Gobe Productive User's Guide - Working in the Image Processing Environment

- Working in the Image Processing environment
- Image Processing tools and plugins
- Cropping an image
- Deselect and unfloat a selection
- Placing images in other documents

# Working in the Image Processing Environment

Background and Foreground Colors | Change the Background or Foreground Color
Create New Background or Foreground Color | Switch the Background and Foreground Colors

The Image Processing environment is intended for working with an existing image file. If you wish to design and create an image from scratch, the graphics environment is better suited for that work. Image processing is best used to touch up or alter existing image files for placement in other documents or for printing.

For more information on how to alter or retouch your images, see the Image Processing Tools and Plugins topic.

## Background & Foreground Colors

The Color Picker in the PartBar is best described as two colored boxes that refer to the background and foreground colors of the image. The Color Picker allows you to select the foreground and background colors for image retouching or altering. In the image below, the foreground color is black, and the background color is white. These colors are the default for the Color Picker.

Whenever you draw, airbrush, or use the eyedropper or bucket tools, the foreground color is used. On the other hand, if you move a selection, the "blank space" behind the image displays the background color. Use the arrow between the two boxes to switch the foreground and background colors.

### To Change the Background or Foreground Color

1. To select a different color for the background or foreground, right click on the color to display the color palette.
2. Select the color you wish to use.
3. The new color is displayed on the Color Picker.

### To Create a New Background or Foreground Color

1. To create a new color, left click on the foreground or background box of the Color Picker. This displays a New Color dialog box.
   This dialog box may appear different depending on the screen resolution on your system.
2. Select how you want to choose the color from the tab on the top left side of the dialog box. In the example above, the HLS option (the default) is shown. In this case, you use the sliders to select the Hue, Lightness and Saturation of the new color. If you know the exact RGB composition, though, you may want to use the System dialog box, as in the image below.
3. Choose the color you wish to place on the palette. The old color (left color) and the new color (right color) are displayed on the bottom left of the New Color dialog box.
4. Click OK when you have selected the color you want.
5. Click Cancel to close the dialog box and continue using the existing color selection in the Color Picker.

### To Switch the Background and Foreground Colors

Working with the image, there may be times when you want to use the background color as a foreground color or vice versa. In those cases you may want to just switch the colors in the Color Picker rather than create the color a new, or choosing it again from the color palette. To do so, click on the arrow between the two color boxes. The foreground color is switched and becomes the background color, while the background color becomes the foreground color.

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