# data_content

c0url: tools_palette.html
c1subject: Tools Palette
c2body:
<% if (writer.contextType() == "html") { %>


<%'
<style type="text/css">

#main table {
    margin-left: 20px;
    width: 90%;
}

#main tr {
    border-bottom: solid 1px rgb(240, 240, 240);
}

#main td {
    padding-top: 4px;
    padding-bottom: 4px;
    width: auto;
}

#main td:first-child  {
    padding-right: 10px;

}

</style>

'%>
<% } %>
Tools Palette & Inspector Palette

The tools palette contains the icons of the tools that you can use to manipulate your image.  When you click on a tool icon, its corresponding settings will show up in the upper portion of the inspector palette.  


Tools Palette
￼
Tools for Moving Around
￼
Move (Shortcut 'v')

You can use the move tool to click on a layer and rearrange the order of your layers. You can also use it to click on graphics in a shape layer, change the bounds of an image, or move the image. This is your go-to tool to start moving things around in Acorn.

￼
Zoom (Shortcut 'z')

The zoom tool is used for magnifying your image so you can see those pixels up close and personal.  It can also be used for zooming out. To zoom in with the tool, simply click, or to be more specific, drag a box around the area you want to end up on. To zoom out, hold down the option key and click. Once you start getting familiar with this action, you can also use the keyboard shortcuts (⌘ +) to zoom in and (⌘ -) to zoom out.  

￼
Crop (Shortcut 'c') 

The crop tool is for cropping your image down to a smaller size.  Use it to define the area of your image you would like to keep. You will notice as you drag it around that there are lines dividing the new image up. These lines are helpful when choosing how to crop an image.  Please read up on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds for more information.  If you make a mistake, place your mouse near one of the borders of the crop area and drag it out to change it.  When you are happy with the area you have selected press return to accept, or esc to cancel.

￼
Panning / Hand Tool (Shortcut 'h' or hold down 'space')

If you are zoomed in on your image or it is too big for you to see the entire thing on your monitor, use this tool to move your view around. Try out the shortcut of holding down the space bar.  Once you get used to it, you will use this tool all the time.


Tools for Drawing and Retouching

￼￼

Paint and Pencil (Shortcut 'b')

This is your most basic tool for getting new pixels down on the canvas.  You can adjust the size of the brush and opacity for different results.  Holding down the shift key will let you draw in only straight lines.

￼￼
Eraser and Instant Alpha (Shortcut 'e')

The eraser and instant alpha are good for removing pixels from a bitmap image.  If there is a layer underneath it, it will be exposed.  For more on how layers work, read the layers basics page. You can also hold down the shift key to erase in straight lines.  Instant alpha is an erasing tool that has similar qualities to the magic wand selection tool.  Click on the color you want erased and simultaneously drag outwards to increase the erasing tolerance, or inwards to decrease.  

￼
Flood Fill (Shortcut 'k')

The flood fill tool works similarly to the magic wand.  Instead of selecting an area, the flood tool replaces the color you clicked on with the foreground color.  The tolerance setting lets you adjust the thoroughness of the fill.  Try experimenting!

￼
Gradient (Shortcut 'g')

Use the gradient tool to fill in your image, shape, or selected area with a gradual gradient. The linear gradient tool will produce a gradient from the point you click to the place where you release your click, while the radial tool will produce a circular gradient expanding from where you initially clicked on the canvas to where you release your click.

￼￼￼￼
Clone, Smudge, Dodge, and Burn Touchup Tools (Shortcut 'Shift-O')

Holding shift (⇧) and repeatedly pressing "O" will cycle through all the touchup tools.  The clone tool is typically used for removing unwanted items in a photo.  The smudge tool takes a color from where you start and smears it into other colors of your image, like smearing wet paint.  This is useful for removing flaws from photos.   The dodge tool lightens the pixels you paint which is helpful if you want to lighten certain areas of your image.  The burn tool works in the same way as the dodge tool, only it darkens the pixels rather than lightens them.


