Xara Photo Editing Tip-The Gradient Map Adjustment in Xara

[Gare]

Xara Photo Editing Tip-The Gradient Map Adjustment in Xara

I’ve seen both a fascination on tg with what Xara Designer can do with bitmap imports, and also a reluctance to explore some of the less exotic capabilities. For example, did you know that you can make both color and monochrome imported photos into sepia tone images? And “Steeltone”? And not only imitation “vintage” photos, but also you can make a color or B&W photo into any two-tone color combination you like?

Xara’s Contone feature—found on the Color Editor (panel) is very much like Photoshop’s Image>Adjustments>Gradient Map, except PS’s Gradient Map Adjustment can use a number of colors in-between one end and the other color. What is happening with both Xara Designer’s Contone feature and PS’s Gradient Map is the darkest color in the target image (brightness values from 0 to 255) is reassigned the color you choose, as is the lightest color in the image. The result when you specify two new colors is that all the colors in the photo are reassigned the new colors, graduating from one at the dark point to the other at the light point, in 256 brightness steps. I’ve never seen banding with only 256 steps, and if you’d like to get down to a little photographic experimentation right now, it’ll take you about 2 minutes to learn and master.

1. File>Import and then choose, let’s say, a JPEG file you have on hard disk.

2. Select the image with the Selector tool.

3. Click the Color editor icon to the left of the color swatches on the Color Line.

4. Click the drop-down list at the top of the Editor, and then choose Light Contone (an abbreviation for “Lightest area in a continuous tone image”). Now, let’s say you mix colors using the HSV model—drag the marker in the color field close to the top right of the color field. This tells Xara to make the lightest area in the photo have the brightness (value) and amount of Saturation you’ve just specified by moving the marker here.

5. Using the Hue slider, choose a color, and color. You’ve just re-mapped the lighter areas in the photo. Next is the darkest area to re-map.

6. Click the drop-down arrow now and choose Dark Contone.

7. Choose a deep, saturated color in the color field, and then drag the Hue slider to the hue of your choice.

Now, if you want a sepiatone photo, your Light Contone should be something of a hex value of e8e8d9, and your Dark Contone for the photo should be a very deep brown, such as the hex color 413409. You really need to work the color sliders because every photo is different.

Now, if you want to do bizarre stuff, as I’m doing to this target image here, you can specify one hue for the Light Contone and a very different one for the Dark Contone. And if you want to simulate a photographic negative, you’d make the Dark Contone a very light color and the Light Contone a dark one.

Hey, have fun with photos in Xara. You can even call it “Xarashop” if you’re on a budget like most of us!







My Best,

Gary