How to save 3D view in Archicad as PNG with transparent background?

Issue description

When presenting a project, a high-quality 3D perspective is often required for use in reports, presentations, or marketing materials. Instead of manually editing the background after rendering, an efficient approach is to directly save the rendered image with a transparent background. This eliminates the need for post-processing and ensures that the 3D view can be seamlessly placed onto different backgrounds in external applications.

Is there a way to automatically save the rendered image with a transparent background in Archicad?

Solution

Archicad allows saving rendered images with transparency by enabling the Alpha Mask feature in the rendering settings. Follow these steps to generate a PNG image with a transparent background:

1. Go to Document > Creative Imaging > PhotoRendering Settings
   
2.  In the PhotoRendering Settings, enable Detailed Settings.
3. Open the Options tab.
4. Under General Options, enable Generate Alpha Mask for Environment.
5. Click on the Render icon.
   
    
6. Save the image: Go to File > Save As… Set the format to PNG Image.
7.  Right below Format, click on Options.
8. In the Image Save Options, select High Accuracy Color with Alpha Channel.
9. Click OK > Save to save the image.