Serif PHOTOPLUS 6.0 User Manual

PhotoPlus 6.0
Companion

©1999 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 are
registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks acknowledged.

Serif PhotoPlus 6.0 ©1999 Serif, Inc.
Companies and names used in samples are fictitious.
Portions clipart and graphic content ©1999 Nova Development Corporation and its licensors. All

rights reserved.
Portions graphics import/export technology Eastman Kodak Company & LEAD Technologies, Inc.

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Contents

1 ♦ Welcome

Introduction...............................................................................................3

About the Companion...............................................................................3

Key PhotoPlus features............................................................................4

Registration, Upgrades, and Support.......................................................6

Installation................................................................................................6

PhotoPlus system requirements.......................................................6

What you need to know....................................................................7

First-time install ................................................................................7

Manual install/re-install.....................................................................7

2 ♦ Getting Started

Seven Key Concepts..............................................................................11

1 Image size and canvas size........................................................11

2 Interacting tools and tabs............................................................11

3 Making a selection......................................................................12

4 Foreground and background colors............................................12

5 Layers.........................................................................................12

6 Opacity and transparency...........................................................13

7 Saving and exporting..................................................................14

Starting PhotoPlus..................................................................................14

Getting your bearings.............................................................................17

Introducing the interface.................................................................17

Setting preferences ........................................................................20

Setting the view..............................................................................20

How to Get an Image into PhotoPlus .....................................................21

Saving and Exporting Files.....................................................................22

Printing...................................................................................................24

Getting Help ...........................................................................................25

3 ♦ Manipulating Images

HANDS ON: Captioning a Cat................................................................29

Cropping the image ........................................................................30

Adjusting brightness and contrast...................................................30

Adding a caption.............................................................................31

Making Selections..................................................................................33

Selection options............................................................................33

Modifying the selection...................................................................35

Using the Move tool................................................................................37

Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete........................................................................37

Cropping.................................................................................................37

Flipping, Rotating, and Deforming .......................................................... 38

HANDS ON: Deforming text...........................................................40

Adjusting Image Colors..........................................................................42

Applying Effect Filters ............................................................................43

HANDS ON: Photo-painting ........................................................... 44

Multiple effects ...............................................................................45

HANDS ON: Removing Red Eye ........................................................... 46

HANDS ON: Antiquing a Photo..............................................................46

4 ♦ Working with Paint and Text

Choosing Colors.....................................................................................51

HANDS ON: Step into the Sandbox!......................................................52

Painting and Drawing.............................................................................53

Using the basic Paintbrush tool......................................................54

Choosing and customizing brush tips.............................................54

Setting tool properties ....................................................................55

Using the Airbrush tool...................................................................57

Using the Eraser tool......................................................................57

Using the Smudge tool................................................................... 58

Using the Clone tool.......................................................................58

Creating Lines and Shapes....................................................................59

Filling Regions........................................................................................61

Working with Text...................................................................................63

HANDS ON: Creating Filled Text ...................................................64

HANDS ON: Raised Filled Text Effect............................................65

5 ♦ Using Layers and Masks

Layers ....................................................................................................69

Kinds of layers................................................................................69

Basic layer operations....................................................................70

Manipulating layers ........................................................................71

Moving the contents of one or more layers .................................71

Clipboard operations involving layers..........................................72

Rearranging standard layers in the stack....................................72

Merging layers.............................................................................72

Blend Modes ..................................................................................73

HANDS ON: Making a Montage.....................................................73

Masks..................................................................................................... 77

Mask-making..................................................................................78

1 Creating the Mask ...................................................................78

2 Editing on the Mask.................................................................78

3 Applying changes to the layer..................................................80

HANDS ON: Vignetting...................................................................80

6 ♦ Preparing Web Graphics

Formats for the Web...............................................................................85

.GIF format .....................................................................................85

Recommended .GIF export settings............................................86

.JPG format ....................................................................................87

.PNG format....................................................................................87

