CDU mag 80 April_2014_complete.cdr

The year is well off and running again. By
popular demand we have Graham Hardy once
again appearing as our keynote speaker in April.
Graham will be telling us about the Questar
telescope, which is celebrating its 60th birthday
this year. Graham has spoken to our group in
the past. Anyone who has a passing interest in
telescopes and astronomy in general will be
looking forward to Graham’s presentation.
Richard Crompton will then give us a talk on
how to take night photography. Richard is a
very accomplished photographer as many of
you know. Despite being in the wars at the
moment, Richard says he will definitely be
there, as long as we give him an extra chair to
rest his battered leg on. Oh, and you might be
able to even pick up a bargain from Richard. I
believe that he is ready to sell his @#$@#$
push bike. You will need to talk to Richard for
the full story there.
May is going to be the big one for Corel Down
Under. Corel Corp has now released CorelDraw X7! Although this year Corel are not
doing an official launch in Australia, they are
giving CDU a lot of help behind the scenes to
assist us to launch CorelDraw X7 at our May
meeting. This is one meeting you can’t afford to
miss. It is the only official launch of X7 that I
know of in Australia. Corel Corp has provided
us with giveaways and prizes for the night along
with other material. I’d like to thank Jo Levans
and James Phillip from the London office for all
their help in this.
David Mutch will be the main presenter for the
May meeting. David has been a beta tester all
the way through on X7, so if you have any
questions regarding X7, David is your man.
The interface has changed on the new version
and David has already been invaluable to me
with questions that I have had.
I was very pleasantly surprised to find that my
‘Premier’ subscription to Corel enabled me to
download X7 for free. (Obviously not for free
but the new version is included in the subscription). I was really impressed with that and can
highly recommend the Premier Service. Several
other members are already updating to X7 so
there will be a fair amount of experience in the
room for the May the 20th launch of X7. Please
don’t miss it. This is your chance to see the new
software and all the new things that it can do
for you.
See you all there,
Darryl Howman
Corelunder, No.80, April 2014 3
Layers are one of the most valuable tools in an image-editor. You can combine different images in
myriads of ways,and create a non-destructive workﬂow using layers. Layers operate as if you are
working with transparencies, the clear acetate sheets used with overhead projectors for classroom
and conference presentations in the pre-digital era.
Corel’s User Guide gives succinct explanations
of layers in PaintShop Pro X6, and how to use
them. One thing it does not explain are Layer
Blend Modes. I’ve known of these for some
time, but only recently have I set out to understand this feature. This article is my attempt to
share what I found.
The simplest way to access Layer Blend Modes
is though the Layers palette. This is shown in
Figure 1. Blend modes can be accessed from
the drop-down menu button at the top of the
palette. Here it is showing the Normal blend
mode is in use. The Layers in your image and
the titles you have assigned to them are
displayed lower down. The active layer is highlighted.
If you double-click on a layer, this will open up
a Properties Panel for that layer. For the active
layer, you can also access this from the
Standard Toolbar across the drop-down Layers
menu at the top of the Edit workspace.
4 Corelunder, No.80, April 2014
Figure 1.The Layers palette opened
Figure 3. The Levels Panel
Figure 2.The Layer Properties Panel
The idea of Layers as acetate sheets on an overhead projector is just a metaphor. The reality is
that a computer knows nothing but numbers,
and mathematical operations performed on
numbers. A layer is just a huge array of
numbers, representing the properties of pixels in
a digital image.
Brightness, our man concern here, is one of the
properties. It is coded in numbers, from zero
(pure black) to 255 (pure white). These provide
the horizontal scale for histograms shows the
frequency distribution of brightness levels in anl
image. This is displayed in PSP’s Levels Panel
(Figure 3).
Any mathematical function linking corresponding numbers in two arrays to produce a
number in a third array is “blending” these
The Layer Properties Panel is shown in Figure
2. It has three tabs – General, Blend Range and
Layer Styles. Under the General tab, you can
change blend mode and opacity, as in the Layers
palette. The Blend Range tab allows you to
choose the colour channels to which these are
applied. The default setting is Grey (which
combines the Red, Green and Blue channels).
The Layer Styles tab has no relevance to blend
modes.
