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ScanSoft KAI S PHOTO SOAP 2 User Manual

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User Guide
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for Windows
®
and Macintosh
®

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Summary of Contents for ScanSoft KAI S PHOTO SOAP 2

  • Page 1 User Guide for Windows ® and Macintosh ®...
  • Page 2 Trademarks Kai’s Photo Soap 2 is a trademark of ScanSoft, Inc. “Macintosh” is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Incorporated. “Windows” and “PowerPoint” are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. “Pentium” is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. All other product names mentioned in the manual and other documentation are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
  • Page 3 Welcome to Kai’s Photo Soap 2 7 What’s New? Getting Help Starting and Quitting Soap 2 Exploring Kai’s Photo Soap 2 The Soap 2 Transporter Undo, Apply, and Save Using Albums Exporting Photos Expanding Soap 2’s Power Installing Kai’s Photo Soap 2 29 Organizing Photos Overview Loading Photos...
  • Page 4 Rotating and Sizing Photos Adjusting Color Automatically Fixing Photos Healing Flaws Smoothing and Sharpening Removing Red Eye Removing date and time stamps Duplicating photo elements Other Fun Effects Having Fun with Masks Composing Images Building Compositions Working with Composition Layers Adding Photos to your Composition Adding Text Adding Objects, Backgrounds, and Edges...
  • Page 5 Saving Albums Viewing Album Information Sharing Albums Printing Photos Overview Printing a Single Photo Printing in Rows and Columns Printing to Popular Sizes Supported Avery and Kodak Papers Loading Special Papers Correctly Printing to Perforated Paper Printing to Special Designs Printing Posters Adding Backgrounds or Frames Scaling Up or Down...

  • Page 6: Table Of Contents

    Exporting a Desktop as a Web Page Exporting an Album as a Web page Exporting Photos as a PhotoCube Web Page (PC only) Using Plug-Ins Appendix A:Tips About Photos 151 Tips About Scanning Selecting Photos Appendix B:Key Shortcuts 154 Using Soap 2 Keyboard Shortcuts Appendix C: Supported Papers 155 Glossary Index...
  • Page 7 Wel c o m e to K a i ’s Ph o to S o a p 2 Kai’s Photo Soap 2 is the next generation of Kai’s Power Soap. Load photos from your computer’s hard drive, a digital camera, a scanner, a picture CD, or right off the Internet. Collect photos, correct them, then tweak them with special tools and filters.
  • Page 8 What Can You Do with Soap 2? With Soap 2, you can: • organize your photos • display and share photos in Soap 2 electronic photo albums • repair damaged old photos • create fun special effects • add clip art, text, or cartoons to a photo composition •...
  • Page 9 • print photos in rows and columns, or in popular sizes You can print in rows or in popular sizes. • crop and rotate photos No more messing with scissors to trim a photo to the correct size. You can rotate or crop photos easily in Soap 2.
  • Page 10 • rescue torn, faded, dusty, or wrinkled photos You can rescue torn, faded, dusty, or wrinkled photos. • make a photo brighter or sharper. Adjust the brightness or tweak the contrast to get a better look.
  • Page 11 • fix red eye or even remove a time/date stamp Get rid of red-eye. • create fun projects—working with multiple photos, using plug-in filters, adding clip art, text, backgrounds or frames. Get creative!.
  • Page 12 What’s New? For those using Version 1 of Kai’s Photo Soap, there are so many cool new features in Kai’s Photo Soap 2 that you’ll want to explore the entire program. Here are a few of the things you’ll find: •...
  • Page 13 Getting Help You will find the answers to most of your questions within the pages of this User Guide. If you need further assistance, contact ScanSoft Technical Support on the World Wide Web at: www.scansoft.com...
  • Page 14 Starting and Quitting Soap 2 To start Soap 2: Double-click the Kai’s Photo Soap 2 logo. To quit Soap 2 Choose Output menu > Quit Soap 2 or Input menu > Quit Soap 2. (You can also Press Ctrl + Q on Windows or Cmd + Q on a Macintosh). If you’ve made changes to a photo, Soap 2 asks if you want to save your work before quitting.
  • Page 15 Exploring Kai’s Photo Soap 2 No more dusty boxes of pictures! Photo Soap 2 makes it easy to store photos. The Organize tab opens an area where you can load, view, and sort your photos. Select a photo, then drop it in the Transporter to work with it. From here, you can save a thumbnail desktop arrangement for later Soap 2 sessions;...
  • Page 16 In Contact Sheet view, you can study photos in a popular photographers’ review sheet layout. Export this desktop view to HTML and drop it on a browser for a great way to pass photos around for review. From here, you can also print selected photos, make slideshows and send selected photos via e-mail.
  • Page 17 Soap 2 Albums make it easy to display photos. Pick an Album style and just drop photos into place. Add some text and your album’s complete. From here, you can print your Album or export an Album to use on the Web. Click Album, then put photos into Albums or Frames to be presented, printed, e-mailed, or posted on the Web.
  • Page 18 You can fix or enhance a photo in the Clean area. From here, you can also print or export a photo for use on the Web. Use the Image menu to correct color, paint, crop, Click Clean to make changes to a photo. rotate, or add effects to your photo.
  • Page 19 To make fast adjustments to brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, red balance, green balance, or blue balance in your photo, choose Image menu > Quick color. The Quick color selector first lets you select what you want to change, then gives you variations or selections from which to choose.
  • Page 20 The Compose tab opens an area where you can really get creative. After you’ve fixed or modified photos, you can create compositions by dropping one or more photos onto the canvas, adding objects (like cartoon elements), put in a little text, and generally have fun. From here, you can print, export for use on the Web.
  • Page 21 The Print tab opens an area where you can choose from a variety of ways to print your photos. You can even create posters or a sheet full of wallet sized photos. It’s like having a darkroom in your very own home! Click to set margins Click to rotate,...
  • Page 22 The Soap 2 Transporter Using the Transporter Use the Transporter to move thumbnails to other areas of Soap 2. Kai’s Photo Soap 2 Transporter is an important part of Soap 2. The Transporter lets you move thumbnails around in the application, to work with them. Once you’ve loaded photos into Soap 2 and arranged them on the desktop, just drop a photo or group of photos onto the transporter.
  • Page 23 Undo, Apply, and Save An important difference between Soap 2 and other photo manipulation programs is that in Soap 2, all of your changes are done to a copy of your photo. This means that you can experiment freely, make changes, and THEN decide to either save or discard your work. Your original image file remains intact until you choose to change it.
  • Page 24 Apply sets a new baseline, so that future changes are based upon the effects you’ve “applied”. Reset returns your photo to the last time you clicked Apply. But don’t worry! If you change your mind, you can even Undo an Apply. Apply sometimes makes it easier for you to work on different areas of a photo.
  • Page 25 Use the Output menu > Save Album As command to save it using a new file name—without overwriting an existing file. Photo files can get large, containing a lot of information. Keep track of how many photos you save on your computer or just keep photos you want to work with.
  • Page 26 • print an Album as a complete book or as individual album pages. Displaying photos in an Album. Exporting Photos Exporting Photos for E-mail With Soap 2, it’s easy to send photos over the internet. Soap 2 saves your photos in an Internet friendly format, so all you have to do is attach them to an e-mail message.
  • Page 27 Exporting an Album as Web pages Here’s a neat way to make your own personal Home page. You can post an Album full of photos as your Web site. The HTML page that Soap 2 creates is interactive! Visitors to your site can flip pages in the Album, or they can double-click on a photo in the Album to see a full-size view of it.
  • Page 28 • create glass, curls, tiles, welds, twirls, feedback, vortexes, and stereo noise (Compact Filters) • camera lens effects (Lens f/x Filters) Acquire Plug-ins Other plug-ins let you load or export photos, like loading photos from your digital camera, scanner, or using special printing options. Free Plug-ins Soap 2 includes three of the four famous Kai’s Power Tools 3 (KPT 3) special effect plug-ins.
  • Page 29 I n s ta l l i n g K a i ’s P h o t o S o a p 2 Installation instructions are provided for both Windows and Macintosh. Follow the instructions appropriate to your system. Kai’s Photo Soap 2 is intended for local installation only. Do not attempt to install it onto a network server.
  • Page 30 Follow the instructions provided by the installer. The installation dialog displays an important ReadMe. Click “Continue” after reading the complete ReadMe. Soap 2 Installation Tips • If you plan to print photos, adjust the color on your monitor so that it matches the output of your printer.
  • Page 31 O R G A N I Z I N G P H O T O S What’s in this Section? Overview ....... . 32 Loading Photos .

