1 Image size and canvas size
Sometimes a tricky distinction if you havent encountered it before, its 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 thats 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 imagerather 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.
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 youll 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 tools 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.

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 youll 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.

Starting PhotoPlus

Enough boring lectureon to the demonstrations! (Well skip the quiz.) Its time to begin exploring PhotoPlus.
NOTE: Throughout the Companion, well use Y checkbox bullets to mark actual the ongoing tutorial thread: steps wed like you to complete as you follow along with the text. Youll come across many other descriptions and examples of commands, tools, and procedures (and of course youre encouraged to experiment). But rememberunless a step has a checkbox, its entirely optional!
The Setup routine adds a 6HULI3KRWR3OXV item to the 3URJUDPV submenu of the Windows 6WDUW menu.
Getting Started 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 filespictures 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 dont care to see the Startup Wizard again, uncheck the Use the Startup Wizard next time box. However, we suggest you leave it checked until youre familiar with the equivalent PhotoPlus commands. Click Open Saved Work and then click the Browse button in the dialog.
Y PhotoPlus is set to initially display the contents of the PhotoPlus PROJECTS folder, located on your hard disk. If the Open dialog displays a different folder, browse to PROGRAM FILES\SERIF\PHOTOP60\PROJECTS.
NOTE: Whether or not you use the Projects folder to store your own work, remember its location so youll know where to find Companion source files when theyre 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).

Getting your bearings

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, youll 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 2SHQ6DYHG:RUN from the Startup Wizard. The dialog displays image files youve 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 )LOH2SHQeto 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 6KRZSUHYLHZ (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 )URP7:$,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 theres 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 sourceor you can specify a different source by choosing ,PSRUW6HOHFW6RXUFH from the File menu.
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 well be focusing on techniques that work perfectly well on oneor at most twolayers.

Note that the formatting is applied to all the text in the window (no need to select it first), and that the text is black (for visibility) rather than the foreground color at this point. The dialog also has an $GMXVW &RORU buttonbut lets leave that for later. Y Click 2. to insert the caption. The text appears (in the foreground color) on a new text layer above the Background layer that has the photo. The text layer is now the active layer. Because its on a separate layer, the text is editable and can be repositioned independently of any other image layers. (Chapter 4 will have more on working with text.)
Manipulating Images Y Choose the Move tool from the Tools toolbar and drag the text around until it is in the right position on the image. Finally, save the modified image again and/or export it to another format, such as.BMP or.JPG. Since exporting flattens the image into a single layer, youll probably want to retain an.SPP image with the layers intact, in case you decide to do some more editing later.

Making Selections

Before you can apply effects or filters, or copy parts of a picture to the Clipboard, you must define an active selection area.

Selection options

In the example just completed, you adjusted brightness and contrast in the image as a whole, and dragged an entire text layer around. Many times, however, youll want to select just a subset of the image (or layer) to work on. Selecting, you may recall, was one of the Key Concepts presented in Chapter 2. Understanding what you can do with selections opens up exciting creative possibilities. Whenever there's a selection, certain tools and commands operate only on the pixels inside the selectionas opposed to a condition where nothing is selected, in which case those functions generally affect the entire active layer. For example, when there's a selection, the brush tools only work inside the selection; the color simply doesn't affect outside pixels. If you apply an adjustment or special effect from the Image menu, it only affects the selected region. Clicking a layers name on the Layer Manager tab makes it the active layer. To select the whole active layer, choose 6HOHFW$OO from the Select menu or press &WUO$.
Manipulating Images PhotoPlus offers a very wide range of selection tools, and a variety of commands for modifying the extent or properties of the selected pixels. The standard selection tools are located on the Standard Selection Tools flyout on the Tools toolbar. There you can choose from the Rectangle, Ellipse, Freehand, or Polygon tools. Rectangle or To select a rectangular or elliptical area, select the Ellipse tool from the flyout and drag to define a region on the image.

