Ulead PHOTOIMPACT 11 User Manual

User Guide

Ulead Systems, Inc.

August 2005

All rights reserved. No part of this publication ma y be reprodu ced or tr ansmitted in any f orm or by any means , elect ronic or mechanical, including photocopy ing, recording, or storing in a retrie v al system, or tran slated into a ny language in an y f orm without the express written permission of Ulead Systems, Inc.

Software license

The software described in this document is furnished under a License Ag reemen t wh ich is in cluded with t he produ ct . This Agreement specifies the permitted and prohibited uses of the produ ct.

Licenses and trademarks

©1995-2005 Ulead Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Ulead, the Ulead logo, PhotoImpact, EasyPalette and Ulead GIF Animator are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of Ulead Systems, Inc. Intel and Pentium are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation. Microsoft, Windows, the Windows logo and other Microsoft products referenced herein are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation i n the United States and other countries. Apple, QuickTime and the QuickTime logo are trademarks of Apple Computer, In c., registered in the United States and other countries. QuickTime and the QuickTime logo are trademarks used under license. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat and the Acrobat logo are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. Digimarc, MarcCentre and MarcSpider are registered trademarks of Digimarc Corporation. Ja va and all Ja va-based marks are registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems , Inc. in the U.S. and ot her countries. All other product names and any registered and unregistered trademarks mentioned are used for identification purpose only and remain the exclusive property of their respective o w ners.

Sample files

Files provided as samples on the program CD can be used for personal demonstrations, productions and presentations . No rights are granted for commercial reproduction or redistribution of any sample files.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: GETTING STARTED ........................................13

Overview of the programs ................................................... 14

PhotoImpact ............................................................................. 14

Album ...................................................................................... 14

GIF Animator ............................................................................. 14

Photo Explorer ........................................................................... 15

Ulead COOL 360 ........................................................................ 15

What’s new ......................................................................... 15

The PhotoImpact difference ......................................................... 15

Enhanced photo editing .............................................................. 16

Complete creative suite .............................................................. 16

Introduction to the workspace ............................................ 17

The Welcome Screen .................................................................. 17

Overview: User Interface ............................................................ 18

Panel Manager .........................................................................21

Layer Manager ..................................................................21

Selection Manager .............................................................21

Document Manager ...........................................................21

Browse Manager ............................................................... 22

EasyPalette ......................................................................22

Color Panel .......................................................................22

Quick Command Panel .......................................................23

Tool Settings ....................................................................23

Histogram Panel ................................................................ 23

Toolbox ...................................................................................23

Personalizing My Workspace ............................................... 23

Setting Preferences .................................................................... 23

Floating and docking toolbars and panels ...................................... 24

Using the Customize dialog box ................................................... 24

About PhotoImpact dialog boxes ......................................... 25

Using quick samples ................................................................... 25

Split View and Dual View ............................................................. 26

Using the EasyPalette .......................................................... 27

About EasyPalette galleries and libraries ....................................... 29

Creating and organizing your galleries and object libraries ............... 29

Loading and unloading galleries and libraries ................................29

Packaging galleries and libraries .................................................30

Organizing your tab groups ........................................................30

Using your images as preview thumbnails ..................................... 32

Adding custom effects to the EasyPalette ...................................... 32

Customizing the EasyPalette ........................................................ 33

4 ULEAD PHOTOIMPACT USER GUIDE

Modifying and adding Galleries thumbnails .................................... 33

Using Variations in the EasyPalette galleries .................................34

Basics .................................................................................. 35

Creating new images .................................................................. 35

Creating an image for DVD menus ..............................................36

Opening image files ................................................................... 36

Partially loading images .............................................................37

Opening CMYK files .................................................................... 38

Using the Browse Manager .......................................................... 38

Digital Camera Wizard ................................................................ 40

Acquiring images from scanners .................................................. 41

Acquiring images from WIA devices .............................................. 42

Viewing images ......................................................................... 42

Zooming on an image ................................................................43

Adding a view ..........................................................................43

Using the Global Viewer .............................................................43

Different viewing modes ............................................................44

Cropping an image ..................................................................... 44

Perspective Crop ....................................................................... 46

Converting between data types ................................................... 46

Resizing an image ...................................................................... 47

Changing resolution ..................................................................47

Changing dimensions by resampling ............................................48

Using the clipboard .................................................................... 48

Performing cut and copy operations ............................................48

Performing a paste operation .....................................................49

Pasting images as objects ..........................................................49

Pasting images into a selection area ............................................49

Pasting images to fit into a selection area ....................................50

Pasting images as new images ...................................................50

Pasting images beneath the mouse pointer ...................................50

The Clipboard submenu .............................................................50

Duplicating images ....................................................................51

Recovering from mistakes ........................................................... 51

Saving images .......................................................................... 52

Save for Mobile ........................................................................53

AutoSave .................................................................................53

Printing .................................................................................... 53

Calibrating your printer .............................................................53

Color Management ..................................................................... 54

Using Print Preview ...................................................................55

More print options .....................................................................56

Print Multiple ............................................................................56

Print Poster ..............................................................................57

Images and the Web .................................................................. 58

Sending images ........................................................................58