When we work in PSP, by default we work in
Normal Blend Mode at 100% Opacity. What
we see is simply the top layer. If we reduce the
Opacity, the next layer down will increasingly
show through. This is a simple form of blending
layers. There are many others.
Figure 3.The Levels Panel
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Corelunder, No.80, April 2014 5
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layers into the third one. If the numbers represent the brightness of corresponding pixels in
two different layers, the new number represents
the brightness of the blended layers. The function is the blend mode.
product of a multiplication blend is always visually meaningful. However it produces a darker
tone (a lower number) rather than a brighter
one, which we might expect.
How many blend modes are possible? The
answer to this is the answer to another question.
‘How many mathematical functions can link
two numbers?’ The answer is an infinitude.
What is mathematically possible is one thing,
and reality another. Only numbers from zero to
255 can represent a level of brightness.
Numbers outside that range cannot represent
any input, or any meaningful output. There is
no “Whiter than white” and no “Blacker than
black,” except in the deceitful hyperbole of
advertising.
When you click on the Blend Mode button in
either the Layers Palette or the Layers Property
Panel in PSP, a list of the available blend modes
will open. This is less than the infinitude mathematically available, but it is more than enough
for me.
PSP provides 17 blend modes (plus four
“legacy” modes, older versions of revised ones).
Most of these can be applied separately to the
Furthermore, programmers have “standardized”
Red, Green and Blue channels as well as the
brightness level codes from 0-255 to 0-1. This
Grey channel. They can be varied in opacity,
makes the scale more user-friendly (it is easier to
and combined by stacking layers on top of each
think of brightness levels as percentages of pure
other. We have plenty to work with.
white than as a fraction with the denominator
255).
You’ll find full technical descriptions of blend
modes in Robert Thompson’s ‘Photoshop blend
However blending involving multiplication
Modes Explained,’ Photo Blog Stop (2011),
produces different results when you standardize
http://photoblogstop.com/photoshop/
this scale. Consider blending mid-grey with
photoshop-blend-modes
mid-grey. On the 0-255 scale, this is 127.5 ×
explained#HowBlendModesWork).
127.5, which produces 16,256.25. This is way
out of range. In fact, nearly all blends involving This covers all of Photoshop’s 27 blend modes,
will be out of range, and visually meaningless.
including all of those available in PSP. If you
The corresponding calculation using the 0-1
want to check the math, this is the place to go.
scale is 0.5 × 0.5, which produces 0.25. In fact, Here, I will attempt a brief description of the
multiplying numbers on the 0-1 scale will
effect of each PSP’s blend mode.
always produce a number on the 0-1 scale.
Standardization of the scale thus ensures the
6 Corelunder, No.80, April 2014
Blend mode
Description
Normal
This displays the active layer, without any changes. The background layer
is hidden.
Darken
This displays whichever pixel is darker, from either layer. It will expand
shadow areas at the expense of mid-tones, without brightening highlights. If you blend two identical images, it will have no effect.
Lighten:
This is the exact opposite of Darken. It will expand highlights at the
expense of midtones, without darkening shadows. If you blend two identical images, it will have no effect
Hue
This takes the Hue from the active layer and combines it with the Saturation and Lightness of the background layer. This blend mode works in
the HSL colour space, and cannot be applied to individual colour channels, as can be done with most blend modes.
Saturation
This takes the Saturation from the active layer and combines it with the
Hue and Lightness of the background layer. This also cannot be applied
to individual colour channels.
Color
This takes the colour (Hue and Saturation) from the active layer and
combines them with the Lightness of the background layer. This also
cannot be applied to individual colour channels.
Luminance
This takes the Lightness from the active layer and combines it with the
Hue and Saturation of the background layer. This also cannot be applied
to individual colour channels.
Multiply
This produces a darker image (as discussed in the main text)
.Screen
This brightens images. It uses an inverted version of the Darken function. It produces a softer effect than Lighten.
Overlay
This increases contrast by combining two other modes. It applies Screen
blend to lighten the lighter pixels, and Multiply blend to darken the
darker pixels. The result is increased contrast, with the effect strongest in
the shadows and highlights.
Dissolve
This allows you to dissolve your active layer into the background. Unlike
simply reducing the opacity of the active layer, this produces a grainy and
harsh effect.
Dissolve takes random pixels from either the active or the background
layer, at a frequency depending on the opacity of the active layer. If the
opacity is high, most pixels are taken from the active layer. If the opacity
is low, most are taken from the background layer.
