This help file contains topics about selected dialog boxes in your PhotoImpact package. You can access these topics through those dialog boxes or by navigating through a main help file associated with one of the PhotoImpact programs.


File dialog boxes

This class of dialog box allows you to decide the names, locations, and characteristics for files when opening or saving them. They may contain some or all of the following choices:

Look In/Save In Find the desired folder.

View the contents of the next higher folder in your system.

Create a new folder.

List names.

List names with statistics.

File name Identify the file(s) selected for saving, opening, or loading.

Files of type Select a particular file format for opening or saving to.

File information See the data-type, size, resolution, and other file statistics.

Preview View a thumbnail picture of the selected image. (Images with preview information automatically appear.)

Options Define format specific save options for the selected format. (Not all file formats have options.)

Browse Search for files or folders.

Network Allows you to access shared folders on other connected computers running Windows.

Save to Album Save a thumbnail image of the file to the listed album.

Album button Select or create an album for the thumbnail images.


Some file formats do not offer any save options. In this case, the Options button is disabled.


Print dialog box

Determine how images appear when printed.

Printer Identifies the currently selected printer.

Copies Set how many copies to print.

Scale to fit the page Check to resize the image to fill the page according to the printer's horizontal or vertical margins.

Center image horizontally Print the image with equal amounts of white space on the left and right.

Center image vertically Print the image with equal amounts of white space above and below it.

Title Enter a caption to print with the image.

Preview Click to switch to preview mode. In preview mode you can get a rough idea of how the printout will look before printing.

Options Click to customize the color map and dithering characteristics for the printer.

Printer Click to access the Windows Print Setup dialog box.


Browse dialog box

File Name Defines the search criteria for finding files. You may use the * and ? wildcards to find files with similar names.

Files Found Shows all files found matching the search criteria in the File Name text box.

Folders Select the folder to start the search from.

Drives Select the drive where the folder you want to search is located.

Sort Files Select the sorting order and whether to start from first to last (ascending), or last to first, (descending).

Scan Expand the search to include any folders inside the selected folder.

Delete Permanently remove selected files in the Found list from the hard disk.

Rename Change the name of selected files in the Found list from the hard disk.

Network Access shared folders on other connected computers running Windows.


Insert Thumbnails into Album dialog box

Places thumbnails of newly saved image files into an existing album.

Album Choose the album to insert the thumbnail into from the drop-down list.

Thumbnail Information Displays the filename and description information for the thumbnail.

New Album Creates a new album to hold the thumbnail.

Description Adds a description for the thumbnail.

Apply to all Applies the same description to all thumbnails.


Thumbnail Description dialog box

Enter a description for the thumbnail being inserted into an album. This description is displayed when you click View: Photo Properties – Album Info.


New Album dialog box -- General
New Album dialog box
  General	  Fields
  Advanced

Determines the name location, and size characteristics for a new album.

Title Enter the title for the album.

Create Album file in Folder Initially displays the current folder. Enter the desired folder or click Browse.

Browse Click to search for other folders.

Thumbnails attributes list Enter the size, compression, and color for the thumbnails in the new album.

Description box Displays default image description. Enter new description, add new fields, or use the default.


New Album dialog box -- General
New Album dialog box
  General	  Fields
  Advanced

Determines sharing and folder monitoring behavior for a new album.

Folder Enter the folder for monitoring.

Browse Click to search for other folders.

File types Enter the file format to monitor or select from the file formats drop-down list.

File formats list Select the file format to monitor.

Enable folder monitoring Check to monitor defined folder.

Password Enter a password for access security.

Verify Enter the password again for verification.


New Album dialog box -- General
New Album dialog box
  General	  Fields
  Advanced

Assigns fields for thumbnails in the album.

Field name Enter the field name to add or modify.

Field type Select the data types for each thumbnail. Add/modify/delete from the user-defined list.

Add button Click to add new field name to the fields list.

