EFTA00577879.pdf

PhotoPlus 5.0 Companion I Contents I Index EFTA00577879 01999 Serif. Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of Serif. Inc. All Serif product names are trademarks of Serif. Inc. Microsoft. Windows and the Windows logo am registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks acknowledged. Serif PhotoPlus 5.0 O1999 Serif. Inc. Companies and names used in samples are fictitious. Portions clipart and graphic content 01999 Nova Development Corporation and its licensors. All rights reserved. Portions graphics import/export technology Eastman Kodak Company & LEAD Technologies. Inc. EFTA00577880 Software License Agreement This Software License Agreement ("License Agreement") is a legal agreement between you (either an individual or a single entity) and Serif. Inc. 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This Agreement shill he amended Software Naomi: limited tows its ckmonstration. lest or only by an mauledInning by outhunted TCOMSCIOSOIS Cs of bells mamma paposn. panes EFTA00577882 How to contact us Our main office (USA, Canada): The Software Center PO Box 803, Nashua NH 03061 USA Main (603) 889-8650 Registration (800) 232-2897 Single Unit Sales (800) 55-SERIF or 557.3743 Technical Support (603) 886-6642 Customer Service (800)489.6720 General Fax (603) 889-1127 Technical Support E-mail European office (UK, Europe): The Software Centre PO Box 2000, Nottingham, NG I 1 7GW, UK Main (0115) 914 2000 Registration (UK only) (0870) 727 3379 Registration (International) +44 (115) 914 5471 Sales (0800) 376 7070 Technical Support (UK only) (0870) 727 3380 Technical Support (International) +44 (115) 914 5472 Customer Service (0115) 914 9090 General Fax (0115) 914 2020 Technical Support E-mail [email protected] Online Visit us on the Web at International Please contact your local distributor/dealer. For further details please contact us at one of our phone numbers above. Comments or other feedback We want to hear from you! E-Mail with your ideas and comments! EFTA00577883 Contents 1 ♦ Welcome Introduction 3 About the Companion 3 Key PhotoPlus features 4 Registration, Upgrades, and Support 5 Installation 5 PhotoPlus system requirements 5 What you need to know 6 First-time install 6 Manual install/re-install 6 2 ♦ Getting Started Seven Key Concepts 9 1 Image size and canvas size 9 2 Interacting tools and tabs 9 3 Making a selection 10 4 Foreground and background colors 10 5 Layers 10 6 Opacity and transparency 11 7 Saving and exporting 12 Starting PhotoPlus 12 Getting your bearings 15 Introducing the interface 15 Setting preferences 18 Setting the view 18 How to Get an Image into PhotoPlus 19 Saving and Exporting Files 20 Printing 21 Getting Help 22 3 ♦ Manipulating Images HANDS ON: Captioning a Cat 27 Cropping the image 28 Adjusting brightness and contrast 28 Adding a caption 30 Making Selections 31 Selection options 31 Modifying the selection 33 Using the Move tool 34 Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete 35 EFTA00577884 Cropping 35 Flipping and Rotating 36 Adjusting Image Colors 37 Applying Effect Fitters 39 HANDS ON: Photo-painting 39 Multiple effects 40 HANDS ON: Antiquing a Photo 41 4 ♦ Working with Paint and Text Choosing Colors 45 HANDS ON: Step into the Sandbox I 46 Painting and Drawing 47 Using the basic Paintbrush tool 48 Choosing and customizing brush tips 48 Setting tool properties 49 Using the Airbrush tool 50 Using the Eraser tool 51 Using the Smudge tool 51 Using the Clone tool 52 Creating Lines and Shapes 53 Filling Regions 55 Working with Text 55 HANDS ON: Creating Filled Text 57 5 ♦ Using Layers and Masks Layers 61 Kinds of layers 61 Basic layer operations 62 Manipulating layers 63 Moving the contents of one or more layers 63 Clipboard operations invoMng layers 64 Rearranging standard layers in the stack 64 Merging layers 64 HANDS ON: Making a Montage 65 Masks 68 Mask-making 69 1 Creating the Mask 69 2 Editing on the Mask 70 3 Applying changes to the layer 71 HANDS ON: Vignetting 71 EFTA00577885 6 ♦ Preparing Web Graphics Formats for the Web 77 .GIF format 77 Recommended .GIF export settings 78 .JPG format 79 PNG format 79 Producing Web Animations 80 Layers and frames 80 HANDS ON: Follow the Bouncing Ball 82 Notes on animation 84 Image Slicing 85 Slicing an image 85 Image Maps 86 Creating hotspots 87 7 ♦ Color and Input/Output Options Color Concepts 91 Bitmaps 91 Bit depth 92 Bit depth in PhotoPlus 93 Resolution 93 Color modes 93 Color mode tips 95 Optimizing images 96 Palettes 96 Dithering 97 Compression 98 File Formats 98 Tips for Scanning 99 Advanced Printing 100 Scaling and tiling 100 Including printer marks 102 CMYK color separations 102 PhotoPlus as an OLE Server 103 PhotoPlus Keyboard Shortcuts 105 EFTA00577886 D ra7-24.111! Welcome EFTA00577887  Welcome 3 Introduction Welcome to Serif PhotoPlus 5.0—the best value in image creation and editing software for any home, school, organization, or growing business. PhotoPlus is your number one choice for working with photographs and paint-type images, whether for the Web, multimedia, or the printed page. PhotoPlus has the features you'll need... from importing or creating pictures and animations, through manipulating