Immediately, a selection mask (circle) appears around the designated region and the current correction settings are applied there. The default settings are probably good, but if fine-tuning is needed, adjust the sliders (or enter specific values) as the preview window updates. Redness Tolerance (from Loose to Strict) controls how much red is removed. Blur Amount (from Hard to Soft) expands the black area to form a bigger pupil. Y When the left eye is fixed, repeat the procedure for the right eye, and when youre done, click 2. Thats all there is to it!
HANDS ON: Antiquing a Photo
This sequence will show you how to make a new color photo look like an old sepia-toned image, and will also introduce some new layer techniquesa preview of Chapter 5s in-depth coverage. Y Open the file HOUSE.JPG in the PhotoPlus PROJECTS folder.
Y Choose $GMXVW!%ULJKWQHVV&RQWUDVWe from the Image menu and increase both the brightness and contrast by 10 to make the picture look a bit faded. Y Next, add some grain to the image by choosing 1RLVH$GGe from the Image menu. Increase the value to about 15. Y Choose $GMXVW!*UD\VFDOH from the Image menu to make the photograph black and white.
To create the sepia look, we will be adding a semi-transparent color layer above the photo. Y Choose 1HZe from the Layers menu. In the dialog, call the new layer Sepia and set its Opacity to 40. Leave the Blend Mode at Normal for the time being. Click 2. and youll see the new layers name appear on the Layer Manager tab (although the image wont look any different).
Y Using the Color tab, set the foreground color to be an orange hue (suggested values: R=255, G=166, B=0).
Select the Flood Fill tool and click on the image to fill the active layer (Sepia) with the foreground color. (The next chapter will look at fills in more detail.)
Even though the Sepia layer is semi-transparent, its lightness tends to wash out the darker details in the photograph. Heres how changing the layers blend mode can correct that condition. Y On the Layer Manager tab, click the drop-down list (now set to Normal) and choose Multiply. The result is a new way of combining the Sepia layers pixels with those below. Multiply always produces a darker value, so the bottom tones in the original picture are preserved. The last step is to add a simple frame. Y On the Color tab, define black as the background color, either by right-clicking in the spectrum or clicking the background swatch and setting its RGB value to 0,0,0. Y Choose &DQYDV6L]H from the Image menu. Add 40 to each value shown in the Width and Height boxes. Click the center Anchor point so that the existing image will be centered with respect to the edge pixels being added. Click 2. The result? A black border around the sepia-toned photo. If the results dont look quite right to you, feel free to retrace your steps using Undo, and try new toning values, transparency, or canvas adjustments.

Working with Paint and Text
The previous chapter described a variety of ways of working with existing imagesespecially photographs, and usually on a single layer. Now its time to look at creating elements from scratch, using the range of PhotoPlus paint and text tools. Perhaps you need to add text to a photo, along the lines of Chapter 2s cat Hands-on Project. Or perhaps youre starting out with a blank canvas and want to try some interesting graphic shapes and color combinations for a logo or custom Web button. Whatever your creative goals, all of the functions described in this chapter can be applied to photographic images or images opened from file as well as to new work!

Choosing Colors

At any given time, PhotoPlus allows you to work with any two colorscalled the foreground color and the background color. These are always visible as two swatches on the Color tab. In this example, the foreground color is set to black and the background color to white.
Here are some things to remember about how these colors are used: Cutting, deleting, or erasing an area on the Background layer exposes the background color. On other layers, removing an area exposes transparency. To swap foreground and background colors, click the double arrow next to the Color tab swatches.
Working with Paint and Text There are a several simple ways to set the foreground or background color. One is to use the Color Pickup tool on the Tools toolbar. Leftclick with the tool anywhere on an image to pick up the color at that point as the new foreground color, and right-click to define a new background color. As a shortcut if youre working with one of the drawing tools (paintbrush, line, etc.), you can press the $OW key to switch temporarily to the Color Pickup tool. Release the key to switch back once youve left- or right-clicked to make a color selection. Another way is to use the Color tab. To quickly select foreground or background color, move the mouse pointer (dropper cursor) around the tabs Color Spectrum. As you do so, a preview swatch pops up showing the color at the cursor position. Left-click in the spectrum to set a new foreground color, and right-click to set a new background color. Yet another way is to click either the foreground or the background swatch (a white border around either box tells you its selected), then use the sliders or enter numeric values in the boxes to define a specific color. The selected swatch updates instantly. Double-clicking either a foreground or background color swatch on the Color tab brings up the more complex Adjust Color dialog, which lets you define and store a set of custom colors interactively, using a color wheel. See the Choosing colors topic in online help for details. The Color tab also makes it possible to set the working color mode to any one of the following: RGB (Red, Green, Blue); HSL (Hue, Saturation, Lightness); CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black); or Grayscale. (For lots of useful terms and theory relating to color definition and color modes, see Chapter 7.)

