Change the View Outside Your Window, Part 1

Use this slick effect to replace a boring view.

Dave Johnson

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Feature: Change the View Outside Your Window, Part 1

If the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, then it's also likely that the view is always nicer out someone else's window. I have a slew of photos that include window views, and I've sometimes wondered if I couldn't improve a shot by replacing the contents of the window with a different scene. So this week, let's give that a try.

Pick Out Your Scenery

Depending upon the kind of photo you're trying to create, you might want a subtle change by swapping your backyard for a mountain vista, for instance; a humorous scene, like an enormous animal peering through the kitchen window; or a fantastical apparition, like an underwater scene that turns your living room into a gloriously windowed submarine.

This week I offer you a photo looking into my backyard from the kitchen of our new house (including my wife, Kristen) plus an outdoorsy image featuring a wolf.

Stack the Layers

After you save the image files to your hard drive, load them into an image editor. I'll use Jasc's Paint Shop Pro for this demonstration, but the technique is similar in most similar programs.

After you've opened both image files in Paint Shop Pro, select the photo with the windows and choose Edit, Copy. Then select the wolf photo and choose Edit, Paste, Paste As New Layer. You should see the window photo obscure the wolf, since it's now the top layer. Close the other picture of the kitchen, since we don't need it anymore and we don't want to get the two mixed up.

To prove that there really are two layers in the image file you're working on, hover the mouse over the Background entry in the Layer palette on the right side of the screen--you'll see a thumbnail of the wolf. If you don't see the Layer Palette, turn it on by choosing View, Palettes, Layers.

Click on the top layer, which is probably called Raster 1 in the Layer Palette. This is important, because if the background layer is selected, the rest of this procedure will not work.

Select the Windows

Now we have our work cut out for us. We need to select all of the glass in the two French doors--that's 16 visible panes. You can either use the Magic Wand, which selects nearby regions of similar color with a click, or the Point to Point tool, which selects areas that you outline with the mouse. In this case, since there are so many colors in the backyard, the Magic Wand would probably be prone to error. So choose Freehand Selection from the fifth cubby in the toolbar and then set the Selection type to Point to Point from the Tool Options palette at the top of the screen. (You can toggle the Tool Options palette on by choosing View, Palettes, Tool Options.)

Before you leave the Tool Options palette, set the Mode to Add (Shift) so we can select many different areas in the picture and make them all part of the same selection. Make sure both Feather and Smoothing are set to 0.

Now it's show time! Zoom in if you need to on one of the window panes and click on a corner of a pane. Move around the window, clicking in each corner. Finally, double-click on the starting corner. The entire pane should be selected.

Repeat the process for all of the rectangular windows, but don't try this on the windows partially blocked by Kristen. We'll do those a different way. You should now have a few windows selected.

Select the Obstructed Windows

So now we're left with five windows that the Point to Point selection tool won't work very effectively on, since the shapes are not uniform. Use the Selection type in the Tool Options palette to switch to the Smart Edge tool, then pick one of the windows. Zoom in and click on a corner of the window, then move a short distance along the window edge and click again. Work your way around the window (and around Kristen) until you end up back at your starting point--then double click to end the selection. Repeat that process for each of the remaining windows.

Reveal the New Background

When you're done making your selections, it's time for the magical moment. Press Delete and you should see the backyard disappear, replaced by the wolf image. That's not bad--but it's not perfect, either.

Next week, let's continue with a few more "window dressing" tips. If you're using Paint Shop Pro and want to pick up right where we left off, save your image as a PSP file, with the extension.psp. Unlike a JPEG or a TIFF, a PSP file retains all of the layers and selections you've been working with.

Dave's Favorites: Goofy Photo Tricks at Flickr

Have you discovered Flickr yet? I wrote about this cool photo sharing site not long ago. I like the way the site's user tagging system has created a community of online photographers that share their work with each other.

You'll find all sorts of clever photos at Flickr, but one of the most amazing collections I've seen has got to be a set of images titled "Transparent Screens." It looks like all of the devices shown in the photo collection have transparent screens. You can see right through them to whatever is behind the PC, or notebook, or MP3 player!

You're probably thinking that the photos involve digital trickery with an image editor. The truth is that they're all carefully staged using custom-photographed desktop wallpaper images. There's no high art here, but it's a lot of fun to click through the various images. Enjoy!

Q&A: What Does the Speed Rating Mean on Media Cards?

I have a Nikon CoolPix 4300 and have been using a 256MB CompactFlash card that is marked 4X. I am taking a trip and I want to be prepared to take pictures. My question is this: Do you think it would be better for me to use a larger media card, like 512MB, or even 1GB? I would also like to know if it would be advantageous to get a card with a higher speed rating then the 4X that I currently have. I don't know what this number means, but if the camera will be able to take faster pictures, more pictures per minute, or if I can take pictures of something that is moving without having it blurred, these would all be welcome improvements.

--Charles Domanski, Romeo, Michigan

If you're planning to take a lot of pictures, it probably goes without saying that more capacity is always better than less. Of course, that doesn't mean you need to buy a 1GB media card. Generally, you can get a pair of 512MB cards (or four 256MB cards) for less than what a single 1GB card would cost, since higher-capacity cards tend to be a little more expensive. It's really a matter of convenience. If you want to bring along only a single card and leave it in the camera the whole time, then one huge card is a good bet. If you don't mind a pocket jangling full of computer chips, then get a couple of less-expensive, lower-capacity cards.

The other issue you ask about is speed, the card's "X" rating. Generally, you don't have to worry much about this. A faster card won't help you take sharper pictures (your camera's shutter speed setting takes care of that) nor will it let you take more pictures per minute (your camera is built to take pictures at a certain rate and no faster). The speed rating just determines how fast picture information can be copied to a card, and that will influence how quickly the camera is ready to take the next picture. But most modern digital cameras have a large enough memory buffer that they are no longer dependent upon the speed of the memory card to influence how rapidly they can operate. My advice: Ignore the card's speed rating.

Hot Pic of the Week

Get published, get famous! Each week, we select our favorite reader-submitted photo based on creativity, originality, and technique. Every month, the best of the weekly winners gets a prize valued at between $15 and $50.

Here's how to enter: Send us your photograph in JPEG format, at a resolution no higher than 640 by 480 pixels. Entries at higher resolutions will be immediately disqualified. If necessary, use an image editing program to reduce the file size of your image before e-mailing it to us. Include the title of your photo along with a short description and how you photographed it. Don't forget to send your name, e-mail address, and postal address. Before entering, please read the full description of the contest rules and regulations.

This Week's Hot Pic: "F18," by John Haus, March AFB, California

John writes: "I am a boom operator on a KC-135R tanker. I shot 'F18' over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California at approximately 20,000 feet and at 400 miles per hour. This is a Navy F-18E that had just finished in-flight refueling during 'war games' that sharpen the pilots' skills.

"I used a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F707 and processed the picture with ACDSee to brighten it up."