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Still a bit of a noob with Blender and definitely with this stack exchange, so please go gentle!

Anyone else having a problem getting images (.png, .tiff, .jpg) to show up in an empty in the 2.77 release? I realize I can use a background image, but would rather use an empty for the perspective view. Tried disabling the "import images as planes" add-on, thinking that script might've altered something, but no luck.

Hope this issue isn't something moronically obvious that I'm missing here; many thanks ahead!

user22995
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4 Answers4

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Just experienced the same problem and found out that "Empty Images" are categorized as "Extras" in the Overlay Options. I had Extras turned off, so the image wasn't showing.

So for anyone with this problem, check under Viewport Overlays and enable Extras and your "Empty Image" should be visible again.

Duarte Farrajota Ramos
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onigiri
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Use shiftA and select Add->Empty->Image

enter image description here

Then in the data section of the Properties panel Look for the Display control to open the image:

enter image description here

enter image description here

  • Thanks for the response. Loading it in isn't the problem. Maybe I should've been more specific about this. It shows it's loaded, but no matter which transparency or scaling parameters I choose, the image doesn't show up in the Empty itself, in 3D view. I wonder if this is a bug? – user22995 Mar 24 '16 at 13:55
  • check the drivers for your graphics card. Which GPU are you using? –  Mar 24 '16 at 14:09
  • OpenCL. Tried switching to CPU just in case, but still no go. – user22995 Mar 24 '16 at 17:04
  • It does look like a bug. If you are going to report it make sure you do include all relevant information (OS, Type of GPU, etc) http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/1377/best-place-to-put-bug-reports –  Mar 24 '16 at 17:08
  • Thanks for the heads up. Yeah, it's strange: I can load in and use a background reference image in 3D view no problem; only in an Empty does this issue occur. – user22995 Mar 24 '16 at 17:10
  • what os are you using? what kind of GPU? –  Mar 24 '16 at 17:12
  • OS X El Capitan 10.11.3; AMD Radeon HD 6750M – user22995 Mar 24 '16 at 17:16
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There is a workaround. Blendercoders assisted with this one: 'Set UserPref -> System -> Clip Alpha to.. 0.005' and/or load factory settings. This worked for me.

user22995
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    I have the same problem and tried the above and no luck. Any other ideas? I'm assuming this is a bug. I've been trying to learn blender but these show stoppers just leave you scratching your head. I put in a new empty plane and an image for my sculpt. The image doesn't show up and I'm stumped since I'm very new as to what is causing this. – imaginethepoet Jul 14 '16 at 02:11
  • @imaginethepoet, have you tried loading factory settings in the File pop-down menu? I double-checked and the previous workaround Clip Alpha 0.005 still works on my end. You sure you're adding an Empty and not trying to add a Background Image? If you're choosing the latter, make sure you're in Ortho view to see it; won't show up by default in Perspective view. – user22995 Jul 15 '16 at 19:26
  • Hi, yes I tried this on my mac and I'm having the same problem. I changed the clip on alpha and closed out the file and tried again. I'm in Ortho mode after I changed the mac to allow for emulating keys. Still no image is showing up. Any other ideas or maybe I should revert to an older version? – imaginethepoet Jul 17 '16 at 01:07
  • You can always revert back to the earlier version, but there should be a way to fix this. Attach some screenshots and a detailed account of your workflow. – user22995 Jul 20 '16 at 15:36
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I think I found the solution - make sure you're in the "Modeling" tab as opposed to the "Layout" tab. Not sure why, but the Empties are in fact empty in Layout view.

Found that after trying all of the above and seeing no difference, but it might need the combination.

-Destructor

Destructor
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