Tutorial: AKVIS Enhancer

Smart Correction Mode in the plugin

Smart Correction Mode is used for tone correction of images, which is done by correcting the brightness of points in the light and dark areas. As a result the overall impression of the image improves considerably. Changes can be made to the entire image or to a part of the image depending on the colors selected for correction.

Source image	Result

A comparison of Enhancer and Smart Correction Modes can be found here.

To process an image in this mode, follow these steps:

• Step 1. Open the image in a photo editor.
  
• Step 2. Call the AKVIS Enhancer plugin. Do this by selecting the command Filter - AKVIS - Enhancer in Adobe Photoshop; the menu item Effects - Plugins- AKVIS - Enhancer if you work with Paint Shop Pro Photo; or Effects - AKVIS - Enhancer if you use Corel PHOTO-PAINT.
• Step 3. Choose Smart Correction Mode in the Settings panel.

  The processed part of the image appears in the Preview Window on the After tab. This part is processed with the current settings.

  Preview Window is a box with a boundary composed of a "running" dotted line, which shows the result of image processing based on changes made to the settings (by default in this mode all settings are set to 0, so at first the image in the preview window will be the raw (unprocessed) image). This square can be easily dragged and dropped to another part of the image (click and hold the left mouse button) or redrawn (double click) over any part of the image. In this way you can analyze other parts of the image.

  

  By left-clicking on any point of the image outside of the Preview window, you can temporarily switch to the Before tab and compare the original image with the result in the preview window. You can switch between the tabs by pressing the Tab button.

• Step 4. Choose the colors to be corrected. To do this use the Color Set. The original set consists of seven colors. There are two additional sets below it, each consisting of three cells. You can move colors from the core set into these cells. By dragging colors you can have from one to three sets of colors. To switch from one color set to another click on it with the left mouse button. The chosen color set is highlighted in grey.
  

  TheColor Indicator makes it easier to form a color set.

  

  From one to three color components are automatically chosen for each point on an image. When you move the cursor over the image, the Color Indicator displays the color components of the corresponding point. The Color Indicator helps select more precisely the color set for editing this area.

• Step 5. Adjust parameter values. The parameters for each color set are regulated separately. The selected color set is highlighted in grey:

  Radius. This parameter accepts values from 0 to 60 and determines the size of the area to be analyzed. After analysis new color and brightness information is assigned to the point, which is used to assign the point to one of the color sets. Then the point is processed further.

  Shadows. The default value of this parameter is 0 and 60 and dark areas are not corrected. As the parameter's value is increased, dark areas become lighter, and details there become more discernible. Objects in dark silhouettes become more like they were when photographed.

  Highlights. By default the value of this parameter is 0 and light areas are not corrected. As the value of the parameter is increased, light areas become darker, contrast increases, and objects stand out more while the picture overall has more volume and appears more accurate.

  

  Note:

  For colors that do not belong to the main set, the application of the parameters is mixed. For example, if the colors red and yellow are in different sets, then correction for the color orange will fall within both color sets.

• Step 6. To process the image press the button.

  To interrupt the process, press the Esc key or click on the button Cancel right to the Progress bar.

  
• Step 7. If you like the new settings of the parameters, you can save them as a preset and use them later. To save the settings, enter a name for the preset into the Presets field and press the button Save.

  Next time you launch the program, these settings will be used by default. To return to the initial settings of the program, click on Reset.

  To process the image with a certain preset, select this preset from the drop-down list. The image will be automatically processed with the preset's settings.

  To delete a preset, select it from the list and click on the button Delete.

• Step 8. When you are through with the image editing, press the button to apply the result.