User Guide for Windows and Macintosh® ®
Trademarks Kai’s Photo Soap 2 is a trademark of ScanSoft, Inc. “Macintosh” is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Incorporated. “Windows” and “PowerPoint” are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. “Pentium” is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. All other product names mentioned in the manual and other documentation are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
12 What’s New? 13 Getting Help 14 Starting and Quitting Soap 2 15 Exploring Kai’s Photo Soap 2 22 The Soap 2 Transporter 23 Undo, Apply, and Save 25 Using Albums 26 Exporting Photos 27 Expanding Soap 2’s Power Installing Kai’s Photo Soap 2 29 Organizing Photos Fixing Photos 31 32 Overview 32 Loading Photos 33 Working with Thumbnails 37 Previewing Photos 38 Getting File Information 39 Removing Image Files from your Computer 40 Switching Views 41 Working with Desktops 43 S
Composing Images Using Albums 54 Rotating and Sizing Photos 59 Adjusting Color 71 Automatically Fixing Photos 74 Healing Flaws 77 Smoothing and Sharpening 79 Removing Red Eye 80 Removing date and time stamps 81 Duplicating photo elements 83 Other Fun Effects 86 Having Fun with Masks 91 92 Building Compositions 93 Working with Composition Layers 104 Adding Photos to your Composition 105 Adding Text 107 Adding Objects, Backgrounds, and Edges 108 Adding Shadows to Layers 110
Sharing Photos Saving Albums 122 Viewing Album Information 122 Sharing Albums 123 125 Overview 126 Printing a Single Photo 127 Printing in Rows and Columns 128 Printing to Popular Sizes 128 Supported Avery and Kodak Papers 128 Loading Special Papers Correctly 129 Printing to Perforated Paper 130 Printing to Special Designs 132 Printing Posters 133 Adding Backgrounds or Frames 134 Scaling Up or Down 135 Rotating Photos to Fit 135 Flipping for Iron-Ons 136 Repeating Images on
141 Exporting a Desktop as a Web Page 143 Exporting an Album as a Web page 145 Exporting Photos as a PhotoCube Web Page (PC only) Using Plug-Ins 147 Appendix A:Tips About Photos 151 152 Tips About Scanning 152 Selecting Photos Appendix B:Key Shortcuts 154 154 Using Soap 2 Keyboard Shortcuts Appendix C: Supported Papers 155 Glossary 156 Index 162 vi
Kai’s Photo Soap 2 is the next generation of Kai’s Power Soap. Load photos from your computer’s hard drive, a digital camera, a scanner, a picture CD, or right off the Internet. Collect photos, correct them, then tweak them with special tools and filters. Present photos in digital photo albums and slideshows. Print photos and even output them ready for the Web! Some of the many things you can do with Soap 2.
What Can You Do with Soap 2? With Soap 2, you can: • organize your photos • display and share photos in Soap 2 electronic photo albums • repair damaged old photos • create fun special effects • add clip art, text, or cartoons to a photo composition • create artful collages, using multiple photos • export photos or albums to use on the WEB • prepare photos to send over e-mail or in an interactive slideshow • view photos in several ways You can see your photos on a Soap 2 “desktop” or “lightbox”.
You can print in rows or in popular sizes. • crop and rotate photos No more messing with scissors to trim a photo to the correct size. You can rotate or crop photos easily in Soap 2.
• rescue torn, faded, dusty, or wrinkled photos You can rescue torn, faded, dusty, or wrinkled photos. • make a photo brighter or sharper. Adjust the brightness or tweak the contrast to get a better look.
Get rid of red-eye. • create fun projects—working with multiple photos, using plug-in filters, adding clip art, text, backgrounds or frames. Get creative!.
What’s New? For those using Version 1 of Kai’s Photo Soap, there are so many cool new features in Kai’s Photo Soap 2 that you’ll want to explore the entire program. Here are a few of the things you’ll find: • The image window is sizable and Soap 2 now lets you work with multiple photos, so you can fix and clone like crazy. Think of the possibilities. • A Transporter lets you move photos between the Organize, Clean, Compose, and Print areas of the product.
You will find the answers to most of your questions within the pages of this User Guide. If you need further assistance, contact ScanSoft Technical Support on the World Wide Web at: www.scansoft.
Starting and Quitting Soap 2 To start Soap 2: ✤ Double-click the Kai’s Photo Soap 2 logo. To quit Soap 2 ✤ Choose Output menu > Quit Soap 2 or Input menu > Quit Soap 2. (You can also Press Ctrl + Q on Windows or Cmd + Q on a Macintosh). If you’ve made changes to a photo, Soap 2 asks if you want to save your work before quitting. Refer to “Saving your Work” on page 24 for more about the ways you can save your work.
No more dusty boxes of pictures! Photo Soap 2 makes it easy to store photos. The Organize tab opens an area where you can load, view, and sort your photos. Select a photo, then drop it in the Transporter to work with it. From here, you can save a thumbnail desktop arrangement for later Soap 2 sessions; export a desktop of thumbnails as a Web page; print selected photos; see a quick photo “slideshow” and prepare photos to send with an e-mail.Soap 2 Click the Organize tab to open, view, or sort photos.
In Contact Sheet view, you can study photos in a popular photographers’ review sheet layout. Export this desktop view to HTML and drop it on a browser for a great way to pass photos around for review. From here, you can also print selected photos, make slideshows and send selected photos via e-mail. Choose a Contact Sheet view from the View menu. Drop photos on the Transporter, then move them to other areas in Soap 2. Look at photos in Contact Sheet view for easy recognition.
Click Album, then put photos into Albums or Frames to be presented, printed, e-mailed, or posted on the Web. Choose an Album or Frame style, then click the Select button. Click Prev and Next for more Album styles. Drag photos from the Transporter into empty Album slots. Display or print photos in cool electronic Albums. 17 I N T RO D U C I N G S O A P 2 Soap 2 Albums make it easy to display photos. Pick an Album style and just drop photos into place. Add some text and your album’s complete.
You can fix or enhance a photo in the Clean area. From here, you can also print or export a photo for use on the Web. Use the Image menu to correct color, paint, crop, rotate, or add effects to your photo. Click Clean to make changes to a photo. Zoom in or out. Fix or enhance parts of your photo, using the Soap 2 tools. Choose an effect. Click to access features Move the photo in the window. Adjust brush size. Drag a photo from the Transporter. Fix or enhance photos in Soap 2’s Clean area.
Each time you click a variation, new variations are displayed. Click until you get the look you like best. Hit Reset anytime you want to start over. And, be sure to try the Auto Enhance button! Choose Quick color. Compare selections with your original photo. Click the selection that looks best. Select what you want to change. Try the Auto Enhance button! QuickColor lets you adjust brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, as well as red, blue, and green balance in your photo.
The Compose tab opens an area where you can really get creative. After you’ve fixed or modified photos, you can create compositions by dropping one or more photos onto the canvas, adding objects (like cartoon elements), put in a little text, and generally have fun. From here, you can print, export for use on the Web. Preview layers. Hide/Show layers. Edit layers. Stretch, move rotate a layer. Add text to composition .Set text attributes Control layer transparency.
Click to set margins Image filename Click to rotate, scale, or edit images Click to add text to your images Click to setup printer page Click to print Print Preview Drag to set margins The Print area gives you a preview of what you’re printing and offers lots of great ways to print your photos. 21 I N T RO D U C I N G S O A P 2 The Print tab opens an area where you can choose from a variety of ways to print your photos. You can even create posters or a sheet full of wallet sized photos.
The Soap 2 Transporter Using the Transporter Use the Transporter to move thumbnails to other areas of Soap 2. Kai’s Photo Soap 2 Transporter is an important part of Soap 2. The Transporter lets you move thumbnails around in the application, to work with them. Once you’ve loaded photos into Soap 2 and arranged them on the desktop, just drop a photo or group of photos onto the transporter. From the Transporter, you can: • drop thumbnails into photo positions in Albums.
