Five steps for a better-looking TV

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><h1 style="color: #39434d; font-family: HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold,'Helvetica Neue Bold','Arial Narrow',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 25px; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #768696; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.421875px;">New TVs ship with settings to make them look good in the store, not in your living room. Here are some some easy ways get your picture looking the way you want it.</span><br /> </h1><div style="color: #252525; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 19.421875px; margin-bottom: 1em; word-break: break-word;">TV factory settings are generally designed to look good in bright, fluorescent retail stores -- not your living room. To get the best TV picture, you'll need to make some adjustments.</div><script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><!-- INITIAL ADD --><ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:120px;height:90px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-5122984711807769" data-ad-slot="3991233535"></ins><script>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><div style="color: #252525; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 19.421875px; margin-bottom: 1em; word-break: break-word;">This guide begins with some of the simpler (but impactful) settings -- like disabling unnecessary features and adjusting basic options -- before diving into some of the more in-depth calibration techniques. Give it a whirl; if you make it through the fifth step, you're sure to have a better-looking TV.</div><div style="background-image: none; color: #252525; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 19.421875px; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; min-height: auto; width: 300px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0.5em;"><img src="http://i.i.cbsi.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim2/2014/01/31/ht_BetterTVPicture_300x214.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%;" /></div></div><div style="color: #252525; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 19.421875px; margin-bottom: 1em; word-break: break-word;"></div><div style="color: #252525; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 19.421875px; margin-bottom: 1em; word-break: break-word;"></div><div style="color: #252525; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 19.421875px; margin-bottom: 1em; word-break: break-word;"><b>1. Disable any extras, like the "Soap Opera Effect"</b><br />TVs purchased any time over the last few years are likely stocked with seemingly arbitrary features, like "Motion enhancement,""Noise filtering," and "Motion Eye Care."</div><div style="color: #252525; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 19.421875px; margin-bottom: 1em; word-break: break-word;">"Motion enhancement," (also known as "Auto Motion Plus" on Samsung TVs) is a feature that attracts polarized opinions. When enabled, the setting makes anything playing look like a soap opera, as it attempts to reduce motion blurring and introduce a more real-life quality.</div><div style="color: #252525; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 19.421875px; margin-bottom: 1em; word-break: break-word;">Noise filtering, along with Motion Eye Care, and even MPEG Filtering, should, for the most part, be disabled. Disabling these settings, along with the Soap Opera Effect, will improve the quality.</div><div style="color: #252525; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 19.421875px; margin-bottom: 1em; word-break: break-word;"><b style="font-size: 15px;">2. Check the aspect ratio</b></div><div style="color: #252525; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 19.421875px; margin-bottom: 1em; word-break: break-word;">Maybe you wanted to get rid of the black bars. Or, maybe you were watching a older 4:3 format show. Whatever the case, your TV's <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/4:3-standard-tv-aspect-ratio/" style="color: #2964bf;" target="_blank">aspect ratio</a> might not currently match the input source (like a cable box or DVD player), and may be cutting off parts of the picture.</div><div style="color: #252525; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 19.421875px; margin-bottom: 1em; word-break: break-word;">As you switch between sources, be sure to check the aspect ratio, a setting that can be found in the general settings menu or through a dedicated button on your remote (usually "P. Size" or "Aspect").</div><div style="color: #252525; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 19.421875px; margin-bottom: 1em; word-break: break-word;"></div><div style="color: #252525; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 19.421875px; margin-bottom: 1em; word-break: break-word;"><b>3. Adjust the basic (most impactful) settings</b><br />Sometimes, changing a few basic settings can make a big impact on your TV's settings.</div><div style="color: #252525; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 19.421875px; margin-bottom: 1em; word-break: break-word;">Like aspect ratio, make a habit of accessing your <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57614610-221/whats-the-best-picture-mode/" style="color: #2964bf;" target="_blank">TV's picture modes</a> as you switch between programming. For instance, many TVs have a "Movie" mode, while some even have "Gaming" and "Sports." These presets are designed to optimize the picture settings for the content you're watching -- and they're usually accurate.</div><div style="color: #252525; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 19.421875px; margin-bottom: 1em; word-break: break-word;">These presets can also act as foundations for fine-tuning. For example, you could choose "Dynamic," then dive into the picture settings and make adjustments for brightness, backlight, contrast, and color temperature.</div><div style="background-image: none; color: #252525; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 19.421875px; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; min-height: auto; width: 300px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0.5em;"><img src="http://i.i.cbsi.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2013/02/14/ht_SetUpTVbyEye_300x214.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%;" /></div></div><div style="color: #252525; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 19.421875px; margin-bottom: 1em; word-break: break-word;"></div><div style="color: #252525; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 19.421875px; margin-bottom: 1em; word-break: break-word;"><b>4. Get a settings cheat sheet from the pros</b><br />If freestyling menu options sounds like a daunting task, CNET might have a cheat sheet for you.</div><div style="color: #252525; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 19.421875px; margin-bottom: 1em; word-break: break-word;">Whenever CNET's TV expert, David Katzmaier, reviews a new TV, he also<a href="http://forums.cnet.com/hdtv-picture-settings-forum/" style="color: #2964bf;" target="_blank"> posts recommended picture settings </a>based on his testing. His cheat sheets include all the basics, but also dive into some of the more advanced settings, like white balance, along with those extra features (like the Soap Opera Effect).</div><div style="color: #252525; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 19.421875px; margin-bottom: 1em; word-break: break-word;">If you can't find David's settings for your TV specifically, give <a href="http://www.tweaktv.com/" style="color: #2964bf;" target="_blank">TweakTV</a> a try. It's another trusted resource with an expansive library of recommended settings.</div><div style="color: #252525; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 19.421875px; margin-bottom: 1em; word-break: break-word;"><b>5. Pick up a calibration disc</b><br />While you can achieve great results by calibrating your TV by eye, more accurate adjustments can be made with a calibration disc.</div></div>

