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Chapter 15 Digital Darkroom Basics
you change the resolution, or both the size and
the resolution. The physical size of your image
(expressed in inches or pixels) and its resolution
(typically measured in pixels per inch), depends
on the camera used to capture it and the settings
programmed into the camera by you or the
camera manufacturer.
If the camera’s file is output at 72ppi (as many
are), the physical dimensions could be quite large:
for a 6Mp camera, such a file measures 42″ × 28″.
In its original state, the file is not of much use,
since the dimensions are far too large for full-size
display on a computer monitor, and the resolution
adjusted in both size and orientation. Once
the mouse button is released, the frame can be
resized by selecting and dragging any of the four
sides or corners, Figure 15-8. The image can be
rotated, as well as cropped, by clicking outside
the frame and dragging the mouse in the desired
direction; this is especially useful for correcting
a crooked scan or an image where the camera
was tilted. The change is previewed on screen,
making it easy to determine when the proper
amount of rotation has been achieved. To perform
the crop, the user can double-click inside the
frame, or merely press the
ENTER
key.
Sometimes, an image will look better if it
is reversed left-to-right or even top-to-bottom.
In the conventional darkroom, this was done
by flopping the negative (turning it over) before
making the print. In the digital darkroom, it can
be done with a single mouse click, Figure 15-9.
In addition to the
Flip Canvas Horizontal
and
Flip
Canvas Vertical
choices, it is possible to rotate the
entire frame 90° to 180° (a different menu allows
free rotation).
Changing image size and resolution
Image processing software allows you to
change the size of your digital image. It also lets
Figure 15-9. Flipping an image. A—A single mouse
click on a drop-down menu can reverse an image
vertically or horizontally. B—The image is reversed
left-to-right.
Figure 15-8. The
Cropping
tool is versatile, since it
allows both resizing and rotation of the frame. As
shown, rotation is achieved by clicking outside the
frame and pulling it in the desired direction. This
method is particularly useful for straightening crooked
scans. For easier visualization, the area outside the
cropping frame is dimmed.
A
B