Altamira Composer (tm)
Altamira Software Corporation (c) 1993
 
1-800-4ALTAMIRA

Tutorial 
 
This document provides a tutorial to get you started with Altamira Composer. You can run Altamira 
Composer at various resolutions, but for this tutorial, we assume a display resolution of 800x600. If you use 
a larger display, the tutorials will work fine but appear smaller in the view window. If you use a 640x480 
display, you may need to pan the view every so often.
More information on any function described in this tutorial can be found by selecting Help from the 
Altamira Composer main menu.
Each step in the tutorials is either numbered or bulleted.
Most of the functions you use in Altamira Composer are located at the top of your screen in two general 
areas:
 
o	The drop-down menus contain all of the program's functions.

o	The two rows of tool bars beneath the menus contain most of the menu functions.
 
The left half of the lower tool bar contains 13 swap buttons. You can access different groups of swap 
buttons by right-clicking anywhere over the tool bars.
These tutorials specify the tool bar buttons, unless a function exists only in the menus. The tutorial steps 
name the button function. In addition, the name of the function is displayed by the mouse cursor when you 
point to the tool bar button.


Tutorial Overview
 
Altamira Composer uses a new concept called Dynamic Alpha (tm) that provides transparency to the pixels in 
your raster images. In turn, this transparency provides smooth, anti-aliased edges and lets you work with 
multiple images as if they were objects. With this technology, you can compose your pictures using multiple 
images - like a collage.


Setting Up a Composition
 
You'll begin by establishing a new composition, and then loading a picture that was taken from a Kodak 
PhotoCD (tm) disk. You'll use the picture to create a composition for what could become a book or magazine 
cover.
 
1.	From your Windows desktop, double-click the Altamira Composer icon to run the program.
 
2.	Click the Windows maximize buttons in the Altamira Composer window and in the View 1 
window to enlarge them to full size.
 
3.	Select the File menu, and then click on New Composition.
 
Result: The New Composition dialog box appears.
 
Note:  If you've been using Altamira Composer before starting this tutorial, a message first appears asking if 
you want to save the current composition. Answer No, unless you want to save your work, in which case you 
should answer Yes and enter a filename in the resulting file dialog box.
The New Composition dialog box contains various options. You could simply accept the default values in 
the dialog box, but for the sake of example, you'll create a composition size that's smaller than your current 
view window.
 
4.	In the Width field, enter 600; in the Height field, enter 400.
 
5.	Click on OK.
 
Result: A light gray rectangle appears in the darker gray background of the view window. 
The light gray rectangle is called the composition guide. As its name implies, it's only a guide to give you an 
idea of the size of your composition. It's one part of the area seen through your view window, all of which is 
called the void. You can place and arrange any number of images anywhere on the void, regardless of the 
size of the composition guide. However, when you print your composition, only the images on the 
composition guide are printed. In addition, the upper-left corner of the composition guide specifies the 
origin, or beginning of the Altamira Composer coordinate system. Thus, the x coordinates begin at 0 at the 
upper-left corner of the composition guide, and move in a positive direction to the right, and a negative 
direction to the left. The y coordinates likewise begin at 0 in the upper-left corner and move in a positive 
direction downward, and a negative direction upward.
 
Your composition guide can be any color. Here's how to change it:

1.	From the Options menu, select View Options.
 
Result: The View Options dialog box appears.
 
2.	In the list window at left, click to select Composition Guide Color.

You'll make a white composition guide.
 
3.	Enter 255 in each of the RGB (red, green, blue) fields, and then click on OK.
 
Result: The composition guide turns white.
 
 
Loading an Image 
 
Now you can load the first image:
 
1.	In the top tool bar, click the Open Image  button.
 
Result: A file dialog box appears.
 
2.	Use the file dialog box to access the composer\images directory.

o	Use the List Files of Type drop-down menu to select JPEG images (*.jpg).

o	Select and load: model.jpg.
 
