Copyright: Copyright (c) November, 1995, Ulead Systems


This help file contains topics about selected dialog boxes in your PhotoImpact package. You can access these topics through those dialog boxes or by navigating through a main help file associated with one of the PhotoImpact programs.


Print dialog box

Determines how images appear when printed.

Printer Identifies the currently selected printer

Copies Set how many copies to print.

Scale to fit page Check to resize the image to fill the page according to the printer's horizontal or vertical margins.

Center image horizontally Print the image with equal amounts of white space on the left and right.

Center image vertically  Print the image with equal amounts of white space above and below it.

Printer Click to access the Windows Print Setup dialog box.

Title Enter a caption to print below the image.

Preview Click to switch to preview mode. In preview mode you can get a rough idea of how the printout will look before printing. (Not in the PhotoImpact Album Source Print dialog box.)

 	Options Click to customize the color map and dithering characteristics for the printer. (Not in the PhotoImpact Album Source Print dialog box.)


Properties dialog box

Obtain statistical information about the image in the active window.

Attributes tells the data type, dimensions, resolution, and file size when open.

File tells the name, format, compression method, saved file size, and other information.

Album Info If the image has been placed into an album, click this to see Album information, including Album name, key words, and other field data.


File dialog boxes

This class of dialog box allows you to decide the names, locations, and characteristics for files when opening or saving them. They may contain some or all of the following choices:

Look in/Save in Find the desired folder.

View the contents of the next higher folder in your system.

Create a new folder.

View files as icons.

View files by names with statistics.

File name Identify the file(s) selected for saving, opening, or loading.

Files of  type Select a particular file format for opening or saving to.

File information See the data-type, size, resolution, and other file statistics.

Preview View a thumbnail picture of the selected image. (Images with preview information automatically appear.)

Browse Search for files or folders.

Options Define format specific save options for the selected format. (Not all file formats have options.)

Network Allows you to access shared folders on other connected computers running Windows.

Save to Album, Saves a thumbnail image of the file to the listed album.

Album button Select or create an album for the thumbnail images.

Automatically number Check if you plan to capture more than one image during a single Capture session. Make sure the filename you assign ends in a number.


Browse dialog box

File name Defines the search criteria for finding files. You may use the * and ? wildcards to find files with similar names.

Files found Shows all files found matching the search criteria in the File Name text box.

Folders Select the folder to start the search from.

Drives Select the drive where the folder you want to search is located.

Sort files Select the sorting order and whether to start from first to last (ascending), or last to first, (descending).

Scan Expand the search to include any folders inside the selected folder.

Delete Permanently remove selected files in the Found list from the hard disk.

Rename Change the name of selected files in the Found list from the hard disk.

Network Access shared folders on other connected computers running Windows.


Options dialog box

  Calibration	  Halftone

Redistributes the color distribution in the image to correct for the printer's idiosyncrasies.

Use printer's default Check to have the printer determine how to print colors and shades.  This disables all other options in the dialog box.

Map Drag the curve to remap the color distribution according to your needs. The horizontal axis represents the current image color values and the vertical axis represents the final values. The line shows the equivalent new value for each existing one.

Channel Choose which channel to edit. Master mainly affects brightness and contrast. The other channels specific colors

Show control points Check to add handles to the mapping curve. This may make it easier for you to reassign color values.

Accumulatively Check to have each change you make to the mapping curve add on to previous changes.

Smooth Check to smooth the mapping curve after you create a freehand map. This may make the change to the image more natural.

Load Use a previously saved map file to remap the colors.

Save Save the current map settings to a file for future use in another image

Enhance function Choose from a list of pre-defined mapping curves or functions


Options dialog box

  Calibration	  Halftone

Configures the printer to print halftone images.

Use printer's default Check to have the printer determine how to print colors and shades.  This disables all other options in the dialog box.

Shape Choose a desired shape for each pixel in the image.

Optimized screen Not done yet

Frequency Set the desired distance between the centers of each halftone dot.

Angle Set the angle for printing the dots.

Default Click to reset all the custom settings to the printer defaults.


Insert Thumbnails into Album dialog box

Places thumbnails of newly saved image files into an existing album.

Album Choose the album to insert the thumbnail into from the dropdown list.

Thumbnail Information Shows the filename and description information for the thumbnail.

New Album Click to create a new album to hold the thumbnail.

Description Click to add a description for the thumbnail.

Apply to all Click to use the same description for all thumbnails.


New Album dialog box

  General	  Fields

  Advanced

Determines the name location, and size characteristics for a new album.

