Adding 'irregular' frames to images

[John Latter]

Hi,

I want to set a background image to a webpage where:

a) The pic is an oval shape
b) (Preferably) I can 'diffuse' the edges of the pic so that it
diffuses into the rest of the page background colour.

Are there any freeware programs which can be overlaid onto a regular
rectangular pic and produce composite shapes (eg oval) similar to what
you might find in a normal framed portrait?

I guess I'm asking for a mask function to cut out the outside part of
the pic that I don't want. Having played around with photoplus7 &
pixia, however, I'm still too much of a novice to achieve the desired
effect!

Er, I hope I've made myself clear

Regards,

John Latter
--

John Latter

The 'Socially Acceptable Violence' website:
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/sac.html

Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html

 

[NewsGuru]

Hi,

I want to set a background image to a webpage where:

a) The pic is an oval shape
b) (Preferably) I can 'diffuse' the edges of the pic so that it
diffuses into the rest of the page background colour.

Are there any freeware programs which can be overlaid onto a regular
rectangular pic and produce composite shapes (eg oval) similar to what
you might find in a normal framed portrait?

I guess I'm asking for a mask function to cut out the outside part of
the pic that I don't want. Having played around with photoplus7 &
pixia, however, I'm still too much of a novice to achieve the desired
effect!

Er, I hope I've made myself clear

Regards,

John Latter

This is an image editor issue, not a web page issue.

On the image editor, almost certainly as part of the "selection" menu,
look for a control over feathering or vignetting. That will let you copy
part of the picture whatever shape you wish, then paste it as a new
image with a fading edge a certain number of pixels wide, that
disappears into the background colour.

Chances are the actual shape of the pic will still be rectangular; it's
just that the squared-off corners will be of the background colour.

Then as long as the webpage background is of the same colour, when you
place it onto your web page it will simply look like a fading pic.

 

[John Latter]

This is an image editor issue, not a web page issue.

On the image editor, almost certainly as part of the "selection" menu,
look for a control over feathering or vignetting. That will let you copy
part of the picture whatever shape you wish, then paste it as a new
image with a fading edge a certain number of pixels wide, that
disappears into the background colour.

Chances are the actual shape of the pic will still be rectangular; it's
just that the squared-off corners will be of the background colour.

Then as long as the webpage background is of the same colour, when you
place it onto your web page it will simply look like a fading pic.

Thankyou for the info NewsGuru, at least I have some idea what to look
for now!

--

John Latter

The 'Socially Acceptable Violence' website:
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/sac.html

Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html

 

[Alexei and Cory Panshin]

Hi,

I want to set a background image to a webpage where:

a) The pic is an oval shape
b) (Preferably) I can 'diffuse' the edges of the pic so that it
diffuses into the rest of the page background colour.

Are there any freeware programs which can be overlaid onto a regular
rectangular pic and produce composite shapes (eg oval) similar to what
you might find in a normal framed portrait?

I guess I'm asking for a mask function to cut out the outside part of
the pic that I don't want. Having played around with photoplus7 &
pixia, however, I'm still too much of a novice to achieve the desired
effect!

Er, I hope I've made myself clear

Here are instructions on how to do exactly that in Paint Shop Pro and
Corel Photo-Paint.

http://graphicssoft.miningco.com/cs/paintshoppro/ht/pspvignette.htm
http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/photopaint/ht/cppvignette.htm

I would think that between them you'd be able to work out how to do the
same thing in any freeware with a masking function.


Cory Panshin

 

[Blinky the Shark]

This is an image editor issue, not a web page issue.

On the image editor, almost certainly as part of the "selection" menu,
look for a control over feathering or vignetting. That will let you copy
part of the picture whatever shape you wish, then paste it as a new
image with a fading edge a certain number of pixels wide, that
disappears into the background colour.

Chances are the actual shape of the pic will still be rectangular; it's
just that the squared-off corners will be of the background colour.

Then as long as the webpage background is of the same colour, when you
place it onto your web page it will simply look like a fading pic.