Result: A picture of a model wearing a red hat appears in the upper-left corner of your View window.
The picture you've just loaded is an image, which is the basic component that makes up a composition. You 
can have any number of images in your composition, and each is a 32-bit raster picture. The term 32-bit 
means that 24 bits of data describe the red, green, and blue (RGB) of each pixel in the image, while 8 bits 
describe the pixel's alpha transparency. (The term pixel is short for picture element, and refers to the 
smallest changeable element in a picture.)
Images are either loaded into a composition from disk, or created by one of the functions in Altamira 
Composer.
 
As you'll see, you can move an image anywhere over the void. There are also functions that let you move the 
void within the view window. For example, you can use the Center on Image button to move the view so that 
the current image is in the center of the view window.
 
o	Click on the Center on Image button  in the sliders bar below the view window. (It's just to the left 
of the color swatch in the center of the sliders bar.)

Result: The image is now in the center of the view window.
Remember, you haven't actually moved the image, only the view.

 
Adjusting the Composition Guide 
 
You can drag images anywhere on the screen. For example, you might want to move the current image away 
from the composition guide.
 
1.	Move the mouse anywhere over the image, hold down the left button, and drag the image to the left.
 
Result: A bounding box outline appears, representing the image.
 
2.	Release the mouse when the bounding box is near the left edge of the view window.
 
Result: The image is redrawn at the left side of the view window, revealing the composition guide.
 
For this tutorial, you'll create a composition that's the same size as the image of the model. As a result, you 
want to adjust the composition guide to be the same size as the current image. To find out the size of an 
image, plus other information, you simply double-click on the image:
 
1.	Double-click on the image of the model.
 
Result: An Image Info dialog box appears.
 
Among other things, you see Dimensions=309x449. This is the width and height of the image in pixels. You 
can use this to change the size of the composition guide:
 
2.	From the File menu, select Compositions, and then select Composition Info.
 
Result: The Composition Info dialog box appears.
 
The Composition Info dialog box is almost exactly the same as the New Composition dialog box, except 
that it lets you change your composition settings without erasing the images in your scene.
 
3.	Enter 309 in the Width field and 449 in the Height field, and then click on Modify. 
Result: The composition guide is reduced in size.
 
Finally, here's an easy way to place the image accurately over the composition guide:
 
4.	Click Home  in the upper tool bar to return the image to its original location.
 
The Home function returns an image to the place it was first loaded or the place it was created. In this case, 
the image of the model was loaded into the upper-left corner of the composition guide, which is where it 
returns. As you'll see later, you can set the Home position of an image to any position you like.

 
Creating a Locked Background 
 
All of the images in a composition remain floating, so you can move them anywhere at any time. In some 
cases, such as when a large image is used as a background, you don't want to move it accidentally. You can 
prevent any image from moving by locking its position. 
In this tutorial, you'll use the picture of the model as a background and lock its position.
 
1.	Click the Lock Position button  in the top tool bar row.
 
2.	Try to drag the image.
 
Result: The image is locked in place and you can no longer move it. (Images are unlocked by repeating the 
Lock Position command.)

Note: Images are locked for convenience only. You don't have to lock an image, and any image can be used 
as a background, or you can have no background at all and use the composition guide.

 
Multiple-Image Libraries 
 
Altamira Composer has a special type of file, called a library file, that contains several images. You use it 
when you want to organize and store multiple images, usually of a single category. For example, you're 
going to add a flower to the model's hat. In your composer\libs directory, you'll find a library file of flowers 
that you can choose from.
 
1.	In the top tool bar, click Open Library.
 
2.	Select flowers.all, and then click on OK.
 
Result: Four flowers appear on your screen.
 
Each of these flowers is a separate image. Using the Spline function in Altamira Composer, they were cut 
out of a rectangular picture of a bouquet of flowers. Since each flower is a separate image, you can move 
them anywhere on screen.
 
o	Take a moment to drag the flowers into different positions on the screen.
 
Notice that some flowers appear in front of others, while all of the flowers are in front of the model. Each 
image in a composition maintains its own layer position in a stack, from front to back. You can change the 
order of the images in the stack, as we'll demonstrate later.
 
Notice also that only one image is active at any time. This is called the current image. As you move the 
mouse over the current image, its cursor changes to an arrow with a small box to indicate that you are over 
the current image.
 
