CHAPTER 7:  The Image Menu

The Image menu contains commands that allow you to convert image types, view color channels, change the scale, resolution or size of a document, or rotate, stretch, skew, distort, or apply perspective to a selection or the entire document.

Image Type
The Image Type command lets you change the color or gray levels of a document. The current image type is shown with a check mark in the menu.
When you convert to fewer color or gray levels, the Convert dialog box opens, where dither styles and color sets can be chosen.
For a complete discussion of the options available in the Convert dialog, refer to the Print… command in Chapter 5, The File Menu.

Channel
The Channel commands let you view each channel of a document individually. The channels available vary with the type of image (RGB, CMYK, 
etc.) Channels can be viewed in grayscale or in their respective colors if Display color channels in color is checked in the Display Preferences dialog box (Edit Preferences Display…).

Scale…
The Scale… command opens a dialog box where the width and height may be changed by entering new numbers for either in the Scaling (per-
cent) or New checkboxes. Unchecking the Keep Aspect Ratio checkbox enables width or height to be changed independently.
The Units pop-up menu lets you change measurements to pixels, inches, centimeters, picas or points.
Choosing Smooth Scaling improves the appearance of images which are scaled 2 or more times their original size. Normally the image appears more 
pixilated as you increase the magnification, but the transitions between gray levels are smoother with this option chosen. Choosing Smooth Scaling when reducing the image size resamples the image using a bilinear average. Otherwise Color It! uses the nearest neighbor method to place the pixels in the rescaled image.
The Reset button returns the values in the Scaling boxes to their original settings.

Change Resolution…
The Change Resolution… command lets you change the both the physical size and the image resolution of the document.
Size: The Width and Height may be changed by entering new numbers in these textboxes. The Units pop-up menu lets you change measurements to pixels, inches, centimeters, picas or points.
Resolution: Entering numbers in the X or Y textboxes changes the image resolution. The pop-up menu lets you choose Pixels per Inch or Pixels per Centimeter.
The Convert To pop-up menu offers the same options as the Image Type command.
Unchecking the Keep Aspect Ratio checkbox enables width and height or X and Y resolution to be changed independently.
The Keep pixels constant checkbox affects how the image appears on screen. Changing the X and Y resolutions will change the view if this box is unchecked. Checking the box keeps the screen image the same despite differences in X and Y resolution.
Choosing Smooth Scaling improves the appearance of images which are scaled 2 or more times their original size. See  the discussion under the Scale… command on the previous page.
The Reset button returns the values in the Size and Resolution textboxes to their original settings.

Canvas Size…
The Canvas Size… command lets you change the size of the document without changing 
the size of the image. Enter numbers in the Width and Height textboxes for the new document dimensions (Unchecking the Keep Aspect Ratio checkbox enables width and height to be changed independently).
The Align pop-up menus lets you position the present image within the new document size.
The Units pop-up menu lets you change measurements to 
pixels, inches, centimeters, picas or points.
The Reset button returns the values in the Width and Height and to their original settings.

Crop to Selection
The Crop to Selection command deletes any of the image outside of the current selection. Only the portion of the image within the selection is left as the entire image.

Flip
The Flip commands let you flip the active selection or entire document. Flip Horizontal flips the active selection horizontally; Flip Vertical flips the active selection vertically.

Rotate
The Rotate command displays a hierarchical menu with several commands for rotating the image for a document or selection.
The Arbitrary… command opens a dialog box that lets you rotate the selection or the entire document in 0.01 degree increments. Rotate in a right (clockwise) or left (counterclockwise) direction by choosing the appropriate radio button.
The Free Rotate command lets you rotate a selection by hand. Color It! places grow handles at the four corners of the selection. Click on one of the handles and drag to rotate the selection.
The Rotate 90° Right (CW) command rotates the active selection (or the entire image if there is no active selection) 90 degrees to the right (in a clockwise direction).
The Rotate 90° Left (CCW) command rotates the active selection (or the entire image if there is no active selection) 90 degrees to the left (in a counter-clockwise direction).

Note:  Neither the Rotate 90° Right (CW) nor Rotate 90° Left (CCW) commands crop the image when it is rotated.
The Rotate 180° command rotates the active selection (or the entire image if there is no active selection) 180 degrees.

Effects
The Effects command displays a hierarchical menu with several commands for modifying an image for a document or selection.
The Stretch/Shrink command lets you interactively scale an image. When you choose the command, Color It! places grow handles at the four corners of the selection. Click on one of the handles and 
drag to stretch or shrink the selection. Holding down the Shift key while dragging retains the image’s proportions.
The Skew command lets you slant the active selection along either the horizontal or vertical axis. When you choose the command, Color It! places grow handles at the four corners of the selection. Click on one of the handles 
and drag to skew the selection.
The Perspective command lets you change the perspective of the active selection. When you choose the command, Color It! places grow handles at the four corners of the selection. Click on one of the handles and drag to create either a horizontal or 
vertical perspective of the selection.
The Distort command lets you create a number of special effects. You can perform successive distortions on a selection without causing any degradation to the image. When you choose the command, Color It! places grow handles at the four corners of the selection. 
Click on one of the handles and drag to distort the image.

Optimize Colors
The Optimize Colors command [Command-E] optimizes images displayed on monitors with fewer colors than in the image—for example, viewing a millions of colors document on a 256 color screen.

Get Info…
The Get Info... dialog box displays important details about the document. The top area lists some basic information:
File Type shows the document’s file format.
Creator shows the name (or creator identity) of the program which created the document.
Size is the amount of disk space the document occupies in kilobytes (K) (possibly a compressed size).
Image Type lists the number of colors in the document.
Width is the width of the document in pixels; Height is the height of the document in pixels.
The second Size shows the size of file as it resides in RAM. (The RAM size may differ from the disk storage size because documents in RAM are always uncompressed.)
Below the rectangular field in the File Information dialog box are a number of text boxes where information can be entered that is saved with the document:
Artist:  The name of the person who created the document.
Software:  The name of the program which created the document. (This is set as “Color It! 3.0” by default but can be changed.)
Computer:  The type of computer which created the document. (This is set as “Apple Macintosh” by default but can be changed.)
Device Make:  The hardware used to create the document.
Device Model:  The model information about the hardware used to create the document.
Description:  Notes or other personal comments about the document.

Histogram…
The Histogram… command opens a dialog box displaying the histogram for an image. A histogram displays the frequency distribution of the number of pixels in an image at a specific color level.
The Channel pop-up lists the various channels that can be displayed. The channels available depend on the type of image—RGB, CMYK, etc.
The Display pop-up menu adjusts the way the histogram is displayed. The selected options are marked with a bullet (•) in front of them.
The top portion of the pop-up lets you choose between the Whole Image or just the Selection Only.
Normal includes all the blacks, whites and colors in the image. No Black/White ignores all pixels at the first index (0) and the last index (255). Some filters group pixels at 
these extreme positions, so it is common for the large number of pixels at these locations to overshadow the others 
in between. Compressed compresses the high peaks in the histogram, making the distribution of the other grays in the image easier to see. Cumulative sums the number of pixels in the image that are darker than a selected color level.
The bottom portion of the pop-up menu controls the type of display for the histogram. Gradient displays gradient range that accurately depict the black, white and gray levels in the image. Solid Black fills the histogram area with black. Outline displays the histogram as a line.