<% if (writer.contextType() == "html") { writer.write("<hr/>"); } %>

Tools for Performing Selections

￼￼￼￼
Rect, Oval, Free, and Polygon Select Tools (Shortcut ‘shift-m’ to cycle the tools, ‘m’ for the rectangle selection tool)

These tools will allow you to make various types of selections in your image.  Use the rectangular selection tool to make a straight rectangular selection, the oval tool to make a round selection, or the freehand tools to make a selection that goes wherever you want.  If you have a selection and would like to select another area as well, hold down the shift key while using one of the selection tools and the new area will be added to the existing area.  Similarly if you selected something you don't want, you can hold down the option key while using one of the tools and the new area will be subtracted from the existing selection.  If that sounds confusing, give it a try and see what happens. 

￼
Magic Wand (Shortcut 'w')

The magic wand tool works by selecting a single pixel, and then expanding that selection out to neighboring pixels that are the same color.  You can adjust the tolerance so that there is a little bit more freedom in determining if a neighboring pixel should be selected or not.  This is helpful for selecting a uniform background color and deleting it quickly.  Play around with tolerance and feathering to improve the result.  The tolerance of the wand can be adjusted in the tools palette, or by clicking on the desired color in your image while simultaneously dragging outwards or inwards.  


<% if (writer.contextType() == "html") { writer.write("<hr/>"); } %>

Vector Tools

￼￼￼￼￼￼
Shapes (Shortcut 'p', 'r', 'o', ‘;’)

Shapes include the bezier, rectangle, ellipse, line, arrow, and star tools.  You can easily add a stroke, fill, and corner radius to your shapes from the inspector palette.  You can also modify the angle of the shape and apply a drop shadow. Add shapes to your image, then easily edit them later on by using the move tool to select, move, and adjust the shape dimensions.  For more options with shapes, check out the 'Shape' menu item.


￼
Text (Shortcut 't')

The text tool allows you to put text onto an image.  Select the tool and click once on your image to bring up the text bounding box where you can start typing.  Once you are done hit the escape key, click outside the bounding box, or change to the move tool to solidify the text that you have written.  By using the move tool you can move the text around, rotate it, and align it however you want. 

If you are looking for more options with the text, go to the menu item Window ▸ Fonts to pull up the font palette.


<% if (writer.contextType() == "html") { writer.write("<hr/>"); } %>

Colors


￼


The two color wells represent what you have currently set as your front or stroke color (top left) and back or fill color (bottom right).  You can tell which color well is currently selected by the light blue outline that appears around the edges.  You can click on a color well to select it, or use keyboard shortcut ‘shift-x’.  Clicking on the arrows on the top right allow you to quickly switch the color positions, or you can use keyboard shortcut ‘x’.  If your colors aren't currently set to black and white, you can re-set them by clicking the square box on the bottom left.   The eye dropper on the bottom right allows you to click on any color in your image, and it will then show up in the currently selected color well.    


<% if (writer.contextType() == "html") { writer.write("<hr/>"); } %>

Inspector Palette

The inspector palette is where the currently selected tools' options are available.

As you can see in the image to the right, the paint tool's options are currently displayed in the upper portion of the inspector palette. You can modify the brush size, opacity, style of brush as well as open the brush designer.  Different tools have various settings you can modify, so be sure to play around and experiment with each tool.  

The lower portion of the inspector palette includes the layers list, blending modes, opacity slider, and options for manipulating layers.  You can read more about the layers list and its various options in the tutorial, 'layers basics'.  

￼


c0url: transforming_layers.html
c1subject: Transforming Layers
c2body:
Transforming Layers

￼

These fruit images will be the foundation of this tutorial on how to use Scale Transform, Free Transform, and Perspective Transform.


Scale Transform

Select the layer you wish to work on.  The kiwi will be used first.



￼


Now that the layer is selected, choose Layer ▸ Rotate and Transform ▸ Scale and Rotate (⌘⇧T).  A box will appear around the selected item. There are points at each corner of the box.