Acquiring images from the Internet .............................................59

TABLE OF CONTENTS 5

Changing indexed image colors .................................................... 59

Making a screen capture ............................................................. 60

Using plug-ins ........................................................................... 62

CHAPTER 2: PHOTO EDITING ............................................63

Enhancing digital camera photos using ExpressFix .............. 64

Enhancing digital camera photos using RAW data support .. 66

Handling 48-bit images ....................................................... 67

Adjusting and enhancing your images ................................. 68

White Balance ........................................................................... 76

Enhancement effects ........................................................... 77

Enhance Lighting ....................................................................... 77

Blur ......................................................................................... 77

Motion Blur ..............................................................................78

Edge Preserving Blur .................................................................78

Flatten Uneven Area .................................................................79

Zoom Blur ...............................................................................79

Sharpen ................................................................................... 80

Noise ....................................................................................... 80

Enhance ................................................................................... 80

Beautify Skin ........................................................................... 81

Diffuse Glow ............................................................................81

Sunlight ..................................................................................82

Film Grain ...............................................................................83

Add Moon ................................................................................84

Lens Filters ............................................................................... 85

Diffraction Filter .......................................................................85

Multivision Filter .......................................................................86

Star Filter ................................................................................87

Lens Distortion .......................................................................... 88

Correcting Chromatic Aberration .................................................. 89

Adding Vignette ......................................................................... 90

High Dynamic Range ........................................................... 91

Enhancing the dynamic range of an image with SmartCurves ........... 92

Creating and saving a camera curve profile ................................... 92

Composing an HDR image using multiple images ............................ 94

Optimizing the HDR image .......................................................... 96

Editing the HDR image ................................................................ 97

SmartRemove ........................................................................... 97

Using the Retouch Tools ...................................................... 99

Using the Burn and Dodge Tools ................................................ 100

Removing red eye .................................................................... 100

Changing the colors of an image ................................................ 101

Cloning parts of an image .................................................. 103

6 ULEAD PHOTOIMPACT USER GUIDE

Using the Touch-up Tool ............................................................104

Working with scanned images ........................................... 105

Auto-process - Batch .................................................................105

Stitching images together ..........................................................106

Automatic stitching .................................................................107

Manual stitching .....................................................................107

Adding a frame and photo caption ...............................................108

CHAPTER 3: SELECTIONS & OBJECTS ..............................111

Working with selections .................................................... 112

Pick Tool .................................................................................112

Standard Selection Tool - selecting regularly shaped areas .............112

Lasso Tool - selecting irregularly shaped areas .............................113

Magic Wand Tool - selecting an area containing similar colors .........115

Determining color similarity ......................................................116

Extracting objects .....................................................................117

Step 1 of 4: Drawing the boundary ........................................... 117

Step 2 of 4: Extracting the object ............................................. 118

Step 3 of 4: Adjusting degree of extraction ................................118

Step 4 of 4: Refining the object ................................................ 119

Mask Mode ..............................................................................119

Layer mask and object mask ......................................................121

Moving a selection area marquee ................................................123

Preserving the base image .........................................................123

Creating smooth-edged selection areas ........................................123

Softening a selection edge .........................................................124

Creating a border around a selection ...........................................124

Select by Color Range ...............................................................125

Adding to or subtracting from a selection .....................................126

Expanding a selection area ........................................................126

Selecting on objects ..................................................................126

Using the Selection Manager ......................................................127

Using a selection .................................................................... 127

Working with objects ........................................................ 128

Managing object layers ..............................................................128

Hiding and showing objects ........................................................129

Using the Object Properties dialog box ....................................... 129

Using the Layer Manager ......................................................... 129

Sorting objects .........................................................................129

Grouping and ungrouping objects ...............................................130

Changing an object’s layer in an image ........................................130

Setting an object’s properties .....................................................131

Editing objects .........................................................................131

Using Defringe .........................................................................131

TABLE OF CONTENTS 7

Match Background Color ........................................................... 132

Adding a shadow to an object .................................................... 133

Separating a shadow from its object ......................................... 133

Copying and moving an object between images ........................... 134

Duplicating an object ................................................................ 134

Deleting an object .................................................................... 134

Spacing and aligning objects ..................................................... 135

Using object libraries ........................................................ 136

Saving selections to the object libraries ....................................... 136

Using an image or selection from the Object Library ..................... 137

Making a lower-third ......................................................... 138

Using the Measure Tool ..................................................... 139

Using the Transform Tool .................................................. 140

Rotating images ....................................................................... 141

Straightening images .............................................................. 142

3D transformation .................................................................. 142

Working with Object Eraser Tools ..................................... 144

Using the Stamp Tool ........................................................ 145

Guidelines and grid ........................................................... 146

CHAPTER 4: USING THE PAINTING AND FILL TOOLS ......147

Using the Painting Tools .................................................... 148

Erasing ................................................................................... 149

Customizing Paint Tools ............................................................ 150

Using Paint Tool presets .......................................................... 150

Using the Tool Settings panel ................................................... 150

Special Paint Tools and Tricks .................................................... 151

Using the Particle Brush ........................................................... 151

Using the Drop Water Tool ....................................................... 152

