Blending Images

Forming the Composite Image

1. Open the pictures to be blended in Picture Publisher.
2. Create a new image equal in size to the desired final image. This will become the final composite image. Example: to create a 700 x 200 pixel image: file/new (a New Image dialogue box should appear), set the units to pixels, Width to 700 and Height to 200. Image Type should be set to RGB colour then click the Create button.
3. Select the first picture to be blended (click its title bar or select Window/image name).
4. If the picture is much larger than the final size required in the composite image, use Image/Size to reduce its size as required.
5. Expand the picture by 100 pixels on each of the sides which is NOT to be blended. E.g. suppose this is the first picture and it is to be blended with the next picture on the right side only:
1. Image/Expand
2. Set units to pixels
3. Set: Left=100, Top=100, Bottom=100.
4. Click the Expand button.
6. Copy the picture to the clipboard (Edit/Copy or control-C).
7. Select the new (composite) image then paste the first picture onto it (Edit/Paste or control-V). At this point the pasted picture may be moved to its desired position using "click and drag" or more precisely using the arrow keys on the keyboard. You can also change its size and rotate it by dragging the control points with the mouse. Press the Enter key to complete the Paste operation.
8. Select the next picture to be blended and repeat the above process (steps 4-7). Repeat until all of the pictures have been pasted onto the composite image and are roughly in their correct positions.
9. Save the file (File/Save As). Be sure to save the file as type Micrografx Picture Publisher (*.ppf)

Blending the Images

1. Select the first picture in the composite image (click on it). A blue dashed outline should appear around it (only a part of the outline may be visible).
2. Object/Feather Object. A Feather Object dialogue box should appear. Set the Amount to 50 and Edge to normal then click the Feather button. To alter the degree of feathering, select Edit/Undo (or control-Z) then repeat the process, this time with Amount set differently. Experiment with values between 10 and 100.
3. Select the next picture in the composite image and feather it (step 2). Repeat until all of the pictures have been feathered. See below for tips on making further adjustments to individual pictures.
4. Remember to save the file frequently. For extra protection you can save to a succession of different file names so that you can revert to an earlier version if it all goes wrong!
5. When you are satisfied with the composite image, save it again!
6. To convert the final image to JPEG format for use in a document or on a web page:
1. Object/Combine/All Objects with Base. This combines all of the pictures to form a single image.
2. File/Save As and set the file type to JPEG.
7. Close Picture Publisher. You will be asked if you want to save the changes to the pictures. In every case, you should select No.

Tips

• If you need to move a picture within the composite image you can click and drag it with the mouse.
• If you want to rotate a picture, you can do so using Object/Rotate.
• You will not be able to undo the feathering of a picture once you have performed another operation. Sometimes you might need to do this without reverting to a version of the file you saved earlier (because you don't want to loose other changes you made since then). In this event you can delete the picture, paste it onto the composite image again as described above then adjust its feathering.