Using the Effects Panel

Although the B & W and Sepia commands still exist in the contextual menu, their buttons have been replaced in iPhoto 6 by the Effects panel, which provides single-click access to a variety of different effects.

To use the Effects panel:

1.	Click the Effects button. iPhoto opens the translucent Effects panel (Figure 4.32; opposite page).
2.	Click a button in the Effects panel to apply the associated effect to the current photo.

Tips

• For all the buttons other than B & W, Sepia, and Original, clicking the button multiple times applies the effect again and again. I recommend you do this because you can achieve some really interesting results with multiple applications of an effect.

• You can combine effects simply by clicking multiple buttons. For instance, make a photo look old by clicking Antique and Vignette a few times.

• Click the Original button to revert to the original look of the photo; this is a fast way to undo a number of changes in the Effects panel.

• Edge Blur, combined with cropping, can be a good way to focus attention on the subject of the photo.

Effect Descriptions

Since the Effects panel does such a good job of showing what the result of clicking its buttons will be, refer to Figure 4.32 on the opposite page for examples.

• B & W: Makes the photo black-and-white. There's no point in clicking it more than once.

• Sepia: Makes the photo sepia-toned, exactly as the Sepia command in the contextual menu does. There's no point in clicking it more than once.

• Antique: Desaturates the color in the photo and gives it a sepia tint for that old-time look. Click it multiple times to reduce the color saturation and replace more of the color with sepia.

• Fade Color: Fades the color in the photo, exactly like moving to the Saturation slider in the Adjust panel to the left. Click it repeatedly to remove all color.

• Original: Returns the photo to its original look with a single click.

• Boost Color: Increases the color saturation in the photo, exactly like moving to the Saturation slider in the Adjust panel to the right. Click it multiple times to make the photo's color truly shocking.

• Matte: Applies a white oval mask around the photo. Click it multiple times to increase the size of the mask, obscuring more of the picture.

• Vignette: Exactly like Matte, except its mask is black, instead of white.

• Edge Blur: Exactly like Matte, except its mask consists of blurred pixels in the photo, instead of plain white.

Figure 4.32. iPhoto 6's new Effect's panel enables you to apply a wide variety of effects to your photos.