Copyright: (c)1998-2000 MEGALUX Light Technique Ltd.


Gradient Fill

This filter creates a gradient fill pattern. You can use the current drawing and background color to paint a seamless transition from one color to another. Mode determines the base mode of the fill: Linear or Circular. Select Linear if you want two color lines, or select Circular if you want two color points interacting with each other. One Point Only leaves only one color point / line which melts slowly into the background.

Parameters Pos 1 and 2 contain the coordinates of the control points. You can set them by typing in new coordinates or by clicking on the instant preview image with the left and right mouse button. Switch Extrapolate works only when you're using Linear mode with Only One Point turned off. It determines whether or not to extrapolate colors of pixels that are on the same side of both lines.

The original control points are shown on the small instant preview only, which help your work.


Fractal

What is a fractal? A fractal is a geometric shape that can be subdivided in parts, each of which is very similar to the whole. Fractals are generally independent of scale. Some real-world objects such as rocks, clouds, flames can also be described with fractals.

This component paints some really spectacular fractals including the well-known Mandelbrot-set.

X and Y are coordinates of the center of the image. The fractals are positioned around the origin, so valuable coordinates to be find are generally between (-3, 2) for x, and (-2, -2) for y.

Gap determines the gap between two neighboring pixels. Decrease this value to zoom in around the center. You can easily zoom in and out placing the focus on the parameter and using the up and down arrow keys on your keyboard.

This parameter is not the exact distance of two pixels, it's multiplied by 100 and divided by the width of the image to keep its value general.

Iterations is the number of iterations after which the component stops counting. Points that have greater or equal iteration number than this one are said to be parts of the fractal set. The greater this number the more fine details you will discover near the core of the fractal, but the slower the rendering will be.

Palette is a color palette that helps visualizing the set. For a given spot try different palettes to see which one you like best. Different color sets can change the image drastically.

With the Type parameter you can set which fractal do you want to display.

You can navigate by altering the coordinates of the center point. This can be done by typing in a new value at the input fields, or using the up and down arrow keys to change the current values. The amount of change always depends on the current Gap value.

The most convenient way to set the coordinates is to click on the preview image. The point you select will be moved to the center.


Waterdrops

This effect paints waterdrops onto the image. There are several parameters that help determine the final look of the effect. These are:

Drop Number	this value sets the number of drops displayed. If the size of the drops is large compared to the size of the image, some drops won't appear at all, no matter how high value you set here.

Highlight X and Y	these parameters position the highlight spot on the surface of the drops. Lower X values pull it to the left, higher ones to the right. Lower Y values put the highlight in the upper area, while higher values position them around the bottom.

Highlight Size	this one sets the size of the highlight spot. The smaller the value, the greater the spot is.

Distortion	the value changes the refraction parameter of the waterdrops. Higher values result in greater distortion of the image under the drops.

Drop Size	this number sets the size of the drops. This is a mean value, the individual sizes can vary from half to double that size.


Fade Out

The effect melts the selected parts of your image into a single color. Threshold determines how fine the transition is. The greater the value the finer the transition. Lower values result in a more abrupt change. Color is the color the image fades into.

This effect works only on selections.


Bump Mapping

This filter applies a bump map to your image.  It's a kind of relief effect; bump map is another image which contains a height-map. When you map it to the current image, brighter points on the bump map will look like they're higher than darker ones.

Parameter Map is the bump map. The easiest way is to set it to the current image and get an Emboss-like effect. Light Position is the origin of the light source (spot) above the image. Set it numerically or click on the small preview image. Light Distance is the distance of the spot from the 2D image plane. Parameter Light Focus determines how focused the spot is, while Light Color is the color of the spot.

Depth is the strength of the effect: it sets how higher points stand out. The greater the value the more relief-like the effect is.

Diffuse determines the amount of light the spot radiates equally to every direction, while Specular is the amount of light that goes the direction the spot is heading, in this case toward the surface.

Play with the parameters a bit to feel what each and every one contributes to the final effect. You can create wonderful buttons and logos by applying carefully designed bump maps.


Interlace

This simple filter can be helpful when you want to process an image made by a digital camera. It keeps the odd or the even lines of the original picture, and interpolates the ones between them. This is useful if you shoot fast motion with your camera that works in interlace mode. You can choose which lines (odd or even) you want to keep from the Lines drop-down list.


