Does anyone know if Photoshop documents with alpha channels can be used in either of the above applications?

Classic I mean

Painter (full version) will open and save Photoshop files in their native PSD format and retain the layers. There are some differences in the way it handles drop shadows and paths, but for the most part the transfers are workable and doable.

Thanks dmtyler. The real question I'm asking is can someone with either of the above apps compsite a PSD with alpha (my stockings tex)and a body texture?

I just checked, and Classic doesn't look like it does layers. It will open a PSD, though. I don't have 3D loaded, bit it uses floaters, and I don't know what it will do with a PhotoShop layer.

Bebop, she is right--Classic does not use layers at all--thus I bought Painter 6 when it was available on the magazine. I haven't played around much with 3D--but floaters are such a pain for me--and I'm very conversant with layers/objects in PSP and Photopaint. I'm assuming that you are still trying to work this through with your customer for the lingerie set. I would still recommend that he download the PSP 7 demo (www.jasc.com) which is quite easy to use--and it handles alpha channels/psd just fine.

Floaters is what Painter 5.5 and older had instead of layers. The floater is just a layer that is the size of the selection.