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-
- Image Merge Operations
- ----------------------
-
- Image allows the user to merge two images in a variety of ways. The only
- requirement is that the images are the same size (to merge different sized
- pictures, see 'Insert' below). The merge banks control window contains
- a number of merge operations, simply select the operation required, any
- operation value, check the source and destination banks are correctly set
- (see the section on Image Banks for details) and press the 'OK' icon.
-
- Image Operations available are :
-
- OR images - result is the OR of both inputs
- AND images - result is the AND of both inputs
- EOR images - result is the exclusive OR of both inputs
- + - result is the sum of both inputs
- - - result is the difference between the two inputs
- < - result is boolean <
- > - result is boolean >
- = - result is boolean =
- Ratio - See below
- Emboss - See below
- Max - Result is the max of the inputs
- Min - Result is the min of the inputs
- 1:1 - Result is the dithering of both inputs
- Over - 2nd image is placed over 1st input
- Under - 2nd image is placed under 1st input
-
- Mask Operations available are :
-
- Add - Add to mask
- Sub - Subtract from mask
- Make - Make new mask
- EOR - EOR mask
-
-
- Note: Areas of the 1st image that are masked out will remain untouched,
- whereas areas of the 2nd image masked out will be ignored (ie the 1st image
- is preserved).
-
- Note: The above is not true for the 'Under' merge, where unmasked areas
- of the 2nd image are placed over (ie. replace) masked areas of the 1st image.
- This is the only case where masked areas are not preserved.
-
-
- Ratio
- -----
-
- The ratio option takes a parameter (value from 0 to 100) which is used as a
- percentage as follows :
-
- result = value * input1 / 100 + (1-value) * input2 / 100
-
-
- Emboss
- ------
-
- The Emboss operation is used as part of the embossing process. It too takes a
- value, the value is a number from 0 to 255. The operation then occurs as
- follows: any pixel in input image 1 who's intensity is greater than or equal
- to the value makes an output pixel white, otherwise a pixel in input image 2
- who's intensity is above value produces a black output pixel - all other
- output pixels are grey.
-
- The Emboss operation can also take an optional second parameter, which defines
- the colour to use instead of middle grey (as above). To supply a second
- parameter simply place a ',' after the first parameter, and follow this by
- a colour number (0 to 15) as given in the 'colour window'. Giving a value of
- -1 makes the operation mask out all the areas which would have otherwise have
- been made mid grey.
-
- For more details on making an Emboss see the section entitled 'Emboss'
-
-
- Mask Operations
- ---------------
-
- A mask prevents parts of an image from being altered by most operations
- within Image. The 4 mask operations specified above use a second image to
- define where to add/subtract/etc the mask areas. Each of these operations
- takes a value parameter, this being an intensity level (0-255). Any areas in
- the 2nd image with an intensity greater or equal to that will cause that area
- to be added/subtracted/etc to the mask.
-
-
- Insert Picture
- --------------
-
- To insert a smaller picture inside a larger picture you need to use the
- 'Insert' operation, controlled by the icons in the top right of the window.
- This window contains two writable icons which should contain the coordinates
- in the main (larger) picture to place the top left of the inserted picture.
-
- This coordinate can be entered in four ways, first by simply entering the
- coordinate in the icons. Second is to click the mouse pointer over the point
- you wish to use in the display window (make sure you are not currently in a
- 'Paint' operation) and this pixel's coordinates are entered into the icon to
- the right of these icons. Pressing the icon marked with an arrow copy the
- coordinate of the last mouse click to the coordinate icons. The third method
- is to click (and hold) the icon marked 'Box'. When you do this the mouse
- pointer will disappear, and inside the display window will appear a dragable
- box which is the size of the insert picture (the picture in the 2nd input
- bank). Move this box into the correct position and release the mouse pointer,
- the coordinate icons will be filled in to place the picture at the position
- specified.
-
- The final method is similar to the previous method except that instead of
- just having an outline box you get an outline representation of the image to
- be inserted. This method is operated by selecting (hand holding the mouse
- button down) the icon called 'Outline'. When you select this icon an outline
- of the insert image will be created (this may take a few seconds for a large
- picture). When you release the mouse button the coordinates will be entered
- accordingly. The outline is created using the same system as the 'Outline'
- option in the kernel control window. To the right of the 'Outline' icon is a
- writable icon for entering a threshold value (see 'kernel control' for
- details of this value).
-
- To insert the picture you then only need to set the insert operation (eg. OR,
- Ratio, Over, etc) and press the 'Insert' icon.
-
- Note: When inserting one picture into another, the '2nd' image bank must
- contain the smaller picture, and it must be inserted such that it lies
- completely within the larger picture.
-
-
- Radial Merge
- ------------
-
- The 'Radial' merge is similar to the 'Ratio' merge except that the ratio
- varies according to the distance from a specified point. With this merge you
- need to set up a number of values. First is the point to use to measure
- distances from and can be entered into the icons, or made to be the
- coordinate of the last mouse click in the display window by pressing the
- arrow icon to the right of the coordinate icons.
-
- The next two values define the range of the ratios used in the merge. This is
- defined by two values, a start percentage and an end percentage. The start
- percentage must be lower than the end, but otherwise any values between 0 and
- 100 are valid. The first value defines the percentage to be used for the 2nd
- picture at the coordinate specified above (the first picture gets 100 minus
- this value). Thus a value of '0' will make the point specified above be 100%
- from the first picture.
-
- The next value that needs to be established is the 'Radius'. This defines the
- area over which the ratio merge takes place. Any areas outside this radius
- will be treated as if they were at the edge of the area as far as ratios are
- concerned. In fact you can enter two values into this icon (separated by a
- comma), if you do the second value is treated as a multiplier for the Y
- distance from the centre of the merge (this allows you to produce merges
- based on an ellipse rather than a circle). A second value between 0 and 1
- will cause a vertical ellipse, a value greater than 1 a horizontal ellipse.
-
- The option marked 'Linear' affects the merge operation be, when set, causing
- the movement between the ratio range to be linear; when not set the movement
- is a curve which means that the progression along the range starts off
- slowly, speeding up as it goes.
-