Mandy, what 2D software are you using now and how long have you been using it?  If it is Photoshop, Photopaint, or my favorite PaintShop Pro,  I strongly suggest that you save all your figure files as .tiff's or .psds.  Rationale:  alpha (mask) channels are automatically stored in those formats-great in removing your grey background so you can substitute it for something you want--Jan