  • Page 32: Overview

    Overview In Kai’s Photo Soap 2, you can work with one photo, more than one photo, a folder full of photos, or many folders full of photos. Digital photos are available from a wide variety of sources. One way to get digital images is to just scan a printed photo, or you can use a digital camera.

  • Page 33: Working With Thumbnails

    To load photos from: Do This: Tips a picture CD Choose Input menu > Open File or Input menu > Open folder, select the picture CD, select the file or folder you want to load, then click Open. Working with Thumbnails After you’ve loaded photos into Soap 2, you see them as small “thumbnail”...
  • Page 34 A color border around thumbnails indicates they are selected. Draw a marquee around thumbnails to select them. To select all except the currently selected thumbnails: Select one or more thumbnail—these are the ones you don’t want selected. Choose Edit menu > Select Inverse. The originally selected thumbnail(s) are deselected and remaining thumbnails are selected.
  • Page 35 Rotating and Renaming Thumbnails To rotate a thumbnail: Select the thumbnail(s) you want to rotate. Choose View menu > Rotate. To rename a thumbnail: Select the thumbnail you want to rename. Choose Edit menu > Rename Image. You can rotate or rename thumbnails, before you save a desktop. Soap 2 prompts to see if you want to save those kind changes.
  • Page 36 Duplicating Thumbnails Depending on what you’re going to do with a photo, it is sometimes helpful to have more than one thumbnail copy of an image. For example, you might want to see how a particular shirt looks in various colors, or how a house looks in each of the four seasons. To duplicate a thumbnail: Select a thumbnail.

  • Page 37: Previewing Photos

    Deleting Thumbnails Remember—thumbnails are just little copies of your photos. When you delete a thumbnail from the Soap 2 Organize area, you are not deleting an actual image file from your computer. Refer to “Removing Image Files from your Computer” on page 39 information about using Soap 2 to remove image files from your computer.

  • Page 38: Getting File Information

    Click a final time to return to the Soap 2 Organize area. Use View menu > Preview to see a full-screen view of a thumbnail. Getting File Information You can view information about each thumbnail. File information includes the name of the image file, file type, the dimensions of the image, image resolution, where the file is located on your computer, the date of the last time it was modified, any description or keywords you may have entered, as well as any personal rating (a beauty assignment) you...

  • Page 39: Removing Image Files From Your Computer

    The File Information for the selected photo is displayed. Getting file information. Removing Image Files from your Computer Image files can use up a lot of storage space on your computer. A handy way to keep your computer “clean” is to use Soap 2 to remove image files from your computer’s hard drive or from removable media.

  • Page 40: Switching Views

    Switching Views Using other Views You’re familiar with the Soap 2 desktop, where you can move and pile photos. But, wait! There are other ways to view your photos. Have fun exploring Lightbox and Contact Sheet views. Change views any time. When no thumbnails are selected, all the photos you’ve loaded into Soap 2 are displayed.

