How do I view invisible .DDS textures in graphical editers

[Cyclohexane]

I have been using the GIMP for re-texturing items (combined with the .brf editor) and been having some really good luck altering the .dds files and making new items (The GIMP is an OSP graphical editor very similar to Photoshop but it is free).  However I have run into a few problems that I cant seem to track down since viewing .dds files in the GIMP requires a plug-in and their documentation doesn’t cover it. 

However, every once in a while I get DDS files that I can view with a dds viewer, but when I import into the GIMP, all I see is the transparencies.  I have played around with many settings (including enabling and disabling alpha channel) but have no luck on this one particular file I want to edit. 

I know it is there because I can just paste over the entire area and see the results, but I cannot get to the level of detail I would like to get to.  Does anyone know how to view .dds files in “The GIMP” without the invisible textures? 

 

[Llew2]

Many M&B textures use the Alpha channel for specularity, and it's the alpha channel that you're seeing.

I use this nifty little program to open the dds files and export the alpha channel, save as a bmp (or other format without an alpha), edit it with GIMP, then import the alpha and save as DDS again when you're done.

 

[Cyclohexane]

Thanks for the tip but I continued to research after I asked the question here.  I figured out how to do it in GIMP without any additional software.  Here are the steps:

• 1.)  Goto "Layer," "Mask," "Add Layer Mask." Select "Transfer Layer's Alpha Channel."
• 2.)  Goto "Layer," "Mask," "Show Layer Mask."
• 3.)  Select all, copy, make a new file, paste to the new file, save the new file, close the new file.
• 4.)  Goto "Layer," "Mask," "Delete Layer Mask." You now should have an image with no transparency.
• 5.)  Edit the image to your liking.
• 6.)  Open the file where you saved the original alpha, select all, and copy.
• 7.)  On your edited image, goto "Layer," "Mask," "Add Layer Mask." It does not matter which mode you choose.
• 8.)  Goto "Layer," "Mask," "Show Layer Mask."
• 9.)  Paste into the layer mask. Press ctrl+H to anchor your paste.
• 10.)  Goto "Layer," "Mask," "Apply Layer Mask." The image should look very transparent again.
• 11.)  Save as DXT5 .dds and use in your mod.

It looks complicated but it is really easy and fast.  I tried it on a few .dds files that were giving me trouble and it worked flawlessly.  In addition, it allows you to save it back into transparent mode for maximum in-game performance. 

 

[shalictar]

heh, I needed to know this aswell, thanks for asking Cyclohexane.