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You can create an object from the background to move, arrange,
and change your image background as you can move, arrange, and change any other object. You can also select parts
of the background to create a new object.
Embedded object is the information from a file created in one application (the server application) that has been
inserted into a file in another application (the client application). For example, you can embed a graphic created
in Corel PHOTO-PAINT in CorelDRAW, Adobe PhotoShop in Adobe Illustrator. Many HTML editors support object positioning
(layers) and thus let you position images anywhere on the composition scene / stage.
You can apply transparency into the objects or any supported image effects, combine objects together, make multiple
duplicates of objects and position objects anywhere on the drawing area.
Transforming Objects
| Transparency lets you see through of an object. The
opposite of transparent is opaque. Setting lower levels of transparency causes higher levels of opacity and less
visibility of the underlying items or image. |
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| Sizing lets you change the width and height of an
object. |
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| Flipping an object lets you create a mirror image
of an object. |
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| Rotating an object lets you turn it around a pivot
point, called the center of rotation. |
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| Skewing an object lets you slant it to one side while
the opposite side remains stationary. |
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| Distorting an object lets you stretch it nonproportionately. |
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| Applying perspective to an object gives it the appearance
of three-dimensional depth. |
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Changing the edges of an object
You can fine-tune the appearance of an object by changing the characteristics of its edges. You can customize the
appearance of the object marquee by changing its color and threshold value. You can also blend the edges of an
object with the background by applying feathering and defringing. To emphasize a certain object in your image,
you can define its edges by sharpening them or adding drop shadows.
Marquee threshold and color
Changing the marquee threshold value changes the location of the visual boundary of the active object. You can
also change the color of the marquee to make it easier to see against the image background.
Feathering
Feathering softens the edges of an object by gradually increasing the transparency of the edge pixels. You can
specify the width of the feathered section of the object and the transparency gradient you want to use. The transparency
gradient determines whether the transparent pixels in the feathered section progress evenly over the feathered
section or are more concentrated.
Sharpening
Sharpening is the opposite of feathering: it defines the edges of an object by making the edges crisp and obvious.
You do this by choosing a grayscale threshold value for the pixels located along the edges of the object. The edges
of the object change to exclude pixels that fall below the specified transparency value. The excluded pixels become
transparent so that they are no longer part of the visible object. The included pixels become opaque.
Defringing
An object created from a selection sometimes includes stray pixels along its edges. This is apparent when the selection
used to create the object is surrounded by pixels of a different brightness or color. Defringing replaces the color
of the stray pixels with a color from inside the object so that the defringed object blends with the background.
Removing black or white object edges
You can change the transparency of the pixels along the edge of a feathered object using the Remove Matte commands.
The more transparent the pixels are, the more you can see through them. The Remove Black Matte command makes semitransparent
pixels more transparent. The Remove White Matte command makes semitransparent pixels less transparent.
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Creating drop shadows
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You can create drop shadows of an object using the Object
Dropshadow tool. Drop Shadows add dimension into an image, thus creating illusion of 3D-realism. |
The Property Bar controls let you create a shadow that is flat like a silhouette or that has perspective so that
the sides of the shadow converge to a vanishing point. You can also change the direction and distance of a shadow
from an object, its color and opacity, and the feathering of its edges.
Selection
An area of an image that is not protected by a mask and that is, therefore, available for editing. The selection
is affected by the use of painting and editing tools, special effects, and image commands.
Displaying and arranging an object
The Objects Docker window and the Arrange commands in the Object menu let you display and arrange objects in your
image. You can hide an object from view, align an object to image elements, distribute objects throughout your
image, and change the stacking order of objects.
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Stacking order
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The sequence in which objects are created in the Image Window.
This order determines the relationship between objects and,
therefore, the appearance of your image. |
The first object you create appears on the bottom; the last
object appears on the top. You can use the Order commands to place the objects where you want them; however, the
background object always appears on the bottom and cannot be reordered. So, put it simply, when you are using graphic
editing programs like Corel PHOTO-PAINT or CorelDRAW, you have the possibility to draw objects which are not pasted
on the background but are like floating on the canvass. Then you will have the possibility to place them where
ever you want with the stacking order command. That is...place it behind, in front, on the back or in between some
certain other object.
Displaying and hiding an object
By default, all objects are displayed in the Image Window as you create them; however, you can hide an object at
any time. Hiding an object does not delete it from the imageit makes it temporarily invisible. A hidden object
is automatically locked so that it cannot be modified.