  • Page 41: Working With Desktops

    Choose View menu > Contact Sheet. Your photos are displayed in a contact sheet format. Contact Sheet view. Working with Desktops Building Thumbnail Arrangement The first time you open Kai’s Photo Soap 2, you’ll see the Soap 2 desktop. After you load your own photos, you can arrange or group them in ways that are useful to you.
  • Page 42 desktops is a handy way to work with specific photos, like those from a family reunion, recent vacation, or genealogy project. Save as many desktop arrangements as you want, then reload them and start working—right where you left off. Once you have the right photos loaded and have arranged your Soap 2 desktop, you can save the arrangement as a Soap 2 desktop file.

  • Page 43: Sorting And Searching For Photos

    To reload a desktop: In the Organize area, choose Input menu > Open Desktop. Select the desktop you want to open. Soap 2 reloads the saved desktop, so you can resume work. Sorting and Searching for Photos Now, there’s finally a way to take control over all your photos. You can sort by file name, date, size, file type, height, width, and aspect ratio (height to width).
  • Page 44 To search by keywords: Choose Edit menu > Keyword Search and enter the keyword by which you want to sort.Sorting Photos by Name To sort photos by name: (Optional) Select one or more thumbnails. When no thumbnails are selected, Soap 2 alphabetically sorts all the thumbnails on the Soap 2 desktop.
  • Page 45 Choose Sort menu > Date. Sorting Photos by Size When you sort by size, Soap 2 reorganizes thumbnails on your desktop according to thumbnail size. To sort by size: (Optional) Select one or more thumbnails. Choose Sort menu > Size. Sorting Photos by File Type To sort by file type: (Optional) Select one or more thumbnails.
  • Page 46 Sorting Photos by Beauty You can give each photo a beauty rating in file information—identifying how much you like that photo. To assign a personal rating: Select a thumbnail. Choose Edit menu > Image Info (or move the cursor over a thumbnail, pause until you see the slide view, then click on the circle in the bottom right corner of the slide).
  • Page 47 To sort by description: (Optional) Select one or more thumbnails. Choose Sort menu > Description.
  • Page 48 F I X I N G P H O T O S What’s in this Section? Overview ....... . 49 What Kai’s Photo Soap 2 Can Fix .

  • Page 49: Overview

    Overview This chapter explains how to fix problems with photos, such as straightening crooked photos, fixing blemishes, color casts, or exposure problems. The changes you make using the tools introduced in this chapter directly affect the pixels in the image. “Building Compositions”...

  • Page 50: What Kai's Photo Soap 2 Can Fix

    What Kai’s Photo Soap 2 Can Fix Soap 2 can fix many types of problems including: • Straightening crooked photos, or rotating them if they load sideways • Fixing rips, tears, and blemishes • Resizing photos • Removing unwanted elements such as that power pole that appears to stick out of someone’s head •...
  • Page 51 Eraser Removes an applied effect, Erasers size can be adjusted like a brush Magic Mask Refer to “Using the Magic Mask” on page 53 for more instructions Icicle Hardens edges of effects Water Drop Softens edges of effects Zoom Refer to “Zooming and Panning”...
  • Page 52 Brush Controller You can set the brush size, softness, and flow. The size specifies the amount of area affected by a brush stroke. Softness specifies whether a stroke is hard edges, or feathered to produce a soft stroke with fuzzy edges. Flow controls the amount of effect in a cumulative manner.
  • Page 53 Using the Magic Mask Use the Magic Mask to select a color range. When you click the Magic Mask tool on a color, it will select similar colors around the area you clicked on. Use the sliders in the Magic Mask control to fine tune the range and feather of the tool. Refer to “What are Masks”...

  • Page 54: Rotating And Sizing Photos

    Resize the window to a smaller size if you are using a slow computer. You can use the Window Reset button to return it to the default size for that image. Scanning photos is a great way to get them into Soap 2, but what do you do when pictures scan in a little crooked? Or what do you do when they load sideways, because the camera was rotated or the photo was scanned upside down? Soap 2’s rotate tools let you straighten crooked pictures, rotate photos for special effects, and flip pictures around.
  • Page 55 Press Shift to constrain the rotation by 15 degrees. Rotating a photo. You can experiment, to rotate your picture half turns (180 degrees) or quarter turns (90 degrees). Continue clicking until the picture is back in its original position. You can also click the 90 degree rotate tool.
  • Page 56 Rotate 90° Flip Horizontally Flip Vertically Flipping a photo. At any time, you can click Reset to return the photo to its original orientation. Resizing Photos Most of the time you’ll only need to zoom a photo to change how it appears on your monitor.
  • Page 57 To resize a photo: Choose Image menu > Image Size. Select a dpi setting based on your intended use. If needed, you can check Resample, then manually set the dimensions and resolution. Check Constrain proportions to avoid distorting the image. The image size dialog box.
  • Page 58 Cropping Photos Ever want to use just part of a photo? If you’ve ever tried trimming pictures with scissors, you’ll love using Soap 2 for the job. Soap 2 makes it easy to choose what you want and throw away the rest. And, you’ll always have a straight edge! Cropping a photo.