Five steps for a better-looking TV

New TVs ship with settings to make them look good in the store, not in your living room. Here are some some easy ways get your picture looki...

Read more »

Five steps for a better-looking TV

<h1 style="font-size:25px;margin:0px;line-height:1em;font-family:HelveticaNeue-CondensedBold,'Helvetica Neue Bold','Arial Narrow',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(57,67,77)"><span style="color:rgb(118,134,150);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px;font-size:15px">New TVs ship with settings to make them look good in the store, not in your living room. Here are some some easy ways get your picture looking the way you want it.</span><br> </h1><p style="margin-bottom:1em;word-break:break-word;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px">TV factory settings are generally designed to look good in bright, fluorescent retail stores -- not your living room. To get the best TV picture, you'll need to make some adjustments.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:1em;word-break:break-word;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px">This guide begins with some of the simpler (but impactful) settings -- like disabling unnecessary features and adjusting basic options -- before diving into some of the more in-depth calibration techniques. Give it a whirl; if you make it through the fifth step, you're sure to have a better-looking TV.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:1em;word-break:break-word;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px"></p><div style="max-width:100%;margin:0px auto;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px;width:300px;min-height:auto;background-image:none"> <div style="margin-bottom:0.5em"><div style="background-image:url();margin-top:0.2em;width:290.125px;min-height:206.953125px;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat"> </div><img src="http://i.i.cbsi.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim2/2014/01/31/ht_BetterTVPicture_300x214.jpg" style="max-width:100%;margin:0px auto;display:block"></div> </div><p style="margin-bottom:1em;word-break:break-word;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px"></p><p style="margin-bottom:1em;word-break:break-word;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px"> </p><p style="margin-bottom:1em;word-break:break-word;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px"><b>1. Disable any extras, like the "Soap Opera Effect"</b><br> TVs purchased any time over the last few years are likely stocked with seemingly arbitrary features, like "Motion enhancement,""Noise filtering," and "Motion Eye Care."</p><p style="margin-bottom:1em;word-break:break-word;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px"> "Motion enhancement," (also known as "Auto Motion Plus" on Samsung TVs) is a feature that attracts polarized opinions. When enabled, the setting makes anything playing look like a soap opera, as it attempts to reduce motion blurring and introduce a more real-life quality.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:1em;word-break:break-word;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px">Noise filtering, along with Motion Eye Care, and even MPEG Filtering, should, for the most part, be disabled. Disabling these settings, along with the Soap Opera Effect, will improve the quality.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:1em;word-break:break-word;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px"><b style="font-size:15px">2. Check the aspect ratio</b></p><p style="margin-bottom:1em;word-break:break-word;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px"> Maybe you wanted to get rid of the black bars. Or, maybe you were watching a older 4:3 format show. Whatever the case, your TV's <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/4:3-standard-tv-aspect-ratio/" style="color:rgb(41,100,191)" target="_blank">aspect ratio</a> might not currently match the input source (like a cable box or DVD player), and may be cutting off parts of the picture.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:1em;word-break:break-word;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px">As you switch between sources, be sure to check the aspect ratio, a setting that can be found in the general settings menu or through a dedicated button on your remote (usually "P. Size" or "Aspect").</p> <p style="margin-bottom:1em;word-break:break-word;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px"></p><p style="margin-bottom:1em;word-break:break-word;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px"> <b>3. Adjust the basic (most impactful) settings</b><br>Sometimes, changing a few basic settings can make a big impact on your TV's settings.</p><p style="margin-bottom:1em;word-break:break-word;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px"> Like aspect ratio, make a habit of accessing your <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57614610-221/whats-the-best-picture-mode/" style="color:rgb(41,100,191)" target="_blank">TV's picture modes</a> as you switch between programming. For instance, many TVs have a "Movie" mode, while some even have "Gaming" and "Sports." These presets are designed to optimize the picture settings for the content you're watching -- and they're usually accurate.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:1em;word-break:break-word;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px">These presets can also act as foundations for fine-tuning. For example, you could choose "Dynamic," then dive into the picture settings and make adjustments for brightness, backlight, contrast, and color temperature.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:1em;word-break:break-word;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px"></p><div style="max-width:100%;margin:0px auto;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px;width:300px;min-height:auto;background-image:none"> <div style="margin-bottom:0.5em"><div style="background-image:url();margin-top:0.2em;width:290.125px;min-height:206.953125px;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat"> </div><img src="http://i.i.cbsi.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2013/02/14/ht_SetUpTVbyEye_300x214.jpg" style="max-width:100%;margin:0px auto;display:block"></div> </div><p style="margin-bottom:1em;word-break:break-word;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px"></p><p style="margin-bottom:1em;word-break:break-word;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px"> <b>4. Get a settings cheat sheet from the pros</b><br>If freestyling menu options sounds like a daunting task, CNET might have a cheat sheet for you.</p><p style="margin-bottom:1em;word-break:break-word;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px"> Whenever CNET's TV expert, David Katzmaier, reviews a new TV, he also<a href="http://forums.cnet.com/hdtv-picture-settings-forum/" style="color:rgb(41,100,191)" target="_blank"> posts recommended picture settings </a>based on his testing. His cheat sheets include all the basics, but also dive into some of the more advanced settings, like white balance, along with those extra features (like the Soap Opera Effect).</p> <p style="margin-bottom:1em;word-break:break-word;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px">If you can't find David's settings for your TV specifically, give <a href="http://www.tweaktv.com/" style="color:rgb(41,100,191)" target="_blank">TweakTV</a> a try. It's another trusted resource with an expansive library of recommended settings.</p> <p style="margin-bottom:1em;word-break:break-word;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:19.421875px"><b>5. Pick up a calibration disc</b><br>While you can achieve great results by calibrating your TV by eye, more accurate adjustments can be made with a calibration disc.</p>

