Crystal Reports and image transparency

It’s long been a complaint that if you insert an image into Crystal Reports, the transparency is lost. It came up again in a support call from a customer.

Glad to say I’ve found a solution – use Crystal Dashboard/Xcelsius.

It works well too:

1. Start up Crystal Dashboard, insert your various images, using the Excel model to control visibility. All the transparency settings are respected.
2. Save the swf file.
3. Insert the swf file into your Crystal Report.
4. Clench your teeth while you fight with the data connections between Crystal and the Dashboard
5. Job done.

If I get more time, I’ll try and sort out some screenshots to walk through the various steps.