Image Tools

These tools serve to edit raster images used as templates for digitizing.

To bring an image into the background layer of the design, use the main menu > Image > Import command.

Image Tools include:

1. Background Filters
2. Edit Image Window
3. Reduce Colors
4. Posterize
5. Rotate to Vertical
6. Rotate to Horizontal
7. Crop
8. Straighten
9. Move

Background Filters

Background filters affect the way the background (hoop or imported image) is displayed behind the digitized design.

In contrast to graphics programs, where the main purpose of filters is to enhance the look of an image, filters in Studio are intended for dimming, desaturation, brightening, or other adjustments of the image so that its colors do not interfere with stitches and objects drawn on top of the background image. All these parameters are saved with the design in one file (.EOF).

Left to right: 1. increased brightness, 2. decreased saturation, 3. hue shifted to yellow

There are three groups of controls in Background Filters:

1. Luminosity - Brightness, Contrast, and Gamma.
2. Saturation
3. Hue - hue is achieved as a balance between cyan and red, magenta and green, blue and yellow. Shadows, midtones, and highlights can be balanced separately.

The Gamma control changes the brightness mostly of dark colors and does not affect absolute black and white. It is useful for scans and photos that are too dark or too bright.

The Saturation control changes colors from vivid to bleak and to grayscale.

The Cyan-Red, Magenta-Green, and Yellow-Blue controls affect the color balance of the background. Use them to change an image to a certain shade (blue, for example) to separate the image from digitized objects. The resulting contrast makes it easier to distinguish between the background and digitized objects.

Edit Image Window

The Edit Image Window is accessible through the main menu under Image > Tools > Edit Image Window. Controls in this window allow the user to rotate and resize the image and add a border to the image for easier digitizing near the edges of the image.

After importing the image, invoke the Edit Image window and make adjustments in the following order:

1. Rotate image
2. Size - set the new size of the image after rotation.
3. Expand - add an empty border around the image.

After the above steps, click the Apply button in the menu panel to perform the changes.

Note: Use the main menu > Image > Tools > Rotate to Vertical and Rotate to Horizontal commands for precise rotation of images that contain straight vertical or horizontal features.

Reduce Colors

The tool for reducing the number of colors in the raster image is described in a separate chapter Reduction of Image Colors.

Paletted image with reduced number of colors

Posterize

Posterization merges adjacent pixels of similar color, which results in a simplification of the image.

The tool for posterization of the raster image is described in a separate chapter Posterization of Image.

Image after posterization

Rotate to Horizontal

If the image to be rotated contains a distinctive horizontal feature, rather than guessing the angle of rotation in the Image Edit Window, use the Rotate to Horizontal tool. Place control handles along the feature that will become horizontal and click Apply.

Rotate to Vertical

This tool is identical to the Rotate to Horizontal tool with a single difference: it works with vertical features and rotates the image so these features become vertical.

Crop

This tool uses two handles to frame the part of the image that will be cropped after clicking the Apply button.

Straighten

This tool works in a similar way to the previous tools. It uses 8 handles to straighten a bent or skewed image into a perfect rectangular shape. It is intended mostly for scans and photos.

Move

This tool works in a similar way to the previous tools. It uses 2 handles to define the direction and distance to shift the image.