colors and effects all the way to final export. Built-in support for TWAIN scanners and cameras makes it easy to bring in your own photos, while comprehensive import filters let you open just about any standard bitmap image. Once you've got your image into PhotoPlus, you can enhance and alter its on-screen appearance with a diverse toolkit of functions and effects. A full range of export options (with special attention to Web graphics), plus powerful optimization capabilities, round out this high-performing package. About the Companion This Companion is your guide to getting started and getting results with PhotoPlus—from the basics to advanced techniques. The chapter sequence begins with basic concepts and proceeds gradually through various tools and features. Hands-on Projects are integrated each step of the way. We hope you'll take your time and enjoy the learning process. Here's a quick summary of chapter contents: 1 Welcome. There, we've said it again! 2 Getting Started. Will have you up and running in no time with an overview of key concepts and the PhotoPlus interface. 3 Manipulating Images. A rundown of basic techniques for selecting and operating on all or just part of an image. 4 Working with Paint and Text. How to proceed from the proverbial blank slate, using the PhotoPlus creation tools. 5 Using Layers and Masks. Understanding and mastering the creative possibilities of these more advanced features. 6 Preparing Web Graphics. A review of Web image formats and step•by-step guidance on animation and image preparation. 7 Color and Output Options. Combines essential background material and terminology with helpful tips to improve your images. EFTA00577888 4 Welcome Key PhotoPlus features PhotoPlus brings professional image editing to everyone—with features like these: ♦ Powerful Image Export Optimizer The Export Optimizer lets you see how your image will look (and how much space it will take up) before you save it! Its multi- window display provides side-by-side WYSIWYG previews of image quality at various output settings, so you can make the best choice every time. ♦ Web Animation Tools Now it's easy and fun to create or edit animations for the Web. You can import and export animated GIFs, and even let PhotoPlus create entire animations for you automatically. ♦ Editable Text Add formatted color text to an image, reposition and scale it, integrate it with your design. Text layers keep the contents separate so you can go back and alter the words or formatting at any time! ♦ Image Enhancement Apply professional, darkroom-style color and histogram adjustments to your images. ♦ Unique Selection Options PhotoPlus goes well beyond the basic rectangle and lasso tools, adding more than a dozen completely customizable selection shapes like polygons, spirals, and stars. Or define a selection shaped like text—using any font and style! Advanced options let you fine-tune the selection and its properties for precise effects. ♦ Smart Shapes Choose from a panoply of fully adjustable filled shapes to produce chevrons. beans, badges, teardrops. moons, zigzags, and many more. Just drag sliders to control each shape's appearance! ♦ Image Slicing and Image Maps Now it's not just the pros who can use these techniques to add links to Web graphics! Simply click to divide images into segments— each with its own hyperlink and popup text—or add hotspots to specific regions. PhotoPlus outputs the HTML code and lets you preview the results directly in your Web browser. ♦ Advanced Tools and Features Built-in support for most pressure-sensitive graphics tablets. RGB, CMYK, HSV, and Grayscale color modes. Robust and convenient layer management with pop-up preview and masking support. EFTA00577889  Welcome 5 • Professional Output Options Output using CMYK separations or print directly to your desktop printer with powerful controls. Include registration marks, crop marks, file information, grayscale and color bars, and tile or scale your output if required. • Productive MDI Interface Open and view multiple images and edit them simultaneously. Dockable, floating tab windows work in conjunction with convenient toolbars. The Layer Manager provides full control over all regions and planes. Each document stores a massive Undo range with dynamic memory and disk management, compressing information for optimized performance. And PhotoPlus remembers your preferred export settings, so your creative flow is undisturbed. And that's only part of the The PhotoPlus feature set includes all the standard capabilities expect in a photo editor. Tools like Paintbrush, Airbrush, Clone, Smudge, and Erase. Customizable brush tips and opacity settings. Flip, rotate, and crop. Anti-aliasing. TWAIN support for scanner and digital camera input. A full range of supported file formats for both import and export. In short, more features for the price than allowed by law in some jurisdictions (but don't tell anyone)... Registration, Upgrades, and Support If you see the Registration Wizard when you launch PhotoPlus, please take a moment to complete the registration process. Just call Serif and provide the installation number and code shown. We'll give you a personalized registration