  • Page 59: Adjusting Color

    Place the cursor in the middle of the crop area. It becomes a cross and you can move the crop area anywhere inside the picture. Click and drag crop bars inwards from the photo’s edge, until the photo is cropped the way you want it.
  • Page 60 Lightening or Darkening a Photo You can adjust the overall lightness and darkness of a photo, or you can adjust the lightness and darkness in a particular section. For example, only the area under the tree is too dark. Adjusting lightness and darkness. To lighten or darken a complete photo: Move the Brightness slider left to lighten the image, or right to darken it.
  • Page 61 Using Paintbrushes and Erasers If you only need to lighten the area under the tree, you can do that by using the paintbrushes or erasers. If you are trying to slightly adjust a specific section of a photo, that is known as “nudging.”. Smearing an effect.
  • Page 62 Softening and Sharpening Effects with the Water Drop and Icicle Sometimes you need to soften or sharpen a particular effect. Softening blurs the effect slightly, allowing unmasked areas of the photo to stand out more. Sharpening increases the edges of the effect in areas where it is applied. For example, you can use the Water Drop to soften the area where you changed color of the foliage to make the effect look more natural, or you can use the Icicle to sharpen the edge where you applied an effect.
  • Page 63 To sharpen with the Icicle: Select the Icicle tool from the workspace. Adjust the brush size. Brush the effect area you want to sharpen. You can brush over an area to sharpen the edges more. Sharpening the edge of an effect.
  • Page 64 Lighter or Darker Shadows, Highlights Sometimes you want to lighten or darken existing shadows or take the sheen out of highlights. Adjusting the shadows. To adjust shadows: If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. Choose Image menu > Effects, and choose Color and Tone. Adjust the Brightness slider and the opacity slider to affect the entire image.
  • Page 65 Adjusting Contrast Contrast refers to the range of grey tones contained in a photo. A photo with high contrast has more white and black (and less grey tones) while a low contrast photo displays less variation. Sometimes this is described as “muddy” or flat. If the lightest and darkest colors are close to each other, a photo may appear to have higher contrast than a photo in which other tones separate the extreme colors.
  • Page 66 More and less contrast in the same image. To increase or decrease contrast: Move the Contrast slider left to increase contrast or to the right to decrease it for the entire image. Click the drawer tread to view the controls for adjusting highlights, mid-tones, and shadows.
  • Page 67 Adjusting a correction. Flattening Towards Grey If you have a picture that contains very bright pale colors and very dark colors, you can reduce the color range by flattening them towards grey. The final shade depends on the average brightness of the image. To flatten towards grey: If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter.
  • Page 68 You can create a black and white photo from a color image by moving the luminosity slider, and then adjust the contrast as needed. Adjusting the contrast. Changing Photo Colors Soap 2 makes it easy to change photo colors. You can shift the entire color spectrum in a photo to correct a problem with the original image.
  • Page 69 What is Hue and Saturation Hue shifts the entire color spectrum like the “Tint” control on a color television. Saturation controls the intensity of colors. A black and white or monochrome photo has no saturation. Full saturation can create a wild effect. Color controls.
  • Page 70 Making Pale Colors Intense You may have a good photo except that most of the colors are too pale. You can make pale colors intense by increasing the saturation of the color. You can also mute intense colors the same way. To make pale colors intense: If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter.

  • Page 71: Automatically Fixing Photos

    To lighten or darken colors: If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. Select Image menu > Effects, and Color and Tone. (If desired, click the brush to display and use the brush tools.) Drag the Hue slider to adjust the colors. If you don’t see the effect you want, click the tread to open the Color correction drawer.
  • Page 72 Quick Color You can rapidly adjust the color settings by using QuickColor. Choose a corrected image and view it next to your original. You can stop there, or apply that image and then correct it further with the color tools. QuickColor.
  • Page 73 Color Casts Sometimes colors just look wrong, especially when one color dominates the picture (called a color cast). Soap 2’s Auto Enhance button can sometimes fix these kinds of flaws, with a single click. Try it to see what it does for your picture. However, it doesn’t work well on images that don’t have black and white areas.

  • Page 74: Healing Flaws

    Healing Flaws Working with family genealogy can be fun, but old photos have their own set of problems. Imperfections like dust, water spots, rips, or creases can keep you from enjoying and sharing that treasured wedding shot of Aunt Minnie and Uncle Phil. New photos sometimes make blemishes or wrinkles seem too obvious, or distracting detail can take away from the main subject of a picture.
  • Page 75 To use the Heal effect: If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. Select Image menu > Effects, and Heal. If needed, you can click the brush in the Heal effect control and use the Brush controller to set the brush size. (Refer to “Brush Controller”...
  • Page 76 Fixing Fuzzy Areas after Healing To fix fuzzy areas after healing: If needed, drag the photo you want to use from the Transporter. Choose Image menu > Effects, and select Clone. The Image Clone control displays. A copy of your image displays along with the puck.

  • Page 77: Smoothing And Sharpening

    Smoothing and Sharpening Sometimes you may want to blur or smooth parts of an image, or sharpen other parts. For example, you may want to smooth the background of a wedding photo to draw attention to the bride and groom. Or, you may want to sharpen Mom’s face. Smoothing and sharpening in use.
  • Page 78 Select a brush and brush the areas of the photo that you want to smooth. The smooth tool. Setting the Smooth Ratio To set the smooth ratio: If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. Choose Image menu > Effects, and choose Smooth. Adjust the smoothness and opacity using the sliders.

  • Page 79: Removing Red Eye

    Select a brush and brush the areas of the photo that you want to sharpen. Sharpening an image. Setting the Sharpen Ratio To set the sharpening ratio: If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. Choose Image menu > Effects, and choose Sharpen. Adjust the sharpness and opacity using the sliders.

  • Page 80: Removing Date And Time Stamps

    Using the Red Eye Effect To use the Red Eye effect: If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. Choose Image menu > Effects, and select Red Eye. Choose the eye color you want to use. (Refer to “Choosing an Eye Color” on page 80 details.) Use the brush to paint across the eye area.

  • Page 81: Duplicating Photo Elements

    To remove date and time stamps: If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. Choose Image menu > Effects, and select Heal. Click the brush image to display the Brush controller where you can set the brush size. (Refer to “Brush Controller”...
  • Page 82 What is Cloning? Cloning is copying pixels from a section of a photo and reproducing them elsewhere. Use the brush tool along with the Clone control to clone an image. Cloning an image. Cloning between images If you have two group photos and one is perfect except you closed your eyes, and everyone else blinked in the second one, you could duplicate your face from the second photo and replace your face in the first photo.

