Bob Hawkins

EER, I thank you for your prompt reply. I have Align Object already, but had clearly forgotten it since I used it last.

I wish to centre in both height and width of A4 pages a number of 600 point-size letters to make up a name, one letter per A4 sheet. I need to use Paint.NET in order to make use of Pyrochild's Outline Object. Using the Text tool, how can I centre the capital letter 'I' and the capital letter 'W' in the overall 210 millimetres width, for example? And how can I centre both in the 297 millimetres height?

Ahmed, You understood my question perfectly, and I thank you for your explanation. Bob

I create 16x16 pixel icons for use in my mapping software. I notice, when picking colours from the colour palette and dropping them into my grid using the brush tool, the initial colour is not its full intensity and that it is increased each time I click the mouse. This resulted in different hexadecimal values for each pixel square, which is unacceptable for my purposes. However, I discovered while writing this post, using the pencil tool drops the full colour intensity into the square. Now I am curious to understand why the two tools operate differently and how one knows, if using the brush tool, when full intensity is reached.

I have heard of .jpg files and lossy compression. My camera produces 2592x1728 pixel files. I notice that cropping an image and resizing it to fit 15cm x 10cm photo paper results in significant loss of definition. Should it make any difference saving to .png, for example, or is the damage already done because the camera creates a .jpg file instead of a lossless compression file?

I have used my HP printer software in the past to print camera 2592x1728 pixel .jpg images to 15cm x 10cm photo paper. I notice that when I use Paint.NET to resize and what I assume to be the HP Photo Printing Wizard to print, the resulting print loses definition by comparison. This happens whether or not I save the resized image. Is there something I am not doing correctly?

pyrochild, Many thanks!

I began posting in 2009. I note now that the link in an email notification from that time (http://paintdotnet.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=31638, for example) produces a 404 error. Does this mean those posts and replies are no longer available, or are they available somewhere else? My Profile lists 30 Posts, but only 12 are visible.

I posted recently regarding colour level adjustment that is no longer available to me in my new HP Photosmart printer software. SAND33P kindly pointed me to colour plugins. I duly downloaded Tanel's Color Mixer, which appears will carry out the task I require admirably (I thank you). I am fascinated to know, however, the reason for both RGB and ink colour (cyan, magenta and yellow) sliders, and how each set or both is/are used and in what contexts. Previously, if my photographic prints were automatically heavy in red, I would reduce the magenta and yellow in varying percentage points, for example, because only the printing ink colours were available to me.

SAND33P I thank you very much for your informative response. I looked at the various 'Color' Plugins. I have downloaded two so far - 'Color Balance+' and 'Color Mixer'. I do believe a solution to my requirement can be found in one of the Plugins on offer. I tend to forget they exist. I am very grateful.

This is a long shot: I purchased a HP Photosmart CN503B printer yesterday to replace my Photosmart C5180. The Photo Printing Wizard for the C5180 allowed me to alter the individual colour levels and brightness through the 'Features' or 'Advanced' tab (I cannot remember which) in 'Printing Preferences'. This was most useful, because I typically reduced the magenta and yellow by 10% and increased the brightness similarly for best results. I cannot see that I have that option through the software for this latest model. In the absence of this facility, is there any way in which Paint.NET can assist, or does anyone know of another solution?

Sarkut I have the two files open, the Mask layer above the person layer with both layers checked, all as in the tutorial. I press 'Ctrl' + A, then 'Ctrl' + C and get a message, "There was an error copying the image to the clipboard". Any ideas? I've done it! Simply using 'Ctrl' + C without 'Ctrl' + A seems to have made the difference. Removing the checkmark against the Mask layer and selecting the Image layer before opening the Alpha Mask plugin seem to be key. I thank you for the link to the invaluable tutorial and for your advice and patience.

Sarkut I am sure that your procedure is precisely what I need. Sadly, in spite of my many hours trying, I have not been able to achieve the desired result. May I state what I have done so far, bearing in mind that I have one .jpg file that is the complete photograph that will have a person added to it, and one .png file that is the person extracted from another photograph: I created an outline on a new layer over that part of the person from the complete photograph who is to be in front that will cover the person who is to be behind. I used the Magic Wand to select the mask area, coloured it black with Paint Bucket, inverted the selection, switched to the layer that is the photograph and pressed 'Delete' to remove the surrounding area, leaving the mask itself. I deleted the layer that is the photograph and saved the result as Mask.png. This where it goes wrong: I open the .png file of the person and 'Import From File...' the mask. I can move the mask over the person but, having pressed 'Ctrl' + C and activating the Alpha Mask plugin, nothing happens, although I have managed in the past to remove everything but the mask area. Will you or someone help, please?

mountnman I understand what you write and thank you for it. As you indicate, there is a fair amount of work involved. However, in the absence of anything simpler or quicker, it is certainly a solution for what I am trying to do. I thought that something might exist along the lines of a mask being made from an outline, or polygon, of part of the person in front, which, when placed appropriately over the person to be behind, would delete that area. (So difficult to describe in words!)

mountnman Thanks - I'll experiment with them, too.

