The actual adjustment process can be a bit tricky initially. For example, if you decide your photo is a bit too green, it’s not quite as simple as merely adjusting the magenta-green slider. You have to adjust some of the other colors too. For example, if you decrease the magenta-green level, you actually have to increase the cyan-red and yellow-blue levels manually by half as much to keep all the colors in your photo in balance. Table 10-1 summarizes the adjustments you need to make to keep the colors of your photo in balance. Color Problem Adjustment Blue tone (common with digital cameras) Decrease the blue; then increase both the red and the green by half the amount you decreased the blue. Decrease the red; then increase both the blue and the green by half the amount you decreased the red. Green tone Decrease the green; then increase both the red and the blue by half the amount you decreased the green. TABLE 10-1 Color-Balancing Adjustments Adjusting Your Printer Tones Although your scanner and computer monitor use the red-green-blue primary color group to create images, your printer uses a different scheme. Most color printers (and professional printing presses) apply dotted layers of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK). If you find that your printed copies are off-color based on what appears on your monitor, you can tweak them using the color correction filter. You should be aware, however, that CMYK can’t precisely replicate the vibrant colors you see on your monitor. Printed images always appear a little duller than the ones on your computer screen. Adjusting the color tones of your printer to produce a particular image is a matter of trial and error and personal judgment. Since you can never exactly match what appears on screen, you need to produce the colors in a way that appears representative and pleasing to your eye. Cyan, magenta, and yellow have negative values, so you need to decrease the number to increase the value. For example, a –28 rating is higher than a –2 or +28 rating. Unlike RGB, you can work by adjusting one color at a time, without making simultaneous adjustments to the other two colors. Red tone (can be the result of artificial lighting or improper chemical processing) 194 How to Do Everything with Your Scanner Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Artistically Colorizing Your Photos One of the best ways to enhance a photo artistically is to apply color to it selectively. To determine which color tools your particular program has, search the Help menu using the keywords “color” and “tint.” Your program might have one or all of the following color tool options: Tint an entire photo Tinting an entire photo sets a mood and makes an artistic statement in itself. The color insert illustrates several examples of the dramatic effect that can be achieved with a color tint. Convert a photo to black and white Some photo subjects such as old movie stars and jazz musicians actually look better in black and white. You can create a black-and-white photo from a color one by applying a gray tint to the entire photo. Selectively apply color to portions of a photo After you’ve turned a color photo to black and white, try selectively colorizing and tinting portions of it. Or experiment by adding sections of dramatic color to a photo that is already in color to make a more dramatic statement. Adjust the opacity of the applied color Most image-editing programs allow you to make the color you apply appear more or less transparent. A high opacity level means that when you apply the color, it will be opaque, and you might not be able to see the underlying color tones and details of the original image as well. In contrast, colorizing an area using a low opacity level means that you’re effectively applying a transparent tint to the area. Trying Your Hand at the Drawing Tool Drawing tools are often overlooked in the image-editing arsenal; however, they can be very powerful and produce high-impact effects. Figure 10-36 shows an example where I’ve hand-drawn the black arrows pointing to the cow, as well as the spots, using filled and unfilled shapes. Your image-editing program might include the following drawing tools: Freehand Allows you to draw lines of varying colors and thickness. Unfilled shapes These tools might allow you to draw squares, rectangles, ellipses, and other unfilled shapes with precision. Filled shapes This particular tool allows you to fill a shape with color. CHAPTER 10: Which Photo-Editing Tools Are Useful for Specific Tasks 195 10 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. FIGURE 10-36 This cow is modeling the effects of the PhotoSuite 4 drawing tools. Cutting and Combining Photos One of the most powerful capabilities your scanner affords you is to combine content from multiple photos into a single image. You might create cutout images that you can paste onto other photos and background scenes, or “stitch” several photos together to create a panoramic effect. Making a Cutout A cutout is a portion of an image you cut from a photo and save to a file or the clipboard. For example, I’ve made a cutout of the girl in the center of the photo in Figure 10-37 and pasted my cutout onto the photo background that appears in Figure 10-38. 196 How to Do Everything with Your Scanner Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. FIGURE 10-37 Cutting tools allow you to transport an image or figure from one photo to another. CHAPTER 10: Which Photo-Editing Tools Are Useful for Specific Tasks 197 10 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. FIGURE 10-38 An image from one photo transplanted to another Most image-editing programs allow you to create cutouts using a variety of tools. PhotoSuite, for example, includes the following options for making a cutout: Freehand cutting tool This tool allows you to trace around the edges of the image you want to cut out. Edge finder This tool is an improvement over the standard freehand cutting tool. It allows you to click gently at intervals around the image you want to cut out, and automatically finds the border of the image. It finds the edge of the photo by identifying an abrupt change in the color value of the pixels that represents the border of an image. Cut to shape Rather than following the edge of your cutout, you can select a portion having a regular predefined shape, such as a rectangle or ellipse. Be sure to follow the directions provided in the Help menu or manual for your particular image-editing software for making a cutout. In particular, pay careful attention to the steps for saving, cutting, and pasting the cutout. There’s nothing more frustrating than losing an image you’ve spent 20 minutes painstakingly cutting out. 198 How to Do Everything with Your Scanner Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. . www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Artistically Colorizing Your Photos One of the best ways to enhance a photo artistically is to apply color to it selectively. To determine which color tools your. time, without making simultaneous adjustments to the other two colors. Red tone (can be the result of artificial lighting or improper chemical processing) 194 How to Do Everything with Your Scanner Please. in Figure 10-38. 196 How to Do Everything with Your Scanner Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. FIGURE 10-37 Cutting tools allow you to transport an image