New to filter forge and have a question

First off hello and I have say I love Filter Forge.

Now to my dumb question well maybe a couple actually.

I've managed to make several filters without any trouble. ( ). My question is if I make a custom alpha or use an image of mine in a filter and then save the filter, will it automatically save that image or alpha for when I try to submit it to the filters here online? Whether or not I submit a filter here online or save it for my personal use, if I delete the original alpha or image from my pc and later go back to filter forge app and tinker in it and decide to use that filter I made with the deleted alpha or image will it still work?

Welcome to the forum and to the filter creation addiction

Quote
is if I make a custom alpha or use an image of mine in a filter and then save the filter, will it automatically save that image or alpha for when I try to submit it to the filters here online?

No, you are not allowed to use any alpha or external image you may have inside a filter that is going to be submitted to the online filter library, if you try to submit it with some external image it will show this error message

Quote
Filters that reference external images cannot be submitted

You can ONLY use inside the filter that is going to be submitted any amount of the available built-in images that are in the menu File--> Built-In Preview Images

If you want to use any external images saved to any of the filter presets you can do it only for yourself, I mean to keep it in your own computer. Why? because Filter Forge (FF) does not store any image inside the preset or the filter, what is stored on the preset only is the path and location of the image you have used, AND if you want that this preset works always, you can´t modify the location as it will then break the link inside the preset.

Quote
Whether or not I submit a filter here online or save it for my personal use, if I delete the original alpha or image from my pc and later go back to filter forge app and tinker in it and decide to use that filter I made with the deleted alpha or image will it still work?

No, you can´t delete the original alpha or image and later expect that the preset inside filter forge with that image still works, because as I have already said above here, FF does NOT store the image inside the preset or the filter, ONLY the location, and even if you do not delete the image, but modify the location, or modify something in the path to that image it will also disappear from filter forge, unless you make a new preset with the new image location.