All of the functions in Altamira composer act on the current image. In most cases, the current image is the 
last image you clicked on. However, when you load an image or create an image, the new image becomes the 
current image.
 
You can always tell which image is current by pressing the Shift key:
 
o	Press, and then release the Shift key.
 
Result: A bounding box appears briefly around the current image.

 
Selection Sets 
 
Sometimes, you want a function to affect more than a single, current image. In such cases, you can place two 
or more images into a selection set. A selection set is a temporary selection of multiple images that makes all 
of them the current image.
Most of the functions in Altamira Composer can be applied to a selection set of images. For example, in this 
exercise you want to keep the daisy flower for the model's hat and delete the remaining flowers. Rather than 
deleting them one at a time, you can put them in a selection set, and then delete the selection set.
 
There are several methods of selecting images. You've already seen how to select a single image by simply 
clicking on it. You can select multiple images by drawing a box around them, you can select all images in 
the composition by using the Select All command, or you can use the additive selection method 
demonstrated below:
 
1.	Click on one of the flowers, other than the daisy.
 
2.	Hold down the Shift key.
 
Result: The bounding box appears around the selected flower.
 
3.	While pressing the Shift key, click on another of the non-daisy flowers.
 
Result: The bounding box expands to enclose both of the selected flowers. 
Both flowers are now a part of the selection set.
 
4.	Still pressing Shift, click on the third non-daisy flower.
 
Result: All three flowers are surrounded by the bounding box.
 
5.	Release the Shift key.
 
Note:   If you get carried away and include the daisy in your selection set, click anywhere outside of the 
selection set to cancel it, and then repeat steps 1 through 5.
 
6.	Click Delete  in the top tool bar row.
 
Result: The three selected flowers are deleted.

 
Putting the Flower in the Hat 
 
Now that you've got a pair of images, you can begin to create a composition. You'll start by putting the daisy 
in the model's hat.
 
o	Drag the daisy to the crown of the hat, as in the following illustration.
 
It looks pretty good already. The edge of the daisy is clean and smooth against the hat because Dynamic 
Alpha provides an antialiased edge no matter where you place the daisy. You can improve the effect, 
however, by putting the flower behind the brim of the hat. To do this, you make a mask in the shape of the 
brim. You'll use the Spline tool to make the mask. 
Move the daisy out of the way, so you can work on the brim of the hat:
 
1.	Drag the daisy off to either side of the model image.
 
2.	Click anywhere on the model image to make it the current image.

 
Setting the Spline Options 
 
A spline is a curved image that is created by clicking to set several points, called ducks. After that, you edit 
the spline by moving, inserting, or deleting the ducks before, finally, rendering the spline as an image. There 
are a number of options that you can preset to determine how your splines will be drawn-filled or unfilled, 
open or closed, and so on. These are set in the Spline Options dialog box. 
Spline is one of the Geometry tools. You can place all of the Geometry tools on the tool bar by changing the 
13 swap buttons on the left side of the lower tool bar.
 
1.	Right-click anywhere over the tool bars.
 
Result: A pop-up menu appears listing groups of swap buttons.
 
2.	 Select Geometry.
 
Result: The 13 swap buttons (the leftmost buttons in the lower tool bar) are replaced by new buttons 
containing Geometry commands.
 
3.	Click Spline Options (near the right end of the Geometry swap buttons).
 
Result: The Spline Options dialog box appears.
 
A spline can be filled or unfilled, open or closed; and an open spline can taper so that the start and end of 
the spline change color, size, and opacity. For the masking spline that you'll create, you want a closed spline 
that uses all of the current settings in the sliders bar at the bottom of the main screen.
 
4.	Click on the Through button, so that the spline runs through the ducks instead of near them.
 
5.	Click on the Closed button, and then make sure that the Fill box contains an X. (If not, click in the 
Fill box to place an X.)
 
6.	Place Xs inside the Opacity and Closed boxes below Current on the left side of the dialog box. 
This means that the spline will be drawn using the current settings specified by the opacity slider and 
current color swatch in the sliders bar.
 