Blend Modes

You can think of blend modes as different ways of putting pixels together to create a resulting color. In PhotoPlus, weve already encountered blend modes as a property of individual tools (Paintbrush, Clone, Eraser, Airbrush, Fill, Smudge, Shape, and Line), where the tools blend mode determines how new color pixels look when painting on top of existing pixels. As a property of individual layers, a layers blend mode determines the result of combining each pixel on that layer with those on layers below. (Because there are no layers below the Background layer, it cant have a blend mode.) Note that unlike working with paint tools, changing a layers blend mode property doesnt actually alter the pixels on the layer. This means you can create different blend mode effects after creating the image content, then merge layers (see the previous section) when youve achieved the result you want. To set a layers blend mode, select it on the Layer Manager tab and choose from the drop-down list as shown at right. To learn more about the individual blend modes, choose (IIHFWV *DOOHU\ from the Help menu, then select from the Gallery menu. Each mode is illustrated for quick comparisons, and the listing of modes is cross-referenced to explanatory help topics (just click the green links).
HANDS ON: Making a Montage
Now well put several layers from several files together to create one image (in this case an ad for a music event) using a base image, text, and backgrounds. Were going to use an image of a musical score as the main background for our composite. Y Open the file SCORE.JPG in the PhotoPlus PROJECTS folder.
Y Save the image under the name MONTAGE.SPP. This will become the primary working window (well refer to it as the Montage window). Y Now open the file PIANO.JPG in the Sample folder. Copy the image to the Clipboard and then close the image window without saving.
Y In the Montage window, choose 3DVWH!$V1HZ/D\HU from the Edit menu to paste the piano image as a new layer (Layer 1). Y Choose $GMXVW!+XH6DWXUDWLRQ/LJKWQHVVe from the Image menu and boost the layers Lightness by 25. Y Open the file STATUE.JPG in the PROJECTS folder. Carefully select around the statue, using the Ellipse Adjustable Selection tool to make a circular selection including just the statues head. Y Copy the selected area to the Clipboard and close the image window. Then in the Montage window, choose 3DVWH!$V1HZ /D\HU from the Edit menu to paste another new layer (Layer 2). Y Select the Deform tool and drag to enlarge the head slightly, keeping the 6KLIW key down to maintain the aspect ratio.
Y Save the work-in-progress at this point (and every so often for the rest of the project). Now, well add some text. Y Make the foreground color red on the Color tab, and then select the Text tool. Click the Text tool on the image, and in the Add Text window type the words Liberty Concert. Use Basic Sans Heavy SF, 72 points, with centered alignment and a line break after Liberty. Click 2. to place the text as a new text layer.

Preparing Web Graphics

One of the main uses for PhotoPlus is to produce graphics for use on the World Wide Web. This chapter looks at the prevalent Web graphics file formats, techniques for creating and editing.GIF animations, and two specialized techniques (image slicing and image maps) used to extend the performance of Web images. Performance may seem like an odd aspect of graphic design, but its actually one of the key factors in designing for the Web. Among other things, it means load time: how long it takes for your whole page, including text and graphics, to display completely in a Web browser. In practice, its hard to measure. Things like connection bandwidth, server speed, and modem rating all play a part. Load time is a function of the total size of all the page objects that need to load; and graphics usually take up the lions share. Is there anything you can do to reduce the total size of your graphics, aside from using fewer graphics? An obvious suggestion is not to make them any larger than they need to be to get your point across. Since file size increases as the square of each dimension, shrinking both height and width by half reduces the file size by 75%. The PhotoPlus Export Optimizer will greatly help you in reducing file sizes as far as possible while maintaining image quality. For related background material, be sure to consult the Color concepts and Optimizing images sections of Chapter 7.