When you roll over any corner of the box, outward facing arrows will appear, giving you the ability to scale your item. Click and drag the cursor towards the inside of the layer to make it smaller, and to the outside to make it larger. Your layer will keep the same original proportions. You may also move the layer by clicking on the inside of the layer (a fist icon will appear) and dragging to move it around your canvas.
￼
Rotating

If you hover outside of the selected area rotating arrows will appear.  By clicking and dragging, you can rotate the layer.  You can also rotate and scale the layer by using the inspector palette.

The kiwi has been made smaller and rotated 90 degrees.
￼

<% if (writer.contextType() == "html") { writer.write("<hr/>"); } %>


Free Transform

Once again, select the layer you wish to transform.  The strawberry has been selected here. To select free transform, choose Layers ▸ Rotate and Transform ▸ Free Transform.  A box will appear around the selected item.  When you roll your cursor over the corners of the box an icon like this will appear:
￼  It will change depending on the point you select. By dragging any of the corners you can change the shape and size of the selected item. Unlike scale transform, this will not keep the proportions the same as the original. To preserve the proportions while using free transform, hold Shift while dragging out the corners of your object. You may also move and rotate the object, just as in scale transform.

The strawberry has been made longer.
￼

<% if (writer.contextType() == "html") { writer.write("<hr/>"); } %>


Perspective Transform

Again, select the layer you wish to modify in the layers list.  Choose Layers ▸ Rotate and Transform ▸ Perspective Transform.  The box will appear around your layer. With perspective transform you will not be able to rotate your object, although you will still be able to move it around by clicking and dragging.

Instead of the points moving with each other, they will move independently creating the look of perspective.

This is useful if you want your image to look like it is pasted onto an item in perspective. 


￼
<% if (writer.contextType() == "html") { writer.write("<hr/>"); } %>

Below is an example of Perspective Transform being used to make it look as if the Flying Meat logo is painted onto a wall.

￼


<% if (writer.contextType() == "html") { writer.write("<hr/>"); } %>


c0url: tutorials.html
c1subject: Tutorials
c2body:
<% if (writer.contextType() == "html") { %>


<%'
<style type="text/css">

#main table {
    margin-left: 20px;
    width: 90%;
}

#main tr {
    border-bottom: solid 1px rgb(240, 240, 240);
}

#main td {
    padding-top: 4px;
    padding-bottom: 4px;
    width: auto;
}

#main td:first-child  {
    padding-right: 10px;
}

#main tbody tr:nth-child(2n+1)  td {
    background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);
}

</style>
'%>
<% } %>
Video Tutorials

Beginner

Opening an Image 
The basics of how to open your image in Acorn.
Creating a New Image
A couple of different methods for creating a new image.
Saving an Image
A basic review of how to save an image you have opened and modified.
Using Layers Part 1
An introduction to the layers list, opacity slider, and blending modes.
Using Layers Part 2
How to add multiple images to your layers, then rotate and move them around.
Shape Tool Basics
Get acquainted with the basics of the shape tools.
Text Tool Basics
New to text?  Learn how to get started with this tutorial.
Selection Basics
An introduction to the various selection tools.
Paint Tool Basics 
How to use Acorn's paint tool and a few nifty brush tricks.
Quick Mask Basics
Discover how to use quick mask mode to remove a background.
Filters Basics
Learn the basics of how to use Acorn's powerful new filter interface.
Using Acorn with iPhoto
Two different methods for using Acorn as the image editor with iPhoto.
Bezier Curve Tool Part 1
A quick introduction on how to use the Bezier tool.
Bezier Curve Tool Part 2
How to draw a Bezier Curve then modify its anchor points and add more anchor points.
Remove a Background
Use instant alpha and the eraser tool to remove an image background.
Introduction to Curves
Learn about using curves to adjust the shadows, midtones, and highlights in your image.
Straighten a Crooked Image
How to quickly straighten your crooked photos.
Adjust the Color of the Sky
Use the magic wand and gradient tools to adjust the sky color.