HANDS ON: Making A Web Button........................................................88

Producing Web Animations....................................................................90

Layers and frames..........................................................................90

HANDS ON: Follow the Bouncing Ball ...........................................92

Notes on animation.........................................................................94

Animation effects............................................................................95

HANDS ON: Making Waves...........................................................95

Image Slicing..........................................................................................97

Slicing an image.............................................................................97

Image Maps............................................................................................98

Creating hotspots ...........................................................................99

7 ♦ Color and Input/Output Options

Color Concepts.....................................................................................103

Bitmaps.........................................................................................103

Bit depth .......................................................................................104

Bit depth in PhotoPlus ..................................................................105

Resolution.....................................................................................105

Color modes.................................................................................105

Color mode tips ............................................................................107

Optimizing images................................................................................108

Palettes.........................................................................................108

Dithering.......................................................................................109

Compression ................................................................................110

File Formats..................................................................................110

Tips for Scanning .................................................................................111

Advanced Printing................................................................................112

Scaling and tiling ..........................................................................112

Including printer marks .................................................................114

CMYK color separations...............................................................114

PhotoPlus as an OLE Server ...............................................................115

PhotoPlus Keyboard Shortcuts ............................................................117

Welcome

1

Introduction

Welcome to Serif PhotoPlus 6.0—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:

Welcome 3

 Welcome. There, we’ve said it again!
 Getting Started. Will have you up and running in no time with

an overview of key concepts and the PhotoPlus interface.

 Manipulating Images. A rundown of basic techniques for

selecting and operating on all or just part of an image.

 Working with Paint and Text. How to proceed from the

proverbial blank slate, using the PhotoPlus creation tools.

 Using Layers and Masks. Understanding and mastering the

creative possibilities of these more advanced features.

 Preparing Web Graphics. A review of Web image formats

and step-by-step guidance on animation and image preparation.

 Color and Output Options. Combines essential background

material and terminology with helpful tips to improve your
images.

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 multi­window 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, apply special effects,
even let PhotoPlus create entire animations for you automatically.
As a bonus, we’ve included hundreds of sample animations to get
you started.

♦

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. We’ve even got a dedicated tool for
removing “red eye” from flash photos.

♦

Special Effects Filters

A wild and whimsical assortment for instant creativity! Plus you
can add Bevel or Drop Shadow layer effects for a sophisticated 3D
look on text or other image elements. PhotoPlus supports third­party Photoshop plug-ins, and even lets you design your own
custom filters.

♦

Versatile Deform Tool

This “Swiss Army Knife” of image tools lets you rotate, resize,
skew, reshape, or add perspective to any selection or layer.

♦

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 smoother blends
and precise effects.

Welcome 5

♦

Smart Shapes

Choose from a panoply of fully adjustable filled shapes to produce
chevrons, hearts, badges, teardrops, moons, zigzags, and many
more. Just drag sliders to control each shape’s appearance!

♦

Gradient Fills

Take your pick of radial, linear, conical, or square fills—perfect
for masking, to hide or reveal parts of your photo using smooth
graduated blends to transparency. (Of course, there’s standard
flood fill as well.)

♦ 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.

♦

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 Navigator and Layer Manager provide
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 story! The PhotoPlus feature set includes
all the standard capabilities you’d expect in a photo editor. Tools like
Paintbrush, Airbrush, Clone, Smudge, and Erase. Customizable brush
tips, opacity, and blend mode settings. Flip, rotate, and crop. Anti­aliasing. TWAIN support for scanner and digital camera input. A full
range of supported file formats for both import and export. Bonus
TrueType fonts. In short, more features for the price than allowed by
law in some jurisdictions (but don’t tell anyone)...

6 Welcome

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 toll­free 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

♦

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.

Welcome 7

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.

Y From the Windows desktop, click the 6WDUW button at the lower left

and choose +HOS.