Painting with textures ............................................................. 152

Painting an outline or border .................................................... 153

Using Paint as Object mode ..................................................... 154

Editing active objects only ......................................................... 155

Using the Fill Tools ............................................................ 156

Choosing a Gradient Fill method ................................................. 157

Filling an area with a texture ..................................................... 159

Performing drag-and-drop texture and gradient fills .................... 160

Working with Colors .......................................................... 161

Using the PhotoImpact Color Picker ............................................ 161

Picking colors from an image or entire screen .............................. 163

Changing foreground and background colors ................................ 163

Using the Color Panel ............................................................... 163

The Color tab ......................................................................... 163

Setting a Single-color ...................................................... 164

8 ULEAD PHOTOIMPACT USER GUIDE

Setting a Gradient color ................................................... 165

Swatches tab ......................................................................... 165

Gradients tab ......................................................................... 166

Color Table tab ....................................................................... 167

Understanding Indexed color images ..................................167

Editing the Color Table ..................................................... 167

Loading and saving color tables ......................................... 168

CHAPTER 5: WORKING WITH TEXT AND PATHS ..............169

Adding text ....................................................................... 170

Tool Settings ............................................................................171

Style .....................................................................................171

3D ........................................................................................ 172

Split Text ...............................................................................172

Options .................................................................................172

Applying text effects .................................................................172

Editing text as a path object .......................................................173

Saving text objects ...................................................................174

Working with paths ........................................................... 174

Creating paths .........................................................................174

The Path Drawing Tool ..............................................................175

The Shape menus ................................................................... 176

Creating paths with the Path Drawing Tool .......................... 177

Customizing 3D path objects ............................................. 178

Saving custom paths and attributes ...................................178

The Outline Drawing Tool ......................................................... 179

The Line and Arrow Tool ..........................................................181

Drawing curves and custom paths ............................................. 182

Spline Tool ..................................................................... 182

Drawing curves and custom paths ............................................. 182

Spline Tool ..................................................................... 182

Bezier Tool ..................................................................... 184

Freehand Tool ................................................................. 185

Drawing multiple paths ............................................................ 187

Importing Adobe Illustrator files ...............................................188

Tool Settings .......................................................................... 189

Filling a path with the Even-Odd Fill option .......................... 189

Editing paths ............................................................................190

Deforming the path shape ........................................................191

Using the Path Edit Tool ........................................................... 192

Editing basic shapes or line and arrow paths .......................192

Editing polygon shapes ..................................................... 195

Editing multiple paths ......................................................197

Grouping and ungrouping paths ......................................... 197

Using the Bezier Curve Tool .......................................................198

Tracing and converting images into paths ....................................200

TABLE OF CONTENTS 9

Adding 3D properties ......................................................... 201

The Material dialog box ............................................................. 203

Color/Texture ......................................................................... 203

Bevel .................................................................................... 203

Bevel Settings ........................................................................ 204

Reflection .............................................................................. 204

Transparency ......................................................................... 204

Border .................................................................................. 205

Shadow ................................................................................. 205

Light ..................................................................................... 205

Shading ................................................................................ 205

Bump .................................................................................... 205

Making the surface of 3D objects smoother ................................. 206

Creating transparent objects ..................................................... 206

Using bump maps .................................................................... 207

Saving material properties to the EasyPalette ............................. 207

Type effects ....................................................................... 208

Wrap effects ...................................................................... 209

Applying wrap effects from the EasyPalette ................................. 209

Creating your own wrap effects .................................................. 210

Modifying wrap effects .............................................................. 210

Bending text objects ................................................................. 214

The Z-Merge Tool ............................................................... 215

CHAPTER 6: SPECIAL EFFECTS ........................................217

Applying preset effects from the

EasyPalette ......................................................................... 218

Applying special effects ..................................................... 218

Lights ..................................................................................... 219

Artistic ................................................................................... 220

Brick Tiles .............................................................................. 220

Cartoon ................................................................................. 221

Contour Drawing .................................................................... 222

Engraving .............................................................................. 223

Finger Paint ........................................................................... 225

Impressionist ......................................................................... 226

Mosaic Tiles ........................................................................... 227

Pen and Ink ........................................................................... 228

Screening .............................................................................. 229

Distort .................................................................................. 230

Custom Effect ........................................................................ 230

Creative Transform ................................................................. 231

Crystal and Glass .................................................................... 231

Magic Gradient ........................................................................ 231

Paint on Edges ......................................................................... 232

10 ULEAD PHOTOIMPACT USER GUIDE

Turnpage .................................................................................233

DeInterlace ..............................................................................234

Animation effects .............................................................. 234

Frame-based animations ...........................................................235

Playing a frame-based animation .............................................. 236

Storyboard-based animations .....................................................237

Saving animations ....................................................................239

Saving GIF animation options ................................................... 239

Kaleidoscope Fill .......................................................................240

Texture Filter ...........................................................................241

Creative Warp ..........................................................................242

Crystal and Glass ......................................................................243

Creative Lighting ......................................................................244

Particle Effect ...........................................................................245

Creative Transform ...................................................................247

Type Effect ..............................................................................248

