> ... > > It should be easy add an alpha channel to the background layer as soon > as a second layer is added to the image. Is there a reason why this > should not be done automatically? > > I think that it would make things easier to understand for the user. > Making the background layer "special" is not very intuitive. > > ... > > What do you think? NO, please. `Special' background layer maybe isn't very intuitive, but automatical promoting has the same problem: it's based on a side-effect and it's not intuitive too. We would have to explain (in some new Gimp tip) why properties of background layer chage when you add second layer. Layers _definitely_ shouldn't be changed by any action on other layers. Adding automatically alpha channel to everything seems to be a better solution, but imagine you open some image in a not-alpha-capable format, change a few pixels and try to save it and Gimp will start asking you about exporting, and flattening it. That's not anything I would call intuitive behaviour. The only good solution is probably to make `Add Alpha Channel' more intuitive. The user should _see_ the background layer is special---lacks something---and there must be some obvious way how to add it. (But is there an obvious way how to manage this?) Yeti Hi! I'm a .signature virus! Copy me into your ~/.signature to help me spread!
