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369 Chapter 12 ✦ Creating Live Effects and Filters The Levels dialog box also includes a Histogram — essentially a chart — that reports the levels of dark, middle, and light tones in your image, giving you a quick graphical representation of what might need to be fixed. The horizontal axis is dark to light, from left to right. The vertical axis is a level from 0 to 255. To apply the Levels filter and modify the tonal range of an image, follow these steps: 1. Select the object that you want to modify. 2. Click the Add Effects button in the Effects section of the Property inspector, and choose Adjust Color ➪ Levels from the Add Effects menu. Fireworks displays the Levels dialog box, as shown in Figure 12-8. Figure 12-8: The Levels dialog box displays a Histogram of the light, midtone, and dark tones in your image. 3. Check the Preview checkbox to view your changes as you make them in the document window. 4. Select which channels you want to modify from the Channels option list: just Red, just Green, just Blue, or RGB to modify all three. Modifying just the Red channel in an RGB image is similar to adjusting a color by increasing or decreasing the R value in the Color Mixer panel when it’s set to RGB or Hexadecimal. 5. Modify the highlights and shadows in your image with the Highlight, Midtone, and Shadow Input Levels sliders, or enter new values directly in the Highlight and Shadow Input Levels boxes. Highlights and shadows are specified from 0 to 255, whereas midtones are specified with 1.0 being neutral, or 50 percent gray. Tip Highlight Input Level boxShadow Input Level box Midtone Input Level box Histogram Shadow Input Level slider Midtone Input Level slider Highlight Input Level slider Highlight Output Level sliderShadow Output Level slider 163662-1 ch12.F 8/2/02 2:28 PM Page 369 370 Part III ✦ Achieving Effects The Shadow value can’t be higher than the Highlight value, and the Highlight value can’t be lower than the shadow Value. 6. Use the Highlights and Shadows Output Levels sliders to adjust your image’s overall contrast. 7. If desired, use the Highlight, Midtone, or Shadow eyedropper to sample a target color to be used as a level for highlights, midtones, or shadows, respectively, from your image. 8. Click OK when you’re satisfied with the changes you’ve made. The changes you’ve made are applied to the selected object. Turn to the color insert to see a demonstration of the Levels filter. Evaluating Curves The Curves filter essentially serves the same purpose as the Levels filter, but it presents the information to you in a different way. Whereas the Levels filter enables you to adjust the individual levels of light, mid, and dark tones in an image, the Curves filter focuses on the levels of individual colors. You can adjust the level of red, for example, without affecting the balance of light to dark in an image. The Curves dialog box contains a grid. The horizontal axis is the original brightness values, which are also shown in the Input box. The vertical axis displays the new brightness values, which are also shown in the Output box. The values that are represented are 0 to 255, with 0 being complete shadow. The line plotted on the grid always starts out as a perfect diagonal, indicating that no changes have been made (the Input and Output values are the same). As mentioned previously, the Curves dialog box also contains a trio of eyedropper tools similar to the Levels dialog box. The Curves dialog box also contains an Auto button, which yields the same result here as it does in the Levels box: The darkest pixels in your image are mapped to black and the lightest to white, as if you had used the Auto Levels filter. To use the Curves filter, follow these steps: 1. Select the object that you want to modify. 2. Click the Add Effects button (plus sign), in the Effects section of the Property inspector, and choose Adjust Color ➪ Curves from the Add Effects menu. Fireworks displays the Curves dialog box, as shown in Figure 12-9. 3. Check the Preview checkbox to view your changes as you make them in the document window. Cross- Reference Note 163662-1 ch12.F 8/2/02 2:28 PM Page 370 371 Chapter 12 ✦ Creating Live Effects and Filters Figure 12-9: The Curves dialog box enables you to graphically alter a color curve. 4. Select which channels you would like to modify from the Channels option list: just Red, just Green, just Blue, or RGB to modify all three. 5. Click a point on the grid’s diagonal line, and drag it to a new position to adjust the curve. Changing the curve changes the Input and Output values. 6. To delete a point from the curve, select it and drag it out of the grid. You can’t delete the curve’s endpoints. 7. If desired, use the Highlight, Midtone, or Shadow eyedropper to sample a color to be used as a target level for highlights, midtones, or shadows, respectively, from your image. 