CHAPTER 7: BATCH PROCESSING ...................................249

Using the Quick Command Panel ....................................... 250

Using tasks in the EasyPalette ....................................................251

Using the History Tab ................................................................252

Applying commands to multiple files ................................. 253

Batch Manager .........................................................................253

Batch Convert ..........................................................................254

Batch test in Image Optimizer ....................................................254

CHAPTER 8: ALL FOR THE WEB .......................................255

Images for the Web ........................................................... 256

Opening an image/UFO file from a Web page ................................256

Opening a Web page as a single image ........................................257

Creating a Web background image ..............................................257

Using Background Designer ...................................................... 258

Shifting a Web background ......................................................259

Creating a seamlessly tiled background ..................................... 260

Button Designer .......................................................................261

Slice Tool ................................................................................262

Image Map Tool .......................................................................264

Creating object-based image maps ...........................................265

Creating manual image maps ................................................... 265

Optimizing file sizes and quality for the Web .................................267

Basic controls in Image Optimizer ............................................. 267

Optimizing an image as a JPEG ...................................................268

Optimizing an image as a GIF .....................................................269

TABLE OF CONTENTS 11

Optimizing an image as a PNG ................................................... 270

Testing your files with different settings ...................................... 271

Objects for the Web ........................................................... 271

Objects on a Web page ............................................................. 272

Linking multimedia objects ........................................................ 272

Editing Linked objects ............................................................. 273

HTML Text objects .................................................................... 274

Converting HTML Text objects to image objects ............................ 275

Component objects .................................................................. 276

Rollover button ...................................................................... 277

Script effects ..................................................................... 279

Advanced rollover button .......................................................... 284

Web Slide Show ....................................................................... 285

Web pages ......................................................................... 286

Structure of a Web page ........................................................... 287

Creating a new Web page ......................................................... 288

Using the Web Properties dialog box ......................................... 288

General tab .................................................................... 288

Background tab ............................................................... 289

Image File tab ................................................................ 289

Slice tab ........................................................................ 289

HTML tab ....................................................................... 290

Adding Web images and objects to your Web page ...................... 290

Exporting a Web page ....................................................... 290

Previewing in a browser ............................................................ 291

Saving for the Web .................................................................. 291

Send using default e-mail program ............................................. 292

Tutorial: Putting a Web page together ............................... 292

GIF Animator ..................................................................... 294

CHAPTER 9: COMMANDS ................................................. 295

Command descriptions ...................................................... 296

Menus and dialog boxes ............................................................ 296

File Menu ............................................................................... 296

Edit Menu .............................................................................. 297

Adjust Menu .......................................................................... 298

Photo Menu ........................................................................... 299

Effect Menu ........................................................................... 300

Selection Menu ....................................................................... 300

Object Menu .......................................................................... 301

Web Menu ............................................................................. 303

View Menu ............................................................................. 304

My Workspace Menu ............................................................... 304

Window Menu ........................................................................ 305

Help Menu ............................................................................. 306

12 ULEAD PHOTOIMPACT USER GUIDE

Toolbox ...................................................................................306

Panel Manager .........................................................................307

Layer Manager and Selection Manager ....................................... 307

Document Manager ................................................................. 309

Browse Manager ..................................................................... 310

EasyPalette ............................................................................ 311

Color Panel ............................................................................ 311

Quick Command Panel ............................................................. 312

Tool Settings .......................................................................... 312

Histogram Panel ..................................................................... 312

Index ................................................................................ 313

GETTING STARTED

This chapter explains the concepts behind PhotoImpact's user interface, beginning with a walkthrough of the workspace and its various components, followed by detailed descriptions of the various panels and toolbars and ways on customizing your PhotoImpact workspace. You will also learn how to use the EasyPalette and some of the basic program functions.

14 ULEAD PHOTOIMPACT USER GUIDE

Overview of the programs

The following is a brief overview of the programs included in the PhotoImpact package:

PhotoImpact

PhotoImpact is an all-in-one image editing solution for photo enhancement, graphic design, and Web design. With a wealth of tools at your fingertips, there’s virtually no limit to the images you can create for great-looking images for your home, business or school projects. The major program features are listed below:

Digital Photography Offers professional techniques to enhance your photos. PhotoImpact’s advanced, yet fun and easy-to-use digital imaging tools, are all you need to give your photos that professional edge.

Integrated Web tools Allow you to visually create entire Web pages containing interactive rollovers and buttons as well as Javascript effects without the hassle of coding. Since Web pages are saved in the object-based UFO file format, you can update and edit Web page content any time.

Powerful graphic imaging tools provide you with a host of features for Web and creative design.

Productivity functions Let you work with a number of image files simultaneously for maximum speed and ease.

Album

Album is a powerful tool for multimedia file management. Not only can you organize and catalog your files visually through thumbnails, but you can create your own database that you can edit and update. Album also provides convenient tools for sharing your images over the Internet.

GIF Animator

Ulead GIF Animator is a powerful tool for creating high impact animation for Web pages, presentations, and multimedia titles. Composing, editing, and applying special effects can all be done in GIF Animator. The program also gives you total control over optimization and making animations compact and Web-ready while retaining excellent image quality. When producing the final animation file, a variety of file formats are available, including animated GIF, Windows AVI, QuickTime, Autodesk animation, image sequences, and even Flash animation.