Formats for the Web

Here are some general notes on the principal file formats used for Web pictures and animation.GIF,.JPG, and.PNGand details on the options youll encounter in the PhotoPlus Export Optimizer. Y The details will make a lot more sense if you have the Export Optimizer open. Try using Double or Quad view (see Chapter 3) for side-by-side quality comparisons at different settings.

.GIF format

The.GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) file format is universally supported in Web browsers for both static and animated Web graphics. Its a lossless format (theres no image degradation) with excellent compression but a limitation of 256 colors. Use it for non-photographic images with sharp edges and geometricsfor example buttons, bursts, decorative elements, and text graphics. Its suitable for grayscale photos as well.
Preparing Web Graphics The.GIF format supports binary transparency. That is, any portion of the image may be either fully opaque or fully transparent. Typically, this is used to eliminate the box-shaped frame around the graphic that would otherwise be present. Elements with rounded edges, such as characters or shapes, preserve their contours over any background color or pattern. If youre producing transparent GIFs, try to avoid anti-aliasing and feathering (i.e. turn them off in the Tool Properties tab). The semitransparency these functions impart may look fine in PhotoPlus, but remember that.GIF wants all or nothing. Pixels that arent 100% transparent will end up opaque, and the exported graphic will display sharp or even ragged edges when viewed over a Web page background. GIF is also a multi-part format, which means one file can store multiple images. As such, its the preferred format for Web animations.

.PNG format

For Web graphics, the newer.PNG (Portable Network Graphics, pronounced ping) format has a number of advantages over.GIFthe main ones, from an artists perspective, being lossless 24-bit images and support for variable transparency. Whereas.GIF supports simple binary (on-off) transparency,.PNG allows up to 254 levels of partial transparency for normal images. The image file includes an alpha channel that directs pixels in the foreground image to merge with those in a background image. Most commonly used with 24-bit images, anti-aliasing creates the illusion of smooth curves by varying pixel colors-for rounded images that look good against any background, not just against a white background. Its especially useful for the small graphics commonly used on Web pages, such as bullets and fancy text.PNGs most obvious drawback at the present time is that the major Web browsers dont yet provide full.PNG supportbut this will change, we hope, as more graphic artists become aware of the formats advantages.
HANDS ON: Making A Web Button
Making labeled buttons is a typical use for text in PhotoPlus. Here, were going to make a simple Stop sign button. The first step is to create a basic Background layer for the button. Y Choose 1HZefrom the File menu, or click the 1HZ button on the Standard toolbar. (Then if the Startup Wizard is enabled, click on &UHDWH1HZ3LFWXUH.)
Y In the New Image dialog, set the size to 600600 pixels and specify a white background.
This is much larger than the finished button will be, when saved as a.GIF file, but it is much easier to work on a larger image. Well resize it just before exporting as a.GIF. Y Click 2. to create an empty image with a layer called Background. Y Before going any further, choose 6DYH$Vefrom the File menu and save the image as BUTTON.SPP. The next step is to fill the background with a plain color. Y Select a light blue foreground color from the Colors tab (we suggest R=168, G=245, B=255). Y Select the Flood Fill tool from the Tools toolbar and click on the image to fill with the foreground color. Now well add a bevel effect to make the image look like a button. You cant apply Layer effects to the Background layer, so right-click on Background on the Layer Manager tab and choose 3URPRWHWR /D\HU.
Preparing Web Graphics Y Choose (IIHFWV!%HYHOefrom the Layers menu to open the Bevel Filter. Bearing in mind that the image will eventually be reduced in size considerably, increase the Opacity to 90 and the Blur to 20.
Next, well add a graphical element. Well put this on its own layer, so we need to add a new layer.
Y On the Layer Manager tab, right-click on Layer 1 and choose 1HZe. In the dialog, name the layer Shape. Y Change the foreground color to deep red, then select the Polygon tool from the Shape Tool flyout. Y Draw a polygon shape. Adjust the left handle so the shape is octagonal, with eight sides, and drag the top handle to rotate the figure into a stop sign orientation. Then double-click inside the figure to complete drawing the shape. Y Choose (IIHFWV!%HYHOefrom the Layers menu to open the Bevel Filter and apply a bevel with an Opacity of 75 and the Blur set to 5. Next, select White as the foreground color. Y Select the Text tool and click it on the image. In the Add Text window, type the word STOP and format it as Arial, Bold, 72 points. Y Use the Deform tool to shrink or expand the word so it fills the center of the octagon. (Or you can click the text with the Text tool and use the Add Text box to adjust the pointsize.) Finally, well resize the image to a more suitable size for a Web button. Y To preserve the proportions of the bevel effect, choose 0HUJH$OO from the Layers menu before resizing. Y Choose ,PDJH6L]Hefrom the Image menu and resize the image to 5050 pixels. Y Finally, choose ([SRUW2SWLPL]HUe from the File menu and export the image as a.GIF after checking the options.