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 6HWWLQJV&RQWURO3DQHOfrom the Windows 6WDUW
menu and then click on the $GG5HPRYH3URJUDPV icon. Make sure
the correct CD-ROM is inserted into your CD-ROM drive, click the
,QVWDOOe 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.

Getting Started

2

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 “head­scratching” 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 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 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 pair of scissors and cropping the photo to a smaller size. Either
way, after resizing, the image and canvas dimensions are once again
identical.

Getting Started 11

2 Interacting tools and tabs

The Tools toolbar (see the PhotoPlus 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 extend each tool’s functionality by
letting you 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.

12 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, apply special effects, 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
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 photgraphic 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.

Getting Started 13

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 enounter layers later in this chapter. Chapter 5 provides in­depth 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.

14 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
information, such as multiple layers, masks, or
image map data, that would be lost in conversion
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 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.



NOTE: Throughout the Companion, we’ll use Y checkbox
bullets to mark actual the ongoing tutorial thread: steps we’d
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 6HULI3KRWR3OXV item to the 3URJUDPV
submenu of the Windows 6WDUW menu.

Getting Started 15

 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 productivity tools

and reference sources.

If you don’t care to see the Startup Wizard again, uncheck the “Use the
Startup Wizard next time” box. However, we suggest you lea ve it
checked until you’re familiar with the equivalent PhotoPlus commands.

 Click Open Saved Work and then click the Browse button in

the dialog.

16 Getting Started

Y PhotoPlus is set to initially display the contents of the PhotoPlus

P

ROJECTS

displays a different folder, browse to P
F

ILES\SERIF\PHOTO



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.

Y Select the file CAT.JPG in the Projects folder and click 2SHQ.
The cat photograph opens in a new image window (your precise screen

layout may vary somewhat from the illustration).

folder, located on your hard disk. If the Open dialog

ROGRAM

P60\P

ROJECTS

.

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 :LQGRZ 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
&WUO7DE. Double-click on an image window’s titlebar to maximize it.

The PhotoPlus toolbars and tab windows (tabs for short) are are
essential features of the PhotoPlus environment. The PhotoPlus
Toolbars and Tabs diagram identifies each tab and provides an
overview of what it does.

Getting Started 17

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.

18 Getting Started

S

P
C
h

T

L
m

B

L
t

PhotoPlus Toolbars and Tabs

Tools toolbar

Features tools for selecting regions of the screen,
painting and erasing, cropping and deforming
selections, creating Web graphics... and more

tandard toolbar

rovides standard file and Clipboard commands.

lick the [?], then any tab, for context-sensitive

elp!

ool Properties tab

ets you customize the settings for

any of the tools on the Tools toolbar

rush Tip tab

ets you choose and customize brush tips for

he painting tools, and define custom brushes

Layer Manager tab

C

L
b
t

Includes controls for creating, deleting,

arranging, merging, and setting

properties of layers in the image

Getting Started 19

olor tab

ets you select foreground and

ackground colors and change

he color mode

Navigator tab

Lets you quickly see

different parts of the image

and change the zoom view

Animation tab

Provides controls for editing
animation files (only appears
in Animation mode)

20 Getting Started

To turn off a tab, click the &ORVH button in its titlebar. To turn a tab
or toolbar off or on, uncheck or check its name on the View menu. If
you need more room on-screen for a particular operation, press the 7DE
key to turn all the visible tabs off, and again to turn them back on.

To dock or undock a tab, click on its label and drag to the new position,
either floating independently or docked in a window next to another
tab.

It’s easy to get online help in PhotoPlus. For a summary, see the
“Getting Help” section at the end of this chapter.

Setting preferences

To specify the ruler units, grid interval, and other preferences, choose
3UHIHUHQFHVe from the File menu to open the Preferences dialog.
Select the appropriate options on the Undo, Plugins, Layout and/or
Startup tab of the dialog.

Changes to the Plugins folder will not take effect until PhotoPlus is
closed and restarted.

When you have made your choices, click the 2. button to save your
changes or click &DQFHO to abandon them.

