clear pictures

How can I make certain colors of an image transparent? I already got the form transparent but now I need to get rid of the edges on some pictures i loaded in, Or is there a skin module out there that would make this process smoother.

If you "already made the form transparent" then you should be able to see how to make the picture regions fit their bitmaps as well.

Well i think Im gonna dump the image plan and just use shapes to get what i need done. the problem I run into is that with no matter what code I have found that makes a form transparent the parts of shapes that or overlapped by a control like a listbox or label become transparent as well. Is there any way around this?

It depends on how you're doing it in the first place really. Could we see some code?

Custom Regions Tutorial (http://www.etitevb.com/content.asp?id=10)

Public Sub MakeTransparent(TransForm As Form)
Dim ErrorTest As Double
'In case there's an error, ignore it
On Error Resume Next

Dim Regn As Long
Dim TmpRegn As Long
Dim TmpControl As Control
Dim LinePoints(4) As POINTAPI

'Since the apis work with pixels, change the scalemode
'To pixels
TransForm.ScaleMode = 3

'You have to have a borderless form, this just makes
'sure it's borderless
If TransForm.BorderStyle <> 0 Then MsgBox "Change the borderstyle to 0!", vbCritical, "ACK!": End

'makes everything invisible
Regn = CreateRectRgn(0, 0, 0, 0)

'A loop to check every control in the form
For Each TmpControl In TransForm

'If the control is a line...
If TypeOf TmpControl Is Line Then
'Checks the slope
If Abs((TmpControl.Y1 - TmpControl.Y2) / (TmpControl.X1 - TmpControl.X2)) > 1 Then
'If it's more verticle than horizontal then
'Set the points
LinePoints(0).X = TmpControl.X1 - 1
LinePoints(0).Y = TmpControl.Y1
LinePoints(1).X = TmpControl.X2 - 1
LinePoints(1).Y = TmpControl.Y2
LinePoints(2).X = TmpControl.X2 + 1
LinePoints(2).Y = TmpControl.Y2
LinePoints(3).X = TmpControl.X1 + 1
LinePoints(3).Y = TmpControl.Y1
Else
'If it's more horizontal than verticle then
'Set the points
LinePoints(0).X = TmpControl.X1
LinePoints(0).Y = TmpControl.Y1 - 1
LinePoints(1).X = TmpControl.X2
LinePoints(1).Y = TmpControl.Y2 - 1
LinePoints(2).X = TmpControl.X2
LinePoints(2).Y = TmpControl.Y2 + 1
LinePoints(3).X = TmpControl.X1
LinePoints(3).Y = TmpControl.Y1 + 1
End If
'Creates the new polygon with the points
TmpRegn = CreatePolygonRgn(LinePoints(0), 4, 1)

'If the control is a shape...
ElseIf TypeOf TmpControl Is Shape Then

'An if that checks the type
If TmpControl.Shape = 0 Then
'It's a rectangle
TmpRegn = CreateRectRgn(TmpControl.Left, TmpControl.Top, TmpControl.Left + TmpControl.Width, TmpControl.Top + TmpControl.Height)
ElseIf TmpControl.Shape = 1 Then
'It's a square
If TmpControl.Width < TmpControl.Height Then
TmpRegn = CreateRectRgn(TmpControl.Left, TmpControl.Top + (TmpControl.Height - TmpControl.Width) / 2, TmpControl.Left + TmpControl.Width, TmpControl.Top + (TmpControl.Height - TmpControl.Width) / 2 + TmpControl.Width)
Else
TmpRegn = CreateRectRgn(TmpControl.Left + (TmpControl.Width - TmpControl.Height) / 2, TmpControl.Top, TmpControl.Left + (TmpControl.Width - TmpControl.Height) / 2 + TmpControl.Height, TmpControl.Top + TmpControl.Height)
End If
ElseIf TmpControl.Shape = 2 Then
'It's an oval
TmpRegn = CreateEllipticRgn(TmpControl.Left, TmpControl.Top, TmpControl.Left + TmpControl.Width + 0.5, TmpControl.Top + TmpControl.Height + 0.5)
ElseIf TmpControl.Shape = 3 Then
'It's a circle
If TmpControl.Width < TmpControl.Height Then
TmpRegn = CreateEllipticRgn(TmpControl.Left, TmpControl.Top + (TmpControl.Height - TmpControl.Width) / 2, TmpControl.Left + TmpControl.Width + 0.5, TmpControl.Top + (TmpControl.Height - TmpControl.Width) / 2 + TmpControl.Width + 0.5)
Else
TmpRegn = CreateEllipticRgn(TmpControl.Left + (TmpControl.Width - TmpControl.Height) / 2, TmpControl.Top, TmpControl.Left + (TmpControl.Width - TmpControl.Height) / 2 + TmpControl.Height + 0.5, TmpControl.Top + TmpControl.Height + 0.5)
End If
ElseIf TmpControl.Shape = 4 Then
'It's a rounded rectangle
If TmpControl.Width > TmpControl.Height Then
TmpRegn = CreateRoundRectRgn(TmpControl.Left, TmpControl.Top, TmpControl.Left + TmpControl.Width + 1, TmpControl.Top + TmpControl.Height + 1, TmpControl.Height / 4, TmpControl.Height / 4)
Else
TmpRegn = CreateRoundRectRgn(TmpControl.Left, TmpControl.Top, TmpControl.Left + TmpControl.Width + 1, TmpControl.Top + TmpControl.Height + 1, TmpControl.Width / 4, TmpControl.Width / 4)
End If
ElseIf TmpControl.Shape = 5 Then
'It's a rounded square
If TmpControl.Width > TmpControl.Height Then
TmpRegn = CreateRoundRectRgn(TmpControl.Left + (TmpControl.Width - TmpControl.Height) / 2, TmpControl.Top, TmpControl.Left + (TmpControl.Width - TmpControl.Height) / 2 + TmpControl.Height + 1, TmpControl.Top + TmpControl.Height + 1, TmpControl.Height / 4, TmpControl.Height / 4)
Else
TmpRegn = CreateRoundRectRgn(TmpControl.Left, TmpControl.Top + (TmpControl.Height - TmpControl.Width) / 2, TmpControl.Left + TmpControl.Width + 1, TmpControl.Top + (TmpControl.Height - TmpControl.Width) / 2 + TmpControl.Width + 1, TmpControl.Width / 4, TmpControl.Width / 4)
End If
End If