Title Enter the title for the album.

Create Album file in folder Initially displays the current folder. Enter the desired folder or click Browse.

Browse Click to search for other folders.

Thumbnails attributes list Enter the size, compression, and color for the thumbnails in the new album.

Description box Displays default project description. Enter new description,  add new fields, or use the default.


New Album dialog box

  General	  Fields

  Advanced

Assigns fields for thumbnails in the album.

Field name Enter the field name to add or modify.

Field type Select the data types for each thumbnail. Add/modify/delete from the user-defined list. Note: Certain field types can be modified provided that the field name is not computer default field by clicking on the Edit button.

Add button Click to add new field name to the fields list.

Change Click to change the selected field name's current field type.

Remove Click to remove field name from the fields list.

Total fields Displays the total number of fields in the album.

Fields list Displays the field names and their field types in the album.


New Album dialog box

  General 	  Fields

  Advanced

Determines sharing and folder monitoring behavior for a new album.

Folder Enter the folder for monitoring.

Browse Click to search for other folders.

File types Enter the file format to monitor or select from the file formats drop-down list.

File formats list Select the file format to monitor.

Enable folder monitoring Check to monitor defined folder.

Password Enter a password for access security.

Verify Enter the password again for verification.


Choose JPEG compression for the smallest Album file size.


Thumbnail Description dialog box

Enter a description for the thumbnail being inserted into an album.


Convert to Black & White dialog box

Define the image characteristics for capturing or converting to black and white images.

 	Resolution Choose the desired resolution from the preset choices or define your own. When choosing a resolution, consider what you will use the image for. If displaying on-screen, do not exceed the maximum resolution of the display. For printing, use the printer's resolution.

Halftone Screen:

Shape Choose a dithering option or a halftone screen shape. Here are some guidelines to help you decide which to choose:

None No dithering or patterns are used for the image. All lighter colored pixels are changed to white and all darker ones to black.

Dispersed and Diffusion Surrounding pixels are considered when determining whether to apply a black or white pixel. These options usually produce the best results.

Shapes Shades are created by arranging black and white pixels in patterns according to the chosen shape. Choosing a shape usually results in moiré-like patterns. Note: When you choose a shape, the Frequency and Angle settings become available.

Frequency Choose a higher frequency for smaller dots. As the frequency increases, the pattern becomes less noticeable.

Angle Choose the relationship of one pattern to the next. 0 degrees means the patterns are arranged horizontally across the image.


Convert to Grayscale or HiColor dialog box

Determine how many shades of gray to use when converting a black and white image to grayscale.

Cell size For line-art images, where contrast and distinct lines are important, choose 1. For photos or other images where you wish to introduce finer shading, choose higher settings.

Scale down Reduce the physical size of the image according to this setting. This may be useful for minimizing a "mosaic-like" effect that often results from conversions using large cell sizes.


Convert to Indexed 16-Color dialog box

The Convert to Indexed 16-Color dialog box offers options for creating Indexed 16-color images. Depending on the format of the source, it may contain some or all of the following items:

Palette Specify the colors to include in a new image. (Not shown when converting grayscale images.)

Standard Choose standard to use the default 16-color palette shared by most windows programs. This is most useful when you plan to use multiple images in the same program and you want them all to appear consistently.

Optimized Choose optimized to have Image Editor use the 16 most needed colors in the image it creates. This usually results in a much more accurate reproduction, but can cause compatibility and consistency problems with other programs.

Reserve entries Make sure that certain colors remain available regardless of the ones Image Editor chooses for the image.

Black and White Check Black and White to create a 14-color palette and then add Black and White to make a total of 16 colors.

8 primary colors Check 8 Primary Colors to create an 8-color palette and then add Black, White, Red, Green, Blue, Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow to make up the rest of the palette.

From file Use a previously saved 16-color palette as the basis for the new image. Click the Load button to search your system for the desired palette.

Dither Choose a dithering option to create the most accurate reproduction. The best choice depends on the source material.

None Choose None when the image is composed almost entirely of a few large single-colored areas.

Pattern Choose Pattern when most of the image contains large single-color images but with a wide variety of colors.

Diffusion Choose Diffusion when the image has multi-colored patterns, shading, and other fine points. While you can't avoid losing some detail, this usually produces the most pleasing results.


Convert to Indexed 256-Color dialog box

The Convert to Indexed 256-Color dialog box offers options for creating Indexed 256-color images. Depending on the format of the source, it may contain some or all of the following items:

Palette Specify the colors to include in a new image.