Setting the view

Zooming (changing the relative size of the image in relation to its
window) and panning (moving the image in relation to its window) are
essential when you're operating at different levels of detail, or on
different portions or an image. PhotoPlus provides standard Zoom and
Pan tools, plus the Navigator tab which combines the best of both—it
lets you quickly see different parts of the image and change the zoom
view.

To change the image scale, choose the Zoom tool from the Tools

toolbar. To zoom in, left-click on the image. To zoom out, right-click
on the image. The current zoom ratio appears in the titlebar of the
image window, next to the file name.

You can also set a specific zoom ratio by choosing =RRP,Q or =RRP
2XWfrom the View menu, then selecting a ratio from the submenu. To
restore a 1:1 viewing ratio, choose 1RUPDO9LHZLQJ from the View
menu.

To pan, Choose the Pan tool from the Tools toolbar and drag the

image to move it in relation to its window.

Getting Started 21

The Navigator tab lets you quickly see
different parts of the image and change
the zoom view.

The red view box rectangle on the
preview window marks the area of the
image currently visible in the image
window. You can drag it around or click
the preview to change how the image is framed in its window.

Click the “-” button to zoom out, “+” to zoom in, or drag the slider to
change the zoom view. The current view ratio appears at the right.

How to Get an Image into PhotoPlus

Before you can manipulate an image, you’ll need something to work
with! PhotoPlus can open images saved in a wide variety of industry­standard file formats, and acquire images from your TWAIN-compliant
digital camera or scanner.

To get a saved image into PhotoPlus, you select 2SHQ6DYHG:RUN
from the Startup Wizard. The dialog displays image files you’ve
recently worked on; select a file or click the %URZVH button to locate
other saved files. As an alternative to using the Startup Wizard, you can
select the name of a recently opened file from the File menu or choose
)LOH2SHQeto display the Open dialog.

The Open dialog shows dimensions and bit depth (see Chapter 7)
information for each selected image. To display a thumbnail of the
image, check 6KRZSUHYLHZ (this may slow down the display
somewhat).

If your scanner or digital camera supports the industry-wide TWAIN
standard, you can bring pictures from these devices directly into
PhotoPlus. (To set up your TWAIN device for importing, see the
documentation supplied with the device for operating instructions.)

To begin scanning a picture into PhotoPlus, either select the ,PSRUW
)URP7:$,1 option in the Startup Wizard, or, if the program is
already running, choose ,PSRUW from the File menu and then select
$FTXLUH. (If PhotoPlus is running but there’s no image window open,
choose 1HZ from the File menu to display the Startup Wizard.) If you
have more than one TWAIN-compatible device installed, you may be
prompted to select one as the source—or you can specify a different
source by choosing ,PSRUW6HOHFW6RXUFH from the File menu.

22 Getting Started

The acquisition software for the selected device will start up and
display its window, and you can then carry out the scan, possibly
having made a few basic adjustments. Note that the features available
in image acquisition software vary widely and are not under the control
of PhotoPlus. Usually, you will at least be able to adjust settings for the
image source (such as a color photograph, black and white photograph,
or color halftone) and the resolution at which the image is to be
scanned. For color theory and tips on scanning, see Chapter 7.

Whether you import the image via the Open dialog or the TWAIN
interface, it will appear in a new image window in PhotoPlus.
Assuming the image is not in the native PhotoPlus (.SPP) format, it will
always have just a single layer, called the Background layer (see
“Seven Key Concepts” earlier in the chapter). Chapter 5 will explore
layers in considerable detail; until then we’ll be focusing on techniques
that work perfectly well on one—or at most two—layers.

Saving and Exporting Files

PhotoPlus can save images in its own .SPP format, or export them to
any standard format (again, see “Seven Key Concepts”).

Use )LOH6DYH (or click the 6DYH button) to save images in
PhotoPlus’s own .SPP format. Only .SPP images preserve information
such as multiple layers, masks, or image map data that would be lost in
conversion to another graphic format.