An important difference between Soap 2 and other photo manipulation programs is that in Soap 2, all of your changes are done to a copy of your photo. This means that you can experiment freely, make changes, and THEN decide to either save or discard your work. Your original image file remains intact until you choose to change it. Using Undo If you change your mind while you’re working with a photo, just Undo it! Undo reverses the last thing you did.
Apply sets a new baseline, so that future changes are based upon the effects you’ve “applied”. Reset returns your photo to the last time you clicked Apply. But don’t worry! If you change your mind, you can even Undo an Apply. Apply sometimes makes it easier for you to work on different areas of a photo. Say, for example, that you’ve modified the color of Luc’s shirt in a photo. Click Apply to set a new baseline. Then, start work on his hair color.
Photo files can get large, containing a lot of information. Keep track of how many photos you save on your computer or just keep photos you want to work with. Move others to storage. Too many photos can cause your hard drive to get full. Using Albums Displaying photos in Albums You can display or present your photos in Soap 2 electronic Albums. Albums are professionally drawn illustrations that look like a variety of albums (or picture frames).
• print an Album as a complete book or as individual album pages. Displaying photos in an Album. Exporting Photos Exporting Photos for E-mail With Soap 2, it’s easy to send photos over the internet. Soap 2 saves your photos in an Internet friendly format, so all you have to do is attach them to an e-mail message. They’ll travel over the Internet in a self-contained mini-program.
Here’s a neat way to make your own personal Home page. You can post an Album full of photos as your Web site. The HTML page that Soap 2 creates is interactive! Visitors to your site can flip pages in the Album, or they can double-click on a photo in the Album to see a full-size view of it. Refer to “Exporting an Album as a Web page” on page 143 for more information about exporting desktops as HTML pages.
• create glass, curls, tiles, welds, twirls, feedback, vortexes, and stereo noise (Compact Filters) • camera lens effects (Lens f/x Filters) Acquire Plug-ins Other plug-ins let you load or export photos, like loading photos from your digital camera, scanner, or using special printing options. Free Plug-ins Soap 2 includes three of the four famous Kai’s Power Tools 3 (KPT 3) special effect plug-ins. Refer to Using Plug-Ins for more information about using plug-ins with Kai’s Photo Soap 2.
Installation instructions are provided for both Windows and Macintosh. Follow the instructions appropriate to your system. Kai’s Photo Soap 2 is intended for local installation only. Do not attempt to install it onto a network server. System Requirements (Windows) Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 3 or later; 32 mb RAM for Windows 95/98; 64 mb RAM for Windows NT; 100 mb of hard-disk space; CD drive; 16 or 24 bit color (24 bit preferred).
3 Follow the instructions provided by the installer. 4 The installation dialog displays an important ReadMe. Click “Continue” after reading the complete ReadMe. Soap 2 Installation Tips • If you plan to print photos, adjust the color on your monitor so that it matches the output of your printer. That way, when a photo looks great on your monitor you can print it without disappointment. • Working with photos requires a lot of memory (RAM).
ORGANIZING PHOTOS What’s in this Section? Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Loading Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Working with Thumbnails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Previewing Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Getting File Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Removing Image Files from your Computer . . . . . . 39 Switching Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Overview In Kai’s Photo Soap 2, you can work with one photo, more than one photo, a folder full of photos, or many folders full of photos. Digital photos are available from a wide variety of sources. One way to get digital images is to just scan a printed photo, or you can use a digital camera. Scanners and digital cameras are usually connected to your computer with a cable. Pictures are moved (downloaded) from the camera directly into Soap 2.
✤ a picture CD Do This: Tips Choose Input menu > Open File or Input menu > Open folder, select the picture CD, select the file or folder you want to load, then click Open. Working with Thumbnails After you’ve loaded photos into Soap 2, you see them as small “thumbnail” copies on the Organize area desktop. You can see a quick “slide” view of each thumbnail or resize thumbnails to make them easier for you to work with. To see a "slide" view of a thumbnail: ✤ Move the cursor over a thumbnail and pause.
A color border around thumbnails indicates they are selected. Draw a marquee around thumbnails to select them. To select all except the currently selected thumbnails: 1 Select one or more thumbnail—these are the ones you don’t want selected. 2 Choose Edit menu > Select Inverse. The originally selected thumbnail(s) are deselected and remaining thumbnails are selected. To select all the thumbnails: ✤ Choose Edit menu > Select All. All thumbnails are selected.
To rotate a thumbnail: 1 Select the thumbnail(s) you want to rotate. 2 Choose View menu > Rotate. To rename a thumbnail: 1 Select the thumbnail you want to rename. 2 Choose Edit menu > Rename Image. You can rotate or rename thumbnails, before you save a desktop. Soap 2 prompts to see if you want to save those kind changes. Rotating or renaming photos is handy if you’re acquiring images from a digital camera, Refer to “Saving a Thumbnail Arrangement” on page 41 for more information.
Duplicating Thumbnails Depending on what you’re going to do with a photo, it is sometimes helpful to have more than one thumbnail copy of an image. For example, you might want to see how a particular shirt looks in various colors, or how a house looks in each of the four seasons. To duplicate a thumbnail: 1 Select a thumbnail. 2 Choose Edit menu > Duplicate. The selected thumbnail is copied into memory. A duplicate of the thumbnail appears on the desktop.
Remember—thumbnails are just little copies of your photos. When you delete a thumbnail from the Soap 2 Organize area, you are not deleting an actual image file from your computer. Refer to “Removing Image Files from your Computer” on page 39 for information about using Soap 2 to remove image files from your computer. To delete thumbnails: 1 Select one or more thumbnail. 2 Choose Edit menu > Delete Thumbnail (or press the del/delete key.
3 Click a final time to return to the Soap 2 Organize area. Use View menu > Preview to see a full-screen view of a thumbnail. Getting File Information You can view information about each thumbnail.
Getting file information. Removing Image Files from your Computer Image files can use up a lot of storage space on your computer. A handy way to keep your computer “clean” is to use Soap 2 to remove image files from your computer’s hard drive or from removable media. Removing a photo file from your computer is a permanent action. Be sure that’s what you want to do and ALWAYS make backup copies of important photos, before you save your changes or remove the image file from your computer.
Switching Views Using other Views You’re familiar with the Soap 2 desktop, where you can move and pile photos. But, wait! There are other ways to view your photos. Have fun exploring Lightbox and Contact Sheet views. Change views any time. When no thumbnails are selected, all the photos you’ve loaded into Soap 2 are displayed. When you have thumbnails selected, only those that are selected are displayed in the new view, making it easy to select a small group of photos to review.
Choose View menu > Contact Sheet. Your photos are displayed in a contact sheet format. Contact Sheet view. Working with Desktops Building Thumbnail Arrangement The first time you open Kai’s Photo Soap 2, you’ll see the Soap 2 desktop. After you load your own photos, you can arrange or group them in ways that are useful to you. Soap 2 displays your photos as thumbnail representations. These thumbnail arrangements are referred to as desktops.
desktops is a handy way to work with specific photos, like those from a family reunion, recent vacation, or genealogy project. Save as many desktop arrangements as you want, then reload them and start working—right where you left off. Once you have the right photos loaded and have arranged your Soap 2 desktop, you can save the arrangement as a Soap 2 desktop file. To create a new desktop: ✤ Choose Input menu > New Desktop. If photos are loaded, Soap 2 prompts you to save the current desktop.
1 In the Organize area, choose Input menu > Open Desktop. 2 Select the desktop you want to open. Soap 2 reloads the saved desktop, so you can resume work. Sorting and Searching for Photos Now, there’s finally a way to take control over all your photos. You can sort by file name, date, size, file type, height, width, and aspect ratio (height to width). Sort by color if you want to view all those travel photos of sunsets over the ocean.
To search by keywords: ✤ Choose Edit menu > Keyword Search and enter the keyword by which you want to sort.Sorting Photos by Name To sort photos by name: 1 (Optional) Select one or more thumbnails. When no thumbnails are selected, Soap 2 alphabetically sorts all the thumbnails on the Soap 2 desktop. If thumbnails are selected, Soap 2 groups the selected photos in the middle of the desktop after sorting them. 2 Choose Sort menu > Alphanumeric. You can sort thumbnails by name.
