Freeware solution to specific graphics problem wanted

[John Latter]

Hi,

Er, this might be slightly O/T but I need advice on how to solve a
specific graphics problem with freeware.

I currently have PhotoPlus6 & Pixia and what I want to do is apply a
colour filter to a black&white pic so that the sky portion becomes the
same as the background colour of a webpage (also would prefer if the
rest of the pic could be 'tinted' by the filter).

The specific problem I have can be seen here:

http://members.aol.com/jorolat/filter.html

I've tried the Photoplus6 forum & a graphics newsgroup but have had no
luck (which is why I'm now posting here).

I appreciate learning more about PPlus6 & Pixia might lead to a
solution but different programs have different features and maybe
someone may know of a freeware program which can solve my problem more
easily (also, I want to change the pic to other colours besides the
one shown).

I hope someone will be able to help me!

Regards,

--

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

 

[Phil Rowley]

You should be able to do what you want with any paint program. The first
thing to do is to make sure that you have an emergency backup copy of the
original picture somewhere safe.

You need to set your webpage background colour as the destination colour and
the sky as the source. You will proably need to use an eyedropper tool to do
this.

As the backgound colour is fairly close to much of the picture, you need to
set a low value of the colour tolerance, so that only the "sky" colour is
affected.

Then use the "colour exchange" tool. You may need to use undo, and then
increase or decrease the colour tolerance setting to ensure that you change
all of the sky without affecting the picture itself. You now understand the
comment above about making an emergency copy in case anything goes wrong.

It is actually less complicated to do than it is to explain.

Phil

 

[John Latter]

You should be able to do what you want with any paint program. The first
thing to do is to make sure that you have an emergency backup copy of the
original picture somewhere safe.

You need to set your webpage background colour as the destination colour and
the sky as the source. You will proably need to use an eyedropper tool to do
this.

As the backgound colour is fairly close to much of the picture, you need to
set a low value of the colour tolerance, so that only the "sky" colour is
affected.

Then use the "colour exchange" tool. You may need to use undo, and then
increase or decrease the colour tolerance setting to ensure that you change
all of the sky without affecting the picture itself. You now understand the
comment above about making an emergency copy in case anything goes wrong.

It is actually less complicated to do than it is to explain.

Phil

Thankyou Phil! I'm pinning my hopes on "It is actually less
complicated to do than it is to explain" and will give it a go later
on this afternoon!

--

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

 

[Bebop & Rocksteady]

Er, this might be slightly O/T but I need advice on how to solve a

specific graphics problem with freeware.

I currently have PhotoPlus6 & Pixia and what I want to do is apply a
colour filter to a black&white pic so that the sky portion becomes the
same as the background colour of a webpage (also would prefer if the
rest of the pic could be 'tinted' by the filter).

Make back of orginal image...

Convert image to greyscale and then back to rgb so your filters work in
colour...

Not sure where it is in PhotoPlus 6 but you need to add a mask to the area
you want to alter. But most image editors have this feature of similar

Then apply the filter as required... ie adjust colour or tone etc....

If you want the whole image tinted, the easiest is convert to greyscale
and the back to rgb. Then adjust colour balance to suite the tint effect
you want...



--
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[John Latter]

Its no go 'sigh'

I've spent nearly an hour going around in circles! I looked in the
index of PhotoPlus6 and there are no entries for "source",
"destination" or "eyedropper" so I'm stuck before I start! Pixia
doesn't even have an index.

I've been trying to use the colour version of the pic as a background
layer and then tint it by increasing the level of opacity of layer1
(with the desired colour) but the results aren't too good - if the sky
is one colour then how do I work out which tint to use which will give
me the desired output?

Also, is there an easy way of seperating the castle from the sky in
the pic bearing in mind the edges are none too good owing to it being
taken with an El-Cheapo camera.

Basically..

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

--

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

 

[Bebop & Rocksteady]

Forgot to add...

Matching colours is easy for a webpage most html editors have an RGB colour
code when you choose a colour... Some image editors can even acept HEX Colour
code from HTML (ie #FFFFFF = White)







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----------------------------------------
Quantum Illusions: http://quantum.2ya.com
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DATA Solutions: http://datasolutions.quantum.2ya.com

If you truly want to contact me click the link
http://quantum.2ya.com/email.htm

 

[John Latter]

Make back of orginal image...

Convert image to greyscale and then back to rgb so your filters work in
colour...

Not sure where it is in PhotoPlus 6 but you need to add a mask to the area
you want to alter. But most image editors have this feature of similar

Then apply the filter as required... ie adjust colour or tone etc....

If you want the whole image tinted, the easiest is convert to greyscale
and the back to rgb. Then adjust colour balance to suite the tint effect
you want...