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Corelunder, No.80, April 2014 7
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Blend mode
Description
Hard Light
This is similar to Overlay mode, but creates harder transitions, and
stronger contrast.
Soft Light
This is also similar to Overlay mode, but produces smoother transitions and softer contrast.
Difference
This subtracts the top layer from the bottom layer or the other way
round, to always get a positive number .Blending two identical
copies of an image produces a pure black image. Blending an image
with black produces no change. Blending an image with white
creates an inverted (negative) image.
Dodge
This brightens the image, producing a brighter image than
multiply, with greater colour contrast. It emulates burning in the
traditional darkroom
.Burn
This darkens the image, producing a darker image than Multiply,
with more saturated mid-tones. It emulates burning in the traditional darkroom
Exclusion
This is similar to Difference, but has been modified to produce
lower contrast
The names of blend modes don’t make a lot of
sense. Adobe has grouped Photoshop blend
modes into groups, providing a quick guide on
what to expect. Here are PSP ’s blend modes,
organised into these groups:
●Normal
— Normal, Dissolve
●Darken
— Darken, Multiply, Burn
●Lighten
— Lighten, Screen, Dodge
●Contrast
— Overlay, Soft Light, Hard Light
●Inversion
— Difference, Exclusion
●* Component
–- Hue, Color, Luminance
8 Corelunder, No.80, April 2014
PSP’s modes cover all of the Adobe groups,
except Cancellation, which consists of Subtract
and Divide modes. PSP has all the most
commonly used modes – Multiply (for darkening), Screen (for lightening), and Overlay (for
contrast).
There’s little point in trying to set out general
rules on how to use blend modes. What I will
do here is give a modest example.
Many of the examples of using blend modes I
found used them to adjust to contrast and
brightness. Generally, I find this done more
quickly and easily with tools such as Levels and
Curves in PSP’s Edit Workspace, or with plugins such as Nik Software’s Viveza 2.
I’ve chosen to illustrate blend modes by doing
something different – blending two different
images together. My starting point is Figure 4a
Figure 4a. Portrait of Emy
Figure 4b. Wood background
– a portrait, to which I have added a vignette and Figure 4b - a photograph of a knotted
wooden panel, a textured background.
I could have blended these by putting the
portrait on a layer above the wood, and
reducing the opacity to, say, 50%. This would
have produced a soft and bland image. I used
the Screen mode. The result, shown in Figure
5a, is much better. The face leaps out from the
wood, but is still overlaid with texture. Details
in both remain crisp.
Some blend modes were less than useless for
these particular images. Figure 5b shows the
effect of applying the Darken blend mode. The
way to find out what blend modes do and do
not work with your image is to try them..
Figure 5a. The Screen Blend Mode applied
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Corelunder, No.80, April 2014 9
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If you have used the Lighten/Darken, Burn and
Dodge tools (in the Tools toolbar on the left of
the default Edit Workspace), you have been
using blend modes without knowing it. Beneath
the hood, PSP has been creating temporary
layers and applying blend modes to them. This
is done locally, rather than across the whole
image.
The following tools also use temporary layers
and blend modes:
● Clone brush
● Paint brush
● Airbrush
These tools let you choose the blend mode. The
Figure 5b. The Darken Blend Mode applied
Tool Options toolbar displays the button for the
blend mode drop-down menu. The default
Blend modes are a poorly documented feature
setting is Blend Mode Normal and Opacity
of PSP. In this article, I have tried to explain
100%, but you can adjust these as you wish.
briefly how they work, and to suggest their
potential. You may find you can create subtle
Let me give one example of how this can be
useful. Haloes are the light bands created along enhancements to brightness and contrast not
easily produced with the usual tools. However I
high-contrast edges by over sharpening, or by
suspect the greatest potential is for more artistic
tone-mapping in creating HDR images. To
applications - overlaying and blending images in
remove these, use the Clone Brush tool set to
creative ways that may go well beyond what we
Darken blend mode. Then clone over the halo,
have normally thought of as photography.
using the area just beyond the halo as your
source. The halo, being lighter, will be cloned
There are few guidelines here. The only limits to
away. The edge, being darker, will not be
how you use Layer blend modes is your imagiaffected.
nation and skill. If you want to create mind
bending surreal images, no doubt you can.