Producing Web Animations

Animation creates an illusion of motion or change by displaying a series of still pictures, rapidly enough to fool the eyeor more accurately, the brain. With PhotoPlus, its easy to create and edit images with multiple frames, then export them as animated GIFs that a Web browser can play back. You use exactly the same tools and interface as for creating standard, multi-layer PhotoPlus images, with an extra tab window that includes all the additional controls you need to set up frames, add special effects, and preview the animation. Once youre satisfied, use the Export Optimizer to output to the.GIF file format. The.GIF format is what makes Web animation possible, for a couple of reasons. First, its universally supported by Web browsers. Second, its a multi-part format, capable of encoding not just one image but multiple images in the same file. A GIF animation player or Web browser can display these images in sequence, in accordance with certain settings (looping, frame delay, etc.) included in the file. The resultit moves! PhotoPlus gives you the choice of either creating your animations from scratch, then exporting to.GIF, or starting out by importing a.GIF animation and then editing it. Either way, once PhotoPlus detects an animation file, it switches on the Animation tab. If the image file is new, youll see a single, blank frame, labeled Frame 1. If youve imported an animation, the tab displays each frame separately. Animation files can have one layer, or many (see below), but all their layers are standard (transparent) layers; theres no Background layer. (If you need to brush up on the concept of layers, see Chapter 5.)

Layers and frames

Animations are defined by the Animation tab working together with the Layer Manager tab. Lets look at a little animated GIF of a rotating spiral. Y Open the file SWIRL1.GIF in the PhotoPlus PROJECTS folder. When the image opens, the Animation tab appears.
Preparing Web Graphics Notice the playback control buttons on the right, below the frames. Y Click the 3OD\ button to preview the animation, and click
6WRS to freeze it. Try the other playback buttons, while you're at it! To display the Visual Reference topic describing the various features of the Animation tab, click the button and then click anywhere on the tab. Lets examine the Swirl animation more closely. In this file (as in any imported GIF animation) the individual frames each have been assigned one layer in the PhotoPlus image. On the Layer Manager tab, the layer stack for this animation corresponds nicely with the frame sequence, with default namesin this case, Frame 1 of 6 through Frame 6 of 6. Y Select Frame 1 on the Animation tab. Notice that on the Layer Manager only the Frame 1 layer is marked as shown, with an open-eye button; the other layers are all hidden, with closed-eye buttons. Y Now select Frame 2 on the Animation tab. This time, only the Frame 2 layer will be shown, and the rest will be hidden. And so on with the other frames. The above example, with its one-to-one correspondence between frames and layers, is easy to grasp but deceptively simple. Dont make the mistake of thinking that a frame is just another name for a layer. Frames in PhotoPlus are actually much more versatile! Key point: A so-called frame is really just a particular state or snapshot of the various layers in the image, in terms of three layer properties: Shown/Hidden: Which layers are shown and which are hidden Position: The position of the contents of each shown layer Opacity: The opacity setting of each shown layer

Color Concepts

Its always difficult to draw a line between concepts you should understand before you get started, and those that can wait until you absolutely need them. Here weve collected a few key terms and concepts relating to color, and presented them roughly in order of priority, trying to keep it simple without oversimplifying. So we suggest you just begin at the beginning, and treat this as a reference section you can revisit at any time.

