Photo Laborer Manual

This section describes how to use Photo Laborer using main menu.

File

Open menu item

Before user gets started, the original image should be uploaded:

Use Open in menu bar in order to choose the file.
Upload image that should be “painted”.

Save As menu item

User can save painted image in file.

Exit menu item

Exit menu item closes Photo Laborer program.

Original image rendering

Once, image has chosen, it will be rendered in the left image pane:

Selecting area on the image

User can select area either on the original image or on the painted one; the area will be marked as selected on both sides. The selection is done with the mouse:

Press on the left button on the image
Drag the mouse over the area you want to select to its opposite corner
Release the mouse to stop the selection

Edit

Copy Selection menu item

Use Copy Selection menu item if you want to copy part of painted image to the clipboard: first, select the area on the image and then click on this menu item.

Select All menu item

Use Select All menu item if you want to select the whole image.

Clear Selected Area menu item

This operation will clear the selected area on the painted image. User can use this for repainting this area with different style.

*Note: painting process is applied only on the clear area on the painted image.

Erase the painted image menu item

This operation will clear the painted image. User can use this for repainting the whole image with different style.

View

View Original Image menu item

The original image will be displayed on the screen (in the left image pane).

View Painted Image menu item

The painted image will be displayed on the screen (in the right image pane).

View Energy Table Image menu item

Energy table image will be displayed on the screen (in the right image pane).

*Note: Read about energy table in the Project Book.

View Direction Points Image menu item

Direction points image will be displayed on the screen (in the right image pane).

*Note: Read about direction points in the Project Book.

Auto scale menu item

User can select this menu item if he wants the original and painted images to be displayed in the original size. If not selected, both sides are auto-scaled to the view area.

Image panes:

Original image is displayedin the left pane.
Painted image is displayed in the right pane. Painted image can be one of those: painted image, energy table image and direction points image.

Paint

Paint Image menu item

Starts painting the whole image – user will see the results on the right side.

Paint Selected Area menu item

Like Paint, but works on the selected area only. Users can use this feature:

To ‘test’ the painting style.
To apply different styles on different areas.

Draw Curve menu item

User can paint single curve. To do this he should select curve’s control points and then press on Draw Curvemenu item. First and last control points represent beginning and end of the curve. User should provide at least two control points in order to paint a curve.

The point selection is done with the mouse:

Place the mouse in the desirable position.
Press on the right button on the mouse.

Clear User Points menu item

This operation clears curve control points selected by user.

Style Manager menu item

This operation will open Style Dialog. In this dialog user can see available painting styles and their details, create new style, change and delete existing.

Photo-Laborer has several built-in painting styles, like, Pointillist, Expressionism, Realism and more. Those styles can not be changed by the user.
User can create his own styles, which are editable and can be deleted.

*Note: Style name should be unique (without duplications).

Style Manager

Buttons

•Edit: Edit selected style. Not available for built-in styles.

Save: Save changes. Not available if Edit was not pressed.
Cancel: Don’t save changes. Not available if Edit was not pressed.

•Delete: Delete selected style. Not available for built-in styles.

•Add New:Create new style. Provide unique style name.

•Close: Closes styles dialog.

Style parameters

•Name: style name. This parameter should be unique.

•Brush [minimal, maximal] radius: brush radius in pixels.

Brush width = (brush radius * 2) + 1

•Stroke [minimal, maximal] length: stroke length in pixels.

•Stroke curvature: in fact, this parameter represents number of control points in stroke. Higher the number more curved the stroke. Stroke processing algorithm uses this parameter as maximalnumber of control points.

•Texture brightening/darkening: this parameter allows creation of textured stroke. Both parameters should be in the range [0, 64]. Set 0/0 for solid colors (no textures), increase the numbers for textured appearance.

Help

About menu item

This dialog displays wxWidgets and OS versions.

Toolbox

In addition user can execute almost all the operations, available in the main menu, using the toolbar.