Really, the only rule is experiment, experiment,
and experiment.
10 Corelunder, No.80, April 2014
H
O
T
E
L
CorelDRAW does actually support vertical text but this comes with several limitations: It can only be used on certain fonts, it can only be used (and in fact the
control icon for it only appears on the Property Bar) if a Language that uses
vertical text such as Japanese is chosen (along with the appropriate keyboard),
and in any case it simply turns the line of text 90 degrees and doesn’t rotate
each of the letters. Here is a method that can be used with any font, any language and any keyboard.
1. In CorelDRAW, click on the text
2. Click on the Shape Tool in the
tool and create some artistic text
Toolbox. A large black Pointer
that you wish to use as Hotel text.
appears, each letter displays a small
Just type one line only, not multiple
node at the botton right of each
lines, and because the text will
character, and two ‘fishhead’
take up a lot of space vertically,
controls appear. The horizontal
its best not too use too many char‘fishhead’control is to adjust
acters.
kerning, while the vertical fishhead
control will adjust line height if
there are multiple lines in the
artistic text. Fig 1.
Fig 1.
T
E
X
T
3.
Because vertical text requires more
space between characters we need
to adjust the kerning for both
characters and words. Drag on the
horizontal fishhead control and add
kerning so that the text is now
about 1.5 times wider than the
orig
inal. If
you
have
Fig 2.
multiple words, adjust the word
spacing by holding down the
SHIFT key while dragging on the
control to add word spacing.
NOTE: adjust character and word
spacing separately, one action for
each, releasing the mouse button
after each
adjust
ment.
Fig 2.
Ø Page 14
Corelunder, No.80, April 2014 11
12 Corelunder, No.80, April 2014
Corelunder, No.80, April 2014 13
×page 11 Hotel Text
4. Select the Freehand Tool (F5) in the
drag as this will create a curly line.
toolbox and create a vertical line of the
appropriate length to sit the text on. It helps 5. Using the Pick tool, marque select both the
line and the text, then fit the text to the line
to hold down CTRL to constrain the line to
using the menu Text > Fit To Path. Make
the vertical axis while drawing the line. Just
sure the line is long enough otherwise the
click at the start and again at the end to
last few characters will get scrunched up. If
make a
necessary
straight
select the line
line,
and adjust.
don’t
Fig 3.
Fig 3.
6. When the text on a path is selected, a special
Property bar appears to help arrange text on a
path. Click the Text Orientation drop down
list and choose the last option to force the
text to be perpendicular to the path. Now
each character turns to orient perpendicular
to the path and is correct. Fig 4.
7. Select the Pick Tool and then click on the
text-on-a-path, then hold down CTRL and
click on the path line so that just it is selected.
You will see the transform handles around
just the line rather than both text and line
when this is correct. We need to make the
control line invisible so right-click on the X
(no colour) topmost box of your colour
palette to remove the control line’s outline
colour (it has no fill colour already)
Fig 4.
14 Corelunder, No.80, April 2014
8. You can spruce up the text and make it
look like real HOTEL fluorescent light text
by duplicating the text and adding inside
and outside contours. Fig 5.
Alternative Methods.
1. By Using Paragraph Text. You can also
create vertical text by creating a very
narrow paragraph text box (just room
enough for one character). I have found
that I’ve often needed to place a SPACE
between each letter to make this method
work. You’ll also need to use the Paragraph section of the Text Properties
Docker to set the alignment to Centre and
adjust the line spacing to suit.
2. By Using Artistic Text. Simply create a line
of Artistic Text, then select all the
characters with the Text tool then press
CTRL+. (dot) to rotate the entire text
block to the vertical [CTRL+, (comma) to
reset back to horizontal if needed]. Then in
the Character section of the Text
Properties Docker adjust the character
angle to 90 degrees and the Range
Kerning appropriately (usually 120-140%)
3. Use the free Macro. Shelby’s free Hotel
Text Macro is available at Macro Monster
at:
http://macromonster.com/index.php?mod
=descr&id_desc=104&keyword=hotel&S
ubmit=Go
Fig 5.
Try it - it works well.
