Is there a way to create an Image object with transparency?  I would
like to create an instance of Image, obtain a Graphics context to it
and use operations such as fillRect(...) etc to draw onto it, using
Color values that have alpha values specified for level of
transparency.  Then I would like to overlay that image on top of an
onscreen graphics context such as a panel using draw( ...).

The only method I have found so far is to create a filter that uses an
image producer to process the original image, using a specified
transparency "key" color, and yields another Image object that posesses
transparent pixels.  However, I would like to be able to draw directly
onto the image using transparent pixel Color values.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Regards,

MB