diff --git a/doc/type/color.txt b/doc/type/color.txt
index 6dd8e31e..3cc05049 100644
--- a/doc/type/color.txt
+++ b/doc/type/color.txt
@@ -2,20 +2,28 @@ Primitive type: color
 
 --Syntax--
 In files and scritps a color can be represented as
-<pre>rgb(<i>red_component</i>, <i>green_component</i>, <i>blue_component</i>)</pre>
+<pre><span class='hl-kw'>rgb</span>(<i>red_component</i>, <i>green_component</i>, <i>blue_component</i>)</pre>
 where red_component, green_component and blue_component are numbers between 0 and 255 (inclusive).
 
+In some places MSE also supports colors with a transparency value, notated as
+<pre><span class='hl-kw'>rgba</span>(<i>red_component</i>, <i>green_component</i>, <i>blue_component</i>, <i>alpha_component</i>)</pre>
+An alpha value of @0@ indicates a transparent color, an alpha value of @255@ is completely opaque.
+
 --Named colors--
 MSE also supports named colors, for instance @"white"@ is the same as @rgb(255,255,255)@.
 For a full list of supported colors, see [[http://www.wxwidgets.org/manuals/stable/wx_wxcolourdatabase.html|the wxWidgets documentation]].
+In addition, the named color @"transparent"@ stands for the completely transparent color, @rgba(0,0,0,0)@.
 
 In scripts named colors are represented as [[type:string]]s.
 
 --Examples--
 For example:
-! Code			Represents	<<<
-| @rgb(255,255,255)@	white	<div style="border:1px solid black; background:white;width:30px;height:15px;"> </div>
-| @rgb(0,0,0)@		black	<div style="border:1px solid black; background:black;width:30px;height:15px;"> </div>
-| @rgb(255,0,0)@	red	<div style="border:1px solid black; background:red;  width:30px;height:15px;"> </div>
-| @rgb(0,255,0)@	green	<div style="border:1px solid black; background:rgb(0,255,0);width:30px;height:15px;"> </div>
-| @rgb(0,0,255)@	blue	<div style="border:1px solid black; background:blue; width:30px;height:15px;"> </div>
+! Code			Represents		<<<
+| @rgb(255,255,255)@	white			<div style="border:1px solid black; background:white;width:30px;height:15px;"> </div>
+| @rgb(0,0,0)@		black			<div style="border:1px solid black; background:black;width:30px;height:15px;"> </div>
+| @rgb(255,0,0)@	red			<div style="border:1px solid black; background:red;  width:30px;height:15px;"> </div>
+| @rgb(0,255,0)@	green			<div style="border:1px solid black; background:rgb(0,255,0);width:30px;height:15px;"> </div>
+| @rgb(0,0,255)@	blue			<div style="border:1px solid black; background:blue; width:30px;height:15px;"> </div>
+| @rgba(0,0,0,0)@	transparent		<div style="border:1px solid black; width:30px;height:15px;text-align:center;">over</div>
+| @rgba(255,0,0,128)@	transparent red		<div style="border:1px solid black; background:rgb(255,128,128);color:rgb(128,0,0);width:30px;height:15px;text-align:center;">over</div>
+| @rgba(0,0,255,192)@	transparent blue	<div style="border:1px solid black; background:rgb(64,64,255);color:rgb(0,0,192);width:30px;height:15px;text-align:center;">over</div>
diff --git a/doc/type/font.txt b/doc/type/font.txt
index 83fcddde..03e73382 100644
--- a/doc/type/font.txt
+++ b/doc/type/font.txt
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ A reference to a normal [[type:font]] for drawing text.
 | @shadow displacement x@	[[type:double]]			@0@		Relative position of the shadow in pixels. A shadow is only drawn if the displacement is nonzero.
 | @shadow displacement y@	[[type:double]]			@0@		^^^
 | @shadow blur@		[[type:double]]				@0@		How much should the shadow be blurred?
-| @separator color@	[[type:color]]				@rgb(128,128,128)@	Color for @"<sep-soft>"@ tags inserted by the [[fun:combined_editor]] function.
+| @separator color@	[[type:color]]				@rgba(0,0,0,128)@	Color for @"<sep-soft>"@ tags inserted by the [[fun:combined_editor]] function.
 