Corelunder, No.80, April 2014 15
- David Mutch 8 April 2014
(from Corel
Help)
Working with
imposition
layouts lets you
print more than
one page of a
document on
each sheet of
paper. You can
choose a preset
imposition
layout to create documents such as magazines
and books to print on a commercial printing
press; produce documents that involve cutting
or folding, such as mailing labels, business
cards, pamphlets, or greeting cards; or print
multiple thumbnails of a document on one
page. You can also edit a preset imposition
layout to create your own layout.
You can select a binding method by choosing
from three preset binding methods, or you can
customize a binding method. When you choose
a preset binding method, all but the first signature are automatically arranged.
You can arrange pages on a signature manually
or automatically. When you arrange the pages
automatically, you can choose the angle of the
image. If you have more than one page across
or down, you can specify the size of gutters
between pages; for example, you can choose the
automatic gutter spacing option, which sizes
16 Corelunder, No.80, April 2014
gutters so that the document’s pages fill the
entire available space in the layout.
When printing on a desktop printer, you can
adjust the margins to accommodate the nonprintable area of a page. If the margin is smaller
than the non-printable area, the edges of some
pages or some printers’ marks may be clipped
by your printer. )
Ÿ in DRAW you should have at least one
document open with multiple pages.
Ÿ in Photo-Paint you should have multiple
images loaded
Ÿ in DRAW, to use pages from multiple
documents, first choose File > Print and
then in the General tab, in the Print Range
section, click the Documents radio button
and then check mark the documents you
wish to use.
Ÿ similarly, in Photo-Paint, to choose multiple
loaded images, first choose File > Print and
then in the General tab, in the Print Range
section, click the Documents radio button
and then check mark the images you wish to
use.
Ÿ if you have just a single page or a single
image open, then you can only make repeats
of that single page or image.
Preset Imposition Layouts.
Both DRAW and Photo-Paint have preset
Imposition Layouts. These can be handy for
many jobs but don’t provide much control over
position and placement.
To use the preset Imposition Layouts:
Before we use this tool however, its best to reset
any preset Imposition Layouts in the Print >
Layout tab. Change everything back to As in
Document first, but still keep the multiple
images / documents selected in the Print >
General tab.
There are three ways to access the Imposition
Layout Tool:
1. Use File > Print Preview
Ÿ Open the Print dialogue (File > Print
(CTRL+P) then click on the Layout tab.
2. While in the Print dialogue, click the
Print Preview button
Ÿ First, if it isn’t already displayed, show the
mini Print Preview pane by clicking the
button with the small double arrows beside
the large Print Preview button.
3. While in the Print dialogue, Layout tab,
click the Edit button after choosing a
preset Imposition Layout, however this
last method only edits the preset you
have chosen with minimal controls.
Ÿ The preset imposition layouts are in the
large drop down menu at the bottom of the
Layout dialogue. Drop this list down and
choose one from 1x2 (2up), 2x1 (2up)....
through to 4x4 (16 up) or any of the folding
or binding types.
Ÿ The mini Print Preview changes to display
your choice.
If you wish, you can adjust the position of any
single page or image but selecting ‘Reposition
Images To...’ in the Image Position and Size
section of the Layout tab (top section) and then
choosing the required page or image from the
‘Settings for...” drop down list and then
adjusting the position, size and scale factor for
each page/image. But this is quite hard work
and not the least bit tricky to get everything set
up for a custom layout, so I strongly suggest to
use the in-built Imposition Layout Tool in Print
Preview, the topic of this article.
Print Preview’s Built-in Imposition Layout
Tool.
This is a much better and easier way to set up a
custom Imposition Layout.
Using either of the first two methods takes us
directly to the Print Preview full screen dialogue
box. This dialogue is much like the man application window with a Toolbar, a Toolbox, a Properties bar and a Status bar.
The four tools in the Toolbox are:
Ÿ Objects / Page placement
Ÿ Imposition Layout
Ÿ Marks
Ÿ Zoom
I’ll describe the simpler Placement, Marks and
Zoom tools first, before Imposition Layout, but
you will need to set up an Imposition Layout
before even these simpler tools can be fully used.
Sadly, Corel have omitted to add decent mouseover bubble help in the Print Preview dialogue
so reading the Help on these topics can be most
useful. But I will do my best to explain it below.
The Placement, Marks and Zoom tools will
show previews of the imposed pages. The ImpoØ Next page
Corelunder, No.80, April 2014 17
× Previous page –Using Imposition Layout…
sition Layout tool will show a page outline and
a number.