Use )LOH6DYH$Ve to save the
image as an .SPP file under a
different path or name. You can
store files anywhere on your system.
It’s a good idea to group your
images, for example into project­oriented or thematic folders.

Suppose you've opened a .BMP or .JPG file, done some editing
(without adding layers), and now wish to save it back to its original
format. In this case, you can use the )LOH6DYH2ULJLQDO or )LOH6DYH
2ULJLQDO$Vcommands. Using the former will overwrite the original
file—so be sure that’s what you want to do.

In many situations, you’ll want to save a file to one of the standard
graphics formats. In PhotoPlus, this is known as exporting. You can
use the Export Optimizer to preview image quality before at various
settings before going ahead with the export.

Getting Started 23

The File menu offers two ways of
accessing the Optimizer. Either choose
)LOH([SRUW2SWLPL]HU to display it
directly, or choose )LOH([SRUW and
then click the 2SWLPL]H button in the
dialog. The Export dialog itself is a
standard file dialog where you can
specify the path, name, and format for
the image file.

The Export Optimizer consists of a left-hand settings region and a
right-hand preview display, with additional buttons along the bottom of
the dialog. In animation mode, there's an extra tab for changing output
settings.

To display a different portion of the image, drag the image in the
preview pane. To change the display scale, click the =RRP,Q or =RRP
2XW buttons at the lower left.

To adjust the preview display, click one of the View buttons at the
lower left to select Single, Double, or Quad display. The illustration
above shows Single view. The multi-pane (Double and Quad) settings
let you compare different export settings for one or more file formats.
Just click one of the display panes to select it as the active pane, then
use the Options panel at the left to choose an export format and specific
settings. Each time you make a new choice, the active pane updates to
show the effect of filtering using the new settings, as well as the
estimated file size!

24 Getting Started

When you’ve picked the optimum export settings, click the dialog’s
([SRUW or 2. button to proceed to the Export dialog.

For details on image file formats and optimization, see Chapter 7.

Printing

Printing is controlled from the Print dialog, which you can access by
choosing 3ULQWe from the File menu, clicking the 3ULQW button on the
Standard toolbar, or pressing &WUO3.

Choose the printer to use from the drop-down list. If necessary, click
the 3URSHUWLHV button to set up the printer for the correct page size,
etc. It’s very important to set up your printer correctly to get the best
results. Click the 2SWLRQV button if you need to set special print
options such as scaling, tiling, or CMYK color separations. (The
various print options are detailed in Chapter 7.)

After setting the printer properties and the print options, click on 2. in
the main print dialog to send the image to the printer. Depending on the
size and complexity of the image, and the printer you’re using, it may
take several minutes before the printed page emerges.

Getting Help

The PhotoPlus online help system is designed to work for you.
Whatever your background, you’ll find it easy to navigate.

♦ To begin learning about PhotoPlus tools and menus, just move the

mouse pointer around the screen. Watch the HintLine at the lower
right for capsule descriptions of each feature. Event Tips pop up as
you try new tools and actions.

♦

For help on interface elements like toolbars and tab windows, click

the

+HOS button on the top toolbar, then click on an element.

♦

For help on dialog boxes, click their internal +HOS button.

Several Help menu choices take you to key features of online help:
♦ Choose &RQWHQWV to display the main help menu screen, including

links to the Welcome and Support pages.

♦

Choose ,QGH[ to pop up the alphabetical list of help topics.

♦

Choose (IIHFWV*DOOHU\ to display a visual sampler of color

adjustments, special effects, and blend modes—cross-referenced to
help topics (see Chapter 3 for more).

Getting Started 25

Once inside online help, choose 9LVXDO5HIHUHQFH or +RZ7R to
peruse help information using either a graphical or step-by-step
approach—whichever you prefer. Each section displays its own table of
contents in the main window, while help topics appear in a second
window. Extensive cross-references make sure all the information is
interlinked.