7.	Click on OK to exit the dialog box.

 
Creating the Spline Mask 
 
In the following steps, you'll use the Spline tool to draw a spline in the shape of part of the hat brim. You'll 
then render the spline using the Texture option. This will copy pixels from the brim to the spline image-
resulting in a mask image.
 
1.	Press Shift to make sure that the picture of the model is the current image.
 
2.	Make sure that the opacity slider on the left side of the sliders bar is set to 100.
 
3.	Click Spline  to begin the creation of a spline image.
 
Result: The mouse cursor changes to an arrow tip.
 
4.	Click to set the ducks in the order and placement shown in the following illustration. Set the ducks 
carefully along the brim of the hat. The remaining ducks, below the brim, can be almost anywhere.

5.	After you've placed the ducks, right-click to display a pop-up menu, and then select Done.
 
Result: The spline outline remains on the screen. As you move the mouse around the spline, single squares 
appear near the mouse.
 
The small squares are the ducks that you set. You can drag any of them to adjust your spline. You don't have 
to click right on a duck to drag it; you can click anywhere to drag whichever duck is visible.
 
6.	Drag the first duck you placed down slightly, and then adjust the duck to its right, until the top of 
the spline is properly aligned with the brim of the hat. (You don't have to be perfect, Dynamic Alpha will 
give you a clean edge.) For best results, place the edge of the spline slightly below the upper edge of the 
brim.
 
7.	Right-click to display a pop-up menu of choices.
 
There are three ways in which you can render a spline or polygon. If you choose Color, the spline appears in 
the current color. If you choose Erase, the spline cuts a hole in the current image, and no new image is 
created. If you choose Texture, The pixels of the current image that overlap the spline are copied into the 
spline.
 
8.	Select Texture.
 
Result: The spline outline disappears, but nothing seems to be created.
 
The spline is there, but you can't see it because it's a perfect copy of the image beneath it, and there's no 
seam at its border because of the smooth, alpha edges. 
Note: If, when performing the above steps, the image beneath the spline is not the current image, the spline 
will be rendered in the current color, regardless of which option you choose. If this should happen, you can 
use the Texture Full command among the Textures swap buttons to texture the spline. To do this, you would 
select Texture Full, and then click on the image that's overlapping the spline.
 
1.	Press Shift briefly to see the bounding box of the spline image.
 
2.	Pass the mouse over the image and watch its cursor change to indicate where the current image is.
 
3.	Drag the spline image to one side so you can see it.
 
4.	Click Home  to return the image to its original location.
 
Now that you have a mask image, you can put the flower behind the brim of the hat:
 
o	Drag the daisy to the hat.
 
The illusion works because the images are maintained in a layered order and Dynamic Alpha provides a 
smooth edge to the textured mask image. The stack order of the images is correct in this example because 
you loaded the picture of the model first, then loaded the daisy, and then created the mask. Images are 
initially layered from back to front as they are loaded or created.

 
Creating a Shadow 
 
In the following steps, you'll use five new commands-Duplicate, Color Atop, Wash, Blur, and Erase-to 
create a shadow for the daisy. You'll also take a quick look at the Color Selection dialog box. 
To begin, you'll make a copy of the daisy, and then use the Color Atop command to create a black silhouette 
of the flower.
 
1.	Make sure that the daisy is the current image (press Shift).
 
2.	Click Duplicate  in the top tool bar to create a copy of the daisy.
 
Result: The duplicate is placed at the front of the stack, so the daisy appears to have jumped to the front of 
the brim.

 
Color Selection 
 
You'll use the Color Atop command to make a black silhouette of the duplicate daisy. First, you need to 
make the current color black. The current color appears in a color swatch in the sliders bar at the bottom of 
your screen.
 
1.	Click on the current color swatch.
 
Result: The Color Selection dialog box appears.
 
The current color appears in the Current swatch and the changed color appears in the New swatch. You can 
enter colors numerically in the Red, Green, Blue or Hue, Saturation, Value fields, or drag the cursor within 
the color box. You can also adjust your colors by dragging the triangles representing Hue, Blackness, and 
Whiteness.
To create the color black, do this:
 
2.	Drag the triangle in the Whiteness column all the way to the top.
 
3.	Drag the triangle in the Blackness column all the way to the bottom.
 
4.	Click on OK.
 
Result: The current color swatch is now black.