Glow

This effect paints glow around selected areas. It is also capable of painting soft shadows under selections simply by modifying some settings.

Parameter Glow Size determines the size of the glow - but beware, bigger values result in slower processing.

Near and Far Color set the colors of the glow near and further away from the selection, respectively.

Color Crossfade sets the dominant color: smaller values make Near Color stronger, while bigger values emphasize Far Color.

Intensity Decline sets how fast the colors decline into the background image. Negative values preserve more of the glow, while positive values make the color transition end faster.

Finally parameter Displacement sets the position of the glow. Use zero for basic glow, positive values to get soft shadows (you should also set Color Crossfade to the minimum or maximum) and negative values to get some interesting effects.

Some of the parameters are available only in Expert mode.


Set Alpha

This effect sets the transparency (alpha) of the image to the given Alpha parameter. The greater the value the more transparent the image will be.

This component is really useful if you use it as a brush-effect, so you click on the small alpha letter on the icon bar. In this case as you drag the cursor over the image only transparency of parts of the image under the brush will be altered.


Seamless Tile

This effect tiles your image seamlessly. This way you can easily make tiled backgrounds. Parameter Transition determines the width of the transition. The higher this value the softer and wider the transition will be. Mode sets the tiling mode: Vertical and Horizontal tiles the image in only one direction, Both Dir tiles in both directions, while Diamond applies a special, diamond-shaped tile.


Sine Prism

The effect modifies the image as if we were looking through a prism. Parameter Color sets the color of the prism, while Red, Green and Blue Bounce determines the angle we look through the prism.

Try to change the values of the sliders and watch how they modify the resulting image.

Be careful! The result of this effect depends on the image size, thus you may get a different image in the instant preview window.

The brush-icon version of this effect is also available (see icon Filter): use it to alter parts of the image under your brush.

This filter was written by Andrew Buckle (c)1996.


HSV Change

The effect changes the Hue, Saturation or Value (or the combination of two of them) of the selected area to the corresponding value of the current drawing color. HSV is a color space similar to RGB, only more intuitive. H (Hue) determines the shade of the color, S (Saturation) sets how saturated (how vivid, strong) the color is, while V (Value) is the brightness of the color.

Parameter Change sets the values to be changed:

Hue	Changes the color to the drawing color leaving the brightness and saturation of the original image intact,

Saturation	Changes only the saturation (increasing or decreasing the contrast),

Value	Sets only the brightness of the image area leaving its color and saturation intact,

Hue & Saturation	Changes the Hue and Saturation values leaving only the brightness intact,

Hue & Value	Saturation is not changed, while the color and its brightness is altered,

Saturation & Value	Sets Saturation and Value leaving color (Hue) information intact.

To alter all three values to the current drawing color use a simple freehand brush.

The brush-icon version of this effect is also available (see icon Filter): use it to alter parts of the image under your brush.


Mixed Smudge

Applying this effect to your image can bring spectacular results. Select a base color by clicking on the Color box. Then you can get a mixture of the base color and the colors of your image if you change the values of parameters Mix 1 & 2.

This filter was written by Andrew Buckle (c)1999.


Hex Lattice

The effect paints a grid on the image by darkening and whitening lines. Size sets the size of the grid, Wave Peak determines the position of the dark lines in the pattern. There are four different grid Patterns you can choose from. With Inner and Outer Gain you can set the brightness / darkness of the bright and dark areas, while Frequency sets the number of lines in the pattern.

This filter was written by Greg Schorno (c)1996.


Inverted Channel Shift

This effect inverts the image and shifts color channels with the red, green or blue color components of parameter Color, respectively.

This filter was written by Andrew Buckle (c)1996.


Metallic Onion

This is another metal-effect with sharp contours. Corrosion sets the the number of these sharp color changes, the bigger the value, the more contours appear. Use Color to set the amount of the original image and the black and white effect in the final mix.

This filter was written by Ilyich the Toad (c)1996.


Tiled Glass

This filter changes the image as if we see it through glass bricks. Width and Height sets the size of the bricks, while Transparency determines how transparent the glass is - use higher values to get more transparency.

Be careful! The size of the bricks does not depend on the image size, thus you will get a different image in the instant preview window with relatively bigger bricks compared to the image.

