TOPAZ STAR EFFECTS QUICK START GUIDE
Introduction Star Effects Topaz Star Effects allows you to create unique star effects by maniuplating and enhancing the various light sources within your digital images. With just a few clicks you can easily transform points of light within your image to create stunning lighting and star effects, supplement existing light sources, change or enhance image mood, add shimmering effects to things like water and jewelry, and much more. Here are some of the unique features found in Topaz Star Effects: 1.
Introduction Star Effects 1 4 3 2 5 1. Preset Preview 2. Presets Panel 3. Preview Window 4. Preview Navigator 5. Settings & Parameters Displays previews of presets. Provides “snapshots” of pre-defined effects. Displays the preview of the original and adjusted image. Displays the region of the preview image you are currently focused on. Sliders to adjust the various effects. For more Star Effects tutorials and resources please visit: http://www.topazlabs.
Tools Star Effects 1 You will use the various tools in the tool panel during your workflow to make your image adjustments. 1. Preview Navigator - Displays the region of the preview image you are currently focused on. You can drag the preview navigator box around to pan your image. 2. Zoom Buttons - Use the zoom buttons to zoom in and out of your image. You can also set your image to fit the preview window or to view it at 100%. 2 3 4 5 3.
Presets Star Effects 1 Presets are pre-defined settings that you can recall and reapply to any image at any time. They are a great way to speed up and simplify your workflow, and offer creative ideas. We’ve included some default presets for you and, although they won’t work for every single photograph, they serve as excellent starting points. 2 1. Presets Preview Provides “snapshots” of the available pre-defined parameter settings included in the presets list below. 2.
Star Effects Workflow Sample Project In this project, we will walk you through a quick example workflow to help you get acquainted with the tools and setup of Topaz Star Effects. This example will show you a basic workflow and introduce you to the layout of the program. As you begin, you can choose and apply one of the included presets to instantly add a star effect, or you can start your work manually using the tabs and sliders in the tool panel.
Star Effects Workflow So let’s get started. For this example we will start our work in the presets panel and then make some manual adjustments to customize the effect for our image. 1. Go to the preset panel and select the Sun Flare I preset. When you select a preset the light sources in your image will automatically be detected and the flare effects will be added to those points.
Star Effects Workflow Next, we will make adjustments to the selected light sources to set the pinpoints for the flare effect. From there we will work our way down following the order of each included tab. Keep in mind that while this is the recommended workflow, you do not have to work in this order and you may not need or want to every adjustment tool/tab on your image. This enhancement workflow is extremely flexible so only apply the adjustments that you desire and feel free to skip others. 2.
Star Effects Workflow Use the Before / After tabs at the top of the interface (or your spacebar shortcut key) to view the before and after preview of your image. You can also click on the Stars Only mode option to view just the added flare effects - without your base image. Once you are happy with your light source selections we can move on to adjusting the characteristics of the flare effect. For more Star Effects tutorials and resources please visit: http://www.topazlabs.
Star Effects Workflow 6. Click on the Main Adjustments tab to open it and reveal the adjustment sliders. The Main Adjustment allows you to make adjustments to the size and intensity of your added effects. For more Star Effects tutorials and resources please visit: http://www.topazlabs.
Star Effects Workflow 7. We will lower the settings of the Threshold, Size and Number of Points sliders. Tip - A great way to get a better understanding of how each slider works is to increase and decrease each slider individually. This will show you visually how each slider affects the light source/star effect in your image. Threshold - Determines the amount of light sources that the star effects can be added to. Increase to include more light sources, decrease to include less light sources.
Star Effects Workflow Use the Before / After tabs at the top of the interface (or your spacebar shortcut key) to view the before and after preview of your image. Again, you can also click on the Stars Only mode option to view just the added flare effects. Once you are happy with your Main Adjustments we can move on to the Color Adjustments. For more Star Effects tutorials and resources please visit: http://www.topazlabs.
Star Effects Workflow 8.Click on the Color Adjustments tab to open it and reveal the adjustment sliders. The Color Adjustment allows you to adjust the color characteristics of your added star effects. We will not be making any adjustments here, however you are welcome to tweak these color settings any way you’d like for your image. Saturation - Controls the saturation of the star effects. A setting of 0 will result in a pure white star effect. Increasing this parameter wil saturate the effect.
Star Effects Workflow 9.Click on the Additional Adjustments tab to open it and reveal the adjustment sliders. The Additional Adjustment allows you to add some neat finishing effects to your star effects. 10. We will slighly lower the Glow and Ring flare settings. However, you do not have to make any adjustments here. Secondary Points - Allows you to add secondary spikes to your star effect. A higher value produces more spikes. A value of 0 disables this feature.
Workflow Star Effects Before For more Star Effects tutorials and resources please visit: http://www.topazlabs.
Workflow Star Effects After For more Star Effects tutorials and resources please visit: http://www.topazlabs.
Quick Start Use Star Effects This Topaz Star Effects Quick Start Guide is for users who are familiar with the image enhancement process and who want to jump straight into using Star Effects. For a more in-depth and comprehensive break down of using Topaz Star Effects please view the Topaz Star Effects User Guide. The User Guide was automatically installed on your computer when you installed Topaz Star Effects.
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