 
The Color Atop Command 
 
The Color Atop command is one of the Touchup tools. It applies the current color to the non-clear pixels in 
the current image. (Another Touchup command, Color Over, lets you apply color anywhere within the 
bounding box of an image.)
As with all Touchup tools, you can apply the color in one of three ways: using a paintbrush, using a brush 
template, or by applying it to the full image. You select the means of application by clicking on one of the 
three applicator buttons in the sliders bar.
In this case, you want to color the entire shape of the daisy, so you'll use the full image applicator.
 
1.	Click on the full image applicator button in the sliders bar. (The applicator buttons are to the right 
of the current color swatch.)
 
 
2.	Make sure that the opacity slider on the left side of the sliders bar is set to 100.
 
3.	Click Color Atop  (toward the right side of the lower tool bar). 

Result: The daisy turns black.

 
Positioning the Shadow 
 
Now that you have a shadow, you can position its offset, and place it below the original daisy.
 
1.	Drag the black daisy up and to the right about 1/4-inch.
 
2.	Click Behind  in the top tool bar, and then click on the original daisy.
 
Result: The shadow is now behind the daisy, but in front of the hat.
 
The Behind tool is one of the stack functions that let you specify where in the stack layer of images you 
want the current image. In this case, after selecting Behind, you click to specify which image you want the 
current image placed behind. Other stack functions let you place the current image up or down, one image at 
a time, or to the front or back of the stack.
 
 
Adding Transparency 
 
This would be a more realistic shadow if it were transparent. With Altamira Composer, you have complete 
control over transparency because you have complete control over alpha-which controls transparency. 
Using the Wash command, along with the opacity slider at the bottom of your screen, you can reduce the 
opacity of the shadow image.
 
1.	Adjust the opacity slider to 70.
 
2.	To access the Wash command, right-click on the tool bars and select the Effects swap buttons.
 
3.	Click Wash.
 
Result: The shadow is now partially transparent.
 
The opacity slider affects the amount of Wash applied to the image. A lower number would have made the 
image more transparent. If you're not sure of the amount you want, you can begin with a high number, and 
then repeat the Wash to increase the transparency. In this case, for example, you might want the shadow to 
be more transparent.
 
4.	Click Wash again.
 
Result: The shadow appears clearer.


Using Blur and Erase 
 
You can make the shadow appear out of focus by blurring it. This is simply a matter of applying the 
function to the shadow image.
 
1.	Make sure the shadow is the current image. (This is the last time we`ll nag you with this reminder.) 
Just keep in mind that every function is applied to the current image. If you make a mistake, click Undo  
before proceeding.
 
2.	Click Blur.

Result: The Blur dialog box appears.
 
You can blur the pixels horizontally or vertically using the controls in this dialog box.
 
3.	Make sure the Horizontal equals Vertical option is checked, enter 4 in the Horizontal value field, 
and then click on OK.
 
Result: The shadow is blurred.
 
Notice that, since every function is applied to the current image, you don't have to worry about masking and 
selection areas. The current image is the selection area. For example, the tips of the shadow are sticking up 
over the top of the hat. You can use the Erase tool with a paintbrush to get rid of them without affecting the 
other parts of the composition. 
Erase is another Touchup tool. It's on the lower tool bar right next to Color Atop. If you'll recall, you used 
Color Atop with a full-image applicator to create the black daisy. This time, you'll use the Erase Touchup 
tool with a paintbrush applicator to localize its effect.
 
1.	Click on the paintbrush applicator button to the right of the current color swatch. 
A paintbrush is a small, circular shape that you can drag across the image to apply the Touchup function. 
The size of the paintbrush is controlled with the brush size slider, which is the second slider in the sliders 
bar. The edge of the paintbrush (soft, medium, or hard) is controlled by the button to the right of the brush 
size slider.
 