Intermediate

Making a Specific Selection Size
How to set a selection with specific dimensions.
Watermarking
How to use Acorn to watermark your images with text or with another image.
Locking Layer Transparency
Use a layer mask to preserve layer transparency.
Covering Things with Selections
Cover up objects in an image like a pro.
Touching Up Skin Tone
Use levels, selections, and blending modes to change colors of specific areas.
Fade Out Techniques
Learn how to use layer masks and gradients to fade out your image.
Clipping to a Shape Layer
Discover how to use blending modes to clip to a shape layer.
Background Blur Filter
How to use the background blur filter to quickly blur a specific area of your image.
Make a Vector Cog 
Learn how to use shape tools and boolean operations to create a cog shape.

Photo Touchup Tutorials

Beginner

Straighten a Crooked Photo
Straighten up images that turned out a bit crooked.
Black & White
A few different ways of converting a color photo into black & white. 
Sepia Tone
How to give your photo a classic look.
Clone Tool
Learn how to efficiently use the clone tool.

Intermediate

Red Eye Removal
Get the demons out.
Changing Colors
How to change eye and hair colors.
Restoring and Coloring Old Photos
Learn how to make an old black and white photo a color photo.
Soft Lighting
How to create soft lighting using filters and gradients.
Color Correction
Too dark?  Too blue?  Learn how to fix it using levels and filters.
HDR Effect
Give your photos a high dynamic range appearance.
Lighten or Darken
How to lighten and darken specific areas of your image. 
Color Correcting Part 2 
Fix poor contrast and washed out images with blend modes.
Retouching a Portrait
Learn how to whiten teeth, add lipstick, and brush on some eyeliner.
 



General Acorn Tutorials

Beginner

Inserting Images
How to insert and resize images.
How to Fade Out Your Image
Fade out your image using layer masks, gradients, and selections.
How to Remove a Background
Learn a few different ways to get rid of that pesky background.
Applying Texture
How to apply texture to your image using blending modes.
Quick Mask
Introduction to Quick Mask mode (see also the companion video).
Filter Examples
Single filters applied to an image of the Space Needle and a plain rectangle.
Shape Brushes
Create your own shape brush.
Cropping a Photo
How to crop a photo to prepare it for printing.

Intermediate

Creating Seamless Textures
Removing the line of demarcation from tiled textures.
Layer Mask Examples
Different ways to use layer masks.
Shapes in Layer Masks
Do you want to use a shape layer as a mask?  Here's how.
Watermarking a Single Image
How to watermark an image.
Automating Watermarking
Use Automator to add a custom watermark to multiple images.
Making Seamless Tiles
How to make a tile that can be repeated seamlessly.
Drop Shadow Variations
Ways to create a custom drop shadow.





Photo and Design Tutorials

Beginner

Add a Border
How to give your image a simple border.
Making Your Own Texture
Make brushed metal and leather textures.
Coloring a Sketch
Color in a sketch just like the kids do!
Color Highlight Tutorial
How to colorize areas in a black and white photo.

Intermediate

Photo Inside a Photo
Take a photo and embed another photo inside of it with a nice border.
Lifted Image Edges
How to create the effect of lifted image edges.  
Photo Booth Layout
Create the layout of a photo booth strip.
Photo Collage
Give multiple photos a border and drop shadow to create a digital collage.
Scrapbooking
How to create digital scrapbook pages.
Compositing Photos Tutorial
How to mix separate photos fluidly into one.
Image to Illustration
Turning a photograph into an outline illustration.
Create Invitations
How to create your own invitation.
Depth of Field
Create depth of field to focus on a subject.
Digital Postcard
How to create your own digital postcards.
Light Designs
Creating neato light effects.
Photo Cutout
Use this technique to create depth in an image.
Vintage Photo Effect
How to give your photographs an older look.
Photo Manipulation
Making bizarre images in Acorn.
Holiday Card
Make your own greeting card!
Stitching
Create the appearance of stitching on an image.
Creating Weather
How to make snow or rain fall in your image.
Custom Clouds
Create your very own unique custom clouds.
Frame Your Image
How to create a digital frame.
Creating Creases
How to create the appearance of creases in your image.
Mounting Corners
Add mounting corners to your image.
Aurora Borealis
How to create a starry night with an aurora borealis effect.  
Panorama
How to combine image to create a panorama.  
Vignette Effect
Add interest to your image with this soft effect.  
Give Yourself a Tattoo
How to freak out your parents.  
Create a Sphere
Create a sphere using the shape tool, gradients, and filters.    
Animate an Image
Use Acorn and Keynote to animate an image, our most ridiculous tutorial yet!
Jagged Image Edge
Give your image edges a rough irregular look.
Bokeh Effect
Create a Bokeh effect that you can use as your desktop picture.
Create a Box
Make a custom gift box that you can print out and fold.