Bitmaps

First of all, PhotoPlus is all of the following things and more: a photo editor, a paint program, a bitmap editor. It lets you create manipulate images called bitmaps, paint-type images, or raster graphics. Dont be overwhelmed by the jargonall these terms communicate a single concept! Bitmaps (lets settle on that term) are digital pictures (which may or may not be photographs) represented by lots of colored dots (pixels) on a computer screen (raster). You create these images by painting or filling in regions on the screen, regions that can be as small as a single pixel or as large as the whole screen (or larger).

Bit depth

A bitmap is basically a bunch (literally a map) of numbers that tell each dot (pixel) on a computer monitor what color it should be. And since computer numbers consist of binary digits (1s and 0s, or bits), each pixel in effect has one or more bits backing it up, telling it what to do. From this fact arises the concept of bit depth (also known as pixel depth), one of the essential attributes of any bitmap image. Bitmaps not only have height and width, they have depth. The more bits assigned to each pixel, the more possible color states the pixel can be told to takethe greater its color depth. For example: If youre only using 1 bit per pixel, the pixel can only be ON or OFF, in other words 1 or 0, the two states of the bithence white or black (monochrome). By comparison, a bit depth of 4 bits per pixel can store 16 values; 8 bits per pixel, 256, and so on. 16-bit images have roughly thousands of values to describe each pixels color, and 24-bit images have millions. Not surprisingly, the file size of an image is basically the product of its linear dimensions (number of pixels) times its bit depth, so a picture saved as a 24-bit image would take up three times as much disk space as an 8-bit version. Of course, the appearance of a bitmap on a screen depends not only on the bit depth of the picture but on that of the computer screen displaying it. Just a few years ago (in the old days), many monitors were limited to 16 colors, and 256 was a big deal. There were VGA and SVGA, and today the choices include High Color (16 bit) and True Color. Just because you may have a higher-end system, dont forget that many others do not. A 24-bit image with millions of colors may look abysmal on a 256-color monitora key consideration when it comes to creating graphics for the Web, as opposed to CMYK separations for a print publication. In print publishing, designers must worry about whether the colors specified in their electronic images will produce true output when reproduced in ink, under standard lighting conditions. In Web or CD-ROM publishing, the main worry is how to optimize or reduce the file size as far as possible, while maintaining some semblance of quality in the image (more about optimizing below). Fortunately, PhotoPlus includes tools to support all these needs.

Bit depth in PhotoPlus

One of the main differences between PhotoPlus and most other paint programs is that weve put aside the restrictive notion of working with a limited number of colors. You can work on any image in 24-bit mode, accessing the full color spectrum via the Color tab. Native format (.SPP) images are stored in this mode. When and if the time comes to save in a different format, and reduce colors, PhotoPlus provides the Export Optimizer for maximum quality control. While novices will appreciate the ease of use this approach brings, more experienced users may at first need to adjust to the absence of color swatches and the constraints of working in 256-color mode. Still, were confident that the benefits of concentrating on image production first, and color reduction last, will soon become apparent! Tip: You can use the Open dialog to browse images on your system. The dialog displays the bit depth and dimensions (as well as an optional preview thumbnail) of any selected image in a supported format.

Resolution

Bitmaps are created at a fixed resolution, measured in dpi (dots per inch) and hence lose quality if resized upwards. Resizing downwards is a different matter, which is why its always a good idea to scan pictures at higher dpi settings and scale down later (see the Scanning Tips section later in this chapter). The reproduction quality of bitmaps can vary dramatically, and depends on factors such as the dpi stored in the original file, the dpi used for reproduction (printing), the bit depth, and the scaling factor used in reproduction. High resolution bitmaps compensate for quality problems, but tend to be very large files.

