Flatten handoff PSD to PNG: decide which pixels must stay transparent before merge—a white plate blocks alpha even if it “looks empty”
`flatten-psd-png` is for clients who want one final image, not layers. Flattening removes editability, not magically guarantees transparency: any opaque RGB—including a white background layer—covers what is beneath. Unlike JPEG, PNG can keep alpha, but only if you actually clear those pixels in Photoshop. Upload only after verifying background plates, locked transparency, and glow layers are not rasterized into gray boxes that will read as solid on the web.
Como usar
- Snapshot visible deliverable-only layers, remove or hide solid backgrounds when transparency is required, and collapse groups where parser quirks might differ before upload.
- Inspect the alpha channel after download—white should be opaque, black truly clear, and logos should not carry accidental gray noise bands from sloppy masks.
- Email that the PNG is raster-final and point to the PSD ticket for edits; use PREVIEW filenames when the PSD is still moving so ops does not ingest a non-final asset.
PSD to PNG (flatten) FAQ
Clients miss layers after “flat” PNG—how to explain?
PNG cannot carry Photoshop’s editable layers; if stakeholders expected live text, you must also deliver PSD/TIFF (or the agreed source) and label files RASTER_FINAL versus EDITABLE_MASTER in writing—otherwise “missing layers” tickets are inevitable.
Hidden layers accidentally merged—how to prevent?
Hidden alternates can still sneak into merges if comps are stale; freeze visibility with named comps, have a non-author verify eye states, and merge visible to a throwaway layer for a visual sanity check before upload.
Huge PNG on big gradients—expected?
Lossless PNG hates huge smooth gradients—file size balloons toward raw bitmaps. Crop to content, reduce bit depth when acceptable, split backgrounds to lossy codecs, or keep only foregrounds as PNG; every trade needs art sign-off, not silent compression.
Flat PNG needs transparency—does a white plate block?
Browsers paint any opaque RGB on top—alpha does not punch holes through solid white. Delete background pixels or reorder merges; soft shadows need real semi-transparent alpha, not a white rectangle with full opacity.
B&W line art PNG shows color fringe?
Line art exported from CMYK docs or harsh selections often leaves chromatic fringe in alpha edges; convert to sRGB, clean edges in a single-channel workflow, and fix upstream masks—online PNG encoding will not invent clean linework.