8. Click OK when you’re satisfied with the changes you’ve made. Fireworks applies the changes you’ve made to the selected object. See the color insert to compare the effects of the Curves filter. Looking into Hue/Saturation The Hue/Saturation filter is similar to specifying colors using the HSL (Hue, Saturation, and Lightness) color model. If you’re familiar with the concept of a color wheel, adjusting the hue is the same as moving around the color wheel, selecting a new color. Adjusting the saturation is like moving across the radius of the color wheel, selecting a more or less pure version of the same color. Cross- Reference Caution Original brightness axisNew brightness axis 163662-1 ch12.F 8/2/02 2:28 PM Page 371 372 Part III ✦ Achieving Effects Find examples of color wheels in your operating system’s color picker(s), accessed by clicking the Palette button on the Fireworks pop-up color picker. Mac users can choose to view different color methods, including an HLS picker. To adjust the hue or saturation of an image with the Hue/Saturation filter, follow these steps: 1. Select the object that you want to modify. 2. Click the Add Effects button, in the Effects section of the Property inspector, and choose Adjust Color ➪ Hue/Saturation from the Add Effects menu. Fireworks displays the Hue/Saturation dialog box, as shown in Figure 12-10. Figure 12-10: The Hue/Saturation dialog box offers Hue, Saturation, and Lightness sliders. 3. Check the Preview checkbox to view your changes in the document window as you make them. 4. Choose Colorize to add color to a grayscale image, or change an RGB image into a two-tone image. If you choose Colorize, the range of the Hue slider changes from –180 through 180, to 0 through 360; the range of the Saturation slider changes from –100 through 100, to 0 through 100. 5. Adjust the purity of the colors with the Saturation slider. 6. Adjust the color of the image with the Hue slider. 7. Adjust the lightness of the colors with the Lightness slider. 8. When you’re satisfied with the changes you’ve made, click OK. The changes you’ve made are applied to the selected object. See the Hue/Saturation filter in action in the color insert. Cross- Reference Note Tip 163662-1 ch12.F 8/2/02 2:28 PM Page 372 373 Chapter 12 ✦ Creating Live Effects and Filters Using three dimensions with Bevel and Emboss The Bevel and Emboss effects are Fireworks’ key to 3D. Both types of effects simulate light coming from a specific direction, illuminating an object that seems to be raised out of, or sunken into, the background. Identifying Bevel effects The Bevel effects are similar in terms of user interface, available attributes, and preset options. In fact, they only differ in the following two key areas: ✦ As the names imply, the Inner Bevel creates its edges inside the selected object, whereas the Outer Bevel makes its edges around the outside of the selected object. ✦ The Outer Bevel effect has one attribute that the Inner Bevel does not: color. The Inner Bevel uses the object’s color to convert the inside of the graphic to a bevel, whereas the Outer Bevel applies the chosen color to the new outside edge. When you select either Inner Bevel or Outer Bevel from the Add Effects menu in the Effects section of the Property inspector, Fireworks displays their pop-up windows so that you can adjust their parameters, as shown in Figure 12-11. Figure 12-11: The Outer Bevel’s pop-up dialog box is the same as the one for Inner Bevel, except for the addition of a color well. Table 12-2 explains how to control aspects of bevel effects. Contrast Softness Angle Width Button Preset Outer Bevel Inner Bevel Color well 163662-1 ch12.F 8/2/02 2:28 PM Page 373 374 Part III ✦ Achieving Effects Table 12-2 Bevel Effects Bevel effect Description Effect name Seven different types of bevel effects are accessible through the Effect name option list. Each type of effect alters the number, shape, or degree of the bevel. Width Sets the thickness of the beveled side. The Width slider has a range from 0 to 10 pixels, although you can enter a higher number directly in the text box. Contrast Determines the difference in relative brightness of the lit and shadowed sides, where 100 percent provides the greatest contrast and 0 percent provides no contrast. Softness Sets the sharpness of the edges used to create the bevel, where 0 is the sharpest and 10 is the softest. Values above 10 have no effect. Angle Provides the angle for the simulated light on the beveled surface. Drag the knob control to a new angle or enter it directly in the text box. Button Preset Offers four preset configurations, primarily used for creating rollover buttons. Color Available for Outer Bevel, this standard color well is used to determine the color of the surrounding border. Although you can apply the bevel effects to any object, if the object’s edge is feathered too much, you won’t be able to see the effect. To combine a feathered edge with a bevel, set the Amount of Feather to less than the width of the bevel. Each of the bevel effects has the same types of edges. Compare the Inner Bevel and Outer Bevel effects in Figure 12-12, and you see the similarities among the seven types for both effects. Found under the Effect name option list, these types vary primarily in the shape of the bevel itself. Looking at each of the bevel shapes from the side makes differentiating between the possible shapes easier. Mastering Bevel effects Button presets Bevel effects are terrific for creating buttons for all purposes: navigation, forms, links, and so on. One of the most common applications of such buttons involves rollovers. Rollover is the commonly used name (another is mouseover) for the effect when a user moves the pointer over a button and it changes in some way. Both bevel effects provide four presets under the Button preset option list — Raised, Highlight, Inset, and