Choose Sort menu > Date. Sorting Photos by Size When you sort by size, Soap 2 reorganizes thumbnails on your desktop according to thumbnail size. To sort by size: 1 (Optional) Select one or more thumbnails. 2 Choose Sort menu > Size. Sorting Photos by File Type To sort by file type: 1 (Optional) Select one or more thumbnails. 2 Choose Sort menu > Kind. Sorting Photos by Height When you sort by size, Soap 2 reorganizes thumbnails on your desktop according to thumbnail height.
Sorting Photos by Beauty You can give each photo a beauty rating in file information—identifying how much you like that photo. To assign a personal rating: 1 Select a thumbnail. 2 Choose Edit menu > Image Info (or move the cursor over a thumbnail, pause until you see the slide view, then click on the circle in the bottom right corner of the slide). The File Information dialog is displayed. 3 Move the Personal Rating slider right to give it a high beauty rating or left to give it a low beauty rating.
1 (Optional) Select one or more thumbnails. 2 Choose Sort menu > Description.
FIXING PHOTOS What’s in this Section? Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 What Kai’s Photo Soap 2 Can Fix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Using the Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Rotating and Sizing Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Adjusting Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Automatically Fixing Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Healing Flaws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
This chapter explains how to fix problems with photos, such as straightening crooked photos, fixing blemishes, color casts, or exposure problems. The changes you make using the tools introduced in this chapter directly affect the pixels in the image. “Building Compositions” on page 92 explains how to compose or enhance a photo; you can add clipart, edges, or text, and you can layer multiple images. Use the Image menu to correct color, paint, crop, rotate, or add effects to your photo.
What Kai’s Photo Soap 2 Can Fix Soap 2 can fix many types of problems including: • Straightening crooked photos, or rotating them if they load sideways • Fixing rips, tears, and blemishes • Resizing photos • Removing unwanted elements such as that power pole that appears to stick out of someone’s head • Remove “red eye” or time stamps from photos • Sharpen soft contrast photos or blur busy backgrounds • Adjust brightness and contrast • Change the colors For information on creating photos, scanning photos, a
Removes an applied effect, Erasers size can be adjusted like a brush Magic Mask Refer to “Using the Magic Mask” on page 53 for more instructions Icicle Hardens edges of effects Water Drop Softens edges of effects Zoom Refer to “Zooming and Panning” on page 53 for instructions on using this tool Pan Scrolls around in zoomed photos Hand Smears an effect 51 FIXING PHOTOS Eraser
Brush Controller You can set the brush size, softness, and flow. The size specifies the amount of area affected by a brush stroke. Softness specifies whether a stroke is hard edges, or feathered to produce a soft stroke with fuzzy edges. Flow controls the amount of effect in a cumulative manner. With a low flow setting, you can layer the amount of effect applied. You can also set opacity which is a characteristic of the effect, not the brushes.
Use the Magic Mask to select a color range. When you click the Magic Mask tool on a color, it will select similar colors around the area you clicked on. Use the sliders in the Magic Mask control to fine tune the range and feather of the tool. Refer to “What are Masks” on page 86 for more information about masks. To use the Magic Mask: 1 Click the Magic Mask tool. (It looks like a bucket.) 2 Drag it to the color area you want to select, and click.
Resize the window to a smaller size if you are using a slow computer. You can use the Window Reset button to return it to the default size for that image. Scanning photos is a great way to get them into Soap 2, but what do you do when pictures scan in a little crooked? Or what do you do when they load sideways, because the camera was rotated or the photo was scanned upside down? Soap 2’s rotate tools let you straighten crooked pictures, rotate photos for special effects, and flip pictures around.
Press Shift to constrain the rotation by 15 degrees. Rotating a photo. You can experiment, to rotate your picture half turns (180 degrees) or quarter turns (90 degrees). Continue clicking until the picture is back in its original position. You can also click the 90 degree rotate tool. Flipping Photos To flip a photo 1 If needed, drag the photo you want to use from the Transporter. 2 Choose Image menu > Crop and Rotate, and select Horizontal Flip or Vertical Flip.
Rotate 90° Flip Horizontally Flip Vertically Flipping a photo. At any time, you can click Reset to return the photo to its original orientation. Resizing Photos Most of the time you’ll only need to zoom a photo to change how it appears on your monitor. However, you can also change the size of the photo file. If you know where you want to use a photo, you can resize it for your purpose. For example, if you plan to use a photo on the Web or on screen, you’ll want to set it to 72 dpi.
1 Choose Image menu > Image Size. 2 Select a dpi setting based on your intended use. 3 If needed, you can check Resample, then manually set the dimensions and resolution. ✤ Check Constrain proportions to avoid distorting the image. The image size dialog box. DPI stands for dots per inch and indicates how many dots per inch the file contains.
Cropping Photos Ever want to use just part of a photo? If you’ve ever tried trimming pictures with scissors, you’ll love using Soap 2 for the job. Soap 2 makes it easy to choose what you want and throw away the rest. And, you’ll always have a straight edge! Cropping a photo.
4 Click and drag crop bars inwards from the photo’s edge, until the photo is cropped the way you want it. Adjusting Color Soap 2 provides several ways to adjust the color of your photos. You can adjust the brightness, contrast, hue, or saturation directly, or use QuickColor. Refer to “Quick Color” on page 72 for more information. Adjusting Brightness Sometimes a photo appears too bright or too dim. Soap 2 allows you to adjust the brightness in your photos.
Lightening or Darkening a Photo You can adjust the overall lightness and darkness of a photo, or you can adjust the lightness and darkness in a particular section. For example, only the area under the tree is too dark. Adjusting lightness and darkness. To lighten or darken a complete photo: ✤ Move the Brightness slider left to lighten the image, or right to darken it.
If you only need to lighten the area under the tree, you can do that by using the paintbrushes or erasers. If you are trying to slightly adjust a specific section of a photo, that is known as “nudging.”. Smearing an effect. To lighten part of an image: 1 If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. 2 Choose Image menu > Effects, and choose Color and Tone. 3 Click the Brush icon to display the brush tools. 4 Adjust the Brightness slider and the opacity slider.
Softening and Sharpening Effects with the Water Drop and Icicle Sometimes you need to soften or sharpen a particular effect. Softening blurs the effect slightly, allowing unmasked areas of the photo to stand out more. Sharpening increases the edges of the effect in areas where it is applied. For example, you can use the Water Drop to soften the area where you changed color of the foliage to make the effect look more natural, or you can use the Icicle to sharpen the edge where you applied an effect.
1 Select the Icicle tool from the workspace. 2 Adjust the brush size. 3 Brush the effect area you want to sharpen. You can brush over an area to sharpen the edges more. Sharpening the edge of an effect.
Lighter or Darker Shadows, Highlights Sometimes you want to lighten or darken existing shadows or take the sheen out of highlights. Adjusting the shadows. To adjust shadows: 1 If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. 2 Choose Image menu > Effects, and choose Color and Tone. 3 Adjust the Brightness slider and the opacity slider to affect the entire image. 4 To change part of the image, click the Brush icon to display the brush tools.
Contrast refers to the range of grey tones contained in a photo. A photo with high contrast has more white and black (and less grey tones) while a low contrast photo displays less variation. Sometimes this is described as “muddy” or flat. If the lightest and darkest colors are close to each other, a photo may appear to have higher contrast than a photo in which other tones separate the extreme colors. Changing the contrast.
More and less contrast in the same image. To increase or decrease contrast: ✤ Move the Contrast slider left to increase contrast or to the right to decrease it for the entire image. ✤ Click the drawer tread to view the controls for adjusting highlights, mid-tones, and shadows. ✤ Adjust the sliders as needed. Using Paintbrushes and Erasers Sometimes you only want to change the contrast in a certain area of the image. You can do that using the paintbrushes and erasers.
