Texture Alpha Checker
See whether alpha carries information before paying to store it.
Inspect decoded alpha values, distinguish opaque, binary, and gradient alpha, estimate memory impact, and flatten unused alpha for free.
Drop a texture with or without alpha
Inspect supported images and ZIP entries locally in your browser. PLAYTEX AI compares the maps as a set, labels measured checks separately from visual heuristics, and shows the evidence behind each finding.
- Alpha channel presence
- Opaque, binary, or gradient distribution
- Coverage percentage
- Estimated alpha memory overhead
- Lossless RGB PNG export for unused alpha
Pricing: The focused check and listed repair on this page are free. Complete Material Preflight requires Starter or higher.
How do you know whether a texture alpha channel is unused?
Decode representative pixels and measure the alpha range. If every sampled alpha value is fully opaque, the channel carries no transparency information. Binary cutouts and smooth transparency need different import handling, so the checker reports their distribution rather than treating every non-opaque pixel the same.
How the check works
- Upload the source files. Choose the real material maps or a ZIP so dimensions, channels, filenames, and decoded pixel samples can be checked together.
- Review measured evidence. Open each finding to see the affected map, observed value, confidence, and proposed repair instead of a generic pass or fail.
- Export deliberately. Choose an engine target, keep or disable individual repairs, and download renamed maps plus an import-settings report.
Confidence matters: dimensions, alpha ranges, vector length, edge differences, and memory are measured directly. Map meaning, baked lighting, useful resolution, and normal orientation can need filenames, a target choice, or artist review.
Texture Alpha Checker FAQ
Are uploaded textures sent to a server?
No. Supported images and ZIP entries are decoded, sampled, and repaired locally in the browser. Closing the page clears the working set unless you download an export.
Does an opaque alpha channel always increase GPU memory?
It can force an alpha-capable runtime format, depending on the engine and compression choice. The browser estimate shows the avoidable channel cost, while the cooked engine asset remains authoritative.
Will the fixer remove useful transparency?
No. The automatic remove-alpha repair is offered only when decoded samples are fully opaque. Non-opaque alpha stays review-only.
Primary technical references
Last reviewed . Engine importers and validation rules can change; the cooked project remains authoritative.