number in return. Remember, if you need technical support please contact us. We aim to provide fast, friendly service and knowledgeable help. Installation PhotoPlus system requirements PhotoPlus runs with Windows 95 or later, so you'll need a PC setup which runs Windows adequately. If you need help installing Windows, or setting up your printer, see Windows documentation and help. • IBM compatible Pentium PC with CD-ROM drive and mouse (or other Microsoft compatible pointing device) • Microsoft Windows® 95, 98, 98 SE, 2000, or Windows NT® 4.0 or later operating system EFTA00577890 6 Welcome ♦ 16MB (Windows 95/98), 24MB (Windows 98 SE), 32MB (Windows NT), or 64MB (Windows 2000) RAM ♦ 20MB (minimum install) free hard disk space. ♦ SVGA display (16•bit color or higher) Additional disk resources and memory required when editing large and/or complex images Optional: ♦ Windows-compatible printer ♦ TWAIN-compatible scanner and/or digital camera ♦ Stylus or other input device, including pressure sensitive pens ♦ Internet account and connection required for accessing online resources. What you need to know PhotoPlus is very easy to use, and you don't need to have any prior design experience. However, if you're new to Windows computing, you will find it much easier if, before installing and using PhotoPlus, you spend a little time becoming familiar with the Windows operating environment. O From the Windows desktop, click the Start button at the lower left and choose Help. First-time install To install PhotoPlus. simply insert the Program CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive. The AutoRun feature automatically starts the Setup process and all you need to do is select the PhotoPlus Install option and answer the on-screen questions. If the AutoRun does not start the install, use the manual install instructions below. Manual install/re-install To re-install the software or to change any part of the installation at a later date, select Settings/Control Panel from the Windows Start menu and then click on the Add/Remove Programs icon. Make sure the correct CD-ROM is inserted into your CD-ROM drive, click the Install... button, and then simply follow the on-screen instructions. To install just one particular component to your hard drive, choose the Custom option and check only that component. EFTA00577891  ,„,r i 2 1-i.ii Getting Started EFTA00577892  Getting Started 9 Seven Key Concepts If you're new to photo editing programs, or perhaps have only worked with a basic painting program like Microsoft Paint, a number of the concepts in PhotoPlus may be new to you. Don't be daunted! Many thousands of artists have made the leap—the rewards are well worth it! This section collects in one place some background material that will hopefully provide a concise introduction and save you some "head- scratching" later on. We recommend you read through it before racing ahead to the rest of the chapter. 1 Image size and canvas size Sometimes a tricky distinction if you haven't encountered it before, it's an important one when working with digital pictures. You probably know that image dimensions are given in pixels (think of pixels as the "dots of paint" that comprise a screen image)—say, 640 wide by 480 high. If you want to change these dimensions, there are two ways to go about it, and that's where image and canvas come into play. Changing the image size (I) means scaling the I r. whole image or just a selected region up or down. Changing the canvas size (C) means adding or taking away pixels at the edges of the image—rather like adding a border around a mounted photo, or taking a C4 O pair of scissors and cropping the photo to a smaller size. Either way, after resizing, the image and canvas dimensions are once again identical. 2 Interacting tools and tabs The Tools toolbar (See the PholoPlas Toolbars and Tabs diagram later in this chapter) is at the heart of PhotoPlus. Among its many offerings you'll find several basic painting/drawing tools, plus tools for erasing. filling a region, and cloning a region (all covered in detail in Chapter 4). As you try each of these tools, keep in mind that the Tool Properties tab and Brush Tip tab +3=n extend each tool's functionality by letting you +0= customize its settings. Only with the aid of the tabs can you choose a wide brush as opposed to a pencil point, or experiment with the full range of effects each tool can command. EFTA00577893 10 Getting Started 3 Making a selection In any photo editing program, the selection tools (see Chapter 3) are as significant as any of the basic brush tools or commands. The basic principle is simple: quite often you'll want to perform an operation on just a portion of the image. The wide range of selection options in PhotoPlus lets you: • Define just about any selection shape • Modify the extent or properties of the selection • Carry out various manipulations on the selected pixels, including cut, copy, paste, rotate, adjust colors, etc. Although the techniques for using each selection tool vary a bit, the end result of making a selection is always the same: a portion of the image has been roped off from the rest of the image. The boundary is visible as a broken line or marquee around the selected region. 