Five steps for a better-looking TV

New TVs ship with settings to make them look good in the store, not in your living room. Here are some some easy ways get your picture looki...

Read more »

Adobe Creative Suite: Using Palettes in the Workspace

<p dir=ltr>Palettes are an integral part of working with most of the programs in the Adobe Creative Suite because they contain many of the controls and tools that you use when you're creating or editing a document. The basic functionality of palettes is quite similar across the programs in the Adobe Creative Suite, and the purpose of all palettes is the same. Palettes offer you a lot of flexibility in how you organize the workspace and what parts of it you use. What you use each program for and the level of expertise you have might affect what palettes you have open at a given moment.</p><script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><!-- INITIAL ADD --><ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:120px;height:90px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-5122984711807769" data-ad-slot="3991233535"></ins><script>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><p dir=ltr>Palettes are small windows in a program that contain controls such as sliders, menus, buttons, and text fields that you can use to change the settings or attributes of a selection or of the entire document. Palettes might also include information about a section or about the document itself. You can use this information or change the settings in a palette to modify the selected object or the document you're working on.</p><p dir=ltr>Whether you're working on a Windows machine or on a Mac, palettes are very similar in the way they look and work. Here are the basics of working with palettes:</p><p dir=ltr>Opening: Open a palette in one of the Creative Suite programs by using the Window menu; choose Window and then select the name of a palette. For example, to open the Swatches palette (which is similar in many programs in the suite), you would choose Window --> Swatches.</p><p dir=ltr>Accessing the palette menu:Palettes have a flyout menu called the palette menu. The palette menu opens when you click the arrow in the upper-right corner of the palette. The palette menu contains a bunch of options that you can select that relate to the tab that is currently selected when you click the palette menu. When you select one of the options in the menu, it might execute an action or open a dialog box. Sometimes there are very few options in a palette menu, but particular palettes may have a whole bunch of related functionality and therefore many options in the palette menu.</p><p dir=ltr>Closing: If you need to open or close a palette's tab or palette altogether, just choose Window --> Name of Palette's Tab. You can close a palette the same way: All you need to do is select an open palette in the Window menu, and it will close. Sometimes a palette contains a close button (an X button in Windows or the red button on a Mac), which you can click to close the palette.</p><p dir=ltr>Minimizing/maximizing: All you need to do to minimize a selected palette is to click the minimize button in the title bar of the palette (if it's available). You can also double-click the tab itself (of an active tab) in the palette. This will either partially or fully minimize the palette. If it only partially minimizes, double-clicking the tab again will fully minimize the palette. Double-clicking the active tab when it's minimized will maximize the palette again.</p><p dir=ltr>You might also see what's called thecycle widget when a palette can be partially minimized and maximized. This is a small double-sided arrow that appears to the left of the palette's name on the tab. If you click this arrow, it progressively expands or collapses the palette.</p><p dir=ltr>Palettes that partially minimize give you the opportunity to work with palettes that have differing amounts of information. This simplifies the workspace while maximizing your screen real estate.</p><p dir=ltr>Most palettes contain tabs, which help organize information and controls in a program into groupings. Palette tabs contain a particular kind of information about a part of the program; a single palette may contain several tabs. The name on the tab usually gives you a hint about the type of function it controls or displays information about, and it is located at the top of the palette (or to the left of the palette when you're using side tabs).</p><p dir=ltr>To minimize a side tab (which we discuss further in the following section), you need to click in the gray area that surrounds the tab(s) in a palette. This collapses the side tab into the side of the workspace. To maximize a minimized side tab, click one of the tabs in the palette.</p><p dir=ltr>You can also minimize a side tab by clicking the active tab in a palette. If you click an inactive tab, the palette only switches to that tab in the palette so that you can work with it.</p>