Flattening Towards Grey If you have a picture that contains very bright pale colors and very dark colors, you can reduce the color range by flattening them towards grey. The final shade depends on the average brightness of the image. To flatten towards grey: 1 If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. 2 Choose Image menu > Effects, and Color and Tone. 3 Drag the Contrast slider to reduce the contrast between the lightest and darkest colors in your photo. 67 FIXING PHOTOS Adjusting a correction.
✤ You can create a black and white photo from a color image by moving the luminosity slider, and then adjust the contrast as needed. Adjusting the contrast. Changing Photo Colors Soap 2 makes it easy to change photo colors. You can shift the entire color spectrum in a photo to correct a problem with the original image. Or, you may want to change the color of Benjamin’s car, or Brian’s hair. Experiment and discover some out-of-this-world effects. Then use Undo if you don’t like the results.
Hue shifts the entire color spectrum like the “Tint” control on a color television. Saturation controls the intensity of colors. A black and white or monochrome photo has no saturation. Full saturation can create a wild effect. Color controls. Shifting the Color Spectrum When experimenting with colors, you can shift the colors for the entire image, or you can brush over an area to select it, and localize your changes to that area. Both methods can be used for either subtle or wild results.
Making Pale Colors Intense You may have a good photo except that most of the colors are too pale. You can make pale colors intense by increasing the saturation of the color. You can also mute intense colors the same way. To make pale colors intense: 1 If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. 2 Select Image menu > Effects, and Color and Tone. 3 Drag the saturation slider to adjust the color of the entire image. 4 To change specific areas, click the brush to display the brush tools.
1 If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. 2 Select Image menu > Effects, and Color and Tone. (If desired, click the brush to display and use the brush tools.) 3 Drag the Hue slider to adjust the colors. If you don’t see the effect you want, click the tread to open the Color correction drawer. 4 Select the slider that corresponds to the color you want to adjust. For example, to adjust color red, choose the red slider. 5 Drag the slider to adjust the red areas of the photo.
Quick Color You can rapidly adjust the color settings by using QuickColor. Choose a corrected image and view it next to your original. You can stop there, or apply that image and then correct it further with the color tools. QuickColor. To adjust color: 1 Click the QuickColor shortcut button. 2 Click the color choices to view them in the larger image next to your original image.
Sometimes colors just look wrong, especially when one color dominates the picture (called a color cast). Soap 2’s Auto Enhance button can sometimes fix these kinds of flaws, with a single click. Try it to see what it does for your picture. However, it doesn’t work well on images that don’t have black and white areas. If photos were correctly exposed or don’t have a color cast, the results of using the Auto Enhance button may be minimal.
Healing Flaws Working with family genealogy can be fun, but old photos have their own set of problems. Imperfections like dust, water spots, rips, or creases can keep you from enjoying and sharing that treasured wedding shot of Aunt Minnie and Uncle Phil. New photos sometimes make blemishes or wrinkles seem too obvious, or distracting detail can take away from the main subject of a picture. Details can come out soft or fuzzy, because of poor focus or lighting conditions.
1 If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. 2 Select Image menu > Effects, and Heal. 3 If needed, you can click the brush in the Heal effect control and use the Brush controller to set the brush size. (Refer to “Brush Controller” on page 52 for details.) 4 Click a small spot to heal it, or click and drag along a scratch or tear, following the path of the blemish. Healing an image. 5 Use small or large brush strokes as needed depending on the type of flaw you are correcting.
Fixing Fuzzy Areas after Healing To fix fuzzy areas after healing: 1 If needed, drag the photo you want to use from the Transporter. 2 Choose Image menu > Effects, and select Clone. The Image Clone control displays. A copy of your image displays along with the puck. You can zoom or pan the image as needed to locate the area you want to use as a source for cloning. Select an area that matches the texture surrounding the healed area. You can clone this texture and apply it over the healed area to blend it.
Sometimes you may want to blur or smooth parts of an image, or sharpen other parts. For example, you may want to smooth the background of a wedding photo to draw attention to the bride and groom. Or, you may want to sharpen Mom’s face. Smoothing and sharpening in use. Using the Smooth Effect To use the smooth effect: 1 If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. 2 Choose Image menu > Effects, and choose Smooth. 3 If needed, click the brush button to display the brushes.
4 Select a brush and brush the areas of the photo that you want to smooth. The smooth tool. Setting the Smooth Ratio To set the smooth ratio: 1 If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. 2 Choose Image menu > Effects, and choose Smooth. 3 Adjust the smoothness and opacity using the sliders. 4 If needed, click the brush icon to display the brush tools. Otherwise the effect is applied to the entire image. ✤ The slider on the bottom adjusts the Smoothness.
Select a brush and brush the areas of the photo that you want to sharpen. Sharpening an image. Setting the Sharpen Ratio To set the sharpening ratio: 1 If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. 2 Choose Image menu > Effects, and choose Sharpen. 3 Adjust the sharpness and opacity using the sliders. 4 If needed, click the brush image to display the brush tools. Otherwise the effect is applied to the entire image. ✤ The slider on the bottom adjusts the sharpness.
Using the Red Eye Effect To use the Red Eye effect: 1 If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. 2 Choose Image menu > Effects, and select Red Eye. 3 Choose the eye color you want to use. (Refer to “Choosing an Eye Color” on page 80 for details.) 4 Use the brush to paint across the eye area. Removing red eye. If there is a lot of red in the region of the eye, the Red Eye tool will “correct” that red area too. You may need to zoom in to apply the tool on a smaller area.
1 If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. 2 Choose Image menu > Effects, and select Heal. 3 Click the brush image to display the Brush controller where you can set the brush size. (Refer to “Brush Controller” on page 52 for details.) 4 Click the date and time stamp to heal it, or click and drag, following the path of the date and time stamp. 5 If needed, touch up an area using the Clone tool. Duplicating photo elements You could you use Soap 2 to make Uncle Robert into twins.
What is Cloning? Cloning is copying pixels from a section of a photo and reproducing them elsewhere. Use the brush tool along with the Clone control to clone an image. Cloning an image. Cloning between images If you have two group photos and one is perfect except you closed your eyes, and everyone else blinked in the second one, you could duplicate your face from the second photo and replace your face in the first photo. To clone between images: 1 If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter.
Use the brush tool to draw the cloned area into your image If needed, click the brush icon in the Clone control to display the brushes. Cloning from another image. Matching Colors The color picker allows you to match a shade perfectly. To match colors: 1 If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. 2 Choose Image menu > Effects and select Clone. The Clone controller displays a copy of your image. You can zoom or pan the image as needed to locate the area you want to use as a source for cloning.
Painting on Photos Haven’t you always wanted to see what you would look like with a mustache or beard? Here is your chance to paint one on! To paint on your photos: 1 If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. 2 Choose Image menu > Effects, and Color Paint. 3 Choose a brush or other tool. 4 Select a color from the color control, or by clicking the color picker over any color in the photo. 5 Start painting on your photo.
To colorize your photo: 1 If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. 2 Select Image menu > Effects, and Colorize. 3 If desired, drag the Saturation slider to desaturate the color, and turn the image into black and white. 4 Drag the Hue slider to cycle through the colors and select a color. 5 If desired, click the brush, to apply the color using one of the paint tools. 6 If needed, adjust the transparency using the slider. 7 Once you are satisfied with the results, click Apply.
Having Fun with Masks Masks allow you to apply an effect to certain parts of a photo while leaving other areas untouched. You can use Masks to apply colors, textures, and plug-in effects, or any other adjustment to selected parts of the photo. What are Masks Masking consists of covering up (or revealing) certain areas before applying an effect. If you’ve ever gotten a sunburn, you’ve seen the effects of a mask. The areas covered by clothing are the masked areas.
