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ColorBender Windows

There are six ColorBender Windows which are shown below. The main working environment is the View Window with the control panel open. The control panel is a drawer attached to the side of the View Window. The other Windows are opened when needed.
Start Up

When ColorBender is launched, the following Start Up Window appears.

If you are in a trial period, or if you have licensed ColorBender, press the start button to open the ColorBender main viewing window. After the trial period has expired, the start button will be disabled and you must enter the Validation Number or a trial period extension number (email info@colorbender.com to request a trial extension number). After the trial period has expired, you will still be able to use the other information buttons on the start up screen.

To validate ColorBender enter the license (ID) number, then press the return key or click the enter button. All future ColorBender 1.x updates will honor this license.

For the following buttons to work, you must be connected to the internet.

  • Buy Now   Open a secure web page to purchase a ColorBender Validation Number
  • Basics       Overview of basic ColorBender Operations
  • Tutorial     (The Tutorial is not yet available)
  • Website     Open the ColorBender website
  • Email         Open an email addressed to info@colorbender.com to ask questions or report bugs

View Window

ColorBender is an interactive application. The result of image adjustments are shown in real time on the View Window.

The View Window has two modes: the Image View shown below and the Print View shown just after. In both modes, the results will be shown actual size if the Window is large enough. If not, the image (and page in Print Mode) will be reduced to fit while maintaining correct proportions.

The View Window is resizable by dragging the lower right corner or by pressing the green resize button in the upper left corner.

At the bottom of the image is a text description of the image format and quality.


Image View


Print View

The View Window has the following features.

  • resizable up to 1536 x 1024 pixels
  • 6 selector buttons across the top, described below
  • a caption describing the current image across the bottom
  • frequently used operations are "always on" so they be done quickly and at any time

The "always on" operations are:

  • clicking any two different image points within 3 seconds automatically applies Red Eye correction to the points
  • dragging the mouse will reposition the crop region if possible
  • holding the command key and dragging the mouse will rotate the crop region
  • holding the option key and dragging the mouse will magnify the crop region

The 6 selector buttons have the following functions

  • Adjust                opens and closes the control panel drawer
  • Image View        shown the processed image (toggles with Print View)
  • Print View          previews how this image will be printed (toggles with Image View)
  • Guide Lines      superimposes layout lines on the image and, in Print View, shows the page margins
  • Process Info     lists all operations applied to the current image
  • Analyzer            gives several graphical presentations of the image data

Frame Formats

The frame format can be set to any combination of brightness (white, gray, black), shadows (on, off) and caption (on, off). The following 6 screen shots show shadow on and off for each of the 3 frame brightness. The frame formats are selected in Menu/Frame.

  
black frame, shadow on                                  gray frame, shadow on                                  white frame, shadow on

  
black frame, shadow off                                  gray frame, shadow off                                  white frame, shadow off

 

Control Panel

The Control Panel opens either on the left or right side of the View Window by pressing the "Adjust" button at the top of the View Window, as shown in the following figure.

 

The following figure shows the Control Panel details.

  • The ColorBender Control Panel has 9 popup menus with contents shown in this figure
  • There are 24 operation push buttons
  • There are 4 groups of 4 quick process management buttons that can be hidden or displayed
  • There is a single slider that, along with the mouse and keys, give interactive operations
  • There are 11 number fields, shown in light green, that may have values entered directly

 

Red Eye Window

Red eye correction is initiated in the View Window by clicking near the pupils of both eyes within 3 seconds. In most cases the correction is automatic. If you need to manually control red eye correction or to adjust the diameter of the correction mask, open the following Eye Edits Window.

This Window may be opened by the button in the red eye section of the adjustments panel, by the "Red Eye Editor..." entry in the View Menu or by the "command R" key.

Process Info Window

This Window can be opened by pressing the "Process Info" button at the top of the View Window or by selecting "Process Info..." in the View Menu.

The values are updated when the Window is opened or when any of the management operations are selected.

In the following example, the Process Information Window is shown twice with two different scroll settings so all the entries can seen.

 

 

Analyzer Window

The Image Analyzer Window is opened from the View Menu, the "Analyzer" button at the top of the View Window, or by pressing "command L" keys.

This window shows four graphic plots which change as interactive operations occur. Statistics for these graphics are gathered only for the uncropped region of the image.

The upper left plot shows the rgb histogram. Also the number of clipped pixels is estimated. (The clip estimate is the difference between the probability of pixels on the gamut and the probability of pixels near the gamut.)

The upper right plot is the rgb distribution function which is, of course, the integral of the histograms.

The lower left plot projects all colors onto the upper rgb gamut and, for each location shows the brightest of the colors that project to that location. If no colors project to a location, black is shown. If all possible colors are present then the plot would look like the icon shown in the lower left corner.

The lower right plot projects colors onto a single tone plane. The lower left origin of this plot is black, and the upper right corner is white. The neutral axis is the line between these points. Hues from magenta to green are projected onto the lower right part of the plot and the others to the upper left part of the plot.

 
   

ColorBender 1.1 is a Universal Application that runs on Mac OS X 10.4 or later

© 4G Color 2005, 2006, 2007 all rights reserved, Website updated March 7, 2007