Advanced

Create a Book
How to create the appearance of a 3 dimensional book.
Pop Art Effect
How to create the look of pop art with your image.
Aging a Face
Use layer masks to add wrinkles and texture to a face.  
Making a Custom Web Button
How to make a custom web button using gradients, shapes, and text.
Lightning and Electricity
Customize and create lightning or electricity.
Make a Puzzle
Give your image the appearance of a puzzle



Text & Shape Tutorials

Beginner

Gradient Text
Learn how to apply a gradient to your text.
Drop Shadows
How to apply a drop shadow to text and shapes.

Intermediate

Cutout Type
How to create type that looks cut out from the background.
Filling Text
How to fill text with an image or pattern using 'paste into' and 'fill'.
Placing a Photo Into Text
How to make it appear as if a photo is inside text using selections and rasterization.
Giving Text Shadows and Reflection
Give text a shadow and reflection to create depth.
Leaves on Text
Making it appear as if leaves are covering text.
Creating Pressed Text
How to create the look of pressed text.
Gold Text
Creating text that looks like gold.
Weathered Text
Create the appearance of weathered or scratched text.  
Wood Text
Making text that appears to be cut from wood. 
Outer and Inner Glow
How to give your text a glow effect.
Rock Text
Learn how to chisel your text from rock.
Text to Bezier Shape
Modify your text in neat ways by converting it to a Bezier shape.
Retro Star
How to use shapes, gradients, and filters to create a shooting star.
Vector Clouds
Create vector clouds easily by using shape operations.
Vector Flowers
Learn how to use the star shape tool to make easy and beautiful flowers.
Create a Cogwheel
Easily make a cogwheel or gear using the star shape tool and Boolean operations.

Advanced

Comic Text
Create the look of action text seen in comics.  
Batman Logo
Create the batman logo from scratch using shape operations.
Cartoon Character
Learn how to use vector shapes to make a fun cartoon character.
Vector Pig
How to make a cute pig and landscape using vector shapes and gradients.


c0url: type.html
c1subject: Type
c2body:
Text and Font Manager



Acorn gives you the option to use its integrated text palette, or to call up the OS font manager.  


Text Options

￼
 When you select the text tool (keyboard shortcut "T"), you will see your cursor change to the type cursor.  You can create an area to type by clicking inside your image, or clicking and dragging a bounding box onto your image.  When you click to start typing the bounding box will be small, but it will adjust to your type.


Text Color  
￼
To change the color of the text or stroke you can click on a color well in the tools palette to access the colors palette.  The foreground color is the stroke color and the background color is the text fill.  Alternatively, you can select your text and bring up the color palette by going to Window ▸ Colors, or typing the keyboard shortcut ⇧⌘C.   
￼

<% if (writer.contextType() == "html") { writer.write("<hr/>"); } %>
  
Stroke, Fill, Shadow

Stroke is the outline of the text.  Increasing the stroke makes the outline of the text thicker.  The stroke settings can be modified from the text palette.

Fill is the color within the stroke or outline.  With the text box selected, you can click on one of the shape tools in order to have access to fill and shadow settings.   Stroke, fill, and shadow modifications cannot be seen when the text is being edited.  Once you click outside the text box your changes will appear.
￼

The example below shows lucida grande text with no fill, a stroke of 15, and a slightly offset gray shadow.  

