Background Settings What started out originally as color tones revealed from a Wash effected image has become a full blown Background surface creator capable of the most realistic fully-editable dimensional Backgrounds you'll find! Enable Background and Select a Texture Use Background - The first thing you'll notice at the top of the Background tabbed section is the Use Background checkbox which must be checked if you wish to create and apply the Background texture effect to your image. Choose a Background Texture Effect - Once you've enabled the Background tabbed section, the first thing you'll need to do is choose the texture effect you'd like to start working with. To do so, simply click the Choose button to launch the Texture Effect Picker. Once you've selected the desired texture you'd like to use, you can proceed to fine-tune using the controls defined below. Additionally, you can select a different texture effect at any time and your current settings will be applied to the new texture. Link Texture Effect Option - If you happen to choose a texture effect already in use in another tabbed section of the plug-in, you will be asked by the plug-in if you'd like to link these texture settings. If you wish to link the settings, simply choose which tabbed section settings you'd like to inherit and click Yes to link and apply these settings. If you do not wish to link the settings, simply click the No button. You may unlink and relink any linked or previously linked textures at any time by clicking the link button to the right of the Choose button. Note you cannot link any multiplier texture effects in the plug-in. Adjust the Background Properties Apply Background to Entire Canvas - In a layered image, the Background effect sits directly behind the active image area used in the layer. To apply the Background effect to the entire canvas, simply enable this option. Background Scale - Using the slider control, you may enlarge or reduce the scale of the selected texture effect appropriate to the resolution of the image by moving the slider below or simply enter a number in the text entry field to the right. By default the texture effect is applied at the smallest scale to the image. Adjust the Background Orientation Flip Horizontal - Click the checkbox to flip the texture effect horizontally. Flip Vertical - Click the checkbox to flip the texture effect vertically. Invert Background - Click the Invert Background checkbox to inverse the texture effect. Rotate - Click either rotate button to rotate the texture effect in 90 degree increments. Adjust the Background Colors Background Tone - Each Background texture effect by default contains a full tonal range and each range of tones can be colorized as you desire. To start, click the color selector button to the right of the any of the three tonal controls to launch the color picker and choose the ideal tone. Once you've selected your color, click and drag the appropriate tone slider control to adjust the intensity of the color on the tonal range. User Settings - The User Settings dialog allows you to save or apply previously saved Background settings to the image you're working with. Once you've created a Background effect setting you like, click the Save button, name the setting and click OK to save this setting. To recall and apply a setting, simply click on the setting name in the dialog box. To delete a setting, simply click its name in the dialog box and click the Delete button. Working with the Preview Window Preview Options - Above the Preview window at right, you'll notice above the image preview are some viewing options. By default the Composite option is selected to show you what all combined tabbed section effects look like applied to the image. To view just the Background effect, just click the Background option or at any time you can also click the Original option to view the unaffected image. Magnifying the Preview - Below the Preview window, you'll see the magnification controls. By clicking the appropriate icon (- or +), you can increase or decrease the magnification of the Preview window. The current level of magnification is shown between the magnification icons. Moving the Preview - When you have increased magnification and wish to view the texture effect on the rest of the image not visible in the Preview window, simply move your mouse into the Preview window and click and drag your image around to reveal the texture effected image. Re-positioning the Texture Effect - To modify the position of the texture effect on your image, hold down the Command (Apple) key (or the Ctrl key on Windows) then click and drag the texture effect within the Preview window. If for some reason the texture does move, try increasing the Background Scale amount so there is more of the texture to move around on the image. Generate Background in New Layer Below* - Simply enable this option if you want the filter create and apply the Background effect on its own layer below leaving the original image in intact. * NOTE - This option is only displayed in Adobe Photoshop and other imaging applications that support layering. Applying the Background effect Once you're satisfied with your Background settings, you can continue to define more settings in other tabbed sections, or simply click the OK button below the Preview window to apply the filter with the current settings. Clicking Cancel closes the plug-in without applying the effect. Click Here to learn about the Texture Effect Picker . . .