CHAPTER 1: GETTING STARTED 15

Photo Explorer

Ulead Photo Explorer gives you everything you need to quickly acquire, manage, enhance, and share digital photos, audio, and video files. It is the perfect companion to digital cameras, WebCams, DV camcorders and scanners.

Ulead COOL 360

With Ulead® COOL 360™, you can combine a series of photos into 360° or wide angle panoramic scenes.

• Create 360° and wide-angle photo panoramas in just 3 steps.

• Automated warping, aligning, and blending deliver great results fast.

• Directly output to e-mail, the Web, office documents, screen savers and printers.

What’s new

PhotoImpact is a complete image-editing suite with easy-to-use tools for all your image and photo-editing needs. Advanced features match today’s sophisticated cameras. Extensive creative tools help you realize your vision. Whether you're new to digital photography or want to take creative expression to the next level, PhotoImpact makes professional image editing easy.

The PhotoImpact difference

• My Workspace The My Workspace interface system gives you layouts with the right tools for the project at hand.

• SmartCurves New SmartCurves is automatic image adjustment that compensates for camera response curve anomalies. SmartCurves uses advanced HDR imaging technology to calibrate custom camera curves.

• Object Extraction Wizard* Allows you to professionally extract objects from images. You can compose your own scene with ease. Just paint around the edge of your subject, click on the background, extract and refine.

• SmartRemove Scene Compositor New SmartRemove lets you selectively paint out moving elements from multiple shots of the same scene, so you can compose an image with just the elements you want.

16 ULEAD PHOTOIMPACT USER GUIDE

Enhanced photo editing

• 16-bit/RAW/DNG support RAW processing lets you adjust image exposure, temperature, saturation before converting to 8- or 16-bit images. Edit images in high-quality 16-bit per channel color depth.

• White Balance Correct white-balance problems caused by tungsten/ fluorescent lights or insufficient lighting. Adjust color temperature and tint to suit the mood of the image.

• Correct Chromatic Aberration Clean up chromatic aberration and “purple fringing” in images taken with some of today’s high-resolution, small-sized sensors.

• Add Vignette Create soft-edge oval frames that make your portraits stand out. With this “spotlight” effect, you can draw viewers’ eyes to your subject and reduce distracting background elements.

• Save for Mobile Easily save files to display on mobile devices such as your cellular phone and PDA.

Complete creative suite

• Layer Manager* Now you can link and unlink objects to selection masks allowing you to change the object’s position and adjust the layer mask’s size and properties.

• Intuitive Selection tools* Make selections based on what you can see without selecting unwanted hidden elements.

• DVD Menu library The EasyPalette comes with DVD backgrounds, buttons, and frames for use with any DVD-authoring application. You can also take advantage of 20 customizable Ulead® DVD Workshop™ menu templates.

• Lower-third graphics Now you can create customized lower-third graphics with the Component Designer for use with Ulead VideoStudio, Ulead MediaStudio Pro and other video-editing applications.

• Soft Edge on objects* Add soft feathery edges for striking montages and smooth alpha-channel video overlays.

• Save images for video Generate GIF & PNG images with transparent alphachannel layers for export as video overlays.

• Component Designer Take advantage of this innovative 3-step approach to designing Web page buttons, banners, rollovers, icons and more.

* Indicates enhanced tools and features.

CHAPTER 1: GETTING STARTED 17

Introduction to the workspace

The PhotoImpact workspace can be displayed in Basic Photo, Standard Photo, Graphics, Web, or Advanced Modes which contain specific sets of tools

depending on what you want to do in the program.

When starting PhotoImpact for the first time, you are prompted to choose your workspace mode, whether Basic Photo Mode or Standard Photo Mode.

A Welcome Screen, which displays basic tasks, opens when you start PhotoImpact in Basic Photo Mode. Read the following sections to familiarize yourself more with the PhotoImpact workspace.

• Basic Photo Mode offers a simpler workspace view with larger icons, displaying tools that address the more common tasks. This mode helps new users to easily learn the main tools of the program, and provides those users mainly interested in using basic program functions with a clean and intuitive workspace.

• Standard Photo Mode displays photo-related functions on the workspace.

• Graphics Mode displays graphic-related functions on the workspace.

• Web Mode gives you tools to create images for the Web.

• Advanced Mode displays the entire PhotoImpact toolset allowing you to perform a range of simple to complex tasks.

Note: To switch between different modes, click My Workspace on the Menu bar

then select a viewing mode. See “Personalizing My Workspace” for details.

The Welcome Screen

The Welcome Screen provides you with quick shortcuts to common tasks. It is displayed when you start PhotoImpact in Basic Photo Mode. To select a task, click an icon on the Welcome Screen.

Tip: Selecting Window: Welcome Screen opens the Welcome Screen.

Tasks in the Welcome Screen include the following:

• Create New Image Opens a new image document.

• Browse Images Opens the Browse Manager which allows you to browse for folders and preview images.

• Download Images Opens the Digital Camera Wizard which allows you to download digital camera photos into your computer’s hard disk.