And if user is viewing that page with a different background color -
this is configurable on the better browsers - it won't match. (It's not
unusual to see dipshit page colorizations like dark blue text on black,
or lime green on red...and many users, at the click of an icon or with
a menu selection, can replace that kind of stuff with something readable,
like black on white or grey, or white on black. You can't match the
background when you don't have control over it.)

 

[John Latter]

Here are instructions on how to do exactly that in Paint Shop Pro and
Corel Photo-Paint.

http://graphicssoft.miningco.com/cs/paintshoppro/ht/pspvignette.htm
http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/photopaint/ht/cppvignette.htm

I would think that between them you'd be able to work out how to do the
same thing in any freeware with a masking function.


Cory Panshin

That is exactly the effect I'm looking for - thanks Cory!

--

John Latter

The 'Socially Acceptable Violence' website:
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/sac.html

Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html

 

[John Latter]

And if user is viewing that page with a different background color -
this is configurable on the better browsers - it won't match. (It's not
unusual to see dipshit page colorizations like dark blue text on black,
or lime green on red...and many users, at the click of an icon or with
a menu selection, can replace that kind of stuff with something readable,
like black on white or grey, or white on black. You can't match the
background when you don't have control over it.)

No doubt that is true Blinky, but I'm rapidly reaching the point where
the User can do just what the hell he or she pleases.

--

John Latter

The 'Socially Acceptable Violence' website:
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/sac.html

Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html

 

[John Latter]

That is exactly the effect I'm looking for - thanks Cory!

As an afterthought: I'm finally been able to create vignettes using
PhotoPlus6 (hooray!!!) but even with the help from the links that Cory
gave it would have been virtually impossible without the aid of PP6
Companion - PP6 itself has a most useless description of vignetting! A
drawback in using freeware I guess.

I gave up on Pixia.

--

John Latter

The 'Socially Acceptable Violence' website:
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/sac.html

Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html

 

[Blinky the Shark]

On 5 Oct 2003 17:49:14 GMT, Blinky the Shark <[email protected]>
wrote:

No doubt that is true Blinky, but I'm rapidly reaching the point where
the User can do just what the hell he or she pleases.

I realize you don't care to avoid this background-not-matching problem,
even though simple partial-image transparency solves it -- even if the user
chooses a different background (that's the POINT of using transparency). I
was speaking to someone else, who might want to do it the way that works.

 

[John Latter]

I realize you don't care to avoid this background-not-matching problem,
even though simple partial-image transparency solves it -- even if the user
chooses a different background (that's the POINT of using transparency). I
was speaking to someone else, who might want to do it the way that works.

I do care but there's a limit to that caring which is without doubt a
function of just how little I know - which is why I posted here for
info in the first place.

"even though simple partial-image transparency solves it" this is a
rationalization to your post simply because it implies a solution
without giving any further info as to how a newbie could go about
finding it.

--

John Latter

The 'Socially Acceptable Violence' website:
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/sac.html

Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html

 

[Blinky the Shark]

On 6 Oct 2003 00:42:19 GMT, Blinky the Shark <[email protected]>
wrote:

I do care but there's a limit to that caring which is without doubt a
function of just how little I know - which is why I posted here for
info in the first place.

"even though simple partial-image transparency solves it" this is a
rationalization to your post simply because it implies a solution

Rationalization? Hardly. It's simply something you do with your
graphics application.

without giving any further info as to how a newbie could go about
finding it.

I didn't feel like repeating myself with details, from the time,
recently, that I posted *you* on this problem, John. I figured
NewsGuru, who I was responding to, already knew how to do
transparency.

 

[John Latter]

Rationalization? Hardly. It's simply something you do with your
graphics application.


I didn't feel like repeating myself with details, from the time,
recently, that I posted *you* on this problem, John. I figured
NewsGuru, who I was responding to, already knew how to do
transparency.

There's no need to repeat yourself Blinky, you've missed the point.

--

John Latter

The 'Socially Acceptable Violence' website:
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/sac.html

Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html

 

[Blinky the Shark]

On 6 Oct 2003 18:02:31 GMT, Blinky the Shark <[email protected]>
wrote:

There's no need to repeat yourself Blinky, you've missed the point.

No, I haven't. The point is that I'd already given the "further info"
you needed.