Aligning an object
Objects can be aligned to each other, to the center of the image, to the grid and guidelines, or to the Image Window.
The Snap To commands in the View menu make the grid and guidelines magnetic and force the edge of the selected
object to move to the closest grid line or guideline. For information on using the grid and guidelines, see "Using
the guidelines, grid, and rulers."
Distributing objects
You can distribute objects by spacing them apart by equal distances. Objects can be distributed vertically, horizontally,
or both. Distribution is based on the distance between the center of one selected object and the center of the
next selected object, or on the space between the facing edges of the objects.
Changing the order of objects
When you create multiple objects in an image, they are stacked on top of one another in the order in which they
are created. The most recently created object is at the top of the stack, and the image background is always at
the bottom. This stacking order determines the relationship between objects according to the sequence in which
they are drawn. For example, you can move an object in the Image Window to cover an object that is lower in the
stacking order. You can change the order of objects in the stack using the Order commands in the Object menu or
using the Objects Docker window.
Grouping and combining objects
You can perform certain tasks on multiple objects simultaneously by grouping and combining them. When you group
objects, you can move, delete, and transform them at the same time. To change individual objects in a group, you
must first ungroup them. When you combine objects, you permanently create one object from multiple objects. You
can also combine objects with the background to decrease the file size of an image. When you combine objects with
the background, they no longer float above the rest of the image, and they cannot be selected or changed individually.
When you combine the characteristics of objects using clipping groups, you add the image elements of some objects
to the shape of another. Clipping groups place the pixels of child objects into the shape of the parent object.
The result is that the parent object retains its shape, but also contains the image elements of the child objects.
Clipping group
A set of grouped objects in which the pixels of a child object are "clipped to" or combined with a parent
object. When you create a clipping group, you combine the characteristics of objects, merging the color or texture
of some objects into the shape of another. In a clipping group, the parent object retains its shape, but contains
the color or texture of the child object.
Child object
Child objects always appear above the parent object in the stacking order (in the Objects Docker window). If the
parent object is a picture of a balloon and the child object is a picture of a sunflower, clipping the two objects
together produces a balloon shape with the color and texture of a sunflower.
Parent object
An object that retains its shape but contains the color or texture of the child objects that are clipped to it
in a clipping group. An object is always the parent to the objects that are listed above it in the Objects Docker
window.
See also Clipping group.
Transforming an object
You can change the appearance of an object in an image by sizing, scaling, rotating, flipping, skewing, distorting,
and adding perspective to it. You can apply transformations in the Image Window using the transformation handles
or you can use the transformation modes on the Property Bar. Transformations can be applied to single objects or
to multiple objects.
When you scale, skew, or rotate an object, jagged edges can become apparent. For this reason, most transformation
modes provide an anti-aliasing button on the Property Bar that is enabled by default. Anti-aliasing varies the
transparency of the pixels along the edge of an object to smooth the edges and make the object blend with the background.
To preview a transformation before permanently applying it to an object, you can transform a copy of the object.
You can then delete the copy if you are not satisfied with the transformations and leave the original object unchanged.
You can also preview object transformations using the Transform button on the Property Bar. To avoid losing image
quality from many, separate transformations, perform all of the transformations at once, and then apply them.
Anti-aliasing
A method of smoothing the curved and diagonal edges contained in bitmap images. Anti-aliasing partially fills intermediate
pixels along those edges to smooth the transition between the edge and the surrounding image. Anti-aliasing reduces
or eliminates jagged edges.
Creating and changing a text object
Text is rendered as an object by default. This lets you move, arrange, group, transform, and change text as you
would any other object. When you create text, you can also render it as a selection. For information about creating
selections, see "Creating masks and selections."
To create a text object, you specify the color, font, font size, justification, and character and line spacing.
To move a text object, use the Object Picker tool or the Text tool. You can also change the color of an entire
text object or of parts of a text object.
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Creating masks and selections
You can use masks and selections to do advanced image editing. A selection is an area of an image that you isolate
so that you can modify it, and a mask is the area around the selection that is protected from changes. A selection
and the mask around it share a common border, represented by a dashed outline, called a mask marquee. Therefore,
when you create a selection, i.e., the area to which you apply color, filters, or other image effects, you automatically
define a mask around it, i.e., the area that's protected from editing. To make it easier to differentiate between
editable and protected areas, you can display a mask covered with a mask overlaya red-tinted, transparent sheet.