• Scan Images Allows you to scan images in PhotoImpact.

18 ULEAD PHOTOIMPACT USER GUIDE

• Fix Photos Allows you to make quick fixes to photos using ExpressFix.

• Watch Tutorial Allows you to view the video tutorials that are on the content CD (that is, the second PhotoImpact CD).

• Link to Learning Center Links to Ulead Learning Center on the Internet.

• Help Opens the online help.

Overview: User Interface

This section provides a brief overview of the PhotoImpact workspace. Familiarizing yourself with the components of the workspace is a great way to start learning the program. Use the page references to locate a specific topic of interest.

Menu Bar

Attribute Toolbar

Standard Toolbar

Too l b ox

Status Bar

Panel Manager

Document Manager

Status Bar

Program Status & Helpful Hints

Data Type

Display image properties or system info

Unit

Show/Hide Ruler

Show/Hide Image Map

Show/Hide Slice Line

Enter or exit Mask Mode

CHAPTER 1: GETTING STARTED 19

Standard Toolbar (Basic Photo Mode)

New Image

Show/Hide Browse Manager

Save

Print Preview

Undo

Redo

Scanner

Digital Camera

ExpressFix

Send E-mail

Show/Hide EasyPalette

Zoom

Product Updates on the Web

Help

Standard Toolbar (Advanced Mode)

New Image

New Web page

Open

Save

Undo

Redo

Scanner

Digital Camera

Scanned Image Fix

Zoom

Product Updates on the Web

Help

Print Preview

Print Multiple

Preview in Browser

Cut

Copy

Paste

ExpressFix

Auto Levels

SmartCurves

Highlight Midtone Shadow

Brightness and Contrast

Start/Stop Capture

Photo Frame

White Balance

20 ULEAD PHOTOIMPACT USER GUIDE

Layer Manager

Selection Manager

Document Manager

Browse Manager

Color Panel

Quick Command Panel

Tool Settings

Histogram Panel

EasyPalette

Panel Manager

Selection Tools

Path Tools

Crop Tools

Slice Tool

Retouch Tools

Stamp Tool

Eraser Tools

Pick Tool

Z-Merge Tool

Tex t Tool

Transform Tool

Zoom Tool

Eyedropper and Measure Tools

Paint Tools

Clone Tools

Fill Tools

Toolbox

Quick Color Control Panel

Image Map Tool Foreground and Background Colors

CHAPTER 1: GETTING STARTED 21

Panel Manager

The Panel Manager, by default docked at the right side of the PhotoImpact window, allows you to open or close various panels. Just click a button to open the associated panel, and click again to close it.

Layer Manager

The Layer Manager displays all the objects present in your active document as individual thumbnails. These thumbnails reflect any editing that you apply to the objects. Each thumbnail is numbered sequentially by the order (or layer) in which it was created. Change the order, position and size, and object properties directly from within the Layer Manager. You can also show/hide objects by clicking the eye icon, or lock an object’s position by clicking the lock icon in the Layer Manager.

Notes:

• To select multiple objects in the Layer Manager, press [Ctrl] or [Shift] as you click objects. To select all objects, press [Ctrl+Shift+A].

• Transparency and object merging options, both useful tools for changing an object’s display qualities, are readily accessible beneath the Layer Manager toolbar.

• Thumbnail menu commands contain a number of practical tools used for manipulating objects.

•The Global Viewer icon opens a separate area at the bottom of the Layer Manager, where documents can be magnified by adjusting a slider or using the zoom tools. When the document does not fit in the window, the frame on the document enables you to select the area to display.

Selection Manager

The Selection Manager lets you store up to 99 items or frequently-used selections and masks for easy storage and retrieval. To place a selection in the manager, make a selection using any of the selection tools, then right-click to reveal the context menu, and choose Store Selection.

Document Manager

The Document Manager displays open documents in the workspace as thumbnails. It’s easy to switch between a handful of open documents using the Document Manager. Click or double-click (if the document is minimized) a document thumbnail to bring it to the top of the workspace.

Notes:

• The active document has a blue border around its thumbnail image in the Document Manager.

• Select multiple thumbnails then select one of the Batch Manager commands on the Toolbar to apply that command to all selected documents.

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• Move your cursor over a thumbnail in the Document Manager to display that document’s properties.

•The Global Viewer icon opens a separate area at the bottom of the Document Manager, where documents can be magnified by adjusting a slider or using the zoom tools. When the document does not fit in the window, the frame on the document enables you to select the area to display.

Browse Manager

Browse for image files on your computer or local network with the Browse Manager. Image files can be identified more easily in the Browse Manager as they are displayed as thumbnails. Open files by double-clicking a thumbnail or by dragging the files to the workspace.

Click Recent Files to view the documents you have recently opened in the workspace. Double-click the thumbnail to open the file in the workspace. The number of recently opened files can be set in the Preferences dialog box [F6].

Right-click Recent Files to open a pop-up menu where it displays the folders that you have recently accessed.

Tips:

• Batch Convert - Convert the file format or data type of all images in the selected folder.

• Batch Task - Apply a previously recorded task to all images in the selected folder.

