Image Tools

These tools serve to edit raster image used as a template for digitizing.

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

Image Tools include:

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

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 meaning of filters is to enhance the look of an image, filters in Studio are intended for dimming, darkening, brightening or other adjustment of 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 design into one file.

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

There are three groups of controls in Background Filters:

1. Luminosity - Brigthness, 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 separatelly.

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

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

The Cyan-Red ,Magenta-Green andYellow-Blue controls affect the color balance of the background. Use them to change an image to a certain shade (blue, for example) to separate 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 throughmain menu under Image > Tools > Edit Image Window . Controls in this window allow user to rotate and resize image and add border to image for easier digitizing near edges of image.

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

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

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

Note: use 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 reduction of color number in the raster image is described in a separate chapter Image Color Reduction Tool .

Paletted image with reduced color number

Posterize

Posterization merges adjanced 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 Image Posterization Tool .

Image after posterization

Rotate to Horizontal

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

Rotate to Vertical

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

Crop

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

Straighten

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

Move

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