Workspace

AKVIS Pastel lets you transform a photograph into a pastel artwork. The software can be used independently as a standalone program or in a photo editor as a plugin filter.

The program's workspace looks like this:

Workspace of AKVIS Pastel
Workspace of AKVIS Pastel

The left part of the AKVIS Pastel workspace is taken by the Image Window with two tabs: Before and After. Under the Before tab you can see the original photo. The After tab shows the resulting image. You can switch between the windows by left-clicking on the tab with mouse button. To compare the original and the resulting images, click on the image and hold the button pressed - the program will currently switch between tabs.

In the upper part of the program's window you can see the Control Panel with these buttons:

 

To the left of the Image Window there is the Toolbar. Different tools appear on the Before/After tabs.

Pre-Processing Tools (in the Before tab):

Post-Processing Tools (in the After tab, for Home Deluxe and Business licenses):

Additional Tools:

 

Navigate and scale the image using the Navigator. The frame in the Navigator surrounds the area of the image which is visible in the main window; the area outside of the frame will be shaded. The frame can be dragged, thereby changing the visible portion of the image. To move the frame, place the cursor within it, left click the mouse, and then drag.

Navigator
Navigator

Use the slider to scale the image in the Image Window. When you move the slider to the right, the image scale increases. When you move the slider to the left, the image scale decreases.

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 (Mac: ) – to the left/to the right, by keeping the Alt key pressed (Mac: Option) − scale the image. Right-click the scroll bar to activate the quick navigation menu.

You can also change the image scale by entering a new coefficient into the scale field and pressing the button Enter (Return in Mac). The drop-down menu shows some frequently used coefficients.

You can use hot-keys to change the image scale + and Ctrl++ (++ in Mac) to increase the image scale and - and Ctrl+- (+- in Mac) to reduce the scale.

 

Under the Navigator there is the Settings Panel with the tabs:

Below, in the Presets field you can save the current settings as a preset to use them in the future. The current settings can be saved, edited, deleted. When you launch the program, it uses the settings of the last used preset.

Under the settings and presets 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.

 

Pastel v. 6.0 - Free 10-day Trial    Download