EasyPalette

The EasyPalette contains preset effects, masks and objects that you can easily access and use in your images. Galleries and Object Libraries hold numerous filters, styles, image objects, shapes, and more that you can simply drag and drop or double-click to add to your image. You can customize your own effects or objects and add them to the EasyPalette or export them as separate files outside the program for back-up or future use.

Color Panel

The Color Panel is a centralized color manager that sets and organizes colors for the various tools used throughout PhotoImpact. Select from a wide variety of preset solid and gradient colors for Paint, Retouch, Text, and Path Tools. You can also create and use other colors by adding it to the Color Panel.

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Quick Command Panel

The Quick Command Panel gives you a fast way to access and apply commonly used commands and actions to your images. You can record a series of commands and actions as tasks, then apply them to your images at a single click. With the Quick Command Panel, you can also easily retrace or redo steps you have done.

Tool Settings

The Tool Settings panel allows you to define custom settings for the different tools in the Toolbox, which include the Text Tool, Path Tools, Paint Tools, Retouch Tools, Clone Tools, Stamp Tool, and Object Eraser Tools. See the chapters on these tools to know more about each tool and its Tool Settings panel.

Histogram Panel

The Histogram Panel displays the color distribution of either the entire image or just the selected area of your image. You may then adjust color imbalances using Tone Map, Highlight Midtone Shadow, or Color Balance (in the Adjust or Photo menu) to further enhance your image.

Toolbox

For tools in the Toolbox, some have a submenus with further tools. To access these tools, click the triangle icon on the lower right of the button. When the submenu pops up, you can drag it away from its original position to make it float anywhere on the screen or dock it to another part of the program window.

Personalizing My Workspace

PhotoImpact gives you the flexibility to customize the workspace to suit your needs. Its toolbars and panels can be floated or docked to the workspace. The Standard Toolbar can be customized to include only icons of the tools that you commonly use. Read the following sections for more information.

Setting Preferences

Select File: Preferences or press [F6] to set various options specific to PhotoImpact and to customize the way the program works. The Category section in the Preferences dialog box contains all the different aspects that determine the program’s performance. Clicking a category displays the options with their respective settings or attributes.

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Floating and docking toolbars and panels

In the PhotoImpact interface, you can freely drag floating toolbars and panels around the workspace or dock them to the sides of the workspace.

The Standard Toolbar can be docked either to the top or bottom, or the left or right side of the program window while the Toolbox can be docked to the left and right side. The Attribute Toolbar can be docked either to the top or bottom. To dock a toolbar from the Toolbox, such as the Selection Tools or Retouch Tools, click on the title bar of the toolbar then drag it to any side of the workspace.

When docking a panel, 8 directional keys are shown for fast, easy and accurate docking. Drag and drop the panel to a directional (target) key to complete docking. To resize the panel, drag its borders with your mouse.

Multiple panels can be docked in the same group. Click Show/Hide Panels to expand or collapse a single panel or grouped panels.

Note: The docking mechanism can be toggled on/off in File: Preferences -

Docking.

Using the Customize dialog box

Selecting My Workspace: Customize opens the Customize dialog box for options on your preferred PhotoImpact interface.

• Profiles tab lets you to save, import, export and manage the user profiles

for PhotoImpact. Save your profiles for later use, or import/export profiles for back-up or sharing.

• Toolbars tab lets you show or hide existing toolbars and create new ones for

frequently-used tools.

• Commands tab has categories and lists of commands/tasks available in

PhotoImpact. You can select a command icon and drag it directly to a menu or toolbar, or drag a unwanted icon from a toolbar to anywhere within the dialog box.

• Toolbox tab lets you drag a tool to add to an existing toolbar, or drag from a

toolbar and drop anywhere in the dialog box to remove it.

• EasyPalette tab lets you set the order of Galleries and Libraries you can

show or hide in the EasyPalette.

• Options tab gives you other choices for using large buttons and the tooltips

feature.

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After adjusting the PhotoImpact interface to your own preferences, you can save your profile in the Profiles tab. This adds your profile to the mode choices in the My Workspace menu.

About PhotoImpact dialog boxes

Most of the dialog boxes in PhotoImpact that can be used to adjust or enhance images provide quick presets that be directly applied to your images. These dialog boxes also contain Split View and Dual View windows which provide an easy way to compare the original image with the after image.

Using quick samples

Most of the Adjust, Photo, and Effect commands use dialog boxes that contain quick samples. Quick samples are presets represented by visual thumbnails that you can directly apply to your image. To apply a quick sample to your image, click the thumbnail that shows the result you want.

The quick samples in some dialog boxes such as Brightness and Contrast and Color Balance apply cumulative changes to your image. Each time you click a thumbnail, the respective preset is added to the current state of the image.

Note: In this type of dialog box, the center thumbnail represents the current state of

the image and the surrounding thumbnails represent the different presets. Clicking a preset applies it to the center thumbnail. You can also manually adjust the settings in the dialog box.

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Correction effects such as Blur and Sharpen under the Photo menu provide two levels of dialog boxes: a quick samples dialog box and a custom dialog box.

The presets in the quick samples dialog box apply a single result only. Each time you click a thumbnail, the selected preset is applied to the original state of your image. If you want to define settings for the effect, click Options to open the custom dialog box where you can tweak the settings.

