Images

Images are the basis of Comic Life — they're always handy in the Library, and can be be manipulated in many ways.


Finding your images.

In Photos, you can browse through your My Pictures folders. In Explorer, you can browse through the Windows filing system. Use the bottom slider to control the size of the previews, and the top menu to choose the folder/device that you want to preview. Comic Life can open most image file formats.
 

Adding images.


When you find an image you like, you can grab it and drag it into a Panel. You can always just drag it on the page by itself if you want, but a panel will allow you to clip the image so you only see the parts you like.





When placing the image in a panel, you need to move the mouse cursor over the panel itself, so when you release your picture it will be 'put inside' the panel. This is how you can control if a Panel clips the sides of a photo off — if your mouse cursor is inside the panel, then the photo will clip. TIP: If you can't get the right placement/ clipping, then try putting the photo down and picking it up from a different part.

Once your image is placed in a panel, it will expand to make best use of the panel space. Now is the opportunity to make sure your image is placed exactly as you want it.

Working with multiple images in a panel

Multiple images may be placed into a single panel by holding down the 'Alt' key when dragging an image into a panel. Each image may have its own scaling, style, rotation and placement. You can work with each image by double clicking on a panel. Then, single click to select the image you want to work with.


1. Single click


2. Double click


Manipulating images.


An image can:

- Be clipped at the edges of a panel, by making sure the mouse cursor is within the panels edges when you release your photo
- Be rotated by grapping the purple rotate handle. Holding down shift will lock rotation into 90 degree angles  — handy for changing landscape to portrait layout
- Be rescaled on the fly by dragging the green selection circles
- Be flipped on either axis by utilizing the Image Attributes in the Details view
- Have its own independant frame and shadow

TIP: If you have many overlapping windows and it becomes difficult to grab your photo, try to grab it by the semitransparent circular handle in the middle. This will always allow you to drag.


Help! My images are locked in a panel!

Comic Life 'locks' the image into a panel after you deselect it — this makes it easy for you to move you new panel and image around as a unit. But if you decide you want to edit your image (or delete the image from a panel), just remember to DOUBLE CLICK. This will select the actual image inside a panel, and now you can re-size, rotate etc until you are happy. Then just click in some space to deselect the photo, and it will lock back in.


Notice the differences between a clipped image, and unclipped image within a Panel.