I appreciate your help BeBop & RockSteady but (as ususal!) maybe this
is beyond me cos I've only got help files to go by.

Your post - like that of Phil's reads very easy but the problem comes
in translating it into action.

I'm a newbie - does "make back of original image" mean make a back-up
or (as I think) make it the background layer?

I may need to add a mask but I ain't gotta clue how to go about it but
I'll have another look later when the frustration factor has dropped a
degree or two.

--

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

 

[your name]

I appreciate your help BeBop & RockSteady but (as ususal!) maybe this
is beyond me cos I've only got help files to go by.

Your post - like that of Phil's reads very easy but the problem comes
in translating it into action.

I'm a newbie - does "make back of original image" mean make a back-up
or (as I think) make it the background layer?

I may need to add a mask but I ain't gotta clue how to go about it but
I'll have another look later when the frustration factor has dropped a
degree or two.

Hi John. Yes, make a backup copy of the file. Save the file with a
new, different, name.

Then, in Photoplus:
On the top of the left hand tool bar is an icon of a Square drawn with
a dotted line. Next to the square is an arrow. Click the arrow.
A tool window pops up. These are your masking tools.
Experiment with the mask tools by drawing on the photo. They each have
different qualities.

Also, do re-read the help file in Photo Plus. Search for "mask
basics". There are good tips here.

--

 

[John Latter]

Hi John. Yes, make a backup copy of the file. Save the file with a
new, different, name.

Then, in Photoplus:
On the top of the left hand tool bar is an icon of a Square drawn with
a dotted line. Next to the square is an arrow. Click the arrow.
A tool window pops up. These are your masking tools.
Experiment with the mask tools by drawing on the photo. They each have
different qualities.

Also, do re-read the help file in Photo Plus. Search for "mask
basics". There are good tips here.

Hi Your Name,

I'm back from a cycle ride during which I glared at every cow, sheep,
and bird who had the gall to be breathing the same air as me.

I feel much better now

Almost human in fact.

Anyway, thankyou for your help and I'll have another try!

--

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

 

[Ben Cooper]

Er, this might be slightly O/T but I need advice on how to solve a
specific graphics problem with freeware.

I currently have PhotoPlus6 & Pixia and what I want to do is apply a
colour filter to a black&white pic so that the sky portion becomes the
same as the background colour of a webpage (also would prefer if the
rest of the pic could be 'tinted' by the filter).

The only way you're going to learn how to use these programs
is to begin using them.
When practicing your skills always work on a backup copy of
your original.

Now, Google for tutorials that pertain to the program you're
using.
Here's a start...
Pixia -
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=pixia+tutorial
PhotoPlus 6 -
http://www.google.com/search?q="photoplus+6"+tutorial&btnG=Google+Search&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

 

[John Latter]

The only way you're going to learn how to use these programs
is to begin using them.
When practicing your skills always work on a backup copy of
your original.

Now, Google for tutorials that pertain to the program you're
using.
Here's a start...
Pixia -
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=pixia+tutorial
PhotoPlus 6 -
http://www.google.com/search?q="photoplus+6"+tutorial&btnG=Google+Search&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

I do realize that Ben but this issue is only peripheral to the project
I'm working on - I want to 'dip-in', grab what I need, and then exit!

having said that, thankyou for the links - I didn't think of trying
Google.

I seem to have partially solved the problem, but at the expense of
finding others!

Pixia has a 'seed fill' function which filled the sky in ok. I then
opened the pic up in PhotoPlus6 and applied a filter which gave me
more or less what I wanted - I couldn't match the desired colour
exactly unless I upped the file size, so I've settled for a non-web
safe colour (the difference can't be detected by my naked eye) on the
assumption that browsers will 'round-it up or down'.

One thing I'm concerned about though, is that prior to ending up with
the above solution, I did play around for quite a while. Every time I
used the polygon tool, and then immediately clicked on 'edit/undo', I
got a system error telling me PPlus6 had to close - dunno what I've
done wrong but it hasn't increased my confidence in using the program.


No doubt I could try and chase it up on the Serif forums, but as I
said earlier, I'm not looking to spending anymore time on this than I
need to at the moment (bet I'll have to come back to it later
though!).

Anyway, thanks again for the links & advice,

John

--

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]

I currently have PhotoPlus6 & Pixia and what I want to do is apply a
colour filter to a black&white pic so that the sky portion becomes the
same as the background colour of a webpage (also would prefer if the
rest of the pic could be 'tinted' by the filter).

<sound of screeching tires as the bus comes to an emergency stop>

Don't, if others (read "not just you") will be seeing your page.

The user has control of background colors on many, if not most graphical
browsers, and if he doesn't prefer the same background as you, for
readability purposes, your "matching" color *won't* match.