 --Example--
 >font:
diff --git a/src/data/font.cpp b/src/data/font.cpp
index e575540c..c4f668f5 100644
--- a/src/data/font.cpp
+++ b/src/data/font.cpp
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ Font::Font()
 	, color(AColor(0,0,0))
 	, shadow_displacement(0,0)
 	, shadow_blur(0)
-	, separator_color(128,128,128)
+	, separator_color(AColor(0,0,0,128))
 	, flags(FONT_NORMAL)
 {}
 
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ void Font::initDependencies(Context& ctx, const Dependency& dep) const {
 	shadow_color.initDependencies(ctx, dep);
 }
 
-FontP Font::make(int add_flags, Color* other_color, double* other_size) const {
+FontP Font::make(int add_flags, AColor* other_color, double* other_size) const {
 	FontP f(new Font(*this));
 	f->flags |= add_flags;
 	if (add_flags & FONT_CODE_STRING) {
diff --git a/src/data/font.hpp b/src/data/font.hpp
index bf8c6b07..c1811920 100644
--- a/src/data/font.hpp
+++ b/src/data/font.hpp
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ class Font : public IntrusivePtrBase<Font> {
 	Scriptable<AColor> shadow_color;		///< Color for shadow
 	RealSize           shadow_displacement;	///< Position of the shadow
 	double             shadow_blur;			///< Blur radius of the shadow
-	Color              separator_color;		///< Color for <sep> text
+	AColor             separator_color;		///< Color for <sep> text
 	int                flags;				///< FontFlags for this font
 	
 	Font();
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ class Font : public IntrusivePtrBase<Font> {
 	}
 	
 	/// Add style to a font, and optionally change the color and size
-	FontP make(int add_flags, Color* other_color, double* other_size) const;
+	FontP make(int add_flags, AColor* other_color, double* other_size) const;
 	
 	/// Convert this font to a wxFont
 	wxFont toWxFont(double scale) const;
diff --git a/src/render/text/element.cpp b/src/render/text/element.cpp
index 5b487773..3eb54c6c 100644
--- a/src/render/text/element.cpp
+++ b/src/render/text/element.cpp
@@ -60,13 +60,13 @@ double TextElements::scaleStep() const {
 }
 
 // Colors for <atom-param> tags
-Color param_colors[] =
-	{	Color(0,170,0)
-	,	Color(0,0,200)
-	,	Color(200,0,100)
-	,	Color(200,200,0)
-	,	Color(0,170,170)
-	,	Color(200,0,0)
+AColor param_colors[] =
+	{	AColor(0,170,0)
+	,	AColor(0,0,200)
+	,	AColor(200,0,100)
+	,	AColor(200,200,0)
+	,	AColor(0,170,170)
+	,	AColor(200,0,0)
 	};
 const size_t param_colors_count = sizeof(param_colors) / sizeof(param_colors[0]);
 
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ struct TextElementsFromString {
 	int soft, kwpph, param, line, soft_line;
 	int code, code_kw, code_string, param_ref, error;
 	int param_id;
-	vector<Color>  colors;
+	vector<AColor> colors;
 	vector<double> sizes;
 	/// put angle brackets around the text?
 	bool bracket;
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ struct TextElementsFromString {
 				else if (is_substr(text, tag_start, _( "<color"))) {
 					size_t colon = text.find_first_of(_(">:"), tag_start);
 					if (colon < pos - 1 && text.GetChar(colon) == _(':')) {
-						Color c = parse_color(text.substr(colon+1, pos-colon-2));
+						AColor c = parse_acolor(text.substr(colon+1, pos-colon-2));
 						if (!c.Ok()) c = style.font.color;
 						colors.push_back(c);
 					}