Tip: To hide the quick samples dialog box, clear Display quick samples in the

PhotoImpact category of the Preferences dialog box. This will allow the

custom dialog box to be opened directly.

Split View and Dual View

Most of the image adjustment and effect dialog boxes provide two types of preview windows: Split View and Dual View. The preview dialog boxes from functions in the Photo menu are resizable and can be maximized, depending on your viewing preference.

• Split View shows an overlapped display with the Splitter bar dividing your

image into its original and modified versions. Click Change Split Direction to change how the preview image is to be divided (horizontal or vertical) then drag the Splitter Bar accordingly, depending on whether you want to see more of the original image or more of the image after the effect has been applied. The Splitter Bar can be fully moved to the right or to the left.

• Dual View allows you to see a full view of the original and modified versions

of your image by showing them in separate preview windows.

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Tips:

• You can add customized adjustments or effect settings to the EasyPalette for easy access in the future. Click Add this effect to EasyPalette in the dialog box to perform this function.

• To preview the effect on the image document in the workspace, click Preview the result in the dialog box.

• To apply the effect to a specific part of your image only, use one of the selection tools to highlight the area you want to enhance before you apply a command.

Using the EasyPalette

The EasyPalette is a panel that provides quick access to preset and customized effects and objects. It contains filters, styles, images, shapes, templates, and animation. Galleries contain various effects you can apply to your images while Object Libraries contain various objects, paths, Web templates and more.

The easiest and most convenient method for applying effects or adding objects is by double-clicking their thumbnails in the EasyPalette. You can also drag these thumbnails directly onto the image, selection area, or object.

By customizing effects and objects, you can create your own galleries and object libraries. These can then be saved and shared with other PhotoImpact users.

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To use the EasyPalette:

• Click or to switch between galleries and object libraries.

• Click to toggle between displaying the EasyPalette in the Tree or Tab

view.

• In Galleries, Try allows you to use your images as preview thumbnails.

• Thumbnail menu commands allows you to modify, apply, add, or view descriptions of effects and objects.

• Click Customize EasyPalette to modify EasyPalette properties and settings.

• Click Find to search for thumbnails in the current gallery or object library.

You can apply presets from the EasyPalette to selected files or folders in the Document Manager or Browse Manager by dragging the preset thumbnail from the EasyPalette onto the selected files or folders.

When applying presets to files or folders in the Browse Manager, the Batch dialog box will open. In the dialog box, you can choose to open the modified files on the workspace, save and close them without viewing the results or save your files in another folder before closing.

Note: You cannot drag and drop preset thumbnails when using Open from Web.

To apply an item from the EasyPalette:

1. Click the EasyPalette icon in the Panel Manager.

2. Click Galleries to access effects.

Click Object Libraries to access objects.

3. In Tree view, click "+" / "-" or double-click each gallery/object library to display or hide the available effects and objects.

4. Double-click the thumbnail or drag and drop it on the document to apply.

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About EasyPalette galleries and libraries

The galleries and libraries in the EasyPalette hold numerous preset effects and objects that you can directly use for your graphics.

Creating and organizing your galleries and object libraries

You can create your own galleries and object libraries to have easy access to your personal collection of effects and objects. You can save these files for use in future projects or share them with other users.

To create a gallery or object library:

1. Click the Galleries/Object Libraries down arrow and select Gallery Manager/Object Library Manager - Create.

2. Create Gallery/Create Object Library dialog box is displayed. Enter a name for your gallery / object library in Name. To change the path and the folder, enter or browse for a new destination in Folder.

3. Tab groups lists the tabs in the new gallery/object library. Click Add/Remove to manage your tab groups. See “Organizing your tab groups” for details.

4. Click OK. The new gallery file (SMP) or object library file (UOL) is then created in the specified folder.

Loading and unloading galleries and libraries

Use Load and Export to share your galleries and object libraries with other people or save them as backup.

• Load Allows you to import gallery files (SMP) or object library files (UOL) into

the EasyPalette.

• Export Saves the active gallery/object library as another file in a specified

folder. In Export Gallery/Object Library dialog box, the Package option allows you to include all linked files in the folder.

To load and export, click the Galleries/Object Libraries arrow and select

Gallery Manager/Object Library Manager - Load/Export.

Tip: You can also right-click the gallery/object library in Tree view and select Load/

Export.

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Packaging galleries and libraries

When exporting, it is best to select Package if you are sharing galleries and object libraries that contain your own original image files. This saves your active gallery/ object library as a new file in a specified folder, including all the linked files.

To package a gallery or object library into a folder:

1. Click the Galleries/Object Libraries arrow and select Gallery Manager/ Object Library Manager - Export.

Tip: You can also right-click the gallery/object library in Tree view and select Load/

Export.

2. The Export Gallery/Object Library dialog box opens.

3. Specify the destination folder where your packaged gallery/library files and other external files will be saved.

4. Enter a file name.

5. Select Package.

6. Click Save.

Organizing your tab groups

Galleries and object libraries can store effects and objects such as images, filters, animation, masks, templates, and more. To easily locate these files, organize them by grouping them into tab groups.

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