Make that portion of your graphic *transparent*, so that *everyone's*
background color will show there.

 

[dszady]

Hi,

Er, this might be slightly O/T but I need advice on how to solve a
specific graphics problem with freeware.

I currently have PhotoPlus6 & Pixia and what I want to do is apply a
colour filter to a black&white pic so that the sky portion becomes the
same as the background colour of a webpage (also would prefer if the
rest of the pic could be 'tinted' by the filter).

The specific problem I have can be seen here:

http://members.aol.com/jorolat/filter.html

I've tried the Photoplus6 forum & a graphics newsgroup but have had no
luck (which is why I'm now posting here).

http://www.picture-shark.com/

Here's a solution that probably won't work. Use the small image as a
watermark(stamp)in Picture-Shark. Use the web page as a background, the
small image as the "stamp". Check the box <use tranparence>. move the cusor
over to the stamp and click on the sky.
Hopefully it will remove the sky and the rest will be "layered" with the
background. But to tell you the truth it works best with white. You could
solve that by using both as negative images. Too much work there though.
But if this procedure does work you can tint it later with other software.
I do use the program and it will work if I understand your problem
correctly.

 

[John Latter]

<sound of screeching tires as the bus comes to an emergency stop>

Don't, if others (read "not just you") will be seeing your page.

The user has control of background colors on many, if not most graphical
browsers, and if he doesn't prefer the same background as you, for
readability purposes, your "matching" color *won't* match.

Make that portion of your graphic *transparent*, so that *everyone's*
background color will show there.

The layout I'm using has three columns:

1) A 140px dark green column on the LHS - its in here that the
130px-wide pic is 'embedded'

2) A larger central column which is a 'greeny-blue' [er, sorry to be
so technical ] and its this colour that forms the sky portion of
the pic (to give the page balance/contrast & other techno stuff).

3) A narrowish RHS column which is formed by a background image &
contains shades of the 'greeny/blue' colour.

If the reader/user starts messing about with the background colours
then there isn't anything I can do about it anyway (insofar as I'm
able to understand what you're saying) but I will have a look at how
to make portions of a pic 'transparent - but I'm dreading doing so!

Regards,

John

--

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]

http://www.picture-shark.com/

Here's a solution that probably won't work. Use the small image as a
watermark(stamp)in Picture-Shark. Use the web page as a background, the
small image as the "stamp". Check the box <use tranparence>. move the cusor
over to the stamp and click on the sky.
Hopefully it will remove the sky and the rest will be "layered" with the
background. But to tell you the truth it works best with white. You could
solve that by using both as negative images. Too much work there though.
But if this procedure does work you can tint it later with other software.
I do use the program and it will work if I understand your problem
correctly.

Hi Dszady,

I have found one solution where I end up with a 130x40px pic in which
the sky portion is almost the colour I want it to be (but is not 'web
safe'), so if all else fails, then this is what'll use.

I can get the sky to be white by using 'seedfill' in Pixia (bit put
off by PhotoPlus6 cos I get system errors everytime I immediately undo
a polygon) so I might have a look at Picture-Shark later today -
thankyou for the help!

Regards,

--

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 21 Sep 2003 20:10:22 GMT, Blinky the Shark <[email protected]>
wrote:

If the reader/user starts messing about with the background colours

They will. Especially if your artsy stuff and/or font choices fight
readability.

then there isn't anything I can do about it anyway (insofar as I'm
able to understand what you're saying) but I will have a look at how

You're already in alt.html -- why don't you bring up the question
there? You'll get good advice.

 

[John Latter]

They will. Especially if your artsy stuff and/or font choices fight
readability.


You're already in alt.html -- why don't you bring up the question
there? You'll get good advice.

I know I'll get good advice in alt.html Blinky (I think I get good
advice everywhere!) but the initial problem (from my point of view)
only concerned graphics and the freeware graphic programs that I have
been using (still miffed about PhotoPlus6 the problem though).

At the moment I have a workable solution which I'm reasonably happy
with so I don't need to go any further - just yet! The pages aren't
really artsy at all - one background image down the right hand side
and one (or maybe two) small 130x40px images in the left hand column.

Regards,

--

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

 

[Duddits]

Hi,

Er, this might be slightly O/T but I need advice on how to solve a
specific graphics problem with freeware.

I currently have PhotoPlus6 & Pixia and what I want to do is apply a
colour filter to a black&white pic so that the sky portion becomes the
same as the background colour of a webpage (also would prefer if the
rest of the pic could be 'tinted' by the filter).

This may help
http://www.geocities.com/marcalix_ca/pixia/basics.html

regards

Dud

 

[John Latter]

This may help
http://www.geocities.com/marcalix_ca/pixia/basics.html

regards

Dud

Excellent - thankyou Dud!

--

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