes

#3 Post by Detlef »

Hello Tony,

thank you for your reply. Then may be I still do something wrong. If I select a background color and set the transparency to 100 %, and if I then add a background picture with holes, I see the background color through the holes but I cannot display an instrument through the hole. The hole shows the background color only. Of course if I move an aircrafts popped out instrument to the front I see it, but then including the windows caption, not through the hole and only if the AM panel is not in the front.

Thank you
Detlef

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Keith Baxter
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Re: Panel background with holes

#4 Post by Keith Baxter »

Hi,

1) Your solid BG or image is displayed via the desktop.
2) The popout is displayed on top of that.
3) the panel is displayed on top of that. Mark the BG of the panel as <transparent> and the mark the panel as <Always on top>

Keith
AMD RYZEN 9 5950X CPU, Corsair H80I cooler, ASUS TUF GAMING B550-PLUS AMD Ryzen Mother Board,  32Gb ram Corsair Vengeance 3000Mh, MSI GTX960 4G graphics card 

dahabra
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2021 12:42 pm

Re: Panel background with holes

#5 Post by dahabra »

If I may add to the question being asked.

How do you create the BG panel in Paint or other programs?

How do you create the "Cut Out" in the Top Panel?

Are there any Youtube Videos showing how this is done or a step-by-step guide for none graphics designers like myself?

I would like to create a Panel with G1000 Poped out Panels showing and using the Bezel of the TP to manipulate the "Poped Out" Panel.

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Keith Baxter
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Location: Botswana

Re: Panel background with holes

#6 Post by Keith Baxter »

dahabra wrote: Tue Mar 23, 2021 11:51 am If I may add to the question being asked.

How do you create the BG panel in Paint or other programs?

How do you create the "Cut Out" in the Top Panel?

Are there any Youtube Videos showing how this is done or a step-by-step guide for none graphics designers like myself?

I would like to create a Panel with G1000 Poped out Panels showing and using the Bezel of the TP to manipulate the "Poped Out" Panel.
Hi,

You are welcome to join in. I will go through all of that.

Keith
AMD RYZEN 9 5950X CPU, Corsair H80I cooler, ASUS TUF GAMING B550-PLUS AMD Ryzen Mother Board,  32Gb ram Corsair Vengeance 3000Mh, MSI GTX960 4G graphics card 

Detlef
Posts: 304
Joined: Mon Nov 16, 2020 9:43 am
Location: Bavaria

Re: Panel background with holes

#7 Post by Detlef »

Hi Keith,

thank you for the explanations which started me thinking. I did some more experimenting. I can do what I want, if I

1) I select black as background color (other colors would show through)
2) I put 0% as transparency for the color background
3) I select a .png custom picture as background (with cutouts / holes)

Expecially number 2) is important :)

It is solved for me!

Thank you
Detlef

Detlef
Posts: 304
Joined: Mon Nov 16, 2020 9:43 am
Location: Bavaria

Re: Panel background with holes

#8 Post by Detlef »

dahabra wrote: Tue Mar 23, 2021 11:51 am If I may add to the question being asked.

How do you create the BG panel in Paint or other programs?

How do you create the "Cut Out" in the Top Panel?

Are there any Youtube Videos showing how this is done or a step-by-step guide for none graphics designers like myself?

I would like to create a Panel with G1000 Poped out Panels showing and using the Bezel of the TP to manipulate the "Poped Out" Panel.
Hello dahabra,

you need a graphics program, than can generate transparency for a .png file. Paint cannot do that, I think. I have no good program for that myself. I use On1 which is a photo editing software, just because I have it. I cannot recommend On1 just for this purpose. Otherwise it is very powerful, when it comes to photos.

Thank you
Detlef

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Keith Baxter
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Location: Botswana

Re: Panel background with holes

#9 Post by Keith Baxter »

Hi

@Detlef Good to hear you are sorted.

I use Inkscape. It is free and there are many tutorials on the web.

Anyway this took me about 5 minutes to do in inkscape.

I will also do a canvas_draw() one takes about 15 minutes.
ice_screenshot_20210323-155628.png
Keith
AMD RYZEN 9 5950X CPU, Corsair H80I cooler, ASUS TUF GAMING B550-PLUS AMD Ryzen Mother Board,  32Gb ram Corsair Vengeance 3000Mh, MSI GTX960 4G graphics card 

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Sling
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Re: Panel background with holes

#10 Post by Sling »

Deflef,
Let me be clear. When you use pop outs with an AM panel the bg color must be set to transparent. Doing this will enable your desktop to show through. The pop out just sits on your desktop. So effectively it’s between the bg and the panel graphic you create.

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