Additions:
Deletions:
Edited on 2008-03-12 16:45:26 by BradEllis
Additions:
The Zoom tool is used for magnifying your image so you can see those pixels up close and personal, or for zooming out. To zoom in with the tool, simply click, or to be more specific, drag a box around the area you want to end up on. To zoom out, hold down the option key and click. Once you start getting used to this action, you can also use the hot key (Command +) to zoom in and (Command -) to zoom out.
These tools will allow you to make various types of selections in your image. Use the rectangular selection tool to make a straight rectangular selection, the oval tool to make a round selection, or the freehand tools to make a selection that goes wherever you want.
If you have a selection and would like to select another area as well, hold down the shift key while using one of the selection tools and the new area will be added to the existing area. Similarly, if you selected something you don't want, you can hold down the option key while using one of the tools, and the new area will be subtracted from the existing selection. If that sounds confusing, give it a try and see what happens. For more on selections, check out the Tips and Tricks section.
The Magic Wand tool works by selecting a single pixel, and then expanding that selection out to neighboring pixels that are the same color. You can adjust the tolerance so that there is a little bit more freedom in determining if a neighboring pixel should be selected or not. This is helpful for selecting all the white in the background and deleting it quickly. Play around with tolerance and feathering to improve the result. For more on this tool, check out the Tips and Tricks section.
This is your most basic tool for getting new pixels down on the canvas. You can adjust the size of the brush and opacity for different results. Holding down the shift key will let you draw in only straight straight lines.
The flood fill tool works similarly to the magic want, but instead of selecting the area, the flood tool replaces that color with the foreground color. The tolerance setting lets you adjust how thorough the fill is, try experimenting with this.
If you're looking for more options with the text, go to the menu Window->Fonts to pull up the font palette where you can adjust all the details about the font.
Tools Palette
Deletions:
The Zoom tool is used for magnifying your image so you can see those pixels up close and personal, or for zooming out. To zoom in with the tool, simply click, or to be more specific, drag a box around the area you want to end up on. To zoom out, hold down the option key and click. Once you start getting used to this action, you can also use the hot key (apple +) to zoom in and (apple -) to zoom out.
These three tools will allow you to make various types of selections in your image. Use the rectangular selection tool to make a straight rectangular selection, the oval tool to make a round selection, or the freehand tool to make a selection that goes wherever you want it to.
If you have a selection and would like to select another area as well, hold down the shift key while using one of the selection tools and the new area will be added to the existing area. Similarly, if you selected something you don't want, you can hold down the option key while using one of the tools, and the new area will be subtracted from the existing selection. If that sounds confusing, give it a try and see what happens.
Selections are important because change the area that will be affected by another action. ie, if you have nothing selected and use the blur filter, everything in that layer will become blurry, but if you make a selection, then apply the filter, only the selected area will become blurry.
The Magic Wand tool works by selecting a single pixel, and then expanding that selection out to neighboring pixels that match the same color. You can adjust the tolerance so that there is a little bit more freedom in determining if a neighboring pixel should be selected or not. This is helpful for selecting all the white in the background and deleting it quickly. Play around with tolerance and feathering to improve the result. (Note for brad: needs video demo)
This is your most basic tool for getting new pixels down on the canvas. You can adjust the size of the brush and opacity for different results. Holding down the shift key will let you draw in only straight straight lines. (Note for brad: needs video demo)
The flood fill tool works similarly to the magic want, but instead of selecting the area, the flood tool replaces that color with the foreground color. The tolerance setting lets you adjust how thorough the fill is, try experimenting with this value.
If you're looking for more options with the text, go to Menu>Window>Fonts to pull up the font palette where you can adjust all the details about the font.
Tools Palette
Edited on 2008-03-06 15:47:14 by BradEllis
Additions:
Rect, Oval, and Free Selection Tools (Shortcut 'm')Deletions:
Rect, Oval, and Free Selection Tools (Shortcut 'm')Edited on 2008-02-25 14:37:22 by BradEllis
Additions:
If you have a selection and would like to select another area as well, hold down the shift key while using one of the selection tools and the new area will be added to the existing area. Similarly, if you selected something you don't want, you can hold down the option key while using one of the tools, and the new area will be subtracted from the existing selection. If that sounds confusing, give it a try and see what happens.
Selections are important because change the area that will be affected by another action. ie, if you have nothing selected and use the blur filter, everything in that layer will become blurry, but if you make a selection, then apply the filter, only the selected area will become blurry.
Text (Shortcut 't')
Color
The color swatches allow you to control the colors of objects that you draw and create, as well as sample and pick new ones. Clicking on one of the existing colors will pull up the Color Palette and let you pick a new one, clicking the eye dropper will let you sample a color from somewhere on your screen, and hitting the reset button will change the colors back to black and white.
Deletions:
If you'd a selection and would like to select another area as well, hold down the shift key while using one of the selection tools and the new area will be added to the existing area. Similarly, if you selected something you don't want, you can hold down the option key while using one of the tools, and the new area will be subtracted from the existing selection. If that sounds confusing, give it a try and see what happens.