Adobe Creative Suite: Using Palettes in the Workspace

Palettes are an integral part of working with most of the programs in the Adobe Creative Suite because they contain many of the controls and...

Read more »

Adobe Creative Suite: Using Palettes in the Workspace

Palettes are an integral part of working with most of the programs in the Adobe Creative Suite because they contain many of the controls and tools that you use when you're creating or editing a document. The basic functionality of palettes is quite similar across the programs in the Adobe Creative Suite, and the purpose of all palettes is the same. Palettes offer you a lot of flexibility in how you organize the workspace and what parts of it you use. What you use each program for and the level of expertise you have might affect what palettes you have open at a given moment.<br> <br>Palettes are small windows in a program that contain controls such as sliders, menus, buttons, and text fields that you can use to change the settings or attributes of a selection or of the entire document. Palettes might also include information about a section or about the document itself. You can use this information or change the settings in a palette to modify the selected object or the document you're working on.<br> <br>Whether you're working on a Windows machine or on a Mac, palettes are very similar in the way they look and work. Here are the basics of working with palettes:<br><br>Opening: Open a palette in one of the Creative Suite programs by using the Window menu; choose Window and then select the name of a palette. For example, to open the Swatches palette (which is similar in many programs in the suite), you would choose Window --> Swatches.<br> <br>Accessing the palette menu:Palettes have a flyout menu called the palette menu. The palette menu opens when you click the arrow in the upper-right corner of the palette. The palette menu contains a bunch of options that you can select that relate to the tab that is currently selected when you click the palette menu. When you select one of the options in the menu, it might execute an action or open a dialog box. Sometimes there are very few options in a palette menu, but particular palettes may have a whole bunch of related functionality and therefore many options in the palette menu.<br> <br>Closing: If you need to open or close a palette's tab or palette altogether, just choose Window --> Name of Palette's Tab. You can close a palette the same way: All you need to do is select an open palette in the Window menu, and it will close. Sometimes a palette contains a close button (an X button in Windows or the red button on a Mac), which you can click to close the palette.<br> <br>Minimizing/maximizing: All you need to do to minimize a selected palette is to click the minimize button in the title bar of the palette (if it's available). You can also double-click the tab itself (of an active tab) in the palette. This will either partially or fully minimize the palette. If it only partially minimizes, double-clicking the tab again will fully minimize the palette. Double-clicking the active tab when it's minimized will maximize the palette again.<br> <br>You might also see what's called thecycle widget when a palette can be partially minimized and maximized. This is a small double-sided arrow that appears to the left of the palette's name on the tab. If you click this arrow, it progressively expands or collapses the palette.<br> <br>Palettes that partially minimize give you the opportunity to work with palettes that have differing amounts of information. This simplifies the workspace while maximizing your screen real estate.<br><br>Most palettes contain tabs, which help organize information and controls in a program into groupings. Palette tabs contain a particular kind of information about a part of the program; a single palette may contain several tabs. The name on the tab usually gives you a hint about the type of function it controls or displays information about, and it is located at the top of the palette (or to the left of the palette when you're using side tabs).<br> <br>To minimize a side tab (which we discuss further in the following section), you need to click in the gray area that surrounds the tab(s) in a palette. This collapses the side tab into the side of the workspace. To maximize a minimized side tab, click one of the tabs in the palette.<br> <br>You can also minimize a side tab by clicking the active tab in a palette. If you click an inactive tab, the palette only switches to that tab in the palette so that you can work with it.

Adobe Creative Suite: Using Palettes in the Workspace

Palettes are an integral part of working with most of the programs in the Adobe Creative Suite because they contain many of the controls and...