Creating Masks Typically you’ll use one of the Brush tools, the Pencil, or the Magic Mask to create a mask. However, you can also apply a mask to the entire image. The example below uses a brush tool to create a color mask, but the same steps apply to the other tools. (Refer to “Using the Magic Mask” on page 53 for details on using the Magic Mask.) Select a tool based on the area you are masking. You may want to adjust the size of the tool before you begin depending on the area you intend to mask.
• As needed, switch tools or change brush sizes to mask tiny areas. (You can also zoom in to mask fine detail.) Using the Mask tray. Viewing and Inverting Masks Sometimes it is easier to select the area that you don’t want masked and then invert the mask. For example, if you want to change everything except Cousin Linda’s face, it may be easier to mask her face. To invert a mask: 1 If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. 2 Create a mask of the area where you do not want to apply an effect.
Choose Effects menu > Blur to blur the inverted mask. Cousin Linda. Saving and Reusing Masks You can assign frequently reused masks to the mask tray. Then you can replace or remove masks easily. Stored masks Stored masks in the Mask tray.
To assign a mask to the mask tray: 1 If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. 2 Create a mask. Refer to “Creating Masks” on page 87. 3 Click an unused position to assign the mask to that spot in the mask tray, or click the Plus button to add the mask to the next available spot. • • • Click each in use spot in the tray to view the current stored masks. Click the Plus button to assign a mask to a spot in the mask tray.
COMPOSING IMAGES What’s in this Section? Building Compositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Working with Composition Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Adding Photos to your Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Adding Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Adding Objects, Backgrounds, and Edges . . . . . . . . 107 Adding Shadows to Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Adding a Canvas Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Building Compositions Once you’ve fixed or enhanced photos, you can use Kai’s Photo Soap 2 to build creative compositions. Work with more than one photo. Add text or cool clipart. Create a great look with shadows—real shadows that reflect a stationary light source—and once you get going, you can even work with a photo’s hidden channel (called its Alpha channel) to create special “cutouts”.
Choosing a new canvas size. Working with Composition Layers Understanding Layers In a Soap 2 composition, you’ll drop photo, text and objects onto the canvas. Each piece you add to your composition is a separate layer. Layers work like this. Imagine each part of your composition is drawn on a piece of clear plastic or film. As you lay each piece of “film” in place, you build a composition. 93 COMPOSING IMAGES .
For example: You might start (1)—by dragging a family reunion photo (which you fixed earlier with the QuickColor tool) onto the canvas. Next (2)—you add a little text, like “Lynn’s Family Reunion” (switching on a shadows for that layer). Finally (3)—you add just the right piece of clip art to finish the piece. These three separate layers combine to create a great keepsake for everyone who attended the reunion. Each part of this composition is a separate layer.
Each layer in your composition is listed in the Layers tray. This tray makes it possible to select and control the behavior of each layer in your composition. Scroll through the Layers tray to locate the layer you want to control. Scroll Layers Hide/Show Layer Lock Layers Hide/Show Layer Shadow Layer Preview Canvas Color Delete Layer The Layer tray. To display the layer tray ✤ Click the layer icon at the upper left outside corner of the composition window. Click to display the layer tray.
Moving a Layer Once you’ve created a layer (usually by dragging a photo from the Transporter), you will want to position it in your composition. To move a layer: 1 Click the Move tool. The Move tool. 2 Click on the layer to select it. 3 Move the layer to a new location. Sizing and Stretching a Layer To resize a layer: 1 Click the Uniform Size tool. Using the Uniform Size tool lets you resize a layer, without distorting it. The Uniform Size tool. 2 Click on a layer and hold the mouse button down.
Drag the cursor up or down to increase or decrease how tall it is. Drag the cursor right or left to increase or decrease the layer’s width. As you move the cursor, you’ll see the layer change size. Hold down the Shift key while you drag the cursor to stretch the layer only horizontally. Hold down the Ctrl/Cmd key while you drag to stretch the layer only vertically. 5 Release the mouse button when the layer is stretched correctly. Rotating or Flipping a Layer To rotate a layer: 1 Click the Rotate tool.
2 Choose Layers menu > Flip Vertical to flip a layer vertically. Flip a layer. Adjusting a Layer’s Transparency You can adjust a layer’s transparency (how faded or pronounced it is), allowing other details in your composition to show through. Unlike hiding a layer, adjusting the transparency of a layer lets you create very interesting effects. You can let canvas color merge with a Background Image. Refer to See “Adding a Canvas Color” on page 110 for information about selecting a Canvas Color.
Changing a layer’s transparency setting can give you neat effects. To adjust transparency for an entire layer: 1 Select a layer. 2 If you selected the layer by choosing it in the Layers tray, click the transparency control bar at the bottom of the Layers tray to display the Layers Attributes control for the selected layer. Click to display Layer attributes. 99 COMPOSING IMAGES By brushing on layer transparency, you can brush away edges, softening them to create a more professional looking collage.
If you selected the layer by clicking on it in the composition, choose Layers menu > Show/Hide Layer Attributes to display the Layers Attributes control for the selected layer. The Layer attributes control. 3 Move the Transparency slider left to make the entire layer more transparent (faded out). Move it right to make the layer less transparent (more pronounced). Move the Transparency slider to adjust a layer’s transparency. To adjust transparency for part of a layer: 1 Select a layer.
Use the Transparency brushes to adjust the transparency of those parts of the layer that you want to fade. As you brush on transparency, you can see your changes right in the composition. Set brush size, change the opacity or softness of the effect you’re adding. Adjust the flow of the transparency (or how much it builds up as you continue to brush over an area. Brush on Transparency. To create a layer cutout: 1 Select a layer.
The final result is a composition that shows a cat’s head “transplanted” onto a man’s body! Creating a layer cutout. For a more precise cutout effect, advanced users can drag an image with an Alpha channel into a composition, then use the Transparency brushes to adjust what is displayed—without affecting the Alpha information. Changing Layer Order - or What’s in Front? The order that layers appear in the Layers tray is important. When you add a layer, it just gets added to the top of the layers list.
1 Select a layer in the Layers tray. 2 Drag the layer up to the top of the Layers list in the Layers tray. To send a layer to the back: 1 Select a layer. 2 Drag the layer down to a new position in the Layers list. Place it below anything that should be displayed on top (or in front) of the layer you’re moving. Hiding and Locking Layers You can see what a composition would look like without a layer. Just hide the layer. You can always show it again.
2 Click the lock icon next to the selected layer in the Layers tray. When the lock is dark gray, the layer is locked and can’t be selected or modified. The lock hides or shows a layer. To unlock a layer: 1 Select the layer (either click on it or select it in the Layers tray). 2 Click the lock icon next to the selected layer in the Layers tray. When the lock is light gray, the layer is unlocked and can be selected or modified.
1 Select the layer you want to fix. 2 Choose Layers menu > Edit in Clean. 3 Edit the photo. 4 Click the Apply button. 5 Click the Compose tab to return to the Compose area. Remember! When a photo is in use in a composition, you must Apply changes you make to it using Layers menu > Edit in Clean. Click the Apply button before returning to the Compose area or your changes to that photo are not reflected in the composition. Adding Text Add some text to your composition.
3 Click the Font list arrow to choose the font (typeface) you want used for the text. You can select one font for each text layer that you add to the composition. Click the arrow, then choose a font from the font list. 4 Click A (big), B (medium), or C (small) to set the text size (relative to the size of your composition). You can select one text size for each text layer. You can adjust text size later, by resize the text layer as you would any other layer.
Click the Color Picker to select a color for the text. The color you select is displayed in the color preview area. You can select one text color for each text layer that you add to your composition. Choose a text color and it is displayed in the color preview area. To edit a text layer: 1 Double-click on the text layer in the Layers tray. 2 Click inside the text entry area and type to change what should be displayed. 3 Click the Font list arrow to choose a different font.
3 Click Next to move forward through the Composite Image Library. Scroll through the object browser. 4 Click Last to move backwards through the Composite Image Library. 5 Click and drag an object to drop it onto your composition. 6 Click Done to close the Composite Image Library. 7 Use the composition tools to adjust the placement, size, or rotation of the layer you’ve added.
