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    Maybe my needs aren't so simple...

    ...that I can use Irfan View in place of, say, PaintShop Pro.

    Seemingly simple examples - how can I easily open two images, and paste one atop the other? Does this require plug-ins, or is this simple (I thought) process beyond IrfanView? After all, I know, it is a viewer, but its capabilities have grown such since I last checked, I presumed/assumed it had picked up more of the low-end photo-editing features.

    I need to stick a mugshot onto a background. I thought it's simple, because it really takes 2-3 clicks in most programs (4-5 if I want to add a drop shadow.)

    Am I missing the obvious, again?
    Thanks,
    Barney Lerten-Bend, Oregon

    #2
    The obvious thing is, that it's not a matter of 'in place of'. They are two applications, parallel in the field, each with its own reasons to choose for, in a certain situation.
    When do you take the car, when do you take the electric bike ?
    But don't demand from the bike that you will keep dry when it's raining.
    Enhancements in functioning are ok, but it shouldn't be a goal to imitate something like PSP.

    Both issues you mention, pasting upon a background, and the dropshadow, has to do with 'layers', a thing discussed in a lot of threads on this forum. In fact this is a matter of dimensions.
    A background image is 2-D, x and y coordinates. Flat. With layers, an image becomes 3-D with a z coordinate.
    Layers on top or below each other.

    I'm not sure about the status of the pasting option in PSP to use a 'Floating Selection' instead of as Layer.
    It feels like something inbetween. Maybe this could be a status which could be introduced in IV.
    Because I agree, that it would would be nice to do a simple 'paste one atop the other'.
    Question stays : in what way ? A simple paste atop would mean that you only see the upper one then.
    The setting of transparency comes around the corner here.
    0.6180339887
    Rest In Peace, Sam!

    Comment


      #3
      Sam,
      Thanks for the reply. I think most programs - Premiere Elements, PaintShop Pro - understand the thing I'm asking to do - say, put a 145-pixel-wide mugshot inside a 320-pixel-wide "frame," so to speak - on the top, new layer ("paste as new layer" is the option: - then "layer styles" allows a simple drop shadow. As I said, it's as close to automated as can be.
      But as I say, I'm fully aware they have fleets of developers pounding the stuff out, and IrfanView is a much smaller labor of love that does 75 percent of what I need/want to do. And it's only human nature to try to get closer to 100 percent, without needing to necessarily delve into x, y and z coordinates, or transparency (which I'm not seeking, really, and never need to address in those other programs.)
      Would I like a free program to do all of what I consider "basic" tasks? Of course. But I'm also realistic, and happy it does what it does. Probably everyone has a different idea of what's a "basic" task, which is why I asked, in gentle tones;-)

      Comment


        #4
        Can be different indeed. But I don't consider an occasional dropshadow as a basic tool, compared to cropping an image.
        Maybe it's not common, but my human nature isn't trying to achieve 100 percent all the time. If 60 percent does the job, it saves energy. And I say this in a gentle tone too.
        0.6180339887
        Rest In Peace, Sam!

        Comment


          #5
          Create a custom selection on the background the same size as the mugshot, and paste into the selection.
          Before you post ... Edit your profile • IrfanView 4.62 • Windows 10 Home 19045.2486

          Irfan PaintIrfan View HelpIrfanPaint HelpRiot.dllMore SkinsFastStone CaptureUploads

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            #6
            Originally posted by Bhikkhu Pesala View Post
            Create a custom selection on the background the same size as the mugshot, and paste into the selection.
            Exactly ... thats the way it can be done!

            You could choose a smaller selection size also, although you'll have to be carefull to maintain the propotion of the selection to the picture to be pasted!

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by BarneyL View Post
              how can I easily open two images, and paste one atop the other?
              It is more simple than you might imagine. You don't even need to have the two images open at the same time, either.

              Assuming you only need to insert a rectangular picture (or crop portion of a picture) into a rectangular "hole" of another picture (or it can even be another area of the same picture):
              1. Open Picture1 and select the portion you want with a left-click and drag
              2. Press Ctrl-C to Copy that area
              3. Go to Picture2 and left-click-drag to select the new area
              4. Press Ctrl-V to Paste

              Done! The copied-from area does not have to be the same size as the paste-to area, the size will adjust.
              Last edited by ChuckE; 18.09.2007, 09:49 AM.
              I wish to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather.
              Not like those passengers, in his car, when he drove over that cliff.

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                #8
                Cool. I didn't know about this adjustment.
                0.6180339887
                Rest In Peace, Sam!

                Comment


                  #9
                  With a little finagling and finesse, IrfanView can do some pretty fancy tricks. Here's a paste-on with a thin inner frame (by IrfanPaint) and a simple drop-shadow (shifted custom selection + color adjustment). The outside part is just lightened and zoom-blurred.
                  Attached Files
                  Its: Belongs to "It"
                  It's: Shortened form of "It is"
                  ---------------------
                  Lose: Fail to keep
                  Loose: Not tight

                  ---------------------
                  Plurals do not require apostrophes

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Very nice work. Maybe the forum can have a gallery with examples including explanations.
                    0.6180339887
                    Rest In Peace, Sam!

                    Comment


                      #11
                      matera,
                      Your image is a great example of what I would like to be able to do with IrfanView but have never been able to figure out how ... I've always gone to another tool to do it. IrfanPaint now seems to bring some great additions to the tool that further leverage its capabilities.

                      Would you be willing to post the steps you did to create that image ... maybe expanding a little more on what 'little finagling and finesse' really takes?

                      Comment


                        #12
                        His "image"? Do you mean his avatar that gets presented alongside his name in these threads?

                        All you need to do (and none of the finer steps am I going to go through, right now) is take an existing picture you want to use and change the size (using IrfanView makes this easy) to the limits permitted. (See the "Note: The maximum size of your custom image is 80 by 80 pixels or 19.5 KB (whichever is smaller)."
                        Save your new small image.

                        Then click on the "UserCP" link at the top, left of the page.
                        Then select "Edit Avatar"
                        Use Option 2 to "Upload Image From Your Computer" using your saved small image (from the earlier step).
                        and then finally [Save Changes].


                        -------- And some people may not realize this, and if so ... ---------
                        (Any avatar used is a variable. As the webpage is built in your browser that avatar is pulled from the database and included on the page at the time. That means if you were using avatarA yesterday, and now avatarB today, and avatarC, you will see a different avatar, alongside any of your messages (old or new), change each day. Another example, months ago I used one of the many penguin avatars already existing on this board. Going back to read any of my very old messages you will see my current avatar alongside.)

                        The same sort of variable idea with the "signature" line at the bottom of your messages. It will change per what you currently have defined.
                        I wish to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather.
                        Not like those passengers, in his car, when he drove over that cliff.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by ChuckE View Post
                          His "image"? Do you mean his avatar that gets presented alongside his name in these threads?
                          I think Jim was referring to this image attached to Matera's earlier post.
                          Before you post ... Edit your profile • IrfanView 4.62 • Windows 10 Home 19045.2486

                          Irfan PaintIrfan View HelpIrfanPaint HelpRiot.dllMore SkinsFastStone CaptureUploads

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                            #14
                            Yeah, now that I re-think it, I am sure you are right. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
                            I wish to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather.
                            Not like those passengers, in his car, when he drove over that cliff.

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