Working with Annotations

 

20/20 contains twelve different annotation tools that allow you to modify and enhance your images.  Annotations are temporarily placed on top of your image.  Once an annotation has been placed, it can be modified, resized, and have its various styles changed.  After you are satisfied with the location and appearance of the annotation(s), they are then "applied" to the image, becoming a permanent part of the image.


Annotations.GIF (1704 bytes)
Tools Tool Bar

 

Annotation Basics

Each annotation requires you to draw the annotation on top of the image.   Depending on the annotation you have selected, drawing may consist of a click and drag, or require several clicks as is the case for polygons and bezier curves.

When initially drawing an annotation, the current set of style properties is applied to the annotation being drawn.  Style properties include:

The annotation style can be altered after it has been drawn by "selecting" the annotation and then changing the desired style.

Annotations can be moved or resized using the "Select" tool Select.GIF (894 bytes) or "Tools|Select" from the menu.  First, select the annotation with the select tool by left clicking on the annotation.  When an annotation has been selected, its control points are hi-lited.  For example, a line has two control points (the end points).  To move the annotation, move the mouse cursor over the annotation until the "move" cursor appears Move.GIF (991 bytes).  Click and hold the left mouse button, and drag the annotation to the desired location.   To resize the annotation, move the mouse cursor over one of the annotations control points until the "resize" cursor appears Resize.GIF (6136 bytes).  Click and hold the left mouse button, and drag the control point to the desired location.

These methods for moving and resizing can be applied to all annotations.

Note, that all annotations are originally not a part of the image, instead they are drawn "on-top" of the image.  To make annotations a part of the original image, they must be applied by selecting "Image|Apply Annotations" from the menu.  You can also clear un-applied annotations by selecting "Image|Clear Annotations" from the menu.

You can delete a single annotation by selecting the annotation you want to delete and pressing the "Delete" key on the key board.

 

Setting Styles

Annotation styles can be set both before and after an annotation has been drawn.   The current styles can be set using the menu items under the "Styles" menu.  They can also be set by using the Style and Color tool bars.

StylesBar.GIF (1955 bytes)
Figure 2.

Style|Line
Used to set the line style.

Style|Line Width
Used to set the line width.

Style|Fill
Used to set the background fill pattern.

Style|Transparent
Used to indicate whether or not the background fill pattern is transparent.

Style|Font
Used to set the current font and font size.

Setting Colors

Most of the annotations use the current foreground and background colors when they are drawn.  For example, when a solid rectangle is being drawn, its outline is drawn using the foreground color, and is then filled using the selected background colors.

The foreground and background colors can be set using one of three methods.  First, select "Styles|Foreground Color" from the menu.  This will allow you to select a color from the Color Selection Dialog:

ColorDlg.GIF (13357 bytes)
Figure 3.

Second you can use the "Color Picker" tool located in the tools menu or on the tools tool barColorTool.GIF (899 bytes).  This tool is used to pick a color from an image.  Pass the color picker over the image and click the left mouse button to set the foreground color, or click the right mouse button to set the background color.

ColorBar.GIF (2522 bytes)
Figure 4.

Third, you can use the Color toolbar to set the foreground and background colors.  If your display resolution is set to "True Color", the color toolbar will contain a color palette.  The current foreground and background colors are shown on the right side of the tool bar.  The foreground color is the top rectangle.  To change the colors, move the mouse over the color palette and left click to set the foreground color, or click the right mouse button to set the background color.

Hi-Lite Tool
The hi-lite tool is used to hi-lite a rectangular region of an image using the foreground color.  Left click and drag to draw the rectangular region.

Rectangle
The rectangle tool is used to draw rectangles on the image. Left click and drag to draw the rectangle.

Ellipse
The ellipse tool is used to draw circles and ellipses.  Left click and drag to draw the ellipse.

Line
The line tool is used to draw lines.  Left click and drag to draw the line.

Arrow
The arrow tool is used to draw lines that contain an arrow on the end.  Left click and drag to draw the arrow.

Freehand
The freehand tool is used to perform freehand drawing.  Left click and drag to draw.

Image
The image tool is used to overlay another image on top of the current image.  Use it as if you were drawing a rectangle.  When you release the mouse button, an open dialog appears.  Specify the name of the image you want to overlay and click the OK button.

Polyline
The polyline tool is used to draw shapes containing multiple lines. Click and release the left mouse button to set the initial control point.  Move the mouse to the next desired location and click and release the left mouse button again.  When you are finished drawing, click the right mouse button.

Polygon
The polygon tool is used to draw polygons in a manner similar to Polylines.  The only difference is that the polygon is filled using the current Fill style.

Bezier
The bezier tool is used for drawing bezier curves.  Each bezier curve requires four control points. Click the left mouse button to set the control points.  When the fourth control point is set, the curve will be drawn.

Memo
The memo tool can be used to draw a box which contains text.  Draw as if you were drawing a rectangle.  When the mouse is release, a text dialog appears that allows you to enter the text as you want it to appear.

Text
The text tool is used draw shaped text.  Initially draw a rectangle that will contain the text.  When you release the mouse, the text properties dialog will appear:


Figure 5.

Fill in the text field with the information you want to appear.  Then click on the drawing mode you want to use for drawing the text.  If you select the mode "Shade Colors", you will need to add at least two colors into the Palette.

 

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