If you want add a shadow or fine-tune shadow settings, use the Shadow controls on the Layer Transparency control. Choose Layers menu > Show/Hide Transparency Tools to display the Layer Transparency control.Click the ribbed bar to open the Layer Shadow Attributes control. Layer Shadow Controls. 4 Click the check beside Cast Shadows to turn on a shadow for the selected layer. Selecting Cast Shadows is the same as clicking Drop Shadow box next to that layer in the Layers tray.
8 Use the Light Direction slider to control the direction of the shadow’s offset. Adjusting the offset is like determining from where the source of light is coming. Move the Light Direction to change shadow direction. 9 Click the upper right corner to close the Transparency control. To make all shadows in the composition alike: 1 Select a layer that has shadow settings to which you would like all the shadows in your composition to conform (either click on it or select it in the Layers tray).
1 Click the color selector on the Layers tray. Click the color selector to set a Canvas Color. 2 Use the color picker to pick a desired color. Saving and Reloading a Composition To save your composition as an image: ✤ Choose Output menu > Build Image. When you build an image of your composition, layers are not saved (your image is “flattened” to a single layer).
If Soap 2 can’t find a layer, because one of the photo files you added to the composition was moved, you can find it or opt to have Soap 2 ignore the missing layer.
COMPOSING IMAGES 113
USING ALBUMS What’s in this Section? Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115 Selecting an Album Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116 Changing the Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117 Loading Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118 Adding Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119 Printing Albums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121 Saving Albums . . . . . . . . . .
Albums in Kai’s Photo Soap 2 behave a lot like regular photo albums. You can assemble a group of related photos, arrange them in order, add captions, view them, and share them with friends. (Try to avoid boring the family by showing them off for too long!) Unlike regular albums, Soap 2 albums don’t gather dust in your closet and you can e-mail them or post them on the Web as HTML files. You can also easily change the album style or layout at any time.
When working with albums, you can do the following: • Change album styles and layouts • Load photos and add text • Arrange photos and text • Add pages or page sets • Navigate through the pages • Print albums or share albums (as a Web site) Selecting an Album Style Start creating an album by selecting an album or frame style. There are 24 album and frame styles available; however, only 12 styles are displayed at one time. Albums have a cover, title page, and you can resize the photos.
If needed, click the Next button to display additional album and frame choices. Click Previous to view the previous selections. 5 Once you’ve selected an album or frame style, click Select. If you have selected an album style, the album cover is displayed. Type a title and click Next to move to the first page spread. If you selected a frame style, you’ll see the first frame where you can start placing photos and text. If you click Cancel, no style is selected and you will see a blank screen.
Loading Photos You can load photos in to albums by dragging a photo from the transporter to a photo placeholder. Loading a photo into an album. Larger images are automatically resized to fit into the available space, and you can drag them to adjust their size if desired. Small images can’t be enlarged beyond their original size.
You can easily add text to caption your photos. You might want to mention who the subject is, when and where the photo was taken, or decide to have more fun and write really funny captions. Adding a caption to your photo. To add text to an album: 1 Double-click a text placeholder (grey box) in the album. 2 Type the desired text in the dialog box. (The maximum number of characters is 160.) 3 Adjust the type size and formatting as desired.
Adding Pages to an Album New pages are added after the current page. For example, if the current album style has two photo positions on a page, when you add a page, the facing page and following pages are moved. To add a page: ✤ Choose Edit menu > Insert Page Set. Navigating Through an Album ✤ Typically, you will use the Next and Previous buttons to browse through the pages of the album. Navigation controls Page catalog.
Click Page to display the page catalog, then click a page thumbnail to view that page. Click Select to move to that page . Page catalog. Printing Albums You can easily print all of the pictures and text stored in an album. You can choose whether to print the artwork used to create the book and pages. To print an album: 1 If needed, change to the Album view, and load the album you want to print by choosing Input menu > Open Album. 2 Choose Output menu> Print.
The different ways you can print albums. Saving Albums You can save albums, and reopen them to view or edit at a later time. To save an album: ✤ Choose Output menu > Save. You can also export albums to HTML. Refer to Chapter “Exporting an Album as a Web page” starting on page 143 for details. Viewing Album Information To view album information: ✤ Choose Edit menu > Album Info. Sharing Albums Once you’ve created an album, why not share it with friends and family? It’s easy with Soap 2.
PRINTING PHOTOS What’s in this Section? Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Printing a Single Photo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Printing in Rows and Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Printing to Popular Sizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Supported Avery and Kodak Papers . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Loading Special Papers Correctly 128 Printing to Perforated Paper 129 Printing to Special Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Previewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Page Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The fun doesn’t stop once you’ve created the perfect photo. Kai’s Photo Soap 2 allows you to create wallet photos or photo business cards, and print to many popular sizes. You can even create a poster or iron-on transfer using Soap 2 and your standard color printer! Click to set margins Image filename Click to rotate, scale, or edit images Click to add text to your images Click to setup printer page Click to print Print Preview Drag to set margins Printing from Soap 2.
• Print to popular designs such as ovals • Print to special papers • Print posters • Adjust print settings Printing a Single Photo Most of the time, you’ll only need to print a single photo. To print a single photo: 1 If needed, drag the photo you want to print from the Transporter. 2 Choose Output menu > Print, or click the Print tab. 3 Choose Print Options > 1 Up. 4 If needed, click the 123 button and adjust the size.
Sometimes you want to print several smaller pictures on a single sheet of paper. You can set up Soap 2 to print multiple images per page. Use the same process whether you are printing one or many images. To print in rows and columns: 1 If needed, drag the photo(s) you want to print from the Transporter. 2 Choose Output menu > Print, or click the Print tab. 3 Choose a selection from the Print Options menu. (2 up, 4 up, etc.) 4 If needed, click the 123 button and specify the size.
Printing to Popular Sizes While you can create or print a photo of any size, typically you will choose to print your image in a standard size. The supported sizes include 6 x 4 and 8 x 10. To print to popular sizes: 1 If needed, drag the photo(s) you want to print from the Transporter. 2 Select Output menu > Print, or click the Print tab. 3 Choose a selection from the Print Options menu. (8 x 10, etc.) 4 If needed, specify the number of copies to print.
If you are using a color inkjet printer and are printing multiple pages, grab each one as it comes out of the printer to avoid having them stick together. Printing to Perforated Paper Kodak and Avery both make special paper that is already perforated to make it easy to print multiple images onto a single sheet and divide them afterwards. You can create wallet-sized photos, business cards, postcards, or other standard sizes.
Printing on perforated paper. . You can’t adjust the margins, spacing, or header/footer information for any special papers. Printing to Special Designs You can also print to special designs such as ovals. Portraits look particularly elegant printed to an oval design. To print to special designs: 1 If needed, drag the photo(s) you want to print from the Transporter. 2 Choose Output menu > Print, or click the Print tab. 3 Select Special Designs and choose a design from the menu.
Adjusting Print Settings Sometimes you need to adjust the print settings to work correctly with your printer. If there is a considerable offset, you may want to adjust the margins. Otherwise, you can use Nudge to slightly shift all of dimensions. For example, if everything prints slightly to the right of the expected positions, you can nudge the settings to the left to correct the problem. To adjust print settings: 1 Click the 123 button if needed, to display the print settings.
Printing Posters Amaze your friends and family by creating custom posters using Soap 2 and your color printer. Soap 2 can take your image, scale it up in size, then print the image on a series of sheets of standard paper. Print them out, paste them together onto a piece of posterboard, and viola! you have created a custom poster. Printing a poster. To print a poster: 1 If needed, drag the photo you want to print from the Transporter. 2 Choose Output menu > Print, or click the Print tab.
Sometimes a background or frame is needed to set off a printed image and yet you don’t want to make changes to the image itself. You can select a background or frame for printing. To add a background or frame: 1 If needed, drag the photo(s) you want to print from the Transporter. 2 Choose Output menu > Print, or click the Print tab. 3 Choose the Background or Frame menu to display the available backgrounds and frames. 4 Click each name to preview that background or frame.