  • Page 83: Other Fun Effects

    Use the brush tool to draw the cloned area into your image If needed, click the brush icon in the Clone control to display the brushes. Cloning from another image. Matching Colors The color picker allows you to match a shade perfectly. To match colors: If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter.
  • Page 84 Painting on Photos Haven’t you always wanted to see what you would look like with a mustache or beard? Here is your chance to paint one on! To paint on your photos: If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. Choose Image menu >...
  • Page 85 Before Soap 2, you could go to a amusement park, dress in old costumes, and pay someone to create a colorized photo or sepia print. Now you can create your own “antique” photos. All you need to provide is the costumes! To colorize your photo: If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter.

  • Page 86: Having Fun With Masks

    Having Fun with Masks Masks allow you to apply an effect to certain parts of a photo while leaving other areas untouched. You can use Masks to apply colors, textures, and plug-in effects, or any other adjustment to selected parts of the photo. What are Masks Masking consists of covering up (or revealing) certain areas before applying an effect.
  • Page 87 Once you have finished working with a mask, you can apply the results to the photo, and if desired, save the mask to reuse in the future. You can use masks to change hair color, clothing color, car colors, add textures, visualize your house painted a new color, change day to night, and so on.
  • Page 88 • As needed, switch tools or change brush sizes to mask tiny areas. (You can also zoom in to mask fine detail.) Using the Mask tray. Viewing and Inverting Masks Sometimes it is easier to select the area that you don’t want masked and then invert the mask.
  • Page 89 Choose Effects menu > Blur to blur the inverted mask. Cousin Linda. Saving and Reusing Masks You can assign frequently reused masks to the mask tray. Then you can replace or remove masks easily. Stored masks Stored masks in the Mask tray.
  • Page 90 To assign a mask to the mask tray: If needed, drag a photo from the Transporter. Create a mask. Refer to “Creating Masks” on page Click an unused position to assign the mask to that spot in the mask tray, or click the Plus button to add the mask to the next available spot.
  • Page 91 C O M P O S I N G I M A G E S What’s in this Section? Building Compositions ..... . 92 Working with Composition Layers .

  • Page 92: Building Compositions

    Building Compositions Once you’ve fixed or enhanced photos, you can use Kai’s Photo Soap 2 to build creative compositions. Work with more than one photo. Add text or cool clipart. Create a great look with shadows—real shadows that reflect a stationary light source—and once you get going, you can even work with a photo’s hidden channel (called its Alpha channel) to create special “cutouts”.

  • Page 93: Working With Composition Layers

    Choosing a new canvas size. Working with Composition Layers Understanding Layers In a Soap 2 composition, you’ll drop photo, text and objects onto the canvas. Each piece you add to your composition is a separate layer. Layers work like this. Imagine each part of your composition is drawn on a piece of clear plastic or film.
  • Page 94 For example: You might start (1)—by dragging a family reunion photo (which you fixed earlier with the QuickColor tool) onto the canvas. Next (2)—you add a little text, like “Lynn’s Family Reunion” (switching on a shadows for that layer). Finally (3)—you add just the right piece of clip art to finish the piece.
  • Page 95 Using the Layers Tray Each layer in your composition is listed in the Layers tray. This tray makes it possible to select and control the behavior of each layer in your composition. Scroll through the Layers tray to locate the layer you want to control. Scroll Layers Hide/Show Layer Lock Layers...
  • Page 96 Moving a Layer Once you’ve created a layer (usually by dragging a photo from the Transporter), you will want to position it in your composition. To move a layer: Click the Move tool. The Move tool. Click on the layer to select it. Move the layer to a new location.
  • Page 97 Drag the cursor up or down to increase or decrease how tall it is. Drag the cursor right or left to increase or decrease the layer’s width. As you move the cursor, you’ll see the layer change size. Hold down the Shift key while you drag the cursor to stretch the layer only horizontally.
  • Page 98 Choose Layers menu > Flip Vertical to flip a layer vertically. Flip a layer. Adjusting a Layer’s Transparency You can adjust a layer’s transparency (how faded or pronounced it is), allowing other details in your composition to show through. Unlike hiding a layer, adjusting the transparency of a layer lets you create very interesting effects.
  • Page 99 By brushing on layer transparency, you can brush away edges, softening them to create a more professional looking collage. With the flow turned down low, you can gently build up transparency, allowing you to fade edges and specific areas of a layer. Use the transparency brushes to soften the edges of a Composit Library Objects layer.
  • Page 100 If you selected the layer by clicking on it in the composition, choose Layers menu > Show/Hide Layer Attributes to display the Layers Attributes control for the selected layer. The Layer attributes control. Move the Transparency slider left to make the entire layer more transparent (faded out).
  • Page 101 Use the Transparency brushes to adjust the transparency of those parts of the layer that you want to fade. As you brush on transparency, you can see your changes right in the composition. Set brush size, change the opacity or softness of the effect you’re adding.
  • Page 102 The final result is a composition that shows a cat’s head “transplanted” onto a man’s body! Creating a layer cutout. For a more precise cutout effect, advanced users can drag an image with an Alpha channel into a composition, then use the Transparency brushes to adjust what is displayed—without affecting the Alpha information.
  • Page 103 To bring a layer to the front: Select a layer in the Layers tray. Drag the layer up to the top of the Layers list in the Layers tray. To send a layer to the back: Select a layer. Drag the layer down to a new position in the Layers list. Place it below anything that should be displayed on top (or in front) of the layer you’re moving.

  • Page 104: Adding Photos To Your Composition

    Click the lock icon next to the selected layer in the Layers tray. When the lock is dark gray, the layer is locked and can’t be selected or modified. The lock hides or shows a layer. To unlock a layer: Select the layer (either click on it or select it in the Layers tray).

  • Page 105: Adding Text

    To fix or enhance a photo that’s in a composition: Select the layer you want to fix. Choose Layers menu > Edit in Clean. Edit the photo. Click the Apply button. Click the Compose tab to return to the Compose area. Remember! When a photo is in use in a composition, you must Apply changes you make to it using Layers menu >...
  • Page 106 Click the Font list arrow to choose the font (typeface) you want used for the text. You can select one font for each text layer that you add to the composition. Click the arrow, then choose a font from the font list. Click A (big), B (medium), or C (small) to set the text size (relative to the size of your composition).