Selections are important because change the area that will be affected by another action. ie, if you have nothing selected and use the blur filter, everything in that layer will become blurry, but if you make a selection, then apply the filter, only the selected area will become blurry. (Needs video)
Text (Shortcut 't')Edited on 2008-01-28 16:24:13 by BradEllis
Additions:
Edited on 2008-01-25 19:48:40 by BradEllis
Additions:
Tools Palette
Making Slideshows with Acorn
Back to Acorn
Deletions:
Tools Palette
Filters
Edited on 2008-01-23 17:28:35 by BradEllis
Additions:
Taking Screen Shots with Acorn
Oldest known version of this page was edited on 2008-01-23 17:10:45 by BradEllis []
Page view:
Tools palette
The tools palette has 3 sections, on the left is a list of the tools that you can use to manipulate your image, on the upper right is the settings for the tool that you are currently selecting, and below that is a list of the layers and options for manipulating them.
Tools for moving around
Move (Shortcut 'v')You can use the move tool to click on a layer and move it around. You can also use it to click on graphics in a shape layer, and to change the bounds of an image or move it around. This is your go-to tool to start moving things around in Acorn.
Panning / Hand Tool (Shortcut 'h' or hold down 'space')If you're zoomed in on your image, or its too big for you to see the entire thing on your monitor, use this tool to move your view around. Try out the shortcut of holding down the space bar, once you get used to it, you'll use this tool all the time.
Zoom (Shortcut 'z')The Zoom tool is used for magnifying your image so you can see those pixels up close and personal, or for zooming out. To zoom in with the tool, simply click, or to be more specific, drag a box around the area you want to end up on. To zoom out, hold down the option key and click. Once you start getting used to this action, you can also use the hot key (apple +) to zoom in and (apple -) to zoom out.
Crop (Shortcut 'c') The Crop tool is for cropping your image down to a smaller size. Use it to define the area of your image you would like to keep. You'll notice as you drag it around that there are lines dividing the new image up. These lines are helpful when choosing how to crop an image. Please read up on the rule of thirds∞ for more information.
If you make a mistake, place your mouse near one of the boarders of the crop area and drag it out to change it.
When you're happy with the area you've selected press return to accept, or esc to cancel.
Tools for performing selections
Rect, Oval, and Free Selection Tools (Shortcut 'm')These three tools will allow you to make various types of selections in your image. Use the rectangular selection tool to make a straight rectangular selection, the oval tool to make a round selection, or the freehand tool to make a selection that goes wherever you want it to.
If you'd a selection and would like to select another area as well, hold down the shift key while using one of the selection tools and the new area will be added to the existing area. Similarly, if you selected something you don't want, you can hold down the option key while using one of the tools, and the new area will be subtracted from the existing selection. If that sounds confusing, give it a try and see what happens.
Selections are important because change the area that will be affected by another action. ie, if you have nothing selected and use the blur filter, everything in that layer will become blurry, but if you make a selection, then apply the filter, only the selected area will become blurry. (Needs video)
Magic Wand (Shortcut 'w')The Magic Wand tool works by selecting a single pixel, and then expanding that selection out to neighboring pixels that match the same color. You can adjust the tolerance so that there is a little bit more freedom in determining if a neighboring pixel should be selected or not. This is helpful for selecting all the white in the background and deleting it quickly. Play around with tolerance and feathering to improve the result. (Note for brad: needs video demo)
Pencil (Shortcut 'b')This is your most basic tool for getting new pixels down on the canvas. You can adjust the size of the brush and opacity for different results. Holding down the shift key will let you draw in only straight straight lines. (Note for brad: needs video demo)
Eraser (Shortcut 'e')The eraser is good for removing pixels from a bitmap image. If there is a layer underneath it, it will be exposed. For more on how layers work read the layers page. You can also hold down the shift key to erase in straight lines.
Flood Fill (Shortcut 'k')The flood fill tool works similarly to the magic want, but instead of selecting the area, the flood tool replaces that color with the foreground color. The tolerance setting lets you adjust how thorough the fill is, try experimenting with this value.
Gradient (Shortcut 'g')Use the Gradient tool to fill in your image or selected area with a gradual gradient, changing from what you have set as the background color, to the foreground color. The linear gradient tool will produce an even color from the point you click, to the place you drag to, while the radial tool will produce a circle with the background color inside, and the foreground color outside.
Text (Shortcut 't')The text tool allows you to put text onto an image. Selecting the tool and clicking once on your image will let you start typing. Once you're done, hit the enter key, or change to the move tool to solidify the text that you've written. Using the text tool will add the text on top of the image as a new layer, which means that by using the move tool you can move the text around and align it up however you want.
If you're looking for more options with the text, go to Menu>Window>Fonts to pull up the font palette where you can adjust all the details about the font.
Shapes (Shortcut 'r', 'o', and ';')Simple shapes can be added to your image using the Shape tool. They can also be re-edited later on by using the Move tool to select, move, and adjust the bounds using the handles.
Opening Acorn
Tools Palette
Layers
Color and Fonts Palette
Menu Items
Filters