There are two types of masks and selections: regular and color. A regular selection is based on an area with a
specific shape. You define the location and the shape of a regular selection by tracing it with a mask tool or
using objects, text, the Clipboard contents, or paths. A color selection is based on the pixels of a particular
color. You specify the color and the color tolerance of the mask tool, and Corel PHOTO-PAINT automatically determines
the shape and location of the color selection depending on the information you provide.
When you create simple regular or color selections, you work in the Normal mask mode. You can use any of the other
three mask modes when you create complicated selections or fine-tune existing ones. For information about mask
modes, see "Expanding and reducing selections."
Floating selection
A selection that hovers or floats above an image and can be moved and modified without affecting the underlying
pixels. You can paste information stored in the Clipboard as a floating selection in an image. When you defloat
a selection, the pixels contained in the floating selection are merged with those in the underlying image.
Marquee
A dashed outline that surrounds a selection or an object in an image. By default, object marquees are blue and
mask marquees are black.
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Managing multiple masks and selections
You can organize and save multiple masks and selections using alpha channels.
Masks, selections, and channels
In addition to color channels, which store color information, an image can contain alpha channels, which store
masks and selections.
You can create, view, manage, and save alpha channels using the Channels Docker window. When you create a mask,
it is immediately placed in an alpha channel, which appears in the Channels Docker window under the name "Current
Mask." When you save a mask to a channel, it appears under the new name "Alpha 1" if it's the first
alpha channel created, or "Alpha x," where "x" is the number of the channel in the order in
which it was created. The "Current Mask" channel always contains the active mask in the image.
You can create and save as many masks and alpha channels as you want. Alpha channel are useful when you are editing
a complex image and want to access multiple masks at the same time and switch between them. You can display only
one mask at a time in an image. However, storing masks in channels allows you to load and reuse different masks
in the same image repeatedly, without having to recreate them.
An alpha channel can be viewed individually or in combination with other alpha or color channels. When you view
an alpha channel independently of color channels, the mask is displayed as a grayscale image. When you view an
alpha channel along with a color channel, the mask is displayed as an overlay with varying degrees of opacity.
Alpha channel properties, such as name and the color and opacity of the mask overlay can be edited. You can change
the contents of an alpha channel in the same way that you edit a selection in Paint On Mask mode. For more information,
see "Expanding and reducing selections." You can also edit the contents of an alpha channel by combining
it with the current channel.
Depending on your editing tasks, rearranging the alpha channels in the Channels Docker window list can facilitate
your work. You can also save an alpha channel as a separate file. To reuse the mask and selection an alpha channel
contains, you can reload it in the image in which it was created or in other images. When you no longer need an
alpha channel, you can delete it to reduce the image file size.
Saving and loading masks and selections
If you have a single mask on an image or several masks saved in alpha channels, and you don't intend to use these
masks in other images, you can store the masks by saving the image in a file format that supports mask information,
such as Corel PHOTO-PAINT (CPT) or TIFF Bitmap (TIFF).
If you want to use a file format that doesn't support mask information, or if you want to use the masks in other
images, you have two options: save the masks to disk as separate files or save the alpha channels (which contain
the masks) to disk as separate files. You can reload a saved mask or alpha channel at any time. When you load a
mask from disk, you can open it over the entire image or over an image area.
You can also save the current selection without the mask around it by using the Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) format.
In this case, you have two options. The first option permanently removes the area around the selection and keeps
only what's enclosed by the mask marquee. The second option saves the selection so that the image areas outside
the mask marquee are kept in the image, but aren't visible and don't print when you use the EPS file in another
application. You can see these areas when you open the EPS file in Corel PHOTO-PAINT.
Anti-aliasing
A method of smoothing the curved and diagonal edges contained in bitmap images. Anti-aliasing partially fills intermediate
pixels along those edges to smooth the transition between the edge and the surrounding image. Anti-aliasing reduces
or eliminates jagged edges.
You can create a clipping group to place the image elements from one or more objects into the shape of another.
A clipping group inserts the pixels of the child objects into the shape of the parent object. An object is always
the parent to the objects above it in the stacking order.
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Any questions or inquiries may be e-mailed to keppanet@hotmail.com.
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