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Waving the Magic Wand Tool

Sometimes you want to select an area so uniform in appearance that you want to simply tell Paint Shop Pro, "Go select that red balloon" or whatever it is. To you, with your human perception, the area is an obvious thing of some sort. In software, anything that even slightly mimics human perception is often called magic. The Magic Wand selection tool is no exception. It can identify and select areas of uniform color or brightness, somewhat as your eye does.<br> <br>One benefit of this tool is that you can select areas with complex edges that would be a pain in the wrist to trace with the Freehand tool. For instance, a selection of blue sky that includes a complex skyline of buildings and trees would be relatively easy with the Magic Wand tool.<br> <br>The Magic Wand tool doesn't, however, work as well as your eye. In particular, if the color or brightness of the area you're trying to select isn't uniform or doesn't contrast strongly with the surroundings, the selection is likely to be spotty or incomplete or have rough edges.<br> <br>Making the selection<br><br>To make a selection, select the Magic Wand from the Selection toolset. Your cursor takes on the Magic Wand icon. Click the Magic Wand cursor on your image, and it selects all adjacent pixels that match (or nearly match) the pixel you clicked. (Note that the selection does not include isolated pixels — pixels that, even though they match, are separated from the place you clicked by nonmatching pixels.)<br> <br>To get the selection you want when you use the Magic Wand tool, consult the Tool Options palette. It lets you define (by using the Match mode list) exactly what you mean by match and lets you adjust (by adjusting the Tolerance setting) how closely the selected pixels should match the one you clicked.<br> <br>If your image uses layers, be sure that the active layer is the one containing the area you want to select. Enable the Sample Merged check box on the Tool Options palette so that the Magic Wand tool examines all layers combined. Otherwise, the Magic Wand tool selects a totally wrong area, and you wonder what's happening!<br> <br>Choosing Match mode for better results<br><br>Click the Match Mode list box and you can choose exactly how you want Paint Shop Pro to select the pixels around the place you clicked.<br><br>Some of the choices are shown in this list:<br> <br>RGB Value: When you choose this option, you tell Paint Shop Pro to "select pixels that match in both color and brightness." Clicking a red apple using this choice may select only the highlighted side where you clicked, for instance. Technically, it selects all adjacent pixels with red (R), green (G), and blue (B) primary color values that match the one you clicked.<br> <br>Hue: You're telling Paint Shop Pro to "select pixels that match in color" when you choose Hue. Hue, however, is somewhat more independent of brightness than the RGB value. Clicking on a red apple with this choice is more likely to select the entire apple than if you chose RGB Value. Technically, it selects all adjacent pixels with hues (in the Hue/Saturation/Lightness color system, or color wheel) that match the hue of the pixel you clicked.<br> <br>Brightness: Brightness disregards color and selects all adjacent pixels whose brightness matches the one you clicked. This choice is useful for selecting things that are similarly illuminated, like shadows and highlights, or that are in a notably light or dark color compared with the background.<br> <br>Opacity: Opacity, if you're not paying attention, is a measure of how transparent your image is. Opacity mode selects anything that's suitably close to the transparency of the selected pixel.<br><br>Opacity is useful only when you're working on layers or images with transparent backgrounds. Even though you can technically paint a low- opacity streak over a white background using the Brush tool, the Magic Wand sees that even though the paint is ghostly and transparent, the background is 100 percent opaque. It then counts the background as part of the selection and goes on to select the entire image.<br> <br>All Opaque: This option is a special choice for when you're working on an image that has transparent areas — areas of no content whatever — usually displayed with a checkered background. It tells Paint Shop Pro to select the area that has content around the pixel where you clicked. For instance, you may have photos of various air freshener products on a transparent layer, artistically floating over a cow pasture in the background. With this choice, you can just click one of the products to select it in its entirety.<br> <br>Experiment to get the mode that works best for you! Press Ctrl+D to deselect each failed experiment, change match modes, and click again with the Magic Wand tool.<br><br>Setting tolerance to include more or fewer pixels<br> <br>The Tolerance setting on the Tool Options palette helps you determine how much of an area is selected by the Magic Wand tool. You may have to undo your selection with Ctrl+D, adjust the tolerance, and click again with the Magic Wand tool several times to get the best selection possible.<br> <br>Tolerance tells Paint Shop Pro how closely the pixels it selects should match the pixel you clicked — in RGB value, hue, or brightness, depending on which match mode you chose. (Tolerance doesn't matter for All Pixels match mode. A pixel either has content or it doesn't.) Here's how it works:<br> <br>Lower the tolerance value to make a less extensive selection the next time you click.<br><br>Raise the tolerance value to make a more extensive selection the next time you click.<br><br>In Paint Shop Pro, low tolerance means that the Magic Wand tool tolerates little variation in color or brightness from the pixel you clicked. The tolerance value itself has no particular meaning; it's just a number.<br> <br>The Tolerance value box on the Magic Wand tool's Tool Options palette has a clever adjustment feature you find in similar boxes throughout Paint Shop Pro. As with these types of boxes in any Windows program, you can type a value (from 0 to 200) in its text box or click its up or down arrow to adjust the value. We find that the best way is to click the down arrow, orClever adjustment feature, and hold your mouse button down. A tiny slider appears that you can drag left or right to set the tolerance value lower or higher.<br> <br>Tolerance can be a sensitive and picky adjustment. A small change can sometimes make a big difference in what gets selected. Unless you're trying to select an area well differentiated by color, brightness, or content, you probably have to adjust your selected area afterward.