2.	Set the opacity slider to 100.
 
3.	Set the brush size slider to 24 (all the way to the right).
 
4.	To the right of the brush size slider is the brush edge button. Click it several times while observing 
the black dot in its center.
There are three settings for the brush edge-soft, medium, and hard. With each click, the dot changes in size 
to represent one of these settings.
 
5.	Set the brush edge to medium.
 
6.	Click Erase.
 
Result: The cursor changes to a small circle.
 
7.	Drag the mouse over the portions of the shadow that stick up beyond the crown of the hat.
 
Result: The shadow is erased where you drag the brush.
 
Again, notice that you don't have to worry about accidentally erasing the daisy or the satin background. You 
only affect the current image. (If you accidentally erase too much of the shadow, click Undo, and try again.)
 
8.	To exit the Erase tool, right-click and select Done, or press Enter.

 
Adding Text 
 
You might want a title for your composition. Here's how to add text:
 
1.	Click Text  in the lower tool bar.
 
Result: The Text dialog box appears.
 
You can use any font in your Windows system. To choose a font, do this:
 
2.	Click on the Select Font button to display the Font dialog box. 
The fonts are listed in the window at left. You can scroll through and select any font you'd like to use for 
the composition.
 
3.	Click to select a font. (If you have CaslonOpenFace, choose that.)

Result: An example of the selected font appears in the Sample window.
 
You can select from the point sizes at right, or enter a custom point size. For this composition, you need a 
custom size:
 
4.	In the Size field, enter 60.
 
5.	Click on OK to return to the Text dialog box.
 
6.	In the text field at the top of the dialog box, enter: 
DAISY 
 
7.	Click on OK.
 
Result: The word "DAISY" appears as an image.

 
Creating a Ramp 
 
The text appears in the current color, which is black. Using the Texture command, however, you can make 
your text any color or pattern. You'll use the Ramp function to create an image consisting of a gradient of 
colors, and then apply those colors to the text.
 
1.	Drag the text image a few inches away from the corner of the view window.
 
Note:  To select the text image-or any image, you must click on the non-clear pixels in the image. Every 
image is a rectangle, as you can see by their bounding boxes when you move or select them. But the alpha in 
some images makes certain pixels transparent. The pixels that do show are the non-clear pixels. In the case 
of the "DAISY" text image, the non-clear pixels define the letters, and the remaining pixels are clear. We 
call the non-clear pixels the shape of the image.
 
2.	Click Ramp  in the lower tool bar.
 
Result: The Ramp dialog box appears.

A ramp is a gradient of two or more colors. Using the Ramp dialog box, you can create a rectangular pattern 
with smooth gradients of color across four directions. The four color swatches in the dialog box represent 
the colors of the pixels in the four corners of the rectangle you will draw. 
For this example, you want a two-color gradient, running from yellow at the top, to red at the bottom. Begin 
by changing the upper-left color swatch to yellow:
 
3.	Click in the upper-left color swatch.
 
Result: The Color Selection dialog box appears.
 
4.	Drag the triangle beside the Whiteness bar all the way to the top.
 
5.	Click anywhere in the Hue/Blackness color box (the largest box), and drag the mouse toward the 
yellow area to select a yellow color.
 
The Hue/Blackness box is arranged by hue (color) horizontally, and by blackness vertically. Thus, the pure 
hues run along the top of the box, and then increase in blackness downward. Once you've found a yellow 
that you like, you can adjust its hue by dragging the triangle at the top of the Hue/Blackness box. You can 
increase its blackness by dragging the triangle in the Blackness side of the box, and increase its whiteness 
by dragging the triangle beside the Whiteness column.
 
6.	After selecting the yellow, click on OK.
 
Result: The Ramp dialog box reappears with the new yellow color in the upper-left color swatch.
 
Since you want only a two-color ramp, you'll copy the yellow to another swatch:
 
7.	Make sure the Copy option is checked, and then click on the vertical button beside the upper-right 
color swatch.
 
Finally, create the red colors for the ramp:
 
8.	Click in the lower-left color swatch.
 
9.	Select a red color, and click on OK.
 
10.	In the Ramp dialog box, click on the vertical button beside the lower-right color swatch to copy the 
red to it.
 
Result: You should now have four color swatches with yellow in the upper two swatches, and red in the 
lower two.
 