The Objects / Page placement will only show
multiple pages after we set up our custom
Imposition Layout. If multiple pages/images are
imposed then you can change the page as a
whole or individual pages. Selecting positions
from the drop down list on the Property bar
changes all pages. To change just a single
page/image first click on the objects within a
page in the main display work area. The page
now displays a red border and all the objects on
that page are surrounded by control handles.
Now all the settings on the Property bar are
active. Now, for each page, you can choose a
preset, or manually move and scale the objects
within that page as you wish.
The Marks Tool allows you to add printer
marks in much the same manner as you can do
in the Prepress tab of the Print dialogue. These
are (from left to right on the Property bar, after
the numeric spinners) : File Information, Page
Numbers, Crop/Cut/Fold marks, Registration
Marks, Colour Calibration bar, Densitometer
Scale. The last icon on the Property bar opens
the Prepress tab in the Print Options dialogue,
where you can also set all these options plus
more. The button at the far left of the Property
bar sets up automatic page size and margins.
Turning it off allows to to manually set up the
page size and margins (only do this if you are
confident in what you are doing).
erty bar which contains a variety of controls
depending on your selections. Here’s an overview:
On the Property bar, the drop down lists, from
left to right are: List of Presets, What To Edit
(Main Imposition Layout Controls) and
Binding mode. (Fig 1)
The Binding modes are:
Ÿ Perfect binding — cuts apart individual
pages and glues them at the spine
Ÿ Saddle stitch — folds pages and inserts them
into one another
Ÿ Collate and cut — collates and stacks all
signatures together
Ÿ Custom binding — lets you arrange the
pages that are printed in each signature
Ÿ If you choose either Saddle stitch or Custom
binding, type a value in the corresponding
box.
Ÿ For most work, the Binding mode is probably either left as Perfect or Custom.
To create a custom Imposition layout, ignore
the Presets and choose Edit Basic Settings in the
What to Edit drop down list. Here are the
controls for the Edit Basic Settings. (Fig 2)
When you click the Single/double sided button
for double-sided printing, and you are printing
on a non-duplex printing device, a wizard automatically provides instructions on how to insert
the paper into the printer, so that you can print
on both sides of the page.
The Zoom tool has controls on the Property
bar and can flip between Zoom In and Zoom
out by holding down the SHIFT key. You can
also use the Zoom tool to marque a box around
So first off, set how many pages/images you
your display to change the zoom level.
wish to have using the pages across/down spinners. For instance, for a portrait shaped page,
(Fig = Imposition Tool
choose 3 across and 3 down.
Icon)
This is the second tool down
from the top in the Tool box.
Clicking it changes the Prop-
18 Corelunder, No.80, April 2014
The display now changes to show the pages
across and down over the page, each with a
number. (Fig 3). By default, you will also see
Fig. 1.
Fig. 2..
Fig. 3..
scissors at the borders of each page. This
denotes a cut mark.
Each number represents a page number
(Draw) or an image number (in order of
loading - Photo-Paint). If the number of
pages in the imposition layout exceeds the
number of pages / images available then
only those within rage will be displayed.
For instance, if you only have 4 pages or
images and the Layout goes to 9, then the
positions from 5 to 9 will be vacant (by
default). But you can change this and
repeat pages as you wish by changing the
number. While in the Edit Basic Settings
area you can click on a number in the
display and change it to reflect a
page/image number. Clicking on a page
number in the display cause the What To
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Corelunder, No.80, April 2014 19
× Previous page –Using Imposition Layout… Edit
list
to change to Edit Page Placements (Fig 4).
○Intelligent auto-ordering — automatically arranges the pages on a signature
○Sequential auto-ordering — arranges the
pages from left to right and top to
bottom
○Cloned auto-ordering — places the
working page in each frame of the printable page.
To arrange the page numbering manually, click
on the page and specify the page number in the
Page sequence number box, or simply type in a
page number directly into the number on the
page in the display. You can repeat any number
as often as you wish and place the numbering in
any order cross the page.