Color modes

The PhotoPlus Color tab includes a control that lets you select one of four color modes: RGB, HSL, CMYK, or Grayscale. You should know something about these modes, even if you only have occasion to work in one or two of them. Much of the terminology overlaps. Lets consider these, starting with the simplest.
Color and Input/Output Options A grayscale image looks like what we would call a black and white photograph, which properly speaking has many levels of black and white (not just two, as in a monochrome line drawing). On computers, Grayscale mode stores 256 shades of gray or levels of lightness. A value of 0 represents pure black, a value of 255 pure white. Sometimes we speak of the tones in a grayscale imageits just another word for the different values or lightness levels. To understand HSL, imagine the difference between watching a TV program on a black and white set as opposed to a color set. Its the same color signal, right? But the black and white set doesnt reproduce the color. What it does pick up is the grayscale or lightness channel of the signal. In the same way, any color image in PhotoPlus has a channel that stores lightness information. The L in HSL stands for Lightness. To repeatand this is important when it comes to understanding topics like masking and blend modeslightness and grayscale values (and for that matter tones, luminance, and brightness) all refer to the same thing. The additional Hue and Saturation channels in HSL mode together store the color information thats missing from a simple grayscale image. Like Lightness/Grayscale values, Hue and Saturation channel values are expressed in numbers, ranging from 0 to 255. (If youre alert, youll note that 256 is equivalent to 8 bits of information, so H+S+L has three 8-bit channels totalling 24 bitswhich is where the 24 in 24-bit comes from. Hue refers to the colors tintwhat most of us think of as rainbow or spectrum colors with name associations, like blue or magenta. A color wheel (like the one in the PhotoPlus Adjust Color dialog) is useful for representing the spectrum of hues as a continuous cycle, like a clock. The hue red is arbitrarily assigned the value 0 at a certain position, and the values run around the circle. Saturation describes the colors puritya totally unsaturated image has only grays.

RGB mode is much less intuitive than HSL as a method of mixing colors, but its the standard way of describing colors the way theyre displayed on computer monitorsas mixtures of separate Red, Green, and Blue components. Anyone whos seen (in a museum, perhaps) a demonstration of three projector beams in a dark room, one of each color, merging to produce a pool of white light, has seen a primitive version of the RGB system. Turn all the elements off and you get black. On computers, as with the HSL system, 8 bits are used to encode each of the three channels, for a total of 24 bits, and with 256 possible levels (0-255) for each channel. An RGB value of 0,0,0 represents pure black, while a value of 255,255,255 represents pure white. To quickly get a feel for the HSL and RGB color mode variables, double-click either the foreground or background color swatch on the Color tab and try mixing your own colors using the Adjust Color dialog. (See online help for details.) Finally, CMYK is a color model used for preparing printed work, where ink on paper is the medium that determines color reproduction. Its based on the subtractive principle by which our perception of a pigments color depends on the light wavelengths it absorbs and reflects. Traditional process color printing creates colors by mixing inks and absorbing light, so that your eyes can mix the reflected light. The four process inks are Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (Black is referred to as Key). Mix the four process inks, and you get black. No ink gives you white (or the color of the paper). In PhotoPlus, the C, M, Y, and K channel values are given as percentages, from 0 to 100%. PhotoPlus supports CMYK output of process color separations (see the section later in this chapter).

Color mode tips

The color mode setting (on the Color tab) determines how image data gets pasted from the Windows Clipboardin other words, as grayscale values in Grayscale mode, or as full 24-bit color in any of the other modes. If you start editing a layer mask (which represents opacity values by shades of gray), the Color tab switches temporarily to Grayscale mode. Applying the ,PDJH$GMXVW*UD\VFDOH filter, however, doesnt affect the color mode.
Color and Input/Output Options You can use the Color Pickup tool as a probe to read component values in an image. Move the tool around the image and watch the HintLine. Depending on the color mode, youll see a readout of values (R, G, B, H, S, L, O, etc.) under the current cursor position. By the way, the O represents Opacity.