11.	Select OK.
 
Result: The cursor appears, shaped as a corner triangle.
 
12.	Drag a box over the "DAISY" text that just covers it in height, but is an inch or so longer in width.
 
Result: When you release the mouse button, the box outline remains on screen.
 
You're now in box edit mode, which is similar to spline edit mode. Every function in Altamira Composer 
that begins by defining a box, gives you an opportunity to edit the size and placement of the box before 
proceeding. As you move the mouse, handles appear at the sides, corners, and center of the box. You drag 
the handles to adjust the box. When the handle is in the center of the box, you can drag the entire box to a 
different position.
 
13.	If necessary, drag the handles to adjust the box. Its height should just cover the text, and its width 
should extend beyond the text by about an inch on one side or the other.
 
14.	When the box is as you like it, right-click and select Done, or press Enter.
 
Result: A yellow-to-red gradient box appears.
 
Notice that you don't apply a gradient directly to the text image. In Altamira Composer, all of your raster 
images are treated as objects-including the ramps. Once you've created a ramp image, you can use any of the 
Altamira Composer functions to alter the ramp before applying it to another image with the Texture 
command (described next). For example if you wanted a diagonal ramp, you would simply rotate the ramp 
image. In this case, however, you'll use the ramp as created. But first, you need to lower it in the stack so 
you can see your text image:
 
1.	Click Lower to place the ramp image one layer toward the back of the stack so the "DAISY" image 
appears.
 
2.	Click to select the text image.

 
Using the Texture Command 
 
You'll use the Texture command to copy the ramp to the text image. The Texture command works very much 
like the Texture option that you used previously when you created your spline mask. It copies the pixels 
from a selected, overlapping image into the current image.
 
1.	Click Texture  in the lower tool bar, and then click on the ramp.
 
Result: "DAISY" is textured, and seems to disappear.
 
Again, the text image is still there, but since it's now identical with the ramp image, you can't see it.
 
2.	Drag the ramp image away to reveal the newly ramped text image.
 
3.	Click Delete  to delete the ramp image.

 
Aligning Images 
 
There are several Align commands that let you align two or more images in various ways. You can use two 
of them to align the text image with the bottom center of the background image.
 
1.	From the swap buttons, select Align.
 
2.	With the text image current, click Align Centers , and then click on the background image.
 
Result: The text image is aligned to the center of the background image.
 
3.	Click Bottoms , and then click on the background image.
 
Result: The text image is moved to the bottom of the background image.
 
You can also move an image using the cursor arrow keys. This is especially handy for precise image 
placement. As a default, the current image moves one pixel at a time when you press the cursor arrow keys, 
and 10 pixels at a time when you combine the Ctrl key with the cursor arrow keys. 
The default settings for the cursor-key offsets are maintained in the Options menu, just like the Spline 
options that you set earlier. Each time you adjust these options, they remain in effect until the next time you 
change them.
 
Check to see that the current cursor-key offset is the default setting:
 
1.	From the Options menu, select Edit Options.
 
2.	In the resulting dialog box, select Small Cursor Key Offset, and then click on the Default button.
 
The Small Cursor Key Offset is the distance the image will move when you press the cursor key. The Large 
Cursor Key Offset is the distance it will move when you use the cursor key with the Ctrl key.
 
3.	Select Large Cursor Key Offset, and click on the Default Value button to set it to 10 pixels along 
X and Y.
 
4.	Click on OK to exit the Edit Options dialog box.
 
Now, move the text image up:
 
5.	Hold down the Ctrl key and press the up cursor arrow three times.
 
Result: The "DAISY" text moves up from the bottom of the background image.

 
Automatic Drop Shadow 
 
There's an Effects function that automatically adds a drop shadow to images. You can use it here to make 
the text stand out. First, you'll check that the options for the drop shadow are set to default:
 
1.	In the Options menu, select Tools Options.
 
Result: The Tools Options dialog box appears.
 
There are three options you can set for your shadow: color, offset, and opacity.
 