Change Click to change the selected field name's current field type.

Remove Click to remove field name from the fields list.

Total fields Displays the total number of fields in the album.

Fields list Displays the field names and their field types in the album.


Certain field types can be modified provided that the field name is not computer default field by clicking on the Edit button.


Options dialog box -- Calibration
Options dialog box
  Calibration	  Postscript

Redistributes the color distribution in the image to correct for the printer's idiosyncrasies.

Use printer's default Check to have the printer determine how to print colors and shades. This disables all other options in the dialog box.

Map Drag the curve to remap the color distribution according to your needs. The horizontal axis represents the current image color values and the vertical axis represents the final values. The line shows the equivalent new value for each existing one.

Channel Choose which channel to edit. Master mainly affects brightness and contrast. The other channels specific colors

Show control points Check to add handles to the mapping curve. This may make it easier for you to reassign color values.

Accumulatively Check to have each change you make to the mapping curve add on to previous changes.

Smooth Check to smooth the mapping curve after you create a freehand map. This may make the change to the image more natural.

Load Use a previously saved map file to remap the colors.

Save Save the current map settings to a file for future use in another image

Enhance function Choose from a list of pre-defined mapping curves or functions


Options dialog box -- Postscript
Options dialog box
  Calibration	  Postscript

Use Postscript Level 2 features Select to

Best quality Select to

Compress bitmap Select to compress

Default Click to use PhotoImpact’s default settings.

Compress Select the type and level of compression.

Type Select a compression scheme.

Level Select the level of compression. A lower value will compress the image more, resulting in a higher loss of detail.


Convert to Black & White dialog box

Define the image characteristics for capturing or converting to black and white images.

Resolution Choose the desired resolution from the preset choices or define your own. When choosing a resolution, consider what you will use the image for. If displaying on-screen, do not exceed the maximum resolution of the display. For printing, use the printer's resolution.

Halftone Screen:

Shape Choose a dithering option or a halftone screen shape. Here are some guidelines to help you decide which to choose:

None No dithering or patterns are used for the image. All lighter colored pixels are changed to white and all darker ones to black.

Dispersed and Diffusion Surrounding pixels are considered when determining whether to apply a black or white pixel. These options usually produce the best results.

Shapes Shades are created by arranging black and white pixels in patterns according to the chosen shape. Choosing a shape usually results in moiré-like patterns.

Frequency Choose a higher frequency for smaller dots. As the frequency increases, the pattern becomes less noticeable.

Angle Choose the relationship of one pattern to the next. 0 degrees means the patterns are arranged horizontally across the image.


When you choose a shape, the Frequency and Angle settings become available.


Convert to Indexed 16 Color dialog box

Palette Select a palette type to apply.

Standard Applies the standard Windows 16 color palette.

Optimized Applies an optimized palette to the image. An optimized palette This often provides a better looking image, especially if your image has many shades of the same color. Colors not present in the image are not represented in the optimized palette.

Reserve entries Select to reserve entries in the palette for Black & White, or 8 primary colors (Red, Green, Blue, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black & White). The remaining entries will be filled by dominant colors in the image.

From file Uses a previously saved palette (*.PAL) file. Click Load to select a palette.

Dither Select a dithering method. Dithering reduces the effect of sharp edges between pixels of differing colors by adding noise to an image.

None Choose None when the image is composed almost entirely of large single-colored areas.

Pattern Choose Pattern if choosing None results in blotchy images and Dither results in too much "noise". The Pattern result may offer a pleasing alternative.

Diffusion Choose Diffusion when the image has multi-colored patterns, shading, and other fine points. While you can't avoid losing some detail, this usually produces the most pleasing results.


Convert to Indexed 256 Color dialog box

The Convert to Indexed 256-Color dialog box offers options for creating Indexed 256-color images. Depending on the format of the source, it may contain some or all of the following items:

Palette Specify the colors to include in a new image.

