 PhotoImpact includes seven plug-in effects for enhancing your images plus the Ulead Color Picker which offers better control for choosing colors to use. Access the Ulead Color Picker by right clicking on a color box in dialog boxes, the color palette, or in the Attribute toolbar of certain tools.

The plug-in effects in PhotoImpact include:

Charcoal Displays an image with a charcoal -drawn look.

Colored Pen Softens an image to simulate the appearance of colored pens.

Oil Paint Enriches the colors in an image to simulate the appearance of an oil painting.

Magic Gradient Fills an image with specially designed gradients.

Kaleidoscope Generates a pattern based on placing a reflection shape in the image.

Turnpage Curls up a corner of an image like you're turning a page.

Light Creates a focused or diffused beam on an image.

Other plug-ins If you add any compatible third-party plug-ins, (such as Kai's Power Tools), they will also appear in the All submenu and at the bottom of the Effect menu.


Light dialog box

Creates a focused or diffused beam on an image.

Sample source & control points window Displays the currently selected image and the light control points. Click on the left for more information.

Exposure control bar Displays the current exposure value. Drag the red pointer to define the exposure value. (Lower values result in less pronounced effects.)

Ambient brightness control bar Displays the current ambient brightness value. Drag the red pointer to define the ambient brightness value. (Lower values produce darker images.)

Ambient brightness color option Displays the current ambient brightness color. Click to change the ambient color.

Light brightness control bar Displays the current light brightness value. Drag the red pointer to define the light brightness value. (Lower values result in less effect of the selected light color on images.)

Light brightness color option Displays the current source light color. Click to change the source light's color.

Light distance, elevation, & spread control window Displays the distance and elevation control point and the light source spread control points. Click below for more information.

Preview Click to see how the changes will affect the actual image before applying them.

Add Click to add the settings for this dialog box to the My Gallery.


Light source position control point  Click and drag the control point to define the light source's location.


Skew direction control point  Click and drag the control point around the light source position control point to define the light source ray's direction of focus.


Controls how much lighting effect to apply on the image. This applies to both the ambient and source light brightness.


Controls the light surrounding the image and the light source. This light covers the area where the source light source does not have shine.


Controls the brightness effect of the source light on the image.


Allows you to define the relationship of the light source's spread to the image plane.

Spread Measures the angle opposite the image plane formed by the light source position point and the two spread points.


Allows you to define the relationship of the light source's distance and elevation to the image plane.

Distance Measures the distance from the source light position directing to the image plane. The value ranges from 0 to 300.

Elevation Measures the angle formed by the distance control point to the spread segment's midpoint and the image plane.


Preview

Shows how PhotoImpact will change the image if you accept the current filter settings. The Preview Options window appears at the lower right corner offering these options:

OK Accept the change and continue editing.

Cancel Don't apply this filter to the image and return to editing.

Undo / Redo Compare before and after affects on the image.

Continue Return to the filter dialog box to adjust the settings more.


Thumbnail dialog box

Allows you to choose what appears in the dialog box preview window while applying the filter. This can be useful if you are concerned about a particular region, or to change the magnification in the preview window. It also allows you to choose an image for adding filter settings to the My Gallery.

Whole image Scale the entire image to fit in the preview window.

1x Select a portion of the image to show at full size in the preview window

Custom size Select any part of the image to show in the preview window. If the area is larger than the preview window, PhotoImpact automatically scales it down.


Add Sample dialog box

Saves the current dialog box settings in the My Gallery of the EasyPalette for future use.

Preview window Shows the image that will appear in the My Gallery.

Name Enter a name for this filter setting that will remind you of what it does or when to use it.


Turnpage dialog box

Curls up a corner of an image like you're turning a page.

Sample source & control points Displays the currently selected image, the slant angle controls, and the page turning rate control. Click on the left for more information.

Type Select the shape of the curl to apply.

Mode Select the appearance of the curled portion.

Background color Displays the current background color. Click to change the background color.

Corner Select which corner to curl up.

Angle Click on the red dot (or the + / - ) to define the page curl size. (A smaller angle produces a bigger curl size.)

Lighting direction Click and drag the lighting direction control point to define the shadow effect of the curled portion.

Preview Click to see how the changes will affect the actual image before applying them.

Add Click to add the settings for this dialog box to the My Gallery.


Slant angle control point  Click and drag the control points to limit the portion to curl. The valid value ranges from 45 to 80 degrees.


Page turning rate control point Slide along the diagonal formed by the slant angle control points. The valid value ranges from 0 to 100. Zero produces a no turned page effect and 100 makes the entire image disappear.


Allows you to select the shape for the curl.

Results in a cylinder shaped turnpage.

Results in a cone shaped turnpage.


Allows you to select the corner to curl up from the four corners of a page.

Curls up the top left corner.

Curls up the top right corner.

Curls up the bottom left corner.

Curls up the bottom right corner.


Allows you to select the appearance of the curled portion.

Opaque Shows a non-transparent nor translucent curl.

Reverse Shows a reflection of the image in the curl.

Transparent Shows the image through the curl.


Kaleidoscope dialog box

Generates a pattern based on placing a reflection shape in the image.

Sample source and control points Displays the selected image, bounding box, and the shape model's control point. Click on the left for more information.