Inverted — that you can employ for rollovers. Caution 163662-1 ch12.F 8/2/02 2:28 PM Page 374 375 Chapter 12 ✦ Creating Live Effects and Filters Figure 12-12: Inner Bevel effects are all contained within the original vector of the object, whereas Outer Bevel effects create edges outside the original vector. The side views, shown in the middle row, make telling the types of effects apart easier. Unlike Stroke or Fill presets on the Property inspector, the bevel Button presets do not actually change the dialog box’s attributes, but rather internally change the lighting angle and lighten the object (see Figure 12-13). The Raised and Highlight presets use the same lighting angle, derived from the Angle value, but Highlight is about 25 percent lighter. The Inset and Inverted presets, on the other hand, reverse the angle of the lighting — and, of this pair, Inverted is the lighter one. To take the fullest advantage of the bevel effect Button presets in creating rollovers, set your lighting angle first with the Angle knob in the Effect’s pop-up window. Then duplicate the object and apply the different Button presets to each copy. Outlining embossing If you’ve ever seen a company’s Articles of Incorporation or other official papers, you’ve probably encountered embossing. An embossing seal is used to press the company name right into the paper — so that it can be both read and felt. Fireworks’ emboss effects provide a similar service, with a great deal more flexibility, of course. Both emboss effects replace an object’s fill with the canvas color or the color of background objects, and then add highlights and shadows. Inset Emboss and Raised Emboss each reverse the placement of these highlights and effects in order to make the embossed object appear to be pushed into or out of the background, respectively, as shown in Figure 12-14. Tip Flat Frame 1 Frame 2 Ring Ruffle Sloped Smooth 163662-1 ch12.F 8/2/02 2:28 PM Page 375 376 Part III ✦ Achieving Effects Figure 12-13: Both the bevel effects offer four Button presets: Raised, Highlight, Inset, and Inverted. Figure 12-14: The two emboss effects make an object appear to be part of the background — either pushed into or out of it. The Emboss effects are applied as any other Live Effect, with the options presented in a pop-up window, shown in Figure 12-15. Raised Inset Highlight Inverted 163662-1 ch12.F 8/2/02 2:28 PM Page 376 377 Chapter 12 ✦ Creating Live Effects and Filters Figure 12-15: Adjust the parameters of either the Inset Emboss or Raised Emboss effects through their identical pop-up dialog boxes. Following are the adjustable emboss parameters: ✦ Width: Determines the thickness of the embossed edges. As with other effects, the slider’s range is from 0 to 30, but you can enter higher values directly into the associated text box. ✦ Contrast: Contrast controls the relative lightness of the highlights to the dark- ness of the shadows. ✦ Softness: Sets the sharpness of the embossed edges, higher numbers make the edges fuzzier. ✦ Angle: Establishes the direction of the embossed edges. ✦ Show Object: Shows or hides the embossed object. The emboss itself is always visible. Adding depth with blurring Sometimes, what should be the focal point of your image can get lost among other elements of the composition. This is especially true when you’re compositing multiple objects, or really laying the filters on thick. Adding a little blur to the background area of an image can cause the foreground to stand out, immediately drawing the viewer’s eye to it. To add depth to the background area of an image, follow these steps: 1. Use one of the marquee selection tools to create a pixel selection around the part of your bitmap object that you want to remain in the foreground. You might create a circle to focus attention within that circle, or use the Magic Wand to create a complex selection, such as around a person’s head or face. 2. Choose Select ➪ Select Inverse to invert your selection and select the background of your image. 3. Choose Filters ➪ Blur ➪ Gaussian Blur. Fireworks displays the Gaussian Blur dialog box. Some Live Effects and Filters have an ellipsis after their menu command, which indicates that choosing that command opens a dialog box in which you can specify settings. Filters without the ellipsis either don’t have any parameters for you to change, or display their parameters in a pop-up dialog box. Note Contrast Angle Softness Width 163662-1 ch12.F 8/2/02 2:28 PM Page 377 378 Part III ✦ Achieving Effects 4. Adjust the Blur Radius slider to specify the intensity of the effect. The more blur you add, the more depth you add to your image. Generally, a blur radius of between 1 and 2 creates a depth effect without destroying the edges of the elements in the image. Click OK when you’re done. You may want to feather the edge of your selection before applying your blur by choosing Select ➪ Feather, or by clicking the Edge option list on the Property inspector. This gives a smoother transition between the pixels that are blurred and those that aren’t. The area that was within your original pixel selection now seems to stand out and draws the eye at first glance (see Figure 12-16), because it is clear and sharp and appears to be closer to your eyes. In addition, the blurred background creates an overall feeling of depth because background elements seem to be a little further away. Figure 12-16: Blurring the background seems to give an image extra depth and makes the foreground stand out. Notice how your eye is immediately drawn to the subject’s face. The Blur and Blur More effects work similarly to the Gaussian Blur effect, except that they don’t have parameters. Blur provides a slight blurring effect, and Blur More — well, you get the idea. Learning holdover effects The two effects on the Other submenu of the Add Effects menu, in the Effects section of the Property inspector, are holdovers all the way from Fireworks 1. Original image Foreground excluded from selection Blur applied to selection Tip 163662-1 ch12.F 8/2/02 2:28 PM Page 378 [...]