Waving the Magic Wand Tool

Sometimes you want to select an area so uniform in appearance that you want to simply tell Paint Shop Pro, "Go select that red balloon...

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Waving the Magic Wand Tool

Sometimes you want to select an area so uniform in appearance that you want to simply tell Paint Shop Pro, "Go select that red balloon" or whatever it is. To you, with your human perception, the area is an obvious thing of some sort. In software, anything that even slightly mimics human perception is often called magic. The Magic Wand selection tool is no exception. It can identify and select areas of uniform color or brightness, somewhat as your eye does.<br> <br>One benefit of this tool is that you can select areas with complex edges that would be a pain in the wrist to trace with the Freehand tool. For instance, a selection of blue sky that includes a complex skyline of buildings and trees would be relatively easy with the Magic Wand tool.<br> <br>The Magic Wand tool doesn't, however, work as well as your eye. In particular, if the color or brightness of the area you're trying to select isn't uniform or doesn't contrast strongly with the surroundings, the selection is likely to be spotty or incomplete or have rough edges.<br> <br>Making the selection<br><br>To make a selection, select the Magic Wand from the Selection toolset. Your cursor takes on the Magic Wand icon. Click the Magic Wand cursor on your image, and it selects all adjacent pixels that match (or nearly match) the pixel you clicked. (Note that the selection does not include isolated pixels — pixels that, even though they match, are separated from the place you clicked by nonmatching pixels.)<br> <br>To get the selection you want when you use the Magic Wand tool, consult the Tool Options palette. It lets you define (by using the Match mode list) exactly what you mean by match and lets you adjust (by adjusting the Tolerance setting) how closely the selected pixels should match the one you clicked.<br> <br>If your image uses layers, be sure that the active layer is the one containing the area you want to select. Enable the Sample Merged check box on the Tool Options palette so that the Magic Wand tool examines all layers combined. Otherwise, the Magic Wand tool selects a totally wrong area, and you wonder what's happening!<br> <br>Choosing Match mode for better results<br><br>Click the Match Mode list box and you can choose exactly how you want Paint Shop Pro to select the pixels around the place you clicked.<br><br>Some of the choices are shown in this list:<br> <br>RGB Value: When you choose this option, you tell Paint Shop Pro to "select pixels that match in both color and brightness." Clicking a red apple using this choice may select only the highlighted side where you clicked, for instance. Technically, it selects all adjacent pixels with red (R), green (G), and blue (B) primary color values that match the one you clicked.<br> <br>Hue: You're telling Paint Shop Pro to "select pixels that match in color" when you choose Hue. Hue, however, is somewhat more independent of brightness than the RGB value. Clicking on a red apple with this choice is more likely to select the entire apple than if you chose RGB Value. Technically, it selects all adjacent pixels with hues (in the Hue/Saturation/Lightness color system, or color wheel) that match the hue of the pixel you clicked.<br> <br>Brightness: Brightness disregards color and selects all adjacent pixels whose brightness matches the one you clicked. This choice is useful for selecting things that are similarly illuminated, like shadows and highlights, or that are in a notably light or dark color compared with the background.<br> <br>Opacity: Opacity, if you're not paying attention, is a measure of how transparent your image is. Opacity mode selects anything that's suitably close to the transparency of the selected pixel.<br><br>Opacity is useful only when you're working on layers or images with transparent backgrounds. Even though you can technically paint a low- opacity streak over a white background using the Brush tool, the Magic Wand sees that even though the paint is ghostly and transparent, the background is 100 percent opaque. It then counts the background as part of the selection and goes on to select the entire image.<br> <br>All Opaque: This option is a special choice for when you're working on an image that has transparent areas — areas of no content whatever — usually displayed with a checkered background. It tells Paint Shop Pro to select the area that has content around the pixel where you clicked. For instance, you may have photos of various air freshener products on a transparent layer, artistically floating over a cow pasture in the background. With this choice, you can just click one of the products to select it in its entirety.<br> <br>Experiment to get the mode that works best for you! Press Ctrl+D to deselect each failed experiment, change match modes, and click again with the Magic Wand tool.<br><br>Setting tolerance to include more or fewer pixels<br> <br>The Tolerance setting on the Tool Options palette helps you determine how much of an area is selected by the Magic Wand tool. You may have to undo your selection with Ctrl+D, adjust the tolerance, and click again with the Magic Wand tool several times to get the best selection possible.<br> <br>Tolerance tells Paint Shop Pro how closely the pixels it selects should match the pixel you clicked — in RGB value, hue, or brightness, depending on which match mode you chose. (Tolerance doesn't matter for All Pixels match mode. A pixel either has content or it doesn't.) Here's how it works:<br> <br>Lower the tolerance value to make a less extensive selection the next time you click.<br><br>Raise the tolerance value to make a more extensive selection the next time you click.<br><br>In Paint Shop Pro, low tolerance means that the Magic Wand tool tolerates little variation in color or brightness from the pixel you clicked. The tolerance value itself has no particular meaning; it's just a number.<br> <br>The Tolerance value box on the Magic Wand tool's Tool Options palette has a clever adjustment feature you find in similar boxes throughout Paint Shop Pro. As with these types of boxes in any Windows program, you can type a value (from 0 to 200) in its text box or click its up or down arrow to adjust the value. We find that the best way is to click the down arrow, orClever adjustment feature, and hold your mouse button down. A tiny slider appears that you can drag left or right to set the tolerance value lower or higher.<br> <br>Tolerance can be a sensitive and picky adjustment. A small change can sometimes make a big difference in what gets selected. Unless you're trying to select an area well differentiated by color, brightness, or content, you probably have to adjust your selected area afterward.