4 Foreground and background colors At any given time, PhotoPlus allows you to work with just two colors—a foreground color and a background color. These are always visible as l b • two swatches on the Color tab. Electronic artists expend much of their creative energy deciding which of the millions of available colors should fill those two slots. The actual steps involved, however, can be quite simple (see Chapter 4). 5 Layers If you're accustomed to thinking of pictures as flat illustrations in books, ♦ or photographic prints, the concept of image layers may take some getting used to. In a typical PhotoPlus image—for example, a photograph you've scanned in, a new picture file you've just created, or a bitmap file you've opened—there is one layer that behaves like a conventional "flat" image. This is called the Background layer, and you can think of it as having paint overlaid on an opaque, solid color surface. EFTA00577894  Getting Started 11 On top of the Background layer, you can create any number of new layers in your image. Each new one appears on top of another, comprising a stack of layers that you can view and manipulate with the Layer Manager tab. We call these additional layers standard layers to differentiate them from the Background layer. Standard layers behave like transparent sheets through which the underlying layers are visible. There's a third kind of layer, called a text layer (see Chapter 4), which resembles a standard transparent layer but can only contain text. Text layers keep blocks of text editable so you can go back and change the font or retype characters. With few exceptions, you will work on just one layer at any given time, clicking in the Layer Manager tab to select the current or active layer. Selections (see above) and layers are related concepts. Whenever there's a selection, certain tools and commands operate only on the pixels inside the selection—as opposed to a condition where nothing is selected, in which case those functions generally affect the entire active layer. If your image has multiple layers, and you switch to another layer, the selection doesn't stay on the previous layer—it follows you to the new active layer. This makes sense when you realize that the selection doesn't actually include image content—it just describes a region with boundaries. And following the old advice "Don't confuse the map with the territory," you can think of the selection as a kind of outline map, and the active layer as the territory. We'll first encounter layers later in this chapter. Chapter 5 provides in• depth coverage. 6 Opacity and transparency Opacity and transparency are complementary— two sides of the same coin. They both refer to the degree to which a particular pixel's color contributes to the overall color at that point in the image. (Pixels again are the "screen dots" that comprise a bitmap image in PhotoPlus.) Varying opacity is rather like lighting a stage backdrop (scrim) in a theater: depending on how you light the fine gauze sheet, you can render the backdrop either visible or invisible. Fully opaque pixels contribute their full color value to the image. Fully transparent pixels are invisible: they contribute nothing to the image. EFTA00577895 12 Getting Started You'll primarily encounter these terms in one of two contexts. First, as a property of the pixels laid down by individual paint tools, which can be more or less opaque, depending on the tool's opacity setting. Second, as a property of individual layers, where opacity works like a "master setting" that you can vary after paint has been laid down. 7 Saving and exporting Saving a file in PhotoPlus means storing the image in the native PhotoPlus file format, using the .SPP extension. This format preserves image SPP El information, such as multiple layers, masks, or image map data, that would be lost in conversion LE *A to another graphic format. On the other hand, suppose you've opened a .BMP or .JPG file and want to save it back to its original format. In this case, use the Save Original command. In yet another instance, you may be ready to save an .SPP file (or convert some other image type) to one of the standard graphics formats. In PhotoPlus, this is known as exporting. PhotoPlus includes a powerful Export Optimizer that serves as your "command center" for exporting images to various formats. It not only provides a variety of options for each supported format, but also lets you compare image quality using different settings and even retains your preferred settings for each format! There's more on saving and exporting later in this chapter, and Chapter 7 includes details on file formats and optimizing images. Starting PhotoPlus Enough boring lecture—on to the demonstrations! (We'll skip the quiz.) It's time to begin exploring PhotoPlus. r NOTE: Throughout the Companion, we'll use 0 checkbox bullets to mark actual the ongoing tutorial thread: steps like you to complete as you follow along with the text. You'll come across many other descriptions and examples of commands, tools, and procedures (and of course you're encouraged to experiment). But remember—unless a step has a checkbox, it's