  • Page 107: Adding Objects, Backgrounds, And Edges

    Click the Color Picker to select a color for the text. The color you select is displayed in the color preview area. You can select one text color for each text layer that you add to your composition. Choose a text color and it is displayed in the color preview area. To edit a text layer: Double-click on the text layer in the Layers tray.

  • Page 108: Adding Shadows To Layers

    Click Next to move forward through the Composite Image Library. Scroll through the object browser. Click Last to move backwards through the Composite Image Library. Click and drag an object to drop it onto your composition. Click Done to close the Composite Image Library. Use the composition tools to adjust the placement, size, or rotation of the layer you’ve added.
  • Page 109 If you want add a shadow or fine-tune shadow settings, use the Shadow controls on the Layer Transparency control. Choose Layers menu > Show/Hide Transparency Tools to display the Layer Transparency control.Click the ribbed bar to open the Layer Shadow Attributes control. Layer Shadow Controls.

  • Page 110: Adding A Canvas Color

    Use the Light Direction slider to control the direction of the shadow’s offset. Adjusting the offset is like determining from where the source of light is coming. Move the Light Direction to change shadow direction. Click the upper right corner to close the Transparency control. To make all shadows in the composition alike: Select a layer that has shadow settings to which you would like all the shadows in your composition to conform (either click on it or select it in the Layers tray).

  • Page 111: Saving And Reloading A Composition

    To add a Canvas Color to the composition: Click the color selector on the Layers tray. Click the color selector to set a Canvas Color. Use the color picker to pick a desired color. Saving and Reloading a Composition To save your composition as an image: Choose Output menu >...
  • Page 112 If Soap 2 can’t find a layer, because one of the photo files you added to the composition was moved, you can find it or opt to have Soap 2 ignore the missing layer.
  • Page 114 U S I N G A L B U M S What’s in this Section? Overview ....... . .115 Selecting an Album Style .

  • Page 115: Overview

    Overview Albums in Kai’s Photo Soap 2 behave a lot like regular photo albums. You can assemble a group of related photos, arrange them in order, add captions, view them, and share them with friends. (Try to avoid boring the family by showing them off for too long!) Unlike regular albums, Soap 2 albums don’t gather dust in your closet and you can e-mail them or post them on the Web as HTML files.

  • Page 116: Selecting An Album Style

    When working with albums, you can do the following: • Change album styles and layouts • Load photos and add text • Arrange photos and text • Add pages or page sets • Navigate through the pages • Print albums or share albums (as a Web site) Selecting an Album Style Start creating an album by selecting an album or frame style.

  • Page 117: Changing The Layout

    If needed, click the Next button to display additional album and frame choices. Click Previous to view the previous selections. Once you’ve selected an album or frame style, click Select. If you have selected an album style, the album cover is displayed. Type a title and click Next to move to the first page spread.

  • Page 118: Loading Photos

    Loading Photos You can load photos in to albums by dragging a photo from the transporter to a photo placeholder. Loading a photo into an album. Larger images are automatically resized to fit into the available space, and you can drag them to adjust their size if desired.

  • Page 119: Adding Text

    Adding Text You can easily add text to caption your photos. You might want to mention who the subject is, when and where the photo was taken, or decide to have more fun and write really funny captions. Adding a caption to your photo. To add text to an album: Double-click a text placeholder (grey box) in the album.
  • Page 120 Adding Pages to an Album New pages are added after the current page. For example, if the current album style has two photo positions on a page, when you add a page, the facing page and following pages are moved. To add a page: Choose Edit menu >...

  • Page 121: Printing Albums

    Click Page to display the page catalog, then click a page thumbnail to view that page. Click Select to move to that page . Page catalog. Printing Albums You can easily print all of the pictures and text stored in an album. You can choose whether to print the artwork used to create the book and pages.

  • Page 122: Saving Albums

    The different ways you can print albums. Saving Albums You can save albums, and reopen them to view or edit at a later time. To save an album: Choose Output menu > Save. You can also export albums to HTML. Refer to Chapter “Exporting an Album as a Web page”...
  • Page 123 P R I N T I N G P H O T O S What’s in this Section? Overview ....... . 125 Printing a Single Photo .
  • Page 124 Previewing ....... 138 Page Setup ....... 138...

  • Page 125: Overview

    Overview The fun doesn’t stop once you’ve created the perfect photo. Kai’s Photo Soap 2 allows you to create wallet photos or photo business cards, and print to many popular sizes. You can even create a poster or iron-on transfer using Soap 2 and your standard color printer! Click to set margins Click to rotate,...

  • Page 126: Printing A Single Photo

    • Print to popular designs such as ovals • Print to special papers • Print posters • Adjust print settings Printing a Single Photo Most of the time, you’ll only need to print a single photo. To print a single photo: If needed, drag the photo you want to print from the Transporter.

  • Page 127: Printing In Rows And Columns

    Printing in Rows and Columns Sometimes you want to print several smaller pictures on a single sheet of paper. You can set up Soap 2 to print multiple images per page. Use the same process whether you are printing one or many images. To print in rows and columns: If needed, drag the photo(s) you want to print from the Transporter.

  • Page 128: Printing To Popular Sizes

    Printing to Popular Sizes While you can create or print a photo of any size, typically you will choose to print your image in a standard size. The supported sizes include 6 x 4 and 8 x 10. To print to popular sizes: If needed, drag the photo(s) you want to print from the Transporter.

  • Page 129: Printing To Perforated Paper

    If you are using a color inkjet printer and are printing multiple pages, grab each one as it comes out of the printer to avoid having them stick together. Printing to Perforated Paper Kodak and Avery both make special paper that is already perforated to make it easy to print multiple images onto a single sheet and divide them afterwards.