Waving the Magic Wand Tool

Sometimes you want to select an area so uniform in appearance that you want to simply tell Paint Shop Pro, "Go select that red balloon...

Read more »

Correcting Color Cast with Photoshop Variations

<p dir="ltr">Photoshop can provide magical transformations to images, making them unrecognizable from the original, but sometimes what you really want is simply to make an image look the same as the original — only better. Perhaps the colors are a little too warm, or the shadows a bit inky. Whatever's wrong with the image, the last thing you want is to change it so much that it looks like it's been processed more than a freeze-dried floral arrangement. You'd be happy to have everyone admire your image without a clue that you'd made major corrections in Photoshop.</p> <p dir="ltr">Photoshop's Variations feature is a variation (so to speak) on the professional photographer's ring around (a set of color prints, each made with slightly different color balance) or test strip (a single print of an image made so that each section is shown using a different color balance). Both tools let you view several renditions of an image and choose the best one visually by comparing them. You might want to use Variations when you're unsure about exactly how the color is biased, and would like to compare several versions of an image to see exactly what the color cast is.</p> <p dir="ltr">Although not as sophisticated as some color correction techniques, the Variations feature has the advantage of being quick and simple, and it doesn't require a lot of training to use.</p> <p dir="ltr">Following are the components of the Variations dialog box:</p> <p dir="ltr">In the upper-left corner is a pair of images — the original image and the image as it will appear when the corrections are applied.Below these thumbnails is a set of six variations on the original image, each with a fixed amount of correction applied using (clockwise from upper-left) green, yellow, red, magenta, blue, and cyan. In the center of this ring is the current version of the image.At the right edge of the dialog box is a stack of three thumbnails showing a lighter version of the image (at top), the current version (in the middle), and a darker rendition (at bottom).In the upper-right corner of the dialog box is a control area that includes radio buttons that let you choose shadows, midtones, or highlights for your correction, as well as saturation. Beneath the buttons is a slider that controls whether your correction will be subtle (Fine) or dramatic (Coarse).Four buttons also let you save the corrections you've made for use with the same or another photo, load settings you've already stored, apply the current corrections (by clicking OK), or forget about the whole thing (by clicking Cancel).</p>

Correcting Color Cast with Photoshop Variations

Photoshop can provide magical transformations to images, making them unrecognizable from the original, but sometimes what you really want is...

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Correcting Color Cast with Photoshop Variations

