Image Editor - User Manual

General Concepts

You must only download the special image editor component once and from that moment on, you can edit images directly from within your browser using EditBureau.

Supported file types include gif, jpg, png, tiff and bmp. A vast number of professional image manipulation functions are built in to make it a useful tool for both novice users and for those demanding advanced functionality and sophisticated results.

Screen layout: usually the screen consists of the following parts:

• Tool bar - contains buttons and menus to access the most of the functions.
• Image area - displays the current image being edited.
• Properties bar - In this area special palettes appear, which allow you to set specific options for the currently selected tools, selected layers, etc.
• Zoom bar - you can use this tool to change the zoom level of the displayed image. Zoom can be set either by choosing a value from the drop-down box, entering the value directly (expressed in percent), dragging the zoom track bar or by using your mouse wheel (if available).
• Status bar - displays image dimensions or other status information about the current image.
• An image snapshot area may be visible. The image editor allows you to take a "snapshot" of what an image looks like. The shapshot can be used as a reference point to visually compare how the image was affected by manipulations.
• The toolbar contains a 'save' button. This allows you to save images to your local PC. To save an image to EditBureau, use the bigger 'save' button outside of the image editor area.

Tool Bar Reference

	New image - allows you to create a new image. After clicking a dialog box will appear where you can set the height and width of the image as well as choose the background colour. If an image exists in your clipboard it will default to the height and width of that image.
	Open image - allows you to open an existing image from your local PC.
	Scan - allows you to get an image from your scanner / digital camera directly to the image editor. This feature is TWAIN compatible. You must have the correct drivers for your device installed on your PC, and you must have TWAIN software installed.
	Save image - saves the current image to your local PC (NOT EditBureau) . You can choose the file format which will be used to save the image. Depending on your selected file type, an options dialog box may pop up upon saving and you will be able to specify options for that specific format. JPEG options: Compression quality - allows you to set a balance between the quality and file size. The higher the quality, the bigger the file size and vice versa. Colour format - you can specify whether the image will be saved in full colour or only the grayscale will be used. Progressive encoding - images, encoded with progressive encoding can be downloaded and displayed gradually (line by line) by a browser. GIF options: Number of colours - you can specify how many colours will be used to store the image. Less colours allow for smaller image sizes, but image quality is decreased. Compression - you can specify the compression method which will be used to compress the image. LZW generally performs better. Dithering - sets the colour approximation method, which is used when you save an image, which initially has more colours than you specify when saving. Floyd steinberg uses error diffusion and provides more natural results. Save transparency information - if you tick this checkbox, areas of the image, which are more than 50% transparent will be filled with "colour for transparency" (see below) and marked as transparent in the output file. colour for transparency - this colour will be used as the background for semi transparent and fully transparent image areas. If "Save transparency information" is checked, then this colour will also become the transparent colour of the ouput image.
	Copy selection - allows you to specify an area on the image, which is afterwards copied to clipboard.
	Paste - pastes the image, currently available on the clipboard. The image is pasted as a separate layer.
	Undo - cancels the last performed operation. Number of available undo levels may be limited.
	Redo - allows you to repeat the operation, which was cancelled using the "Undo" command.
	Image - Rotate Left.../Rotate Right... - rotates the image or selected layer by the given number of degrees. If during rotation, empty areas appear, they are filled with the specified colour.
	Image - Flip/Mirror - flips or mirrors the image or selected layer.
	Image - Crop - allows you to specify an area, to which the image is then cropped.
	Image - Resample - allows you to smoothly resize an image. You can specify the target width and height as well as resampling filter which will be used. Different filters are better suited for different situations. Optionally a sharpening effect can be automatically applied after resampling.
	Image - Resize canvas - allows to resize image working area, without scaling the image. You can specify the target width and height as well as anchoring position. If empty borders appear as a result of canvas transformations, they will be filled with the colour you provide.
	Colour - Grayscale - converts a colour image (or layer) into grayscale. You can specify how many different shades of gray should be used.
	Colour - Brightness/Contrast - adjusts the contrast and brightness of the image (or selected layer). Click "Preview" to see the preview of adjustments and perform any corrections if necessary.
	Sharpen/Blur - applies sharpening or blurring effect to the image or selected layer. 3 intensities of each effect are available.
	Insert - Image - loads an image from your local PC and inserts it as an image layer.
	Insert - Rectangle/Ellipse/Line/Arrow - inserts a specified geometric shape as a shape layer. The shape can be further customized using the "Shape properties" panel in the properties bar.
	Insert - Text - allows you to type in text, which is then inserted as text layer. It can be further customized using the "Text properties" panel in the properties bar.
	Brush - turns on/off the brush drawing mode. Use the "Tool properties" panel in the properties bar to specify the options for the tool. Then click the mouse and drag to paint over the background image or image layers.
	Eraser - turns on/off the erasing mode. Use the "Tool properties" panel in the properties bar to specify the options for the tool. Then click the mouse and drag to erase some parts of the background image or image layers.
	Grid - enables or disables the grid. A dialog box allows you to specify, whether the grid should be shown, whether layers should be snapped to it and horizontal/vertical grid dimensions.
	Help - shows these pages in a seperate browser window.

Properties Bar Reference

	Layer Properties - allows you to change the properties of selected layer. Opacity - specifies the overall transparency of the layer. 100 means fully opaque, while 0 means fully transparent. Bring forward - this layer is brought forward in the layer stack. Send backwards - this layer is sent backwards in the layer stack. Duplicate layer - creates an exact copy of selected layer. Delete layer - deletes the selected layer. You can alternatively press "Delete" key on your keyboard. Make original size - (applicable to image layers only) resets the image layer size to dimensions of the image it contains.
	Shape Properties - allows you to change the properties of selected shape layer. Line color - specifies the shape's line color. You can use the color picker to pick a color from anywhere on the screen. Fill color - specifies the shape's fill color. You can use the color picker to pick a color from anywhere on the screen. Select "None" for transparent fill. Line width - select the appropriate line width for the shape. Line style - select a desired line style for the shape.
	Text Properties - allows you to change the properties of selected text layer. Edit text - allows you to edit the text and change its alignment. Font style - allows you to change font style, size and colour. Pick colour - use the color picker to pick a colour from anywhere on the screen. Anti-aliased - smoothens the edges of font characters. Best results are achieved when using bigger font sizes.
	Tool Properties - allows you to change the properties of brush or eraser. Colour - allows you to set the colour, which is used when drawing with the brush. Use the colour picker to pick a color from anywhere on the screen. Shape - select the shape of the brush/eraser tip. Size - specifies the size of the brush/eraser tip.