Standard Choose standard to use the default 256-color palette shared by most windows programs. This is most useful when you plan to use multiple images in the same program and you want them all to appear consistently.

3-3-2 bits Choose 3-3-2 Bits to assign a unique color to every spot in the color palette. This offers the widest range of colors, but may introduce some inconsistencies when displayed by programs that do not recognize the unique palette.

6-7-6 levels Choose 6-7-6 Levels to fill 252 assignments in the color palette. This is more than the number of assigned colors in the standard palette, but may introduce some inconsistencies when displayed by programs that do not recognize the unique palette.

Optimized Choose optimized to have PhotoImpact use the 256 most needed colors in the image it creates. This usually results in a much more accurate reproduction, but can cause compatibility and consistency problems with other programs.

Start index Prevent colors with values below a certain level from being included in the image by identifying a starting index level.

Max number of colors Limit the number of colors to include in the palette here. This can be useful if you wish to add your own custom colors to the palette after the image is created without affecting any existing pixels in the image.

Reserve entries Select to reserve entries in the palette for colors from a previously saved palette.

From file Use a previously saved 256-color palette as the basis for the new image. Click the Load button to search your system for the desired palette.

Dither Choose a dithering option to create the most accurate reproduction. The best choice depends on the source material.

None Choose None when the image is composed almost entirely of large single-colored areas.

Pattern Choose Pattern if choosing None results in blotchy images and Dither results in too much "noise". The Pattern result may offer a pleasing alternative.

Diffusion Choose Diffusion when the image has multi-colored patterns, shading, and other fine points. While you can't avoid losing some detail, this usually produces the most pleasing results.


Convert to Grayscale Color dialog box
Convert to Grayscale dialog box

Determine how many shades of gray to use when converting a black and white image to grayscale.

Cell size For line-art images, where contrast and distinct lines are important, choose 1. For photos or other images where you wish to introduce finer shading, choose higher settings.

Scale down Reduce the physical size of the image according to this setting. This may be useful for minimizing a "mosaic-like" effect that often results from conversions using large cell sizes.


Edit Keyword dialog box

Allows you to add, change, or remove items in the items list.

Total items Displays the total number of items defined in the List/Keyword field types.

New item Enter the new item to add to the current list.

Items list Displays the items defined in the selected field type. Click on an item to change or remove it.

Add Adds the new item to the items list.

Change Changes the selected item in the list with the newly defined item.

Remove Deletes the selected item from the items list.

Remove all Deletes all items from the items list.

Load Loads previously saved items from other files.

Save Saves the current items list for future use.


Edit List dialog box

Add Creates an entry in the list.

Change Replaces the name of the selected list with the new list name entered.

Remove All Deletes all list names.

Load Imports a previously saved list.

Save Saves the list as a text file for future use.


Album Properties dialog box - General Tab
Album Properties dialog box
  General	  File
  Fields

Title Displays the title of the album.

No of records Displays the number of items in the selected album.

Password protected Displays “Yes” if the album has a password applied to protect it from file deletions or additions. Change the password in Album.

Monitored If you have selected a folder to be monitored for changes, it is displayed here.

File format version Displays the version of Album being used.

Description Displays the description entered in the Thumbnail Description dialog box. To change the description, switch to PhotoImpact Album  (bmp)  and click Album: Properties.

Mark file Displays the mark file associated with the selected album.


File monitoring immediately updates your album when you add or delete an image file from the selected folder.


Marks allow you to tag thumbnails to easily identify your files within an album.


Album Properties dialog box - Fields tab
Album Properties dialog box
  General	  File
  Fields

Displays the number of fields within the album and their names. Change the fields in Album.

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Album Properties dialog box - File tab
Album Properties dialog box
  General	  File
  Fields

Thumbnail Displays the size and compression scheme of thumbnails. Use Album to change the thumbnail size.

File attributes Displays information such as file name, size and creation date.