'If the control is a shape with a transparent background
If TmpControl.BackStyle = 0 Then

'Combines the regions in memory and makes a new one
CombineRgn Regn, Regn, TmpRegn, RGN_XOR

If TmpControl.Shape = 0 Then
'Rectangle
TmpRegn = CreateRectRgn(TmpControl.Left + 1, TmpControl.Top + 1, TmpControl.Left + TmpControl.Width - 1, TmpControl.Top + TmpControl.Height - 1)
ElseIf TmpControl.Shape = 1 Then
'Square
If TmpControl.Width < TmpControl.Height Then
TmpRegn = CreateRectRgn(TmpControl.Left + 1, TmpControl.Top + (TmpControl.Height - TmpControl.Width) / 2 + 1, TmpControl.Left + TmpControl.Width - 1, TmpControl.Top + (TmpControl.Height - TmpControl.Width) / 2 + TmpControl.Width - 1)
Else
TmpRegn = CreateRectRgn(TmpControl.Left + (TmpControl.Width - TmpControl.Height) / 2 + 1, TmpControl.Top + 1, TmpControl.Left + (TmpControl.Width - TmpControl.Height) / 2 + TmpControl.Height - 1, TmpControl.Top + TmpControl.Height - 1)
End If
ElseIf TmpControl.Shape = 2 Then
'Oval
TmpRegn = CreateEllipticRgn(TmpControl.Left + 1, TmpControl.Top + 1, TmpControl.Left + TmpControl.Width - 0.5, TmpControl.Top + TmpControl.Height - 0.5)
ElseIf TmpControl.Shape = 3 Then
'Circle
If TmpControl.Width < TmpControl.Height Then
TmpRegn = CreateEllipticRgn(TmpControl.Left + 1, TmpControl.Top + (TmpControl.Height - TmpControl.Width) / 2 + 1, TmpControl.Left + TmpControl.Width - 0.5, TmpControl.Top + (TmpControl.Height - TmpControl.Width) / 2 + TmpControl.Width - 0.5)
Else
TmpRegn = CreateEllipticRgn(TmpControl.Left + (TmpControl.Width - TmpControl.Height) / 2 + 1, TmpControl.Top + 1, TmpControl.Left + (TmpControl.Width - TmpControl.Height) / 2 + TmpControl.Height - 0.5, TmpControl.Top + TmpControl.Height - 0.5)
End If
ElseIf TmpControl.Shape = 4 Then
'Rounded rectangle
If TmpControl.Width > TmpControl.Height Then
TmpRegn = CreateRoundRectRgn(TmpControl.Left + 1, TmpControl.Top + 1, TmpControl.Left + TmpControl.Width, TmpControl.Top + TmpControl.Height, TmpControl.Height / 4, TmpControl.Height / 4)
Else
TmpRegn = CreateRoundRectRgn(TmpControl.Left + 1, TmpControl.Top + 1, TmpControl.Left + TmpControl.Width, TmpControl.Top + TmpControl.Height, TmpControl.Width / 4, TmpControl.Width / 4)
End If
ElseIf TmpControl.Shape = 5 Then
'Rounded square
If TmpControl.Width > TmpControl.Height Then
TmpRegn = CreateRoundRectRgn(TmpControl.Left + (TmpControl.Width - TmpControl.Height) / 2 + 1, TmpControl.Top + 1, TmpControl.Left + (TmpControl.Width - TmpControl.Height) / 2 + TmpControl.Height, TmpControl.Top + TmpControl.Height, TmpControl.Height / 4, TmpControl.Height / 4)
Else
TmpRegn = CreateRoundRectRgn(TmpControl.Left + 1, TmpControl.Top + (TmpControl.Height - TmpControl.Width) / 2 + 1, TmpControl.Left + TmpControl.Width, TmpControl.Top + (TmpControl.Height - TmpControl.Width) / 2 + TmpControl.Width, TmpControl.Width / 4, TmpControl.Width / 4)
End If
End If
End If
Else
'Create a rectangular region with its parameters
TmpRegn = CreateRectRgn(TmpControl.Left, TmpControl.Top, TmpControl.Left + TmpControl.Width, TmpControl.Top + TmpControl.Height)

End If

'Checks to make sure that the control has a width
'or else you'll get some weird results
ErrorTest = 0
ErrorTest = TmpControl.Width
If ErrorTest <> 0 Or TypeOf TmpControl Is Line Then
'Combines the regions
CombineRgn Regn, Regn, TmpRegn, RGN_XOR
End If

Next TmpControl

'Make the regions
SetWindowRgn TransForm.hwnd, Regn, True


End Sub