Simplification of alpha compositing in the presence of transfer functions

A method determines a color at a plurality of locations in a region of overlap of a first graphic element and a second graphic element, with each graphic element having a color value and a partial opacity value defined at each location. The method includes the steps of determining a transfer color as a combination of the color value of the first graphic element and the color value of the second graphic element, with the transfer color being independent of the opacity values of each element, and determining a first color value of a set of possible color values. At least one color value in the set of possible color values is derived from the transfer color, and another color value in the set of possible color values is derived from the color value of at least one of the first graphical element and the second graphical element. Additional steps include selecting the first color value from the set of possible color values to determine the color at a first selected location in the region of overlap, and determining a second color value from the set of possible color values, and selecting the second color value for a second selected location in the region of overlap. The selection of the first and second color values is at least dependent upon the partial opacity value of the first or second graphical elements.