This filter was written by Harry the Raver (c)1998. It can be found in the Plugin Galaxy package at

http://www.i-us.com/products/plugingalaxy/plugingalaxy.htm


Triangular Mosaic

This effect is an interesting variation of the mosaic filter: it produces triangular areas of the same local color. Change parameter Size to set the size of the triangles and use Mode to set where to get the local colors from.

This filter was written by Mario Klingemann (c)1996.


Color Glow

This filter changes the colors of your image in a unique way. You can determine two base colors by clicking on the box beside Color 1 & 2. The Radius parameter sets how far and how strongly the glow effect will be applied. Also you can choose one of four coloring methods by selecting an item from the Mode drop-down list.

This filter was written by Mario Klingermann (c)1996.


Different Sine

This effect generates a 2-dimensional sine wave which is built up by dots. It has two components, of which the color as well as the frequency can be determined by clicking on the box beside Color 1 & 2, or changing parameters Size 1 & 2.

This filter was written by Werner D. Streidt (c)1997.


Sphere

This filter makes a real 3D effect: it pushes a sphere through the flat surface of an image.

Center determines the origin of the sphere. You can set it by typing the values or clicking anywhere on the (preview) picture. Use the Size slider to change the radius of the sphere. The maximum is the half diagonal of the image, while using the minimum value makes no changes on the image.

With Depth you can control how deep you want to push the sphere into the image. Here the maximum is the half of the sphere (180 degrees). Small values make only slight changes on the image.

Using the Shading option you get a light effect. This case you can also control the light intensity with the Brightness slider.

Normal or High values of the Quality combo result in a better image quality than Draft, but calculations take longer.

This filter was written by Raymond Filiatreault / Megalux Ltd. (c)1998-99.


Starfish

This effect draws a beautiful star-shaped image. There are several parameters you can change to achieve the desired look of your star. Radius determines how big your star should be, while Outline Width sets the width of its outer portion. Set your star's angle by adjusting the value of Rotation. By changing the value of Softness, you can determine how much the edges of the star should be blurred. You can also change the number of Petals, and the Color of the image by clicking on the colorbox.

This filter was written by Mario Klingermann (c)1997.


Pinwheel I

The effect draws two groups of twisted spokes starting from the center. It's a pattern generator, which means that the final image does not depend on the original one.

Sliders Spokes 1 and 2 determine the number of spokes. To twist these spokes use sliders Twist 1 and 2. With slider Color Transform you can modify the basic color you've chosen by changing parameter Color.

This filter was written by Greg Schorno (c)1997.


Pinwheel II

The effect draws two groups of twisted spokes starting from the center. It's a pattern generator, which means that the final image does not depend on the original one.

The effect can work in two different ways. Setting the check box you can choose between Pattern A and B. The sliders Spokes 1 and 2 determine the number of spokes in the  groups. To twist these spokes use sliders Twist 1 and 2. With slider Color Transform you can modify the basic color you've chosen by changing parameter Color.

This filter was written by Greg Schorno (c)1997.


Pinwheel III

This effect paints two spirals that interact with each other creating various new pattern.

It's a pattern generator, which means that the final image does not depend on the original.

The effect can draw two different patterns - use check box Pattern A/B to select the one you desire. Sliders Spokes 1 and 2 determine the number of spokes in the wheel. To twist these spokes use sliders Twist 1 and 2. With slider Color Transform you can modify the basic color you've chosen by changing parameter Color.

This filter was written by Greg Schorno (c)1997.


FlareFX

This effect paints lens flares on the image just as it appears when you take photos in the direction of the sun. Position sets the position of the flares.


Gamma Correction

This filter helps you correct the colors of your scanned images. The correction is needed because of different gamma values of the monitor and the scanner. But what is this gamma anyway? Well, in case of a monitor the relation between the voltage that moves the electron ray and the generated light intensity is not linear: I ~ U^gamma. So, gamma is the exponent. A scanned image's color appearing on the monitor's screen will not look the same as on paper. With this filter you can change the red, green and blue channel's gamma values separately. But in most cases you'd better keep the values identical by checking the Keep values together checkbox.


Color Adjust

This filter changes the red, green, blue, hue, saturation and intensity value of the image according to the settings you make. You can multiply the red, green and blue color values and add or subtract from the hue, saturation and value of the pixel color afterwards.

HSV is a color space similar to RGB, only more intuitive. H (Hue) determines the shade of the color, S (Saturation) sets how saturated (how vivid, strong) the color is, while V (Value) is the brightness of the color. Changing the Hue, Saturation or Value sliders to positive direction will increase, to negative direction will decrease the corresponding value (of the new color which is the sum of the old color and values Red, Green and Blue).