Scaling Up or Down At times you’ll find that you need to enlarge or reduce the size of a photo. Or perhaps you want to print the same photo at several different sizes to create an Alice in Wonderland effect. A scaled image. To scale a photo: 1 If needed, drag the photo(s) you want to print from the Transporter. 2 Choose Output menu > Print, or click the Print tab. 3 If needed, click the Tool button to display the scale settings. ✤ Select Scale Up to fit if your photo is small.
At times you will want to rotate a photo before you print it. For example, if you are printing to 8.5 x 11 paper and want to print a wide photo, you’ll want to rotate the photo so the long side of the photo prints on the long side of the paper. To rotate photos: 1 If needed, drag the photo(s) you want to print from the Transporter. 2 Choose Output menu > Print, or click the Print tab. 3 If needed, click the Tool button and select Auto Rotate.
Repeating Images on a Page You can easily print out multiple copies of the same image. To repeat images: 1 If needed, drag the photo(s) you want to print from the Transporter. 2 Choose Output menu > Print. 3 Choose Print Options and select from the menu. 4 If needed, you can adjust the settings. 5 When satisfied, press Print. Printing Page Text You can print information that repeats on every page. This is known as headers and footers.
Specify the alignment (left, center, or right) using the alignment buttons. If text is above or below, this controls description only. If text is on right or left, this controls all image text. 9 When you choose Print the header information will be included as shown. Printing header and file information. Setting Margins Specify the margins you want to use based on the type of paper you are using.However, margin settings are not available for special papers.
To save settings: ✤ After you have selected settings in the click a memory dot to store those settings for reuse. Previewing Before printing anything, you should always preview it to make sure everything is set up correctly. In Soap 2, you are looking at the preview area as you configure your print settings. Page Setup Sometimes you need to change the page setup in order to specify a specific paper size or paper tray on your printer, or to specify the orientation.
One of the best things about taking pictures or designing creative compositions is that once you get them done, you can share them with other people. With Kai’s Photo Soap 2, there are lots of new ways to share your photos and compositions. You can: • Print photos in dozens of different ways. Print in rows and columns, create greeting cards, display albums full of photos, or make posters. Refer to “Overview” on page 125 for more about printing your photos.
2 Choose Output menu > Export to PhotoMailer. 3 Select the Resolution (Size) of the images to be included in the PhotoMailer. This resolution setting determines how large the photos are when viewed by the recipient. Soap 2 automatically selects a commonly used 640 X 480 resolution. As you decide what resolution to select, keep in mind that a small resolution means a small PhotoMailer. Smaller files download more quickly.
"Additional Photos”. 8 Click Save to create the PhotoMailer. Use the Save As option to create a PhotoMailer with a new name, without overwriting a previous version you may have created. To view a PhotoMailer: 1 Double-click the PhotoMailer icon. 2 Click Shift +? to view directions about how to use PhotoMailer options. 3 Click to move through the PhotoMailer. 4 Click a final time to end the PhotoMailer.
looks good when you view it on your computer monitor. A higher setting than 72 dpi resolution is a wasted when displaying photos on the Web. Keep the resolution set at 72 dpi and you can’t go wrong. 4 Move the Compression slider to select the quality of the file compression to use: High, Medium, or Low. Soap 2 creates a JPEG version of your photos and automatically selects Medium compression quality. As you decide what compression quality to select, keep in mind that High Quality means a larger file.
1 Drop the HTML page onto your Internet browser. 2 Select and drag a thumbnail to change its position on the page. 3 Double-click a thumbnail to view it full-sized. 4 Select all the thumbnails and double-click to get a slideshow of all the photos. Click to advance through the slideshow. Click a final time to return to the original HTML page. To post a desktop of photos to your Web site: 1 Following the previous instructions, export the desktop to HTML.
4 Click on a Background Color to select it as the color to use for the background of your Web page. (Soap 2 offers you only Web-safe colors from which to choose.) The Album design and your photos are displayed against the color you select. 5 Select or enter a Page Title. The Page title you enter is used both as the filename for the Web page (HTML file) and as the page title, which is displayed across the top of the page by most Web browsers.
You can export photos and compositions as a 3D PhotoCube, which allows you to display them as a six-sided three-dimensional cube. The PhotoCube export feature is supported on the PC platform only and requires that you download a free MetaStream plug-in to view the cube as a 3D object. The MetaStream™ 3D technology is a new open file format (currently for the PC—with Macintosh support available in the near future). It enables delivery and viewing of scalable 3D graphics.
7 (Optional) Enter a URL Link. Entering a URL link creates a link to another HTML page or Web site. For example, you might have another Web page or site where photos can be viewed. If you enter a URL link, Soap 2 creates a link on the HTML page that allows viewers to click directly to the location you specify. An example of a complete Internet address is: 8 Click Save. http://www.my_other_web_page.
One way you can expand the power of Kai’s Photo Soap 2 is by using plug-ins. Plug-ins are usually filters that plug into Soap 2 or other image manipulation products (like Adobe ® Photoshop ® ). Plug-ins offer powerful and dynamic effects, as well as additional tools that expand the creative power of Soap 2. One of the most exciting things about using Photoshop compliant plug-ins with Soap 2 is that Soap 2 lets you target where the special effect is applied.
• Text tools. • Paper, pattern, and texture tools. • Export/Import or compression tools. • Button-making tools. • Lighting effects tools. • Natural media (oils, pastels, and more) tools. • Picture framing tools. Filter Plug-ins Generally, filter plug-ins apply an effect or a range of effects to your photo or to part of your photo. Some filter plug-ins give you wild, unexpected results. Others make it easy to be consistent. The best word of advice is to experiment with filters.
Soap 2 includes some famous Kai’s Power Tools 3 (KPT 3) filter plug-ins—Texture Explorer, Planar Tile, and Twirl. An example of a KPT 3 plug-in filter effect.
Using a Plug-in To use a plug-in: 1 Choose Image menu > Plug-in to see a list of available plug-ins. 2 Select the plug-in you want to use. When you first select a plug-in, it is applied to your entire photo. Should you prefer, you can brush on the plug-in effect. Be sure to save the mask in the mask tray, if you want to work with it at a later time. Refer to “Using the Tools” on page 50 for more about brushing on effects.
You’ll get the best results when you start with a better photo. If you haven’t taken the photo yet, or have several photos to choose from, these guidelines may help you take better photos or decide which photos can be successfully cleaned up. • A good time to shoot outdoors is early in the morning and late afternoon to avoid harsh shadows. • Avoid taking out of focus shots by holding the camera steady and squeezing the shutter button gently. Faster film speeds allow you to capture faster action.
• If you see what might be a good picture, give it a try. Even if the lighting isn’t perfect, you might get interesting results! • Think about how you could use a picture before you take it. A full-sized picture of a person might be perfect for a newsletter or a postcard. Since you want to show as much of that person as possible, fill your photo with that person, not with background.
Faded, old, or torn photos are easy to fix. • Overall color problems, and slight focus problems also can be easily fixed. • Low contrast images (very dark or very light) are more difficult to correct because of a lack of image information available to Soap 2. The image on the right would make a better candidate, as there is more image information to work with.
APPENDIX B:KEY SHORTCUTS Using Soap 2 Keyboard Shortcuts
In addition to the paper types listed here, you can also check the Web site for support of additional papers that you can download.
Glossary Active An alterable layer or mask is active until it has been applied to the photo. Albums Albums organize and format related groups of photos and captions that you can share with others, post on the Internet, or print. You can select different Album formats. Apply Use Apply to make your changes to the photo. Once you have applied an effect, layer, or masks, you can’t undo/redo changes, However, applied changes aren’t saved until you choose Save.
Colorize Colorize can also be referred to as the tinting of images. Compose Creating a picture using photos, backgrounds, frames, text, or clip art. Contrast Contrast refers to the range of grey tones contained in a photo. A photo with high contrast has more white and black (and less grey tones) while a low contrast photo displays less variation. Sometimes this is described as “muddy” or flat.