Sarkut Many thanks - perfect!

I have isolated a person in a photograph using a combination of Magic Wand and Eraser. I notice, when I open the resulting .png file in another application, such as Paint, where the background is black, that there are numerous tiny bits that I have missed. This is mainly due to the confusing nature of the grey/white chequerboard, even when I am at 800% zoom, say. Is there any method that I can employ to ensure no such bits are left behind? I notice, too, when using the eraser, that it might take two or three clicks to obtain a completely white square. I do not understand what this is about. Is this supposed to happen? Even more problematical is knowing when part of a greyish background over a grey chequerboard square has been completely erased.

I have successfully isolated a person from a photograph, saved it as a .png file, imported it as a layer with another photograph, and flattened it to create one image. What I now want to do is have this person positioned partly behind another. Is there a tutorial for this, or can someone instruct me, please?

Sarkut I thank you for your reply. I came across this suggestion earlier and tried it. There are two issues, as far as I am concerned: 1. it is awfully difficult to maintain the mouse in precisely the same position while pressing 'Enter' with the other hand, and 2. the end result does not, in any case, appear to produce a closed polygon, which is what I think I need. I have also tried the polygon plug-in from Simon Brown, but I can't get it to work for me, as in 'The polygon tool is basically a line tool - exept that when you right-click somewhere after drawing a line - it will draw another line from the last drawing postion to the current position.'.

I have a photograph of a person whose outline I wish to trace using a series of straight lines, then complete as a polygon by finishing at the point I began. The Paintbrush and Pencil tools do not seem appropriate, because I do not see the facility to draw straight lines. I should have thought the Line/Curve tool would have been the one to use but, having drawn a line to a particular point, I cannot see how I continue it in another direction. I feel so silly asking this question because it seems such a standard thing to want to do, yet I have not been able to find the answer myself. I should appreciate someone's help very much.

Further to my previous post, I have discovered Layer Saver. It would seem from at least one person's post concerning Layer Saver that I am not alone in experiencing manipulation in Paint.NET becoming ever slower and more painful as I added layers. Perhaps the Layer Saver tool will prove useful in this regard.

Sarkut, Aha! Getting there; many thanks.

EER, I have read what I could find on ScriptLab and downloaded the necessary .dll files to see whether I could determine by myself what I had to do, following your suggestion. I must ask you for further help, however, as I have no experience or knowledge of scripts and how to put in practice what you suggest could be an answer to my requirement. I have been able to ascertain so far that if, from the ScriptLab dialog box, I choose 'Panelling', 'Add Effect', then double click on the new entry in the right-hand pane, I can enter measurements in the resulting dialog box that are repeated each time I choose that item. To repeat it, it seems it only works if I select 'Repeat ScriptLab', not go to the ScriptLab dialog box. I do not understand how to change the title to something meaningful, nor do I know the purposes of 'Save' or 'Load'.

Ego Eram Reputo, Many thanks for pointing me to MadJik's Panelling tool. It helps, certainly, in the absence of a tool into which I can enter actual coordinates. There are two issues as far as I am concerned: 1. The dialog box measurements are in pixels, which requires the rulers to be changed to determine the required location, if working in centimetres or inches. 2. Having moved an image, then requiring it to be moved further, the image will move again to that previous number of pixels entered as soon as the dialog box is opened, which then requires a reset before entering the new measurement. This applies not only to this tool but others in Paint.NET that I haved used, too. I wish that the dialog box had no effect like that and even more, in the case of the Rotate tool, that resetting displayed the actual angle of the image, rather than returning to zero even though the image is at an angle. (Of course, there is always the likelihood that I am using such tools improperly!) I do not want these comments to suggest I am ungrateful, so I reiterate my thanks to MadJik for the tool and to you for directing me to it.

Neil, Many thanks for taking the time to investigate this issue in detail.