Section 6.3. Notes on Zooming and Scrolling


6.3. Notes on Zooming and Scrolling

Before you get deeply immersed in the editing process, it's well worth knowing how to zoom and scroll around, since chances are you'll be doing quite a bit of it.

6.3.1. Zooming in Any Editing View

You can press the number keys on your keyboard0, 1, and 2to zoom into any of iPhoto's editing modes. Hit 1 to zoom in so far that you're viewing every single pixel (colored dot) in the photo; that is, one pixel of the photo occupies one pixel of your screen. The photo is usually bigger than your screen at this point, so you're now viewing only a portion of the wholebut it's great for detail work.

Hit 2 to double that magnification level. Now each pixel of the original picture consumes four pixels of your screen, a handy superzoom level when you're trying to edit individual skin cells .

Finally, when you've had quite enough of super- zooming, tap your zero (0) key to zoom out again so the whole photo fits in the window. (Zooming into "edit in separate window" mode, by the way, disables iPhoto's zoom-by-changing-the-window- size feature. Tapping the 0 key lets you once again zoom in or out by dragging the window's corner.)

6.3.2. Zooming in "Separate Window" View

If you've opened a photo into its own window, one way to zoom is to change the size of the window itself. Enlarge the window to zoom in; shrink it to zoom out.

But you can make a window only so big before you run out of screen. Therefore, you need a way to magnify the photo independently of its window size.

That's why Apple has given you the Size pop-up menu on iPhoto's Editing toolbar. If it's hidden at the moment, make sure you've opened a photo in its own window, and then click the >> button in the lower-right corner of the window (Figure 6-1). You'll find the Size submenu, complete with larger-than-life settings like 150% and 200%.

6.3.3. Zooming in Full-Screen View

Even though you're getting the biggest view of your photo ever available in iPhoto, that's not the end of the magnification possibilities. You can use the size slider at the bottom of the window (or the 0, 1, or 2 keystroke) to blow it up even more. In fact, once the photo is enlarged so that it no longer fits on the screen, a handy little navigation panel appears (Figure 6-3). You can change your position on the super-enlarged photo by dragging the tiny "you are here" rectangle within the navigator.

6.3.4. Scrolling Tricks (Any Editing View)

Once you've zoomed in, you can scroll the photo in any direction by pressing the Space bar as you drag the mouse. That's more direct than fussing with two independent scroll bars.

Better yet: If you've equipped your Mac with a mouse that has a scroll wheel on the top, you can scroll images up and down while zoomed in on them by turning that wheel. To scroll the zoomed area horizontally , press Shift while turning.

Figure 6-3. While zooming in full-screen mode, you get a handy little navigation panel allowing you to change your position on the super-huge photo by dragging a tiny "you are here" rectangle, as shown here.

6.3.5. The "Before and After" Keystroke

After making any kind of edit, it's incredibly useful to compare the "before" and "after" versions of your photo. So useful, in fact, that Apple has dedicated one whole key to that function: the Control key at the lower corner of your keyboard.

Hold it down to see your unenhanced before photo; release it to see the after image.

By pressing and releasing the Control key, you can toggle between the two versions of the photo to assess the results of the enhancement.

6.3.6. Backing Out

As long as you remain in Edit mode, you can back out of your changes no matter how many of them you've made. For example, if you've adjusted the Brightness and Contrast sliders, you can remove those changes using the Edit Undo Brightness/Contrast command ( -Z).

The only catch is that you must back out of the changes one at a time. In other words, if you rotate a photo, crop it, then change its contrast, you must use the Undo command three timesfirst to undo the contrast change, then to un-crop, and finally, to un-rotate.

But once you leave Edit modeeither by closing the photo's window or by clicking the Done buttonyou lose the ability to undo your edits. At this point, the only way to restore your photo is to choose Photos Revert to Original, which removes all the edits you've made to the photo since importing it.


Tip: If you prefer to edit your photos in the main iPhoto window (rather than in a separate window), you'll be tempted by the presence of a big fat Done button that you can click when you're finished editing. But if you plan to edit another photo, you can save yourself a click by not clicking on the Done button, and clicking instead on another thumbnail (at the top of the editing window). iPhoto saves the changes to your existing image, then opens the next one for you.



iPhoto 6
iPhoto 6: The Missing Manual
ISBN: 059652725X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 183

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