... Plug-Ins folder, specify Fireworks Plug-Ins folder, which is inside your Fireworks program folder If the package did not come with an installer, you have to copy the filters to your Plug-Ins folder yourself Tip The Fireworks program folder is typically found at C:\Program Files\ Macromedia\ Fireworks MX on Windows-based computers, and at Macintosh HD:Applications :Macromedia Fireworks MX: on the Mac After... guaranteed to work with Fireworks, though Whenever possible, ask the software publisher about Fireworks compatibility before purchasing filters Installing third-party filter packages Most filter packages come with installers that are similar to the installers provided with full applications, such as Fireworks Before you install a package, close Fireworks You have to restart Fireworks before you use... Preferences Fireworks displays the Preferences dialog box 2 Choose the Folders tab (Folders option list on Macintosh), as shown in Figure 12-24 3 Check the Photoshop Plug-Ins checkbox 4 Click the Browse button to the right of the Photoshop Plug-Ins checkbox Fireworks displays the Browse for Folder dialog box 5 Select the folder that contains the filters you want to use Click OK when you’re done 6 Restart Fireworks. .. shared by the entire set of filters Figure 12-29 shows FraxPlorer from Kai’s Power Tools 5 CrossReference The color insert shows what you can do with FraxPlorer Table 12-4 details KPT 5 filters Tip The KPT 5 package also includes Kai’s Power Tools 3, with 19 completely separate and useful plug-ins, making the KPT 5 package an excellent value 163662-1 ch12.F 8/2/02 2:28 PM Page 401 Chapter 12 ✦ Creating... effects is a tremendous time-saver and an enjoyable creative exercise, as well You can apply even complex effects with one action The effects shown in Figure 12-22 combine Fireworks default effects with some that are borrowed from Photoshop 5. 5 Figure 12-22: A range of effects such as these can be created and stored under sometimes goofy names for instant recall To store a customized effect, follow these... start Fireworks You should see a new option under the Filters menu, and — if Fireworks can use the filters as Live Effects — on the Add Effects menu in the Effects section of the Property inspector This is a whole new submenu, which often has multiple filters available Sometimes, new effects hide themselves on menus you already have If you have a Distort submenu, for example (some of Photoshop 5 s filters... another image-editing application in addition to Fireworks, you may have a whole host of filters on your computer that you can also use in Fireworks Sharing filters among numerous applications can instantly add many features to all of them and can also speed up your workflow because you don’t have to leave an application to apply a particular effect Aside from Fireworks, here are some other applications... included with Fireworks, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg Many third-party, Photoshop-compatible, plug-in filters are available Caution Fireworks supports Photoshop-compatible filters, but some developers target their filters directly at Photoshop itself, creating filters that don’t work in other applications Check the Disabled plugins file in your Configuration subfolder, off of the Fireworks Application... specify more than one additional folder (see Figure 12- 25) To create a shortcut to a folder of filters on Windows, select the folder, right-click it, and then drag it into your Fireworks Filters folder When you drop it, choose Make Shortcut from the contextual menu that appears On the Mac, hold down Command+Option while you drag the folder into your Fireworks Filters folder, and an alias to the plug-ins... can purchase and install as filters in Fireworks Fireworks even includes three of the Eye Candy filters as Eye Candy 4000 LE Even if you don’t (yet) have the full Eye Candy 4000 package, this section introduces you to the kinds of things that are possible with filters in general, and may also help you evaluate other, similar packages for their quality and creative potential Tip Alien Skin has optimized . Input Levels boxes. Highlights and shadows are specified from 0 to 255 , whereas midtones are specified with 1.0 being neutral, or 50 percent gray. Tip Highlight Input Level boxShadow Input Level. Photoshop-compatible plug-ins for Fireworks to use. This is the same as modifying the Photoshop Plug-Ins option in the Folders area of Fireworks preferences. Fireworks must be restarted for changes. effects with one action. The effects shown in Figure 12-22 combine Fireworks default effects with some that are borrowed from Photoshop 5. 5. Figure 12-22: A range of effects such as these can be created