Things you can do to bitmap images

Things you can do to bitmap images

By Zatni Arbi

JAKARTA (JP): Today, bitmap image editing tools have become so
advanced and so sophisticated and every day we see so many of
their new and creative uses around. Programs such as Adobe
PhotoShop, Aldus PhotoStyler and CorelPHOTO-PAINT! provide us
with a raft of powerful tools and exotic filters that help us
create different effects automatically. Those with advanced
mastery of these programs combine the uses of the tools to
achieve stunning effects.

So, knowing that I only have rudimentary knowledge of image
editing, I've always wanted to learn more about image editing and
retouching using some of these leading software programs. The
chance came as I got a copy of the newly released CorelPHOTO-
PAINT! 5.0, and I embarked on some serious exploration into
today's world of bitmap editing.

Unfortunately, bitmap editing is definitely not for those who
still use a 386 machine, though. As my experience demonstrated,
this paltry amount of power so frequently stretched my patience
almost to its limit by forcing me to wait a long time for screen
redraws before I could see the results of the action I'd taken.
In addition, the system frequently crashed when I tried a series
of more complicated actions.

Nonetheless, here are some effects that I've learned to use
and would like to share with you--if you happen to be curious
about image editing as well. Please remember that although I used
CorelPHOTO-PAINT! 5.0 for the works that you see in the accompa
nying illustration, you can easily find similar tools in the
other top-notch image editing programs as well. In some cases,
the other programs even beat CorelPHOTO-PAINT! in the quality of
the resulting effects. The application of motion blur, shown in
the BLUR.TIF window, would have given me a better result had I
used the much less expensive Image-Pals 2.0.

Resampling

Here's a method to get an image with the right dimension that
I wish I had learnt long ago. Formerly, I would just resize a
bitmap image to fit my need. I would import a bitmap image into
PageMaker or CorelDRAW! and resize it using the pick tool. The
results were unpredictable; sometimes I got a smooth printout,
sometimes it was full with rough and ugly rasterized surface.

If you rescale a bitmap image, it is important to use the
correct enlargement factor. In PageMaker and CorelDRAW!, to
ensure that you get the optimum rescaled size for your bitmap
image, you have to hold down the Shift key as you drag the
rescaling handle--usually the ones on the corners. The problem
is, the right size after rescaling may not be the right one for
your layout. Whenever that is the case, you'll have to make a
compromise between the quality of the bitmap image and the size
of the picture.

The resampling command, found in most up-to-date bitmap
editing programs, offers a better solution. Take a look at the
picture in the WOMAN.TIF window in the illustration. I have
resampled the image into a larger one, using the same resolution
and color depth (color depth means the number of colors in the
picture, whether 16, 256, or 16,7 million colors).

The reason resampling is a better method to enlarge or reduce
the size of an image than just resizing is that you can apply the
anti-aliasing technique for inserting new pixels. This technique
chooses a pixel color that is the average between two adjacent
original pixels. A different technique in CorelPHOTO-PAINT! is
stretching and truncating, but the result is not as smooth as
anti-aliasing.

When I resampled the image, I also specified that the new
image should be 50 percent bigger. With a little calculation, you
can resample an image so that the resulting one will fit exactly
into the frame that you've prepared for it in your page layout.
The best thing about resampling instead of resizing an image is
that--as you can see in the illustration--the quality of the
image does not change, unless you resize it again. In fact, you
can even improve the quality by modifying the parameters, such as
the number of colors if you're using a color printer or a 24-bit
color video subsystem.

Motion blur

At the bottom center of the illustration you'll find two
images, each containing a picture of two motorcyclists on a race
track. I've applied the Motion Blur effect to the one in the
BLUR.TIF, which has given the picture the illusion of movement.

There are two parameters in the Motion blur effect that you
can play around with. One is the direction--whether up, down,
left, right or diagonal. The other is the speed of the motion.

Had I selected the pictures of the two racers with the lasso
tool, the result of the motion blur effect would have been more
realistic, as the background would have remained sharp. As it is,
the image looks as if it was a photograph taken with a moving
camera.

Emboss

Applying the Emboss effect gives the impression that the image
has been chiseled into a flat surface. Usually this particular
effect uses gray, light gray or dark gray to simulate a stone
wall.

In most programs, you can specify the direction of the
light--whether from the top, the bottom, left, right or
diagonally. In some programs--unfortunately not in CorelPHOTO-
PAINT! 5.0--we can also specify the depth of the emboss.

There are two important things to take into account when using
the Emboss effect. First, you have to choose the right font for
the text. Fonts with too many slanting lines do not make a good
emboss effect. On the other hand, rather boxy-looking fonts give
a nice effect. In the illustration, I've used USABlack for the
text.

Second, different directions of lighting will give different
results. Therefore, you should experiment with different lighting
directions to find the one that gives the best readability.
In the illustration, I added another effect to the emboss. First
I created a rectangle mask around the text, and then I applied
the one-color granite canvass mask. The result would look much
more impressive in full color.

Vignette

Take a look at the image in the VIGNETTE.CPT window. It looks
as if the text THE JAKARTA POST had been painted on a wall with a
rough surface, and a spotlight were used to light it. In full
color, the effect is much more eye-catching than in grayscale.

I created the bitmap by first choosing yellow as the solid
fill color and applying STUCCOC.PCX as the canvas. Then I chose
bright red as the color, using the Color Roll-up. I added the
text, using the Algerian font with 72 point size. Finally, I
changed the color in the Color Roll-up to brown and applied the
Vignette effect using the pen color option.

Next week we'll explore some more of the special effects that
you can achieve. Again, if you're lucky enough to have a 486DX2-
66 machine with 16 MB of RAM, you are free to explore more
complicated combinations of tools.

In the meantime, here's some more information on CorelDRAW!
5.0's secret screens. If you don't press and hold down the Shift
key when you double-click on the icons in the About CorelDRAW!
dialog box, you'll get a daylight version of the show. Now, click
the right mouse button once, and you'll see something on the
screen. Click twice, you'll see two of them. You can see only two
of them at any given time, though. Wait until one of them
disappears before you click the right mouse button again.

And now try this: Hold down the Shift key when you double-
click on the icon in the dialog box. You'll get the night version
of the show. Click with the right button, and you'll see spectac
ular fireworks in the sky!