Ringmaster

The effect draws spiral arms that form a ring. It is a pattern generator, which means that the final image does not depend on the original.

With parameter Arms you can modify the number of the arms, Radius determines how far the arms stretch from the center. Thickness changes the diameter of the arms.

The Twist slider is to set the length of the arms, while change Color to select the desired color of the arms.

This filter was written by Mario Klingermann / Megalux Ltd. (c)1999.


Radial Slicer

The effect cuts the image into rings then chops the rings into slices, finally flips all pieces.

You set the number of the rings with slider Rings. Similarly, the slider Slices is to set the number of slices in each ring.


PageCurl

The effect curls the image as if it was a paper sheet and gives all necessary options to get realistic results.

The Length parameter is to determine how long you want the effect to take place. With slider Angle you can set the direction of the curl. Radius sets how sharp you bend the page. Choosing High Quality results in a better image, but calculations take longer.

The following options are avaliable only in the expert mode:

You can choose a Secondary Image you want to lay in the background or onto the backside of your image. This option is disabled if you select Drawing or Background Color in the Backplane Type and Background Type combos.

Choosing Streched Image results in the secondary image magnified or diminished to the size of the primary one, while in case of Tiled Image the secondary image will be displayed as many times as needed. With Obliquity you can make a funnel-like shape. This means that the radiuses at the two ends of the page won't be the same. Slider Expansion is to expand or shorten the transformed part.

Front Transparency and Back Transparency determines how much light should be absorbed by the front and back side of the page, respectively. E.g. setting Front Tranparency to 100 percent results in displaying the backside of the page. With slider Light Focus you determine how sharp the lighting should be. Choosing 0 results in pure diffuse light.


Rotate

The effect rotates the image by Angle degrees. Negative values mean clockwise rotation. The algorithm used in this effect gives excellent result even in critical cases, where the angle is close to zero. Using the Lock Size feature the effect does not change the size of the image, but this way parts of the picture will be cut off.


Resize

With this filter you can resize the image, change its orientation or combine both transformations. In the fields SizeX and SizeY you can give the dimensions of the image to be rendered, so the original picture will be stretched to this size. Negative values change the X / Y orientations of the image. X percent and Y percent determine the ratio of stretching. In the above mentioned fields only nonzero legal values can be entered. Keep Aspect Ratio ensures that X percent and Y percent remains the same.  In High Quality mode the effect uses different methods, which lead to a better result, but in this case calculations take longer.

DPI is the current DPI (dot per inch) of the image. It affects the scaling of rulers and the original printing size of the image.


AutoRotate

This is an intelligent effect that helps you to manage your scanned pictures. When the window comes up the effect automatically tries to trace the image edges, to get rid of the unwanted photo borders and finally to rotate the image into level position. If the detection is successful the status line below the controls will show it immediately and the parameters are set accordingly.

If the detection is not successful all parameters are set to zero. Before accepting the offered parameters you can look at the result by clicking on the Preview button. If you're not satisfied, you may fine tune the parameters manually:

Angle is the angle of the rotation, while the Crop controls are to set the number of the pixels you want to cut off from the borders. In case of a successful detection these rows/columns will be removed from the sides of the detected area, while if the detection was not successful, the rows and columns are removed from the borders of the original image.

Positive values reduce the image size, while negative ones add extra pixels.

You ask for the automatic detection again (and get back the original values) by clicking on the Preset button.


Resize Canvas

The effect adds / removes pixel rows and columns from the canvas of your image. Positive values of the Left, Right, Top, Bottom controls increase the canvas size, while negative values decrease it.


Enhance Detail

The filter helps you to enhance certain color areas by increasing the contrast and brightness of selected shades. It may provide great help if there are areas which are very dark or look homogenous although there should be visible details - e.g. if you make a portrait and the sun is behind your target or you shoot a landscape and the trees are too dark compared to the bright sky.

To enhance the desired details simply click on an area that contains the colors you want to alter. Then adjust sliders Enhancement and Brightness to get the desired effect. Parameter Enhancement increases the contrast, while Brightness alters the brightness of the color range selected.

Be careful not to overenhance the colors, since they may get shifted and produce unnatural shades. Play with different areas and settings before you accept the results.