entirely optional! The Setup routine adds a Serif PhotoPlus item to the Programs submenu of the Windows Start menu. EFTA00577896  Getting Started 13 ❑ Use the Windows Start button to pop up the Start Menu and click on the PhotoPlus item. PhotoPlus launches and displays the Startup Wizard, with a variety of choices: ♦ Open Saved Work displays a browser that lets you preview and open saved image files—pictures in any supported format as well as animated GIFs (see Chapter 3). ♦ Create New Picture opens a new image window using a size and background color you specify (see Chapter 4). ♦ Create New Animation opens a new image window and displays the Animation tab, with controls for creating animation frames (see Chapter 6). ♦ Import from TWAIN lets you bring in pictures from devices like scanners and digital cameras (see Chapters 3 and 7). ♦ View Samples opens the gallery of PhotoPlus images. ♦ Online Resources offers direct access to roductivity tools and reference sources, including If you don't care to see the Startup Wizard again, uncheck the "Use the Startup Wizard next time" box. However, we suggest you leave it checked until you're familiar with the equivalent PhotoPlus commands. ❑ Click Open Saved Work and then click the Browse button in the dialog. EFTA00577897 14 Getting Started ttop Ro AM;a1JJFt- M P • Mg .e CP ore :I^ .4 4n 4/ IMR 2.1 O PhotoPlus is set to initially display the contents of the PhotoPlus PROJECTS folder, located on your hard disk. If the Open dialog displays a different folder, browse to PROGRAM FILESNSERIAPHOTOP501PROJECTS. NOTE: Whether or not you use the Projects folder to store your own work, remember its location so you'll know where to find Companion source files when they're needed later on. O Select the file CAT.JPG in the Projects folder and click Open. The cat photograph opens in a new image window (your precise screen layout may vary somewhat from the illustration). O • a EFTA00577898  Getting Started 15 Getting your bearings Now that you've got an image open, and the PhotoPlus menus and tools are available, let's take a quick look around the PhotoPlus environment. Even if you're in a rush to start working, don't skip the rest of the chapter! At the very least, take note of what's here so you'll know where to find the information when you need it later. Introducing the interface PhotoPlus is an MDI application. MDI stands for Multiple Document Interface and it means that you can have multiple documents—images, in PhotoPlus terms—open at the same time. Each image window contains one image, with the image's name shown in the window's titlebar. At any given time, one image window will be active in front of any others, with its name shown in the main PhotoPlus titlebar. You can use commands from the Window menu to arrange the image windows. If you have more than one image open, then you can switch to another window using the Window menu or the keyboard shortcut Ctri+Tab. Double-click on an image window's titlebar to maximize it. The PhotoPlus toolbars and tab windows (tabs for short) are essential features of the PhotoPlus environment. The PhotoPlus Toolbars and Tabs diagram identifies each tab and provides an overview of what it does. To display the related online help topic for any tab, first click the Help button on the top toolbar, then click the tab. When you first launch PhotoPlus, it opens with the PhotoPlus toolbars and tabs all visible in default positions, with certain tabs "docked" or joined together. You can hide, show, or move them individually as needed, and dock or undock the tabs. Chances are you'll want to keep the Tools toolbar visible, but if your display area is large enough you might consider moving it to a horizontal position alongside the top (Standard) toolbar—or "floating" it as a separate palette. Remember, there's nothing fixed about the PhotoPlus interface, so feel free to try different arrangements until you're satisfied. EFTA00577899 16 Getting Started PhotoPlus Toolbars and Tabs DSWa -1 Standard toolbar Provides standard file and Clipboard commands. Click the [7], then any tab, for context-sensitive help! Tool Properties El Tool Properties] l Opacity:F0 Z Mill. r , Fade: I 0 steps ,Styluxr Size r Opacity Tool Properties tab Lets you customize the settings for many of the tools on the Tools toolbar Brush T Brush Tip] • • • • • • • • • • • • • 35 45 65 100 Brush Tip tab Lets you choose and customize brush tips for the painting tools Tools toolbar Features tools for selecting regions of the screen, painting and erasing, cropping selections, creating Web graphics... and more EFTA00577900  Getting Started 17 Color Color] Color tab C0101 Mode - RGB Lets you select foreground and R I background colors and change G the color mode Layer Manager Layer Manager tab Layer Manager' Includes controls for creating, deleting, Opacity. Fro v arranging, merging, and setting properties of layers in the image L 1 I*5 3- d- Background Y Aseleatiail Animation tab FlarreDelaY Provides controls for Total ire Ch 050; editing animation Loop 7 -;" files (only appears A in Animation mode) vl > 11 CD Li> EFTA00577901 18 Getting Started To turn off a tab, click the a Close button in its titleba