Change the View Outside Your Window, Part 2
Finish the process of changing the view through a room's windows.Dave Johnson
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Feature: Dressing the Windows in Your Photos
A change of view can be refreshing. Last week, we talked about how you can easily take an interior shot of a room with windows, stack it on top of a different (usually outdoor) image, and then "open" the top layer's windows to reveal a view of the lower image's scene. This week, let's pick up where we left off.
Get Caught Up
Last week I ended by suggesting that you save your completed image as a Paint Shop Pro file (not a JPEG), since that file format preserves all of the layers we had been working with. If you did that, you can now pick up where we left off and keep working without missing a beat.
If you haven't tried last week's procedure yet, try it now. When you're done, leave the layers in place; we'll continue working with them this week.
The main problem with the photo as it currently stands is that the wolf is simply enormous. It looks like poor Kristen is trapped in a Twilight Zone episode in which she's been shrunk and trapped in a doll house guarded by a monstrous predator. So let's resize things a bit.
Resize the Background
Open your project in an image editor; I'm using Jasc's Paint Shop Pro, but our procedure should work in any similar program.
If you still have an active selection around the windows, choose Selections, Select None from the menu so that the windows are no longer selected.
Now we need to bring the Background layer to the top, where we can see it better. To do that, double-click on it in the Layer Palette. This will display a dialog box asking if it's okay to "promote" the Background layer to a full layer. Click OK--until it's a full layer, it can't be moved to the top of the stack. Click OK to close the Layer Properties box.
Now drag the Background Layer--which has been renamed Raster 2--to the top in the Layer Palette. As soon as you do, you'll see the wolf on its own. It would be great to see how the windows overlap the wolf, so reduce the transparency level of the wolf layer. In the Layer Palette, drag the opacity slider (next to the Eye icon) down to about 70 percent, so that the window frames just peek through. If you can't find the transparency slider in the Layer Palette, double-click the Raster 2 layer and make the change from the opacity control in the Layer Properties dialog box.
Now select the Deform tool in the second cubby in the toolbar on the left side of the screen. Position the pointer over the bottom-right corner of the wolf picture and right-click, then drag the corner upwards to resize the picture.
Now click in the middle of the wolf and drag it until it covers all of the window frames. If the wolf image is too big or small, continue to resize it until you are satisfied. When the windows are adequately covered and the wolf looks like it's about the right size, it's time to put the finishing touches on the composite image.
Final Touches
When the wolf is positioned properly, return that layer's opacity to 100 percent. Then drag the window layer (Raster 1) above the wolf layer in the Layer Palette.
Some of my more-observant readers may notice that in my final picture there are windows above the doors that we didn't work with. I intentionally ignored them because I didn't think I could easily get the wolf picture to cover those windows without making the wolf too big. So here's a homework assignment for you: Try using the Clone tool to cover the trees in those windows with some foliage from the wolf image. With a little practice, you should get a pretty believable picture.
Dave's Favorites: Share Your Photos at PBase
A friend recently turned me on to PBase.com, a photo sharing site that combines free and subscription-based photo hosting with related user forums. It's even got a magazine that you can download from the site.
PBase.com is not like Ofoto or Shutterfly, which cater to consumers who want to upload photos, make prints, and buy personalized gifts like T-shirts and coffee mugs. Instead, PBase appeals to people that are serious about the craft of photography and want a forum to explore other people's art and share their own. I've perused some of the collections at this site and am amazed by the quality of the photos. If you're looking for inspiration in your own photography, try visiting these PBase galleries:
You can post your own photos at PBase.com for free using a trial account; or you can buy 200MB of storage for $23 per year. Other pricing is available as well.
Q&A: How Do I Set the 'Date Taken' Field on Scanned Photos?
I recently scanned lots of old pictures. Because these photos were scanned, all of the "date picture taken" fields are blank. I want to add the date manually, but I can't figure out how to do it. Can you point me in the right direction?
--H.K., Winter Haven, Florida
What a coincidence! I recently scanned about 500 slides myself, and had more or less the same problem.
First, the bad news: Microsoft Windows isn't much help; you can view the "Date Taken" field in the File Properties dialog box, but it is not editable.
The good news: Any photo organizer program, like the ones I wrote about recently, will do this for you. I am particularly fond of both Adobe Photoshop Album and Microsoft Digital Image Library (which is in Digital Image Suite 10).
In Digital Image Library it's just a matter of clicking in the "Date Taken" field and making the appropriate change. In Photoshop Album you need to display the picture properties, click the icon next to the "Date Taken" field, and then make a selection in the "Adjust Date and Time" dialog box. In both cases, you can select a bunch of pictures and apply the date change to all of them at once.
The only free program I know about that lets you edit the "Date Taken" field is Preclick Photo Organizer. However, Preclick works on a per-picture basis only; you can't select a large batch of pictures and set the date on all of them at once.
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: "Surfer," by Walter Bayer, Boca Raton, Florida
Walter says that he took this picture in Boca Raton using a Canon Power Shot Pro. He set the camera to capture three frames per second and chose this one from a series of action shots. He says that the only changes were cropping and some automatic enhancement with Paint Shop Pro.