Standard Choose standard to use the default 256-color palette shared by most windows programs. This is most useful when you plan to use multiple images in the same program and you want them all to appear consistently.

3-3-2 bits Choose 3-3-2 bits to assign a unique color to every spot in the color palette. This offers the widest range of colors, but may introduce some inconsistencies when displayed by programs that do not recognize the unique palette.

6-7-6 levels Choose 6-7-6 levels to fill 252 assignments in the color palette. This is more than the number of assigned colors in the standard palette, but may introduce some inconsistencies when displayed by programs that do not recognize the unique palette.

Optimized Choose optimized to have Image Editor use the 256 most needed colors in the image it creates. This usually results in a much more accurate reproduction, but can cause compatibility and consistency problems with other programs.

Start index Prevent colors with values below a certain level from being included in the image by identifying a starting index level.

Max number of Colors Limit the number of colors to include in the palette here. This can be useful if you wish to add your own custom colors to the palette after the image is created without affecting any existing pixels in the image.

From file Use a previously saved 16-color palette as the basis for the new image. Click the Load button to search your system for the desired palette.

Dither Choose a dithering option to create the most accurate reproduction. The best choice depends on the source material.

None Choose None when the image is composed almost entirely of  large single-colored areas.

Pattern Choose Pattern if choosing None results in blotchy images and Dither results in too much "noise". The Pattern result may offer a pleasing alternative.

Diffusion Choose Diffusion when the image has multi-colored patterns, shading, and other fine points. While you can't avoid losing some detail, this usually produces the most pleasing results.


When converting black and white to grayscale, the cell size determines the size of each square used to determine shades. A cell size of one determines shading pixel by pixel, so only black or white is possible.  A cell size of 8 results in samples consisting of 64-pixel squares, so 65 shades are possible. The downside to large cell sizes is that contrast and accuracy in reproducing distinct shapes suffers. One way to make this less obvious this is to reduce the size of your image as you increase the cell size. Do this by increasing the Scale down setting.


Image or graphic files are represented in their original resolution and dimension in the client application. Wave and MIDI files are represented by the Album program icon. Video and animation files are represented by the first frame of a sequence.


Selecting this produces a grainy effect on the thumbnail's file when placed in the client application. When printing the client document, change the format to "Source Object" to print out the real content of the object.


Sav_Op_DB_PU
Some file formats do not offer any save options. In this case, the Options button is disabled.


Choosing the right resolution

The best resolution for an image displayed on screen may be quite different than that for printing. When an image is intended for displaying on screen, there is little advantage to  assigning a resolution greater than the highest intended screen resolution. Further, higher resolutions come at a significant cost in file size and memory requirements.

For printing, choose a resolution matching that of your printer for best results.


The origin, (where the horizontal and vertical lines meet), represents a pixel value of 0. the top and right edges each represent pixel values of 256. For grayscale, or the master channel, this means the line goes from lightest to darkest. For colors this means the colors shift from the complimentary color to the actual color.


Edit List/Keyword dialog box

Allows you to add/change/remove items in the items list.

Total items Displays the total number of items defined in the List/Keyword field types.

New item Enter the new item to add to the current list.

Items list Displays the items defined in the selected field type. Select an item to change or remove.

Add Click to add the new item to the items list.

Change Click to change the selected item in the list with the newly defined item.

Remove Click to delete the selected item from the items list.

Remove all Click to delete all the items from the items list.

Load Click to load the previously saved items from other files.

Save Click to save the current items list for future use.


True Color to Hi-Color dialog box

Dither Choose a dithering option to create the most accurate reproduction. The best choice depends on the source material.

None Choose None when the image is composed almost entirely of  large single-colored areas.

Pattern Choose Pattern if choosing None results in blotchy images and Dither results in too much "noise". The Pattern result may offer a pleasing alternative.

Diffusion Choose dither when the image has multi-colored patterns, shading, and other fine points. While you can't avoid losing some detail, this usually produces the most pleasing results.


Album Properties dialog box

Displays information about the selected album.

General Displays the album's title, no. of records contained, password option, folder monitoring, file format version, description, and the associated mark file (pathway).

Fields Displays the names, types, and the total no. of fields defined in the selected album.

File Displays the thumbnails' size, compression, and color reduction. Also displayed are the filename, creation date, date saved, file size, and accessibility.


Color dialog box

Select colors for the background or indexed color table entries.

Basic Colors Choose a color to use from the standard Windows color palette.

Custom Colors Choose a color you created and saved from the Custom Colors area.

Define Custom Colors Create a color from a palette showing all available options for your computer.