  • Page 130: Printing To Special Designs

    Printing on perforated paper. You can’t adjust the margins, spacing, or header/footer information for any special papers. Printing to Special Designs You can also print to special designs such as ovals. Portraits look particularly elegant printed to an oval design. To print to special designs: If needed, drag the photo(s) you want to print from the Transporter.
  • Page 131 Printing using an oval design. Adjusting Print Settings Sometimes you need to adjust the print settings to work correctly with your printer. If there is a considerable offset, you may want to adjust the margins. Otherwise, you can use Nudge to slightly shift all of dimensions. For example, if everything prints slightly to the right of the expected positions, you can nudge the settings to the left to correct the problem.

  • Page 132: Printing Posters

    Printing Posters Amaze your friends and family by creating custom posters using Soap 2 and your color printer. Soap 2 can take your image, scale it up in size, then print the image on a series of sheets of standard paper. Print them out, paste them together onto a piece of posterboard, and viola! you have created a custom poster.

  • Page 133: Adding Backgrounds Or Frames

    Adding Backgrounds or Frames Sometimes a background or frame is needed to set off a printed image and yet you don’t want to make changes to the image itself. You can select a background or frame for printing. To add a background or frame: If needed, drag the photo(s) you want to print from the Transporter.

  • Page 134: Scaling Up Or Down

    Scaling Up or Down At times you’ll find that you need to enlarge or reduce the size of a photo. Or perhaps you want to print the same photo at several different sizes to create an Alice in Wonderland effect. A scaled image.

  • Page 135: Rotating Photos To Fit

    Rotating Photos to Fit At times you will want to rotate a photo before you print it. For example, if you are printing to 8.5 x 11 paper and want to print a wide photo, you’ll want to rotate the photo so the long side of the photo prints on the long side of the paper.

  • Page 136: Repeating Images On A Page

    Repeating Images on a Page You can easily print out multiple copies of the same image. To repeat images: If needed, drag the photo(s) you want to print from the Transporter. Choose Output menu > Print. Choose Print Options and select from the menu. If needed, you can adjust the settings.

  • Page 137: Setting Margins

    Specify the alignment (left, center, or right) using the alignment buttons. If text is above or below, this controls description only. If text is on right or left, this controls all image text. When you choose Print the header information will be included as shown. Printing header and file information.
  • Page 138 To save settings: After you have selected settings in the click a memory dot to store those settings for reuse. Previewing Before printing anything, you should always preview it to make sure everything is set up correctly. In Soap 2, you are looking at the preview area as you configure your print settings.
  • Page 139 S h a r i n g P h o t o s One of the best things about taking pictures or designing creative compositions is that once you get them done, you can share them with other people. With Kai’s Photo Soap 2, there are lots of new ways to share your photos and compositions.
  • Page 140 Choose Output menu > Export to PhotoMailer. Select the Resolution (Size) of the images to be included in the PhotoMailer. This resolution setting determines how large the photos are when viewed by the recipient. Soap 2 automatically selects a commonly used 640 X 480 resolution. As you decide what resolution to select, keep in mind that a small resolution means a small PhotoMailer.
  • Page 141 Click inside the Display Name As area to enter exactly how you want each link to be displayed. For example, you might want the above Internet address to be displayed "Additional Photos”. Click Save to create the PhotoMailer. Use the Save As option to create a PhotoMailer with a new name, without overwriting a previous version you may have created.
  • Page 142 looks good when you view it on your computer monitor. A higher setting than 72 dpi resolution is a wasted when displaying photos on the Web. Keep the resolution set at 72 dpi and you can’t go wrong. Move the Compression slider to select the quality of the file compression to use: High, Medium, or Low.
  • Page 143 To view a desktop of photos exported as a Web page: Drop the HTML page onto your Internet browser. Select and drag a thumbnail to change its position on the page. Double-click a thumbnail to view it full-sized. Select all the thumbnails and double-click to get a slideshow of all the photos. Click to advance through the slideshow.
  • Page 144 Click on a Background Color to select it as the color to use for the background of your Web page. (Soap 2 offers you only Web-safe colors from which to choose.) The Album design and your photos are displayed against the color you select. Select or enter a Page Title.
  • Page 145 Exporting Photos as a PhotoCube Web Page (PC only) You can export photos and compositions as a 3D PhotoCube, which allows you to display them as a six-sided three-dimensional cube. The PhotoCube export feature is supported on the PC platform only and requires that you download a free MetaStream plug-in to view the cube as a 3D object.
  • Page 146 (Optional) Enter a URL Link. Entering a URL link creates a link to another HTML page or Web site. For example, you might have another Web page or site where photos can be viewed. If you enter a URL link, Soap 2 creates a link on the HTML page that allows viewers to click directly to the location you specify.

  • Page 147: Using Plug-Ins

    U s i ng P l u g -I n s One way you can expand the power of Kai’s Photo Soap 2 is by using plug-ins. Plug-ins are usually filters that plug into Soap 2 or other image manipulation products (like ®...
  • Page 148 • Text tools. • Paper, pattern, and texture tools. • Export/Import or compression tools. • Button-making tools. • Lighting effects tools. • Natural media (oils, pastels, and more) tools. • Picture framing tools. Filter Plug-ins Generally, filter plug-ins apply an effect or a range of effects to your photo or to part of your photo.
  • Page 149 Free KPT 3 Plug-ins with Soap 2! Soap 2 includes some famous Kai’s Power Tools 3 (KPT 3) filter plug-ins—Texture Explorer, Planar Tile, and Twirl. An example of a KPT 3 plug-in filter effect.
  • Page 150 Using a Plug-in To use a plug-in: Choose Image menu > Plug-in to see a list of available plug-ins. Select the plug-in you want to use. When you first select a plug-in, it is applied to your entire photo. Should you prefer, you can brush on the plug-in effect.

