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 Standard
Mode vs Basic Mode
PhotoImpact 10 has two work modes, Basic and Standard.
Basic Mode features a simplified workspace with larger buttons
and the most common functions whereas the Standard Mode displays
all of the functions. We will be using the Standard Mode
in this tutorial.
To check your mode, click Workspace on the Menu
Bar. If the Standard Mode is greyed out, that means you are already
in the Standard Mode. If not, click Standard Mode now.
Warning: If
you switch from Standard to Basic Mode, and you have custom settings,
you will lose all your custom settings.
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| 2 |
Let's Get Started!
Download the file required for this tutorial and unzip it to
a folder on your hard drive. When you've done that, open PhotoImpact,
click on File/Open and browse to where you saved your file (you're
looking for pipe.ufo). Double click on it and your kit should
now be open in your PI workspace.
Please note that the tools we're going to use on this pipe
kit can only be used on image objects rather than path shapes,
therefore every part of this kit has been converted from path
to image for you.
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| 3 |
The Layer Manager.
Click on layer manager button 
where you will see all the parts of your .ufo listed. Notice the
simplicity of the shapes used to create this kit. Hold down the
Ctrl key on your keyboard and then in the layer manager select
the base and tube part of your pipe by clicking on them to highlight
them.
Right click on your mouse and then click on "Merge
as a Single Object". You will see in the layer manager how
the two objects have been combined and that there are now only
3 parts to this pipe kit plus the base image.
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| 4 |
The Burn Tool - Used to darken areas of objects.
Click on the downward facing triangle of the retouch tool 
to access the Burn Tool 
Change the preset in the attributes bar to Wide
Burn....All other presets will change automatically and should
look like this:  The
higher the level is set, the darker the burning will be. The
softer the edge, the wider the burn will be.
Run the burn brush slowly along the top edge of
the pipe in one sweeping movement to darken it and then do the
same on the bottom edge. Going over it a second time is likely
to make it too dark but you may like to try it and if you're
not happy with the effect, press CTRL-Z to undo the burn and
try it again, perhaps even using a different level or soft edge.
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| 5 |
The Dodge Tool - Used to lighten areas of objects.
Change to the Dodge Tool 
Change the settings in the attributes bar to reflect those
I have here: 
The higher the level is set, the lighter the dodging will be.
The softer the edge, the wider your dodged area will be.
Run the dodge brush 3 or 4 times up the center of the pipe
with a slow continuous sweeping movement to lighten just that
area. If you're not happy with the effect, press CTRL-Z to undo
the dodge and try it again, perhaps even using a different level
or soft edge...It's good to experiment a bit.
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| 6 |
The Blur Tool - Used to blend pixels to give a smoother look
from one colour to the next.
Notice how the area between the darkened bits and the lightened
bit needs to be blended a little? Let's do that now using the
blur tool 
Change the settings in the attributes bar to reflect those I
have here: 
The higher the level is set, the more blurred your blended area
will be. The higher the soft edge, the wider the blur.
Run the blur brush along the top and bottom edge of your pipe
a couple of times to blend the dark and light areas. Use a slow
continuous sweeping movement and be careful not to blur the midline
of the pipe. If you're unhappy with the result, remember you can
press CTRL-Z to undo and then start again perhaps using a different
level or soft edge.
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| 7 |
Cleaning up
To clean up our pipe and give the lightened area a sharper look,
let's use the dodge tool
again.
Change the settings in the attributes bar to reflect those I
have here: 
or experiment with your own level setting.
Run the dodge brush once only from left to right on the lower
middle part just above the darkened area.
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| 8 |
Finally
We have one last thing to do to finish off this pipe and make
it look a little more realistic....
Activate the the mottled ellipse shape by clicking on it and
then click on the dodge tool
Change the settings in the attributes bar to reflect those
I have here: 
Click 3 times in the lower right quadrant of the mottled ellipse
shape to brighten that area a bit.
All that's left to do now is to right click on
your mouse to "Select All" and then right click again
to "Merge as a Single Object." Your finished pipe
should look something very similar to this:
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| 9 |
Decoration
Here are just a few examples of how you can decorate your pipe.
Remember to keep in mind perspective if you decide to put something
onto the pipe itself and remember also to consider light direction....you
may wish to use the 3 retouch tools we have covered in this tutorial
to assist you.
  
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| 10 |
More Examples
Here are a few other examples of clipart that
I've made and which too have benefitted from the dodge, burn
and blur treatment.
  
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