Opening and Editing Images Using Serif PhotoPlus 6.0
Mark Webster, Director of Technology and Learning Colonial Heights City Schools Updated May 5, 2006
Overview Serif PhotoPlus 6.0 is an easy to use freeware utility for editing digital photographs and graphics. This is an earlier version of their PhotoPlus software. Basically, the company provides free earlier versions of their software in the hope that youll want to upgrade to the latest version (PhotoPlus 10) in order to take advantage of the greater features and functionality: http://www.serif.com/photoplus/photoplus10/index.asp PhotoPlus 6.0 is a user friendly application, creates good quality images, and is great to use for JPG images as well as GIF images. It is compatible with all versions of Microsoft Windows. We have obtained written permission from Serif Software to use PhotoPlus on multiple computers throughout our school division. It is probably installed already on your workstation or laptop, but if not, you can download and install it from the Serif website, or ask your building Computer Support Specialist to help you with installing it. It can be downloaded for free from Serif Softwares web site: http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/photoplus/default.asp Youll need a license code in order to install the application. When downloading the application, youll be prompted to enter your name and email address, and they will email you a license code that youll use to install and register your free copy of PhotoPlus. Running the PhotoPlus application Run Serif PhotoPlus 6.0 from y0ur Start menu. Normally, you will be presented with the PhotoPlus Startup Wizard (unless you have deselected the little checkbox so that it will not load at startup). The Startup Wizard provides you with the following screen of options.
Open Saved Work To open an existing image from your hard drive or other disk, select Open Saved Work from the Startup Wizard and browse to open an image file. At any time when using PhotoPlus, from the main application screen, you can also open an existing image by simply clicking File > Open, and browsing to select and open an image file.
Resizing an image To resize an image in PhotoPlus 6.0, select Image > Image Size. You can adjust the image size by changing the settings for either pixels or percent. Make sure you leave the checkbox for Maintain aspect ratio checked to keep the horizontal and vertical proportions the same as in the original image, so it doesnt distort the image. You can resize the image either using pixel settings, or by percent.
Cropping an image 1. Select the Crop Tool from the toolbar to crop an image. Your mouse arrow will change so that you can select a rectangular area of the image. After you select an area, it will be surrounded by a bounding box.
2. Double-click inside the bounding box and the cropped image will load separately in PhotoPlus.
Exporting the image for the web, and saving it in PhotoPlus format 1. To save your work for the web, youll select File > Export. If you open the drop-down list for Save as type youll note that you can save your image in GIF, JPG, TIF, or BMP formats. Save photographic images in the JPG format. GIF is another image format that is compatible with web browsers, but it is limited to 256 colors.
2. Selecting Save As from the File menu allows you to save your work in the PhotoPlus proprietary format, so that you can open the file again in the application for future editing. However, remember that this special file format is not compatible with the web.
Information on graphics formats There are three graphics formats that are used with web pages: GIF images are useful for drawings, cartoons and other illustrations. GIF images are limited to 256 colors, and allow for transparency and animation. JPG is essentially the standard format for most digital cameras, and is an ideal format for color rich photographs. The format uses file compression which reduces the size of files. When saving a JPG you can select the amount of file compression. JPG is a lossy format because this compression is achieved by selectively removing some of the image data. Selecting too much compression will result in an image that is noticeable degraded. PNG (pronounced ping) is a newer image format, and while the format is compatible with the vast majority of web browsers today, its not compatible with 3.x and earlier versions of web browsers. Like JPG, the PNG format is excellent for photographs, but unlike JPG it is not a lossy format.

Using other features in PhotoPlus 6.0, and using the online help When using PhotoPlus 6.0, you can use the Context Help feature for help on program interface elements like specific tools on the toolbars. Click on the Context Help button the top toolbar, and then click on an element on your screen to get help on using that particular feature. Selecting Help from the top menu and then Contents from the drop-down menu will also open the online help library. on
Click on the button for How To. for a list of step-by-step tutorial instructions related to different functions in PhotoPlus.