To display the result, choose any of the other
tools (Placement, Marks or Zoom) or choose
the display button on the Property bar when in
Edit Basic Settings mode. (Fig 5)
To edit gutters and arrange finishing choose
Edit Gutters and Finishing from the What To
Edit drop down list on the Property bar of the
Imposition Layout tool (Fig 6). You can edit
the gutters only if you’ve selected an imposition
layout with two or more pages across and
down.
adjust the spacing in the Gutter distance
spinner.
You can flip between Cut. Fold or None either
by checking or unchecking the Property bar
icons, or by clicking on the icon in the main
display. The marks will not display however
unless you turn on Cut/Crop/Fold marks in the
Marks Tool Property bar.
The final control in the Imposition Layout Tool
is Edit Margins in the What To Edit drop down
list. (Fig 7). It may be necessary to edit margins
to make them larger in order to display various
Printers marks that you set up in the Marks
Tool.
Ÿ Auto margins sets the margins automatically
Ÿ Equal margins lets you make the right
margin equal to the left one, and the bottom
margin equal to the top one
Ÿ If you click the Equal margins button, you
must specify values in the Top/left margin
boxes.
Ÿ Unchecking both margin controls allows
you to adjust left, top, right and bottom
margins all separately using the numeric
spinner controls.
Saving Your Work.
You can save your custom Imposition layouts
using the Add to Preset (+) button on the
Property bar.
○Auto gutter spacing sizes gutters so that
You can also save all the basic print settings
the document’s pages fill the entire availusing the Add to presets (+) button on the
able space in the layout.
Toolbar.
○Equal gutters lets you set equal sizes for
Conclusion
all horizontal gutters and separate equal
Draw and Photo-Paint’s Imposition Layout tool
sizes for all vertical gutters.
is powerful and flexible. It can be a lot of fun
○Turning both of these controls off allows creating your own custom layouts for a wide
you to adjust each gutter (horizontal and variety of purposes, so try it out and have fun.
vertical) completely separately.
Choose a gutter spacing mode, then click on a
gutter so that the control line goes red and then
20 Corelunder, No.80, April 2014
Fig. 4..
Fig. 5..
Corelunder, No.80, April 2014 21
A few weeks ago we were
comparing the high-ISO
performance of four cameras
from different manufacturers,
and in the testing process we
tried some noise-reduction applications. We got the very
best clean and detailed output from the program DxO
Optics Pro 9.
DxO Optics Pro 9 can be downloaded fromdxo.com as
a free, 30-day, fully functional trial. Price to buy is
$US169.
The program is a RAW ﬁle converter with a difference.
DxO laboratories is recognised as the ultimate
authority on the performance of lenses and cameras.
From the company's huge database of camera and lens
combinations can be found the characteristics of virtually every pairing. The program ascertains the camera
and lens used, along with focal length, ISO speed, aperture and shutter speed, and in the processing mode
automatically corrects exposure, colour and any distortions inherent in the equipment used.
When an image ﬁle is opened in the "Customise"
module, the optimising process is applied immediately,
after which ﬁne adjustments can be made to exposure,
white balance, contrast, sharpness and so on, according
to taste. All of this is wonderful to behold, but more is
to come. DxO Optics Pro 9 does the most amazing job
of removing noise without loss of the essential details
in the photograph. But be warned - you won't see the
effect on the image in the work space. Well, not
entirely. You can choose a small square on the image
22 Corelunder, No.80, April 2014
and see the NR effect on that area, but the full wonder
of what the program can achieve can't be seen until the
ﬁle has been processed in the export function. There
are two NR processes offered; one is called High and it
is fast and, for many, maybe good enough. The second
option is labelled PRIME (it is an acronym) and this is
the miracle button. When PRIME is selected for the
noise reduction process the program really goes to
work generating a clean image and exporting it to a
disc or a program such as Lightroom, Aperture or
Photoshop as a lossless TIFF or PNG ﬁle. It can take a
long time, up to several minutes even on a fast
computer, but patience is well and truly rewarded. The
image transformation from RAW to processed image is
spectacular.
The trick with good noise reduction is to get rid of the
graininess without blurring the ﬁne detail. This is
where DxO Optics Pro stands out from the rest. After
the PRIME treatment, every hair, skin pore and fuzz
on the butterﬂy's wing is perfectly preserved. Believe
us, it is amazing.
The excellent user manual can be downloaded as a PDF
directly from the Help menu.
From
March 13th
by Terry Lane

Download Report