Some simpler example code for using globalAlpha:
ctx.save();
ctx.globalAlpha = 0.4;
ctx.drawImage(img, x, y);
ctx.restore();
If you need img to be loaded:
var img = new Image();
img.onload = function() {
ctx.save();
ctx.globalAlpha = 0.4;
ctx.drawImage(img, x, y);
ctx.restore()
};
img.src = "http://...";
Notes:
Set the 'src' last, to guarantee that your onload handler is called on all platforms, even if the image is already in the cache.
Wrap changes to stuff like globalAlpha between a save and restore (in fact use them lots), to make sure you don't clobber settings from elsewhere, particularly when bits of drawing code are going to be called from events.