  • Page 151: Appendix A:tips About Photos

    A pp en di x A :Ti ps A b o ut P h o to s You’ll get the best results when you start with a better photo. If you haven’t taken the photo yet, or have several photos to choose from, these guidelines may help you take better photos or decide which photos can be successfully cleaned up.
  • Page 152 • If you see what might be a good picture, give it a try. Even if the lighting isn’t perfect, you might get interesting results! • Think about how you could use a picture before you take it. A full-sized picture of a person might be perfect for a newsletter or a postcard.
  • Page 153 • Faded, old, or torn photos are easy to fix. • Overall color problems, and slight focus problems also can be easily fixed. • Low contrast images (very dark or very light) are more difficult to correct because of a lack of image information available to Soap 2. The image on the right would make a better candidate, as there is more image information to work with.
  • Page 154 Using Soap 2 Keyboard Shortcuts...

  • Page 155: Appendix C: Supported Papers

    A pp en di x C : S up po r te d P a pe rs In addition to the paper types listed here, you can also check the Web site for support of additional papers that you can download. Avery Papers •...

  • Page 156: Glossary

    G l o s s a r y Active An alterable layer or mask is active until it has been applied to the photo. Albums Albums organize and format related groups of photos and captions that you can share with others, post on the Internet, or print. You can select different Album formats. Apply Use Apply to make your changes to the photo.
  • Page 157 Color correction A process of color values to make them look more realistic. Color correction is important because the colors you see on your monitor may not match those you will see when the image is printed. For accurate color output, the monitor must be calibrated to match the output of the printer you are using.
  • Page 158 Edges Edges are effects that can be placed around the edges of your image while Composing. Effects Effects are changes to your photo that can be applied to entire photo or areas via brush tools (masks). Effects include sharpening, softening, painting, or using plug-in effects.
  • Page 159 Layer Layers sit on top of an image and contain effects or masks. Layers can be manipulated and the order can be changed. You can make changes to layers as you work with a photo and then apply those changes to the photo. Lightness Lightness is a variation of a hue along a scale from black to white.
  • Page 160 Red eye Red eye is a common problem caused by the camera flash reflecting off the back of the eye. Resolution The resolution refers to the density of pixels in an image. Saturation Saturation refers to the intensity of a color. Oversaturated photos look unreal. Experiment with this to create fun effects.
  • Page 161 Water Drop The Water Drop is a tool which softens edges of masks. It softens the transition between masked and unmasked areas of the photo. Web See Internet. Zoom Use Zoom to change the degree of magnification while viewing a photo. You can pan around in a zoomed photo to see different areas of the photo.

  • Page 162: Index

    I n d ex creating exporting as Web pages Numerics keystrokes loading photos navigating 3D effect tools printing saving sharing Web pages accessing Apple menu aligning photos accessing operating system alignment accessing Windows printing acquire Alpha channel plug-ins altering contrast acquiring photos –...
  • Page 163 canvas color colors plug-ins – contrast printing contrast in areas textures height and width banners layer order beauty layouts of albums sorting photos masks black and white photos orientation creating photo size blemishes viewing size fixing – thumbnails blending masks views –...
  • Page 164 sorting by creating photos text guidelines – columns, printing creating twins – commercial plug-ins Crop and Fill, definition Compact Filters cropping composing photos photos – taking better photos – when composing composing with layers culmlative effect compositions custom letter head adding photos custom papers adding text...
  • Page 165 digital photos exposure problems dimensions extra tools changing eye color dimness choosing discarding changes correcting red – dots per inch (dpi) eye dropper eye level changing scanning drag and drop drop shadows – face lift duotone faded images duotone effect fast color adjustments duplicating photo elements –...
  • Page 166 flat photos flatten towards mid-tones flaw size, adjusting for Hand tool flaws – hard edges with brush flipping headlines, adding for iron-ons Heal effect layers healing photos flaws – flow of brush fuzzy areas focus height sharpening changing (of a layer) softening sorting photos focusing photos...
  • Page 167 Layers palette layout albums jaz cartridge Lens f/x Filters letter head light and time of day Lightbox view keeping masks lighten keepsakes colors keyboard shortcuts complete photos keystrokes part of an image albums shadows kind lightening sorting by photos sorting photos lightening photos Kodak Papers lighting effects...
  • Page 168 matching colors maximum text characters mementos objects memory dots adding print settings layers mid-tones obtaining photos – flattening towards offsets minimum focusing distance adjusting for printing missing pieces of photos shadows modification (preventing ) oils (effects) modifying photos older photos monochrome photos opacity more information, plug-ins...
  • Page 169 paper types problems that can be fixed papers resizing Avery revitalizing Kodak rotating pastels (effects) rotating for print PC installation scaling for print Pencil tool scrolling when zoomed perception of color searching Perforated Paper, printing to selecting areas photo albums selecting multiple –...
  • Page 170 adjusting settings removable media previewing thumbnails removing Previous button color cast print date and time stamps preview photos scan for red eye print settings thumbnails adjusting replacing (from another photo) adjusting margins replacing photo elements – printing requirements albums Macintosh backgrounds Windows directly from plug-in...
  • Page 171 changes sharpen effect colors for reuse sharpen effects compositions sharpen ratio compositions sharpen tool saving sharpening desktops shifting print settings color spectrum saving masks colors scaling for print layers scaling photo sizes print alignment scanners shortcuts, keyboard loading photos from showing layers tips on using shrinking layers...
  • Page 172 size grouping width inverting selection spacing values, printing moving special designs previewing special effects selecting – filters TIFF exporting masking time stamps, removing plug-ins times to shoot photos Special Papers titles loading adding specialty papers tools – specific photos, finding introductions Spheroid Designer masking automatically...
  • Page 173 variations of colors version 2 features vertical cropping vertical flip vertical orientation viewing photos – Views switching views Contact Sheet Lightbox vortexes wallet photos Water Drop Water Drop tool Web pages desktop exporting scanning for Web site albums what’s new wide rips width sorting photos...

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