￼

<% if (writer.contextType() == "html") { writer.write("<hr/>"); } %>

Rotating Text  

The text box can be rotated by hovering the mouse over one of the text box corner boundaries.  A circular arrow will appear.  Click and drag in the direction you wish the text to rotate.  Another method for rotating text is to have the text box selected, then choose a shape tool.  You can change the angle of rotation in the "angle" field.  In the example below the angle is set to 17 degrees.

￼
<% if (writer.contextType() == "html") { writer.write("<hr/>"); } %>

Text Spacing

You will notice on the type palette there are sliding bars labeled Baseline, Kerning, Line Space, and Paragraph Space.  There are also buttons for paragraph alignment.  They are ordered as follows: Right Align, Centered, Left Align, and Justified. 

Paragraph Alignment:  The paragraph alignment buttons work within the bounding box to line up your text.  Right align will  

￼
align your text to the right side of your bounding box.  Left align will align your text to the left side of the bounding box.  Centered will place your text in the center of the bounding box.  Justified will stretch your text so it reaches each side of the bounding box.

Baseline:  The baseline is the line on which the letters sit, and from which the descenders extend below. 

Kerning:  Kerning is the space between the letters.  

Line Spacing:  Line spacing is the space between the baseline and the top of the next line of text, also called leading.  The lower the number the more the lines will come together.  The higher the number the more they will separate.

Paragraph Space:  The Paragraph Space (❡ Space) is the space between your paragraphs.  

<% if (writer.contextType() == "html") { writer.write("<hr/>"); } %>
Adding Fonts

To add new fonts to Acorn, place the font file in your ~/Library/Fonts folder.  You will need to re-start Acorn for it to appear in your font list.  

<% if (writer.contextType() == "html") { writer.write("<hr/>"); } %>
Converting Text to Bezier Curves

Please read Bezier Curves for more information. 

<% if (writer.contextType() == "html") { writer.write("<hr/>"); } %>
Rasterizing Text

Vector layers (i.e. shapes and text) are different from bitmap (or raster) layers.  Vectors revolve around lines and shapes, where as bitmaps are pixel oriented.  For more information on this topic, read here.  Once you have rasterized a vector layer you cannot go back and modify the shapes or text without undoing subsequent work.  

<% if (writer.contextType() == "html") { writer.write("<hr/>"); } %>

Fonts Manager
You can access the Fonts palette by using Window ▸ Fonts menu.
The Fonts Palette packs a lot of punch for being so small.  This little window controls everything that you could want to do with fonts.  If you get confused about which button does what, hold your mouse over it for a second and it will display a tooltip about its function.

Selecting Fonts

There are Collections of fonts (like folders in the finder), inside which are font Families, inside which are Typefaces.  An example of this in the real world would be All Fonts > American  
￼
Typewriter > Bold.  Collections can be handy if you find yourself often using the same few fonts. You can create your own collections, or use the ones Apple has provided.  The Fun collection includes some excellent fonts for parties and cards.  If you would like to add a font to the collection, simply drag it in.  Adding and deleting collections is controlled by the plus and minus buttons below the collections. 

If you find yourself unable to find a font you know is on your computer, make sure the All Fonts collection is selected.  Size is controlled by the slider, list, and box to the right of the window.  You can enter in a value into the upper box, find a commonly used size in the list, or move the slider until you are happy.

There is also a search field at the bottom of the window.  If you find that scrolling through all of your fonts takes longer than you want, simply type the name of the font into the search field and it will instantly pop up in the Family column.

Things like shadow, underline, color, and strikethrough are controlled by the buttons on the top of the window, as well as from the Format ▸ Font menu.



Symbols, Punctuation, and Special Characters

The gear symbol on the lower left hand corner of the font palette is the gateway to adding special characters, varying typography, non-standard punctuation, and other language scripts.  Click on the gear and choose 'Characters' from the drop down menu.

Create a text box, then double click on a character and it will be inserted into the box.  Alternatively you can drag and drop the character into the text box.

