Workspace
AKVIS Chameleon can work independently as a standalone program and as a plug-in to a photo editor.
To call the AKVIS Chameleon plug-in do the following:
- Open an image with the object that you want to use for creating a collage.
- Use any selection tool to select a fragment and choose Chameleon - Grab Fragment from the Filter menu of the photo editor.
In Adobe Photoshop: Filter –> AKVIS –> Chameleon – Grab Fragment; in Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo: Effects –> Plugins -> AKVIS –> Chameleon – Grab Fragment; in Corel Photo-Paint: Effects –> AKVIS –> Chameleon – Grab Fragment.
If everything is done correctly you’ll see a message that selected object is saved into the clipboard.
- Open an image that will be used as a background for the future collage and choose Chameleon - Make Collage from the menu Filter.
In Adobe Photoshop: Filter –> AKVIS –> Chameleon – Make Collage; in Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo: Effects –> Plugins -> AKVIS – Chameleon –> Make Collage; in Corel Photo-Paint: Effects –> AKVIS –> Chameleon – Make Collage.
To launch the standalone version of AKVIS Chameleon
follow the instructions:
- On a Windows computer:
- In the main menu: press the button Start
and select from the pop-up menu the command AKVIS -> Chameleon.
- Using the program's shortcut on the Desktop: put
the cursor on the icon of the program AKVIS Chameleon
and double-click it with the left mouse button.
- On a Macintosh computer:
- Using Finder: select the folder Applications
on the side bar of the Finder window, select
the application AKVIS Chameleon and double-click it.
The workspace of AKVIS Chameleon looks like this:
Workspace of AKVIS Сhameleon
It consists of the following elements:
The left part of the program's window is taken by the Image Window with two tabs: Before and After. The background image will be displayed in the Before tab, and above this the image, from which the desired fragment will be taken. This will be an entire image in the standalone version. In the plug-in this will be a selection made in a graphics editor, which can be adjusted within the Before tab. The resulting collage will be displayed in the After tab.
In the upper part of the program's window you can see the Control Panel. You can hide/show the Control Panel by clicking on the small triangle button (in the middle of the panel). The minimized panel will be shown when moving the cursor over it. You can use the Lock the Control Panel option (in the Preferences) to prevent changes and keep the panel visible all time.
-
The button
 opens the home page of AKVIS Chameleon.
- The button
 (only in the standalone) opens the image that will be used for the background. The hot-keys for the command are Ctrl+O on Windows,  +O on Macintosh. It's possible also drag the required image into the workspace of the program.
The program supports JPEG, TIFF, PNG, BMP file formats.
- The button
 opens the foreground image from which a fragment will be taken.
- The button
 (only in the standalone version) saves an image to the disk. The hot-keys are Ctrl+S on Windows, +S on Macintosh.
- The button
(only in the standalone version) helps to print the image. The hot-keys are Ctrl+P on Windows, +P on Macintosh.
- The button
 opens the files with the ending .chameleonFragment. You can save the fragment that you use to make a collage. The file will contain information about the fragment's location on the background image, the drawn outlines and the parameters on the Settings Panel.
- The button
 saves the fragment with its parameters to the separate file .chameleonFragment.
- The button
 cancels the last action. If you press this button several times, you can cancel several actions. The hot-keys are Ctrl+Z on Windows, +Z on Macintosh.
- The button
 restores an action cancelled by . The hot-keys are Ctrl+Y on Windows, +Y on Macintosh.
- The button
 starts the process of collage creation. Use hot-keys: Ctrl+R on Windows, +R on Macintosh.
- The button
 (only in the plugin version) allows closing the AKVIS Chameleon plugin window and applying the collage into your photo editor. The hot-keys are Ctrl+S on Windows, +S on Macintosh.
- The button
 calls information about the program.
- The button
 calls help files to the program. The hot-key is F1.
-
The button
 button calls the Preferences dialog box for changing the program's options.
At the left side of the Image Window is the Toolbar. Parameters for the chose tool are shown in the Settings Panel. A description of each tool can be read here (Steps 7 and 9).
Navigate and scale the image using the navigation window — Navigator. In the Navigation Window you can see the reduced copy of the image. The red frame shows the part of the image that is now visible in the Image Window; the areas outside the frame will be shaded. Drag the frame to make other parts of the image visible. To move the frame, bring the cursor inside the frame, press the left mouse button and, keeping it pressed, move the frame in the Navigator.
Navigation Window
To scroll the image in the Image Window you can press the spacebar on the keyboard and drag the image with the left mouse button. Use the scroll wheel of the mouse to move the image up/down, by keeping the Ctrl key pressed (Macintosh: ) – to the left/to the right, by keeping the Alt key pressed (Macintosh: Option) − scale the image. Right-click on the scroll bar to activate the quick navigation menu.
Use the slider or the buttons  and  , to scale the image in the Image Window. When you click on the button or move the slider to the right, the image scale increases. When you click on the button or move the slider to the left, the image scale decreases.
You can also change the image scale by entering a new coefficient into the scale field and pressing the button Enter (Return on Macintosh). The drop-down menu shows some frequently used coefficients.
You can use hot-keys to change the image scale + and Ctrl++ (++ on Macintosh) to increase the image scale and - and Ctrl+- (+- on Macintosh) to reduce the scale.
Under the Navigator there is a Settings Panel where you can choose the Mode to create the collage and settings to the selected mode.
Under the Settings Panel you can see Hints for the parameters and buttons when you hover over them with the cursor. You can choose where the hints will be shown or hide them in the program's Preferences.
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— Workspace