<p dir="ltr">Photoshop can provide magical transformations to images, making them unrecognizable from the original, but sometimes what you really want is simply to make an image look the same as the original — only better. Perhaps the colors are a little too warm, or the shadows a bit inky. Whatever's wrong with the image, the last thing you want is to change it so much that it looks like it's been processed more than a freeze-dried floral arrangement. You'd be happy to have everyone admire your image without a clue that you'd made major corrections in Photoshop.</p> <p dir="ltr">Photoshop's Variations feature is a variation (so to speak) on the professional photographer's ring around (a set of color prints, each made with slightly different color balance) or test strip (a single print of an image made so that each section is shown using a different color balance). Both tools let you view several renditions of an image and choose the best one visually by comparing them. You might want to use Variations when you're unsure about exactly how the color is biased, and would like to compare several versions of an image to see exactly what the color cast is.</p> <p dir="ltr">Although not as sophisticated as some color correction techniques, the Variations feature has the advantage of being quick and simple, and it doesn't require a lot of training to use.</p> <p dir="ltr">Following are the components of the Variations dialog box:</p> <p dir="ltr">In the upper-left corner is a pair of images — the original image and the image as it will appear when the corrections are applied.Below these thumbnails is a set of six variations on the original image, each with a fixed amount of correction applied using (clockwise from upper-left) green, yellow, red, magenta, blue, and cyan. In the center of this ring is the current version of the image.At the right edge of the dialog box is a stack of three thumbnails showing a lighter version of the image (at top), the current version (in the middle), and a darker rendition (at bottom).In the upper-right corner of the dialog box is a control area that includes radio buttons that let you choose shadows, midtones, or highlights for your correction, as well as saturation. Beneath the buttons is a slider that controls whether your correction will be subtle (Fine) or dramatic (Coarse).Four buttons also let you save the corrections you've made for use with the same or another photo, load settings you've already stored, apply the current corrections (by clicking OK), or forget about the whole thing (by clicking Cancel). </p>

Correcting Color Cast with Photoshop Variations

Photoshop can provide magical transformations to images, making them unrecognizable from the original, but sometimes what you really want is...

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Animating Digital Video Clips

<p dir="ltr">Wait a minute; don't you call these things "movies" because the pictures are already moving? Why would you need to animate a video clip? You may not need to animate the actual subjects in the video, but you can move the video image across the screen. For example, a small picture-in-picture image can sail across the screen to give a hint of action that will happen later in the movie. You can move a clip across the screen along a fixed path or a zigzag pattern, you can rotate clips, and you can distort them.</p> <p dir="ltr">To prepare a clip for animation, follow these steps:</p> <p dir="ltr">1. Click the clip in the timeline that you want to animate to select it, and make sure that the play head appears somewhere over the clip.</p> <p dir="ltr">You want just about any clip that you animate in track Video 2 or higher.</p> <p dir="ltr">2. Choose Window --> Properties to open the Properties window for the selected clip.</p> <p dir="ltr">3. Click the arrow next to the Motion heading to expand the Motion controls.</p> <p dir="ltr">4. Click the clip's video image in the Monitor.</p> <p dir="ltr">When you click the clip in the monitor, cross-hairs appear in the middle of the clip and square handles appear on the sides and corners of the video image.</p> <p dir="ltr">5. Click and drag the square handles to change the size of the image.</p> <p dir="ltr">6. Click and drag on the middle of the image to move the image to a new location on the screen.</p> <p dir="ltr">The preceding steps help you only resize a clip, not animate it. If you play the timeline to preview your change, you see that your clip has been resized, but it doesn't go anywhere. To actually animate the clip and make it go somewhere, you just use keyframes. To animate your resized clip, follow these steps:</p> <p dir="ltr">1. Click the Toggle Animation button next to Motion.</p> <p dir="ltr">2. Click the Add/Remove Keyframe button next to the Position control.</p> <p dir="ltr">A keyframe appears at the current video frame for the current size and position of your clip.</p> <p dir="ltr">3. Move the play head in the timeline to a different location in the clip.</p> <p dir="ltr">4. Click and drag the resized clip in the monitor to a new location.</p> <p dir="ltr">This step automatically creates a new keyframe. If you want, you can even drag the clip completely off-screen. This causes the clip to appear to exit, stage left (or right, or up, or . . . ).</p> <p dir="ltr">Now play the timeline. The resized clip moves across the screen as it plays between the two keyframes that you created. Unhappy with the results? Play around with it! Animation is one of those effects that you really need to fiddle around with to get just the right look.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4vpdby0_He6AHSUi92ePTkUqHU-1UZyIcw604y8C9MHQAwox-wj0sccTw_Sz5ubx0KhFIM6QSK_Th6bmyVCvdlsECZB2l8-CMZdKxkM0MHa-nsZhnFI4lAjJ9Mdv2gMleHbo1t22NRaGl/s1600/IMG_20140201_210525.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4vpdby0_He6AHSUi92ePTkUqHU-1UZyIcw604y8C9MHQAwox-wj0sccTw_Sz5ubx0KhFIM6QSK_Th6bmyVCvdlsECZB2l8-CMZdKxkM0MHa-nsZhnFI4lAjJ9Mdv2gMleHbo1t22NRaGl/s640/IMG_20140201_210525.jpg"> </a> </div>

Animating Digital Video Clips

Wait a minute; don't you call these things "movies" because the pictures are already moving? Why would you need to animate a v...

Read more »