Another way to access characters is through the Edit ▸ Special Characters menu item.  If you don't see the option in the menu, go to System Preferences ▸ Keyboard ▸ Keyboard and check the box next to 'Show Keyboard and Character Viewers in menu bar'.  
￼
￼

  
<%'<div class="seeAlso">'%>Check out the bottom of the tutorials page for tutorials specific to text!  <%'</div>'%>


c0url: using_arrow_keys_in_the_palette.html
c1subject: Using Arrow Keys in the Palette
c2body:
Using Arrow Keys in the Palette



In several of the palettes there are fields to enter numbers.  The number in the field will change the size of text, brush size, percentage of opacity, flood fill tolerance, etc.

This example will use brush size.  Below is a shot of the Inspector Palette showing the paint options.  There is a field for you to enter a number (now set at 63).  Next to that are up (▲) and down (▼) arrows to adjust the size, and to the right of the arrows there is a slider. You may also wish to change the number in the field by clicking inside the field, and using the up and down arrow keys on your keyboard.  As you do this, notice the slider will move according to the number in the field.

Holding down the option key in the numerical input fields when using the up and down arrows will change the value by .1. Holding down the shift key will change the value by 10.

￼


The exception is in the field for text size.  When you click on the arrows to the right of the text size field a drop down menu will appear.

	<% if (writer.contextType() == "html") { writer.write("<hr/>"); } %>


c0url: using_the_clone_tool.html
c1subject: Using the Clone Tool
c2body:
Using the Clone Tool


The clone tool is useful for removing unwanted items in a photo.  With the clone tool you are able to copy a part of an image and apply that over an unwanted item to cover it.  For this example, a chimney will be removed from the roof of the house.

This is the original image.

￼


When you have your clone tool selected, you will have to define a clone source.  The clone source is the area you will use to cover up the part of the image you want to remove.  In this example,  the clone source is selected from the sky. Make sure to select your clone source as close as possible to the object you want to cover.


￼


To select a new clone source, hold the Option key and click with the white circle on the space you want to clone. 


￼




To adjust the softness, flow, and other parameters of the clone tool, click on the brush icon in the inspector palette.  The brush designer window will appear.  Play around with the softness and flow sliders in particular to avoid hard edges around your cloned area.  

You can also pick a different brush to use while cloning by clicking on the brush preview in the inspector palette.  You have a variety of soft and hard edge brushes to choose from.
￼

Now you may begin retouching the image.  The circle is your clone brush, and the ‘+’ is your clone source. 

￼


The chimney has been removed from the area with the sky.  Now it is time to remove the remaining parts of the chimney where it attaches to the rooftop, and fill it in with tiles.


￼


For this part you will need a smaller brush. It is important to adjust the size of your brush to match the part you are trying to clone.  Start with cloning the tiles to replace the silver colored water barrier.


￼


To do the roof line, use a slightly larger brush. When cloning a patterned surface, make sure to move your brush with the angle of the pattern.  It is best to use a lower level of softness for this part, around 20% works well.


￼


Cloning the rainbow to fill in the area where the chimney is a bit trickier.  Try using a large brush size with 30-40% softness to cover up that part of the remaining chimney with just a single stamp of the brush.

And there you have it! 


￼


c0url: vector_clouds.html
c1subject: Vector Clouds
c2body:
Vector Clouds

￼

This tutorial will go over how you can easily create layered vector clouds using shape operations.  To start, create a new image in Acorn, File ▸ New.  The dimensions used here are 1200 x 900 pixels with a white background.  

Click on the elliptical shape tool.  Create 4 overlapping circles towards the left hands side of your image with a very light grey fill and a light blue stroke (a stroke of 10 is used below).  Hold down the shift key to create perfect circles.   Use the move tool to re-position your circles where you want them.

