Background Effects
Use the Background tab to process the converted image further. It is possible to imitate a blend of the original photo and the drawing or to blur some parts of the image.
This tab can be used to put an accent on a certain fragment of the image or to enliven a picture by adding motion. For example, it is possible to separate the background from the object (a plane or a bird in the sky; a soft toy on a sofa; a vase with fruit, etc.) or to single out one object among several equivalent objects (one person in a group photo, the most beautiful flower in a garden image, etc.) and many other things.
The Background tab offers three modes: Sketch, Sketch & Photo, Sketch & Blur.
Sketch
In this mode the Background tab has no influence on the image. In other words, the additional background effects are disabled.
It is the default mode in which the first tab (with the parameters for the photo-to-sketch conversion) works only.
The result of processing in the "Sketch" mode
Sketch&Photo
In this mode you can get a blend of a drawing and a picture - only the defined parts of the image will be converted into a drawing.
The result of processing in the "Sketch&Photo" mode
When this mode is enabled, the following tools appear on the Toolbar, on the left of the Image Window. These tools define, which areas will be converted to a drawing, and which not.
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The Effect Area tool
 . Use the blue pencil to draw an outline within the areas that will be converted to a drawing in accordance with the parameters of the Sketch tab.
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The No Effect Area tool
 . Use the red pencil to outline the parts of the image that will remain in their original state.
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The Eraser tool
 . Use this tool to edit the outlines drawn by the pencils. When Sketch&Photo (or Sketch&Blur) is active, the tool can operate in three different modes:
- Erase all lines (both guiding lines and zone lines of the background effects);
- Erase only guiding lines (direction of the strokes);
- Erase only zone lines (background effects).
Adjust the size of the pencils and of the Eraser tool using the Brush Size parameter in the Settings Panel.
Drawn outlines
Effect Area (blue): the pencil drawing
No Effect Area (red): the original photo (car)
Note: |
If only blue lines or no outlines are drawn, the image remains a drawing. If only red lines are drawn, the image will be restored to its original state (the input image). |
Attention! |
During processing you will see that the whole image (regardless of the drawn lignes) will be converting into a drawing. Don't worry. It's only one of the processing steps, not an error. In the next step the program will take into consideration the settings of the Background tab. |
The Grayscale check-box. When the check-box is enabled, the parts of the original image marked with red (or green) are converted to grayscale.
It does not work, if the Color Pencil option and the Coloration effect in the Sketch tab are selected.
Use this option to get the entire image in b&w, not only the "drawing" part.
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The "Grayscale" check-box is not selected:
the original color photo (car)
and the drawing around |
The "Grayscale" check-box is enabled
the original photo converted in black-and-white (car)
and the drawing around |
Sketch&Blur
In this mode it is possible to blur the defined parts of the image. In the Toolbar you will find the following tools: Effect Area , Eraser , and the Blur Area tool  . The latter is used to define the areas that must be blurred.
Select a Blur Method that will be used in image processing and adjust the parameters.
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Gaussian Blur. When this method is selected, the program recalculates the color components (red, blue, and green) for every point of the image, taking into account the corresponding values of the neighbouring points; as a result the points change their colors. The calculation is based on the Gaussian distribution and is named after it. In this way the values of the color components are averaged and the contrast between them weakens. The sharp borders are blurred without general lightening or darkening. The image gets dim, «cloudy».
Gaussian Blur
The Radius parameter adjusts the strength of the effect application. It defines to what extent a point influences on the neighbouring points when its color components are being recalculated. At low values only the adjacent points will be changed. Every point will undergo a slight change, but the blurring will be visible. The higher the value of the parameter, the wider is the influence area of every point. The image will get more blurred till it becomes completely indiscernible and looks like one stain (at high values of the parameter).
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| Radius = 3 |
Radius = 8 |
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The Motion method. This blur method imitates the straight line motion of a camera.
Motion Blur
Parameters:
Angle. This parameter sets the inclination angle of the line, along which the effect will expand to the image. The values of the parameter vary between 0 and 180 degrees. At exactly these values the blurring will be horizontal. At value = 90 the blurring will be vertical.
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Angle = 45,
Reach = 20 |
Angle = 135,
Reach = 20 |
Reach. This parameter defines the zone of effect application in pixels (relative to every point of the image).
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Reach = 10,
Angle = 135 |
Reach = 30,
Angle = 135 |
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Radial Blur. This method imitates motion, too. There are two kinds of motion:
Spin. This mode imitates the effect of a camera rotating around the central point of the image, which results in circular blurring.
Radial Spin Blur
Zoom. This mode creates blurring directed away from the center.
Radial Zoom Blur
The rotation angle in Spin mode and the effect application area in Zoom mode are adjusted with the Amount parameter.
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Amount = 20,
Spin Blur |
Amount = 40,
Spin Blur |
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Amount = 20,
Zoom Blur |
Amount = 50,
Zoom Blur |
In the Sketch&Blur mode you can choose one of the following methods of the result image generation (Blur Order).
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— Background Effects