Edges Edges are effects that can be placed around the edges of your image while Composing. Effects Effects are changes to your photo that can be applied to entire photo or areas via brush tools (masks). Effects include sharpening, softening, painting, or using plug-in effects. See Plug-ins. E-mail E-mail is electronic mail. You can easily send photos via e-mail using Soap 2. Enhance Enhance means to improve a photo, perhaps adjusting color, contrast, or auto correcting a photo using Revitalize.
Lightness Lightness is a variation of a hue along a scale from black to white. Marquee When you drag the cursor over several objects in the InRoom to select them, you create a marque around them. Mask A mask selects the area where you want to apply an effect. See Layer. Memory dots You can store and recall settings that you want to reuse from memory dots. For example, if you create a mask that you want to reuse, you can store it in a memory dot.
Red eye Red eye is a common problem caused by the camera flash reflecting off the back of the eye. Resolution The resolution refers to the density of pixels in an image. Saturation Saturation refers to the intensity of a color. Oversaturated photos look unreal. Experiment with this to create fun effects. Scanner A scanner is a device for converting traditional photos into electronic format.
Web See Internet. Zoom Use Zoom to change the degree of magnification while viewing a photo. You can pan around in a zoomed photo to see different areas of the photo. 161 GLOSSARY Water Drop The Water Drop is a tool which softens edges of masks. It softens the transition between masked and unmasked areas of the photo.
creating 116 exporting as Web pages I n d ex 143 Numerics 3D effect tools 147 A accessing Apple menu 14 accessing operating system 14 accessing Windows 14 acquire 28 plug-ins 28 acquiring photos 32–33 activating Soap 2 14 add colors to photos 84 adding 107 captions 105 photos 104 photos to albums 118 shadows 94, 108–110 text 105 Address label paper types 155 adjusting brightness 59 color ranges 73 colors 19, 68 contrast 65 light and dark 60 monitor colors 30 photos 86–90 photos (in albums) 119 photos an
C calendars 107 calibrating monitor for printing 30 captions adding 105 albums 119 cards 107, 125, 155 cartoons adding 107 changes applying 23 redoing 23 saving 23 undoing 23 changing 97 album styles 117 colors 68, 73 contrast 65 contrast in areas 66 height and width 97 layer order 102 layouts of albums 117 masks 53 orientation 55 photo size 56 viewing size thumbnails 34 views 15–17 changing color intensity 70 changing your mind (undo) 23 choosing eye color 80 choosing input devices 32 choosing part of a p
sorting by 46 text 107 columns, printing 127 commercial plug-ins 147 Compact Filters 28, 148 composing photos taking better photos 151–152 composing with layers 93 compositions adding photos 104 adding text 105 canvas color 111 creating 92 creating fun projects 107 editing text 107 layers 93 removing photos 104 saving 111 compression tools 148 concealing date and time stamp 80 layers 103 conforming shadows 110 constrain proportions 57 Contact Sheet view 16, 40 contrast decreasing 65–68 definition 65 increas
E easy photos to fix 152 edge textures, adding 107 editing photos 58–59 text 107 effect edges 62 effects masks 86–90 selecting an area 87 sharpen and soften 62 special effects 83 effects of time 71 e-mail albums 122 PC or Macintosh (specifying) 139 e-mailing photos 26 enhancing colors 73 enlarging for viewing 53 enlarging layers 96 enlarging photos 134 Eraser tool 51 erasing date and time stamp 80 exit Soap 2 14 expanding Soap 2 27, 147 experimenting with color 19 export plug-ins 147 exporting photos e-mail
flat photos 65 flatten towards mid-tones 67 flaw size, adjusting for 75 flaws 74–76, 152 flipping for iron-ons 135 layers 97 photos 55 flow of brush 52 focus sharpening 78 softening 77 focusing photos 151 folders, loading 32 fonts 106 available sizes 106 size and style 107 formatting text 119 frame style 116 changing 117 frames introduction 17 printing 133 free plug-ins 147 front and back (layers) 102 front of layer 94 full-screen view of thumbnails 37 fun effects 83, 107 filters 148 fuzzy areas 76 fuzzy ed
jaz cartridge 32 K keeping masks 89 keepsakes 94 keyboard shortcuts 154 keystrokes albums 120 kind sorting by 45 sorting photos 45 Kodak Papers 128 Kodak papers 155 L labels 155 landscape 138 paper types 155 Large Brush tool 50 large files 25 memory 30 large photos printing 132 large printouts 132 large rips 75 laser printer 152 Layer Attribute (shadows) 109 Layer Attributes 100 layering effects 52 layers 93–104 definition 93 editing text 107 flipping 97 hiding 103 locking 103 order 102 removing 104 reset
matching colors 83, 85 maximum text characters 119 mementos 94 memory dots print settings 138 mid-tones 66 flattening towards 67 minimum focusing distance 151 missing pieces of photos 75 modification (preventing ) 103 modifying photos 23 monochrome photos 69 more information, plug-ins 150 morning (taking photos) 151 move to back (layers) 102 movement (preventing) 103 moving in albums 120 layers 94, 96 layers (front and back) 102 photos (in Soap 2) 22 thumbnails 35, 36 muddy contrast 65 mulitple copies (prin
problems that can be fixed 50 resizing 57 revitalizing 73 rotating 54 rotating for print 135 scaling for print 134 scrolling when zoomed 53 searching 43 selecting areas 86 selecting multiple 33–38 sharing 139 sharpening 78 sorting 43 supported sizes (printing) 128 taking better 151–152 to Web site 26, 27 zoom and pan 53 Photoshop Acquire plug-in loading photos from 32 Photoshop compliant plug-ins 147, 148 picking matching colors 83 picture CD loading files from 33 pixels healing 74 plug-ins 28 filters 27–28
adjusting settings 131 previewing thumbnails 37 Previous button 120 print preview 138 scan for 152 print settings 138 adjusting 131 adjusting margins 131 printing albums 121 backgrounds 133 directly from plug-in 148 flipping images 135 frames 133 margins 137 multiple copies 136 output plug-ins 148 page setup 138 popular sizes 128 posters 132 rows and columns 127 single photos 126 special designs 130 supported sizes 128 printing tips 30 problem photos, fixing 74 puck 82 Q QuickColor introduction 19 quitting
sharpen effect 78 sharpen effects 62 sharpen ratio 79 sharpen tool 79 sharpening 77 shifting color spectrum 69 colors 68 layers 96 print alignment 131 shortcuts, keyboard 154 showing layers 103 shrinking layers 96 size sorting photos 45 sizes brush 52 files 25 printing 128 sizing layers 96 slide view 16 slideshow scan for 152 slideshows 37 Small Brush tool 50 smearing an effect 61 smooth effect 77 smooth ratio 78 smooth tool smooth ratio 78 smoothing 77 Soap 2 tools 50 introduction 18 soften effects 62 soft
size 45 width 45 spacing values, printing 131 special designs 130 special effects 83 filters 147 masking 86 plug-ins 27 Special Papers loading 128 specialty papers 155 specific photos, finding 43 Spheroid Designer 27, 148 star designs 130 starting Soap2 14 stopping Soap 2 14 storing masks 89, 90 straighten crooked pictures 54 straightening photos 54 stretching layers 96 style album 116 text 107 supported sizes printing 128 switching faces 81–83 system requirements Macintosh 29 Windows 29 T taking better ph
SOAP 2 INDEX variations of colors 19 version 2 features 12 vertical cropping 58 vertical flip 55 vertical orientation 138 viewing photos 15–17 Views switching 40 views Contact Sheet 40 Lightbox 40 vortexes 148 W wallet photos 125 Water Drop 62 Water Drop tool 51 Web pages 143 desktop 141 exporting 143 scanning for 152 Web site 147 albums 122 what’s new 12 wide rips 75 width 97 sorting photos 45 wild effects 68, 69, 147 filters 148 Windows desktop 14 Windows installation 29 working with one or more photos