2.	From the list at left, click to select Shadow Color, and then click on the Default Value button.
 
3.	Find Shadow Offset and Shadow Opacity, and set them to their default values.
 
4.	Click on OK.
 
Now, apply the drop shadow to the text:
 
1.	Right-click on the tool bars, and select the Effects swap buttons.
 
2.	Click Shadow  to shadow the text.
 
Result: A semi-transparent drop shadow appears under the text.
 
Earlier, you went through several steps to create a drop shadow for the flower in the hat. Why bother, you 
might ask, when you can simply click a button to create a drop shadow? Well, the shadow you've just 
created for the text is part of the raster image. If you attempt to Blur it or Wash it, for example, all of the 
image will be altered, including the text. Also, since the flower's shadow is still a separate image, you can 
still adjust its position in relation to the flower. The text drop shadow, on the other hand, is locked to the 
text. 
There are advantages to both shadowing techniques. One is faster, and the other is more flexible. For the 
greatest flexibility in Altamira Composer, build your compositions with many separate images. Later, you 
can convert a group or selection set of images into a single raster image with the Collapse command . But 
once you've collapsed a group, you can no longer affect its isolated images without affecting the whole 
image.

 
Going Home 
 
You've seen how the Home command sends an image back to the position at which it was created (or 
loaded). Using the Remember command, you can specify any position on screen as the image's home. For 
example, of the images that make up your composition, the background, the flower, the flower-shadow, and 
the text images are no longer in their home positions. Only the mask image (remember the mask image?) is 
in its home position where you created the original spline. 
Let's say you're satisfied with your composition as it stands. You might want to fiddle with it later-adjust an 
image here and there-but you don't want to forget the current position of the images. Here's how to reset the 
home positions for all of the images:
 
1.	Click Select All  in the top row of the tool bars. 

Result: All images are selected as current.
 
2.	Click Remember  in the top row of the tool bars.
 
Result: The home positions of all of the images are reset to their current positions.
 
Now, you can prove that each of the images has a proper home. But first, you must deselect the set of 
images. When images are selected, you need to click outside of the selection set before you can reselect a 
single image.
 
o	Click on the void, outside of the images.
 
Note: The void is the area of the screen that you see behind your images. Much of it is gray, and it includes 
a rectangle of another color called the composition guide.  For now, all you need to know is that the void is 
somewhat like the Windows desktop. You can move images over it, but you can't paint on it or otherwise 
alter it.
 
And now, move the images away from the background:
 
1.	Select the text image, and drag it off to the left.
 
2.	Repeat the process with all of the remaining images (except for the background image, which is 
locked in place). Drag the flower, flower-shadow, and mask images off to the left and right sides. 
You can see that the original picture of the model is untouched. One of the nice things about working with a 
composition is you don't have to alter your original images. You can create a completely different picture 
using a collection of images. Because of Dynamic Alpha, all of the edges are perfectly anti-aliased, and 
there are no seams.
 
Now, restore your composition by sending all of the images home:
 
3.	Click Select All, and then click Home. 

Result: The images fly to their home positions, restoring the composition.


Saving a Composition 
 
In the full version of Altamira Composer, at this point, you would use the following steps to store your 
current collection of images to disk as a new composition:
 
1.	Right-click on the tool bars and select the Compositions swap buttons.
 
2.	Click Save Composition As.
 
Result: A file dialog box appears.
 
3.	Enter a filename, and then click on OK.
 
Result: The current composition is stored on disk.
 
As you continue to edit and change your composition, you can select Save Composition to resave new 
versions of the composition under the same filename. If you wanted to create a new version of the 
composition with a different filename, you would select Save New Composition again.

 
Clearing a Composition 
 
Before proceeding, here's how to clear all of your images from the screen and start with a clean screen, do 
the following:
 
1.	Click New Composition.
 
2.	In the resulting dialog box, leave all of the settings as they are, and click on OK.

Result: The screen is cleared of all images.
 
Here's another way to clear all of the images from your screen without beginning a new composition:
 
1.	Click Select All.
 
2.	Click Delete.
 
Note:
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Tutorial (c) 1993 Altamira Software Corporation - All rights reserved.