Mode Select the desired pattern from the five groups of modes to apply.

Preview Click to see how the changes will affect the actual image before applying them.

Add Click to add the settings for this dialog box to the My Gallery.


Shape model's control point  Click and drag the shape model's control point around the bounding box to adjust effect of the selected pattern.

Note: You can select from the five different model shapes and available patterns to use in the Kaleidoscope effect. Starting from the left column of the dialog box, the model shapes are the equilateral triangle, rectangle, right triangle, right isosceles triangle, and the diamond.


Bounding box control point  Click and drag the bounding box control point to resize the portion of the image to map. Click inside the bounding box and drag it to the desired location of the image's portion to map. (The bounding box automatically adjusts every time you resize a shape model.)


Allows you to select from the five different model shapes and available patterns to use in the Kaleidoscope effect. Starting from the left column of the dialog box, the model shapes are the equilateral triangle, rectangle, right triangle, right isosceles triangle, and the diamond.


Magic Gradient dialog box

Fills an image with specially designed gradients.

Ring palette window Displays the ring palette containing the set and order of colors used in the current magic gradient effect. (The order of the colors start from the left middle part of the ring which is at 0 degrees and makes a 360 degree turn.)

Edit Click to create your own ring palette.

Reflect control button Reverses the order of the second set of ring palette colors (per two groups) applied in the magic gradient effect.

Hue shift control Adjusts the hue in the ring palette without changing the saturation and brightness. Click and drag the index in the color hue bar or enter the desired hue value.

Ring control Rotates the color ring changing the first color of the set. Enter the degree of turn.

Repeat number Define the number of times to repeat the ring palette in the pattern.

Mode Select a pattern to use in the effect. (For some modes, move the pointer to the sample set window and if the pointer changes to a hand shape, you can move the center point of the gradient. Click and drag to the desired center point position.)

Slope Allows you to specify the pattern's direction. Click and drag the red dot to the determine the selected mode's degree of turn.

Frequency Allows you specify the number of times to apply the pattern in the magic gradient effect. Click and drag the pointer to the desired number of patterns.

Amplitude Allows you to specify the length and width of the pattern. Click and drag the pointer to the desired ripple or wavy effect.

Preview Click to see how the changes will affect the actual image before applying them.

Add Click to add the settings for this dialog box to the My Gallery.


When selected and the repeat number is set to at least 2, the first set of colors applies the regular order and the second set applies the reversed order. This arrangement is applicable for every two sets of colors.


Palette Ramp Editor dialog box

Contains pre-defined ring palettes and allows you to edit or design ring palettes.

Ring palette & control points window Displays the currently selected ring palette and its order control points.

Hue shift control Adjusts the hue in the ring palette without changing the saturation and brightness. Click and drag the index in the color hue bar or enter the desired hue value.

Ring control Rotates the color ring affecting the start and the end color. Enter the degree of turn.

Add Inserts a newly defined ring palette to the library.

Palette library Contains the pre-defined ring palettes. Click to select a ring palette to display in the ring palette window.


Allows you to reorder, change, add, or delete colors from the selected ring palette.

To edit the ring's color order, click and drag the control point of the color to move around the ring to the desired location.

To change/delete a selected ring's color, right mouse click on the control point and choose "Change color" or "Delete."

To add a new color, click on the ring area you wish to add a color to open the Windows color option. Select the desired color and click OK to add it to the ring palette.


Ulead Color Picker dialog box

Allows you to choose colors visually from a color palette.

First color tab Shows the full color spectrum. Click on a color close to the one you want, then drag the cursor on the resulting brightness and contrast bar to the perfect shade.

Other color tabs Show 88 color blocks, each containing related colors. Click the on the color block you want and then fine tune it manually changing the RGB values.

Red value Enter a new value for the red channel here if you don't want to use the eyedropper.

Green value Enter a new value for the green channel here if you don't want to use the eyedropper.

Blue value Enter a new value for the blue channel here if you don't want to use the eyedropper.

Before / After block The left side shows the color under the mouse pointer. The right side shows the color defined by the red, green, and blue value boxes. When you click on the image, both colors become the same.


Oil Paint dialog box

Enriches the colors in an image to simulate the appearance of an oil painting.

Stroke detail Set a higher stroke detail to increase the size of the brush strokes.

Level Set a higher level to increase the abstract appearance

Preview Click to see how the changes will affect the actual image before applying them.

Thumbnail Allows you to select a portion of the active image to show in the sample source window.

Add Click to add the settings for this dialog box to the My Gallery.


Colored Pen dialog box

Softens an image to simulate the appearance of colored pens.

Level Choose a higher value to increase the number of pens used.

Preview Click to see how the changes will affect the actual image before applying them.

Thumbnail Allows you to select a portion of the active image to show in the sample source window.

Add Click to add the settings for this dialog box to the My Gallery.


Charcoal dialog box

Displays an image with a charcoal-drawn look.

Balance Set a high balance to add more charcoal to the image.

Stroke length Set a long stroke length for longer charcoal lines

Level Set a high level to make the charcoal darker.

Preview Click to see how the changes will affect the actual image before applying them.

Thumbnail Allows you to select a portion of the active image to show in the sample source window.

Add Click to add the settings for this dialog box to the My Gallery.