Tutorial: AKVIS Decorator

Workspace

Before you call the plug-in AKVIS Decorator, open an image in your photo editor and select an object to which you want to apply a texture.

Then call the plug-in with the command AKVIS -> Decorator from the menu Filters / Effects.

Use the command:

in Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements: Filter -> AKVIS -> Decorator ;

in Corel Paint Shop Pro: Effects -> Plugins -> AKVIS -> Decorator

in Corel Photo-Paint: Effects -> AKVIS -> Decorator

AKVIS Decorator window looks like this:

Most of the Decorator plugin's window is taken by the Image Window with two tabs - Before and After. In the Before tab the original photo is shown. The unselected part is semitransparent. In the After tab  you can see the result of the texture overlay on the selected part of the image. To switch between the tabs and compare the original and the resulting images it is enough to left-click on any point of the image.

In the upper part of the window you can see the Control Panel with the following controls:

• The button applies the texture to the selected part of the image in the Image Window.
• The button applies the result to the image and closes the program window of AKVIS Decorator.
• The button calls information about the program.
• The button is designed to call the Help files of the program.
• The button selects the language of the program's interface. To switch to another language, you should left-click the button and select the required language from the drop-down menu.
• The button closes the program window without applying the result.

Navigate and scale an image using the Navigation window.

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.

You can 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 Navigation window.

Also, to scroll the image in the Image Window you can press the spacebar in the keyboard and drag the image with the left mouse button.

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 reduces.

You can also change the image scale by entering a new coefficient into the scale field and pressing the button Enter (Return in Macintosh).

Besides, you can use hot-keys to change the image scale: + and Ctrl++ (Cmd++ in Macintosh) to increase the image scale, - and Ctrl+- (Cmd+- in Macintosh) to reduce the scale.

 

Under the Navigation window there is a Settings panel where you can adjust the texture, its color, the overlay parameters, the light source on the image.

The button Reset to Default Settings below the Settings restores the default values of the parameters.

Also, in the lower part of the Settings Panel panel you can see hints: a brief description of the AKVIS Decorator plug-in (the first time you launch it) or the description of the parameter.