Tutorial: AKVIS Retoucher

Workspace

AKVIS Retoucher is available as a standalone program as well as a plug-in for graphics editors.

To call the AKVIS Retoucher plug-in open an image in a graphics editor and and choose AKVIS –> Retoucher from the filter menu. In Adobe Photoshop go to Filter –> AKVIS –> Retoucher; in Corel Paint Shop Pro go to Effects –> Plugins -> AKVIS –> Retoucher; and in Corel Photo-Paint go to Effects –> AKVIS –> Retoucher.

To launch the standalone version of AKVIS Retoucher, follow these instructions:

On a Windows computer:
- Through the main menu: press Start and select from the pop-up menu the command AKVIS – Retoucher.
- Using the program's shortcut on the Desktop: put the cursor on the icon of the program AKVIS Retoucher 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 Retoucher and double-click it.

The workspace view depends on which editing mode is chosen in the Control Panel: Express or Advanced.

In Express mode, the program's interface is extremely simplified, with a minimal set of tools designed to quickly achieve a satisfactory result.

AKVIS Retoucher Workspace (Express)

In Advanced mode, all options and tools are available.

AKVIS Retoucher Workspace (Advanced)

Most of the program's workspace is taken up by the Image Window, above which is 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 Control Panel has the following controls:

The button opens the home page of AKVIS Retoucher.
The button (only in the standalone version) opens the image which will be edited. The hot-keys are Ctrl+O on Windows, +O on Macintosh.
Right mouse click on this button displays the list of recent files. You can change the number of recent documents in the program's Preferences.
The button (only in the standalone version) saves the edited image to a file. The hot-keys are Ctrl+S on Windows, +S on Macintosh.
The button (only in the standalone version) is used to print an image. The hot-keys are Ctrl+P on Windows, +P on Macintosh.
The button loads selected areas that have been saved to a file (.retouch).
The button saves selected areas to a separate file in the .retouch format.
The buttons / show/hide selected areas.
The button cancels the last action. If it is pressed multiple times, it will cancel several previous actions. This can also be activated with the keyboard, by pressing Ctrl+Z on Windows, +Z on Macintosh.
The button restores an action cancelled by .
An action can also be restored with the keyboard, by pressing Ctrl+Y on Windows, +Y on Macintosh.
The button begins the restoration process. The hot-keys are Ctrl+R on Windows, +R on Macintosh.
The button (only in the plug-in) applies the processing result and then closes AKVIS Retoucher.
The button shows information about the program.
The button opens the program's help files. The hot-key is F1.

The button opens the Preferences dialog box.

To the left of the Image Window is the Toolbar. Different tools will appear, depending on the workspace mode Express/Advanced chosen. The tools' parameters are shown in the Settings Panel or in a pop-up box after right-clicking in the image window.

Navigate and scale the image using the Navigator. In the Navigator you can see the reduced copy of the image. The 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.

Navigator

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 on Windows ( on Macintosh) key pressed – to the left/to the right, by keeping the Alt (Option on Mac) key pressed − 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 reduces.

You can also change the image scale by entering a new coefficient into the scale field. The fall-down menu shows some frequently used coefficients.

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