Photodex ProShow: Visual QuickStart Guide

Editing Images in ProShow

93

ProShow Producer Adjustments

Figure 5.50 To apply the blur as an adjustment effect,

select the Effects tab, and then select the Adjustment

Effects tab.

Figure 5.49 Increasing the Blur amount will add a

soft-focus effect to your image.

ProShow Producer

Adjustments

ProShow Producer adds a number of more

advanced editing e ects to give you even

more control over how your images are

presented to the viewer. Along with blur-

ring and vignetting, there are very powerful

chroma key and adjustment layer e ects that

can raise your show quality to an entirely new

level of sophistication.

Blur

 e Blur control does exactly what you might

imagine—it softens the focus on your image,

from subtle to complete (Figure 5.48).

To add blur to your image, drag the selection

handle to the right. Alternatively, you can use

the arrows to adjust the e ect by 1 percent,

or you can enter a value directly into the Blur

 eld (Figure 5.49).

One e ective use of the Blur control is to cre-

ate an adjustment e ect with the slide going

from blurred to in-focus. To do this, select the

E ects tab, and then select the Adjustment

E ects tab that appears (Figure 5.50).

Figure 5.48 You can fi nd the Blur control in the

Adjustments controls of the Slide Options dialog’s

Layers Editing tab.

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Chapter 5

ProShow Producer Adjustments

In the Starting Position adjustments panel,

increase the Blur control to the desired

amount (50 percent in the example shown

in Figure 5.51). Leave the Blur control in the

Ending Position adjustments panel at 0 per-

cent. When the slide is played, it will begin

with a blur and fade into sharp focus during

the duration of the slide.

You can  nd an example of this and other

adjustment e ects on the companion Web

site at www.proshowbook.com in Chapter 5.

✔ Tip

■ I use the selection handle to get the e ect

roughly where I want it and then  ne-

tune the adjustment with the arrow keys.

Vignette

 e Vignette control is a powerful way to add

a soft edge to your image layers (Figure 5.52).

To use the Vignette control, click the Vignette

button in the Editing Tools panel.

Figure 5.51 Use the Starting Positions and Ending

Positions settings to control how the effect is used

during the playback of the slide. Here, I’m going from

blurred to focused.

Figure 5.52 Use the Vignette control to add soft edge

effects to layers on your slides.

Editing Images in ProShow

95

ProShow Producer Adjustments

Figure 5.54 By adjusting the size of the shape, you

can mask more or less of the image. This mask is

covering 43 percent of the layer.

Figure 5.53 The Vignette dialog offers a number of

ways to create soft masking effects for images.

With the Vignette control, you can create a

rectangular or elliptical mask with varying

degrees of soft blending (Figure 5.53).  is

is a useful way to view multiple layers on

your slide without the hard edge of a normal

image layer.

For the  rst example, I’ve set Shape to

Rounded Rectangle and set Type to

Transparent. By adjusting the size to 43

percent, I’ve masked o more of the image

(Figure 5.54).

 e Border Size control adjusts the size of

the shape, with smaller numbers creating a

rectangle or ellipse and with larger numbers

making the shape smaller (Figure 5.55).

Figure 5.55 Using a larger Border size setting results

in a smaller visible area with a larger vignette border

applied.

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Chapter 5

ProShow Producer Adjustments

Figure 5.58 Using a rounded rectangle with a solid

color gives the image more of a cutout look.

Figure 5.57 Using a rounded rectangle with a gradient

border offers a completely different feel to the

vignette.

Figure 5.56 An ellipse with transparent border is

perhaps the most common vignette type.

 e di erent types will give your vignette

a completely di erent look. In Figure 5.56,

an ellipse shape with a Transparent setting

masks out everything outside the ellipse.

A Rounded Rectangle shape with a Gradient

setting works well when you want to blend

the vignette with a range of colors or tones

(Figure 5.57).

Finally, a Rounded Rectangle shape with a

Solid Color setting lets you create a vignette

that has more of a cutout appearance by

overlaying a solid color on the layer outside

the shape area (Figure 5.58).