￼
Go to Select ▸ Select All (⌘A) to select all your circles, then choose Shape ▸ Union Paths to join them into one shape.   
￼
Select the rectangle shape tool and draw out a rectangle to just barely cover up the bottom part of the clouds.  This rectangle will cover up the gaps between the circles to extend the bottom part of the cloud.
￼
Select all your shapes again and choose Shape ▸ Union Paths to join them into one shape. 
￼
Draw out another rectangle so it just barely covers up the bottom of the clouds.  Select all your shapes again and choose Shape ▸ Difference Paths to subtract the rectangle from the clouds.  This will create a flat bottom side to the cloud. 
￼
Now choose Shape ▸ Duplicate Shape and then Shape ▸ Flip Horizontally.  Use the move tool to move the duplicate cloud shape into position.
￼
Using the move tool, select your first cloud shape and duplicate it again.  Hold down the shift key and drag on a corner of the selected shape to make it larger.  By holding down the shift key you are keeping the aspect ratio intact.  Choose Shape ▸ Arrange ▸ Send to Back.
￼
With the duplicate enlarged shape still selected, change the fill color to a slightly darker gray and increase the stroke to 20.  Duplicate this shape, choose Shape ▸ Arrange ▸ Send to Back, and use the move tool to move the duplicate into position.  
￼

Enjoy your pretty vector clouds!

￼


You can also easily duplicate and rearrange your cloud shapes to create a more layered look:

￼


c0url: vector_flowers.html
c1subject: Vector Flowers
c2body:
Vector Flowers
￼

This tutorial will outline how you can quickly create flower shapes in Acorn using the star shape tool and bezier curves.

To start, create a new image in Acorn, File ▸ New.  The canvas dimensions used here are 1200 x 900 pixels with a white background.  Click on the star shape tool in the tools palette and draw out a star with a fill and stroke.

￼

With the star shape still selected, choose Shape ▸ Convert to Bezier Shape.  Click on the bezier shape tool in the tools palette.  While holding down the option key, click and drag on one of the anchor points located on a star point to curve the sharp edge.  Alternatively, you can use the Reset Bezier Control Points tool to make the sharp edges curved.

￼
Continue to curve the edges of the star.

￼
Click on the move tool and hover over one of the edges of the shape to rotate your flower.  Click on the oval shape tool.  Uncheck the stroke box in the inspector palette, and then hold down the shift key while drawing your circle to create a perfect circle.  Place the circle at the center of your flower.

￼

If you want more flowers similar to the one you just made, hold down the shift key while using the move tool to select both shapes.  You can use Shape ▸ Duplicate Shape or Edit ▸ Copy and Edit ▸ Paste to quickly make more.  Use the move tool to reposition your duplicate shapes on the canvas.  With both the flower shape and its inside circle selected, drag in or out on the shape border to resize the shapes in unison.  Change the colors of the fill and stroke for each flower if desired.  

￼

Another style of flower can be made from a six point star.  Click on the star shape tool and draw out a star with a fill but no stroke.  With the star still selected, hit the back tick key (`) located on the upper lefthand side of the keyboard to bring up the shape popover window.  You can also bring up this window by going to View ▸ Quick Config Popover.  Change the number of star points to 6.

￼
Follow the same steps as before to convert the star to a bezier shape, then round out the sharp points.  Add a circle to the middle of the flower and duplicate, reposition, and resize your new flowers.

￼
Another flower variation you can make is to create your flower shape, then duplicate the shape.  Hold down the shift key when decreasing the size of the shape to keep the aspect ratio intact and place it inside the original shape.  Change the color of the duplicate shape's fill.

￼
Repeat the last step a couple more times to repeat this effect within the flower.  You can select the shapes you just created and duplicate them to create more flowers with this fun appearance.  Another flower was added to the image below by creating a 4 point star.

￼



Play around with countless combinations to create fun vector flowers!


￼


c0url: vector_pig.html
c1subject: Vector Pig
c2body:
Vector Piggy

￼

This tutorial will guide you on how to create a cute pig and landscape completely from vector shapes and gradients.  To start, create a new image in Acorn, File ▸ New.  This example uses 1000 x 1000 pixels with a white background.  Choose the elliptical shape tool from the tools palette and draw a perfect circle (hold down the shift key as you drag out your circle).  The circle should have a fill but no stroke.  The color doesn't currently matter as it will be changed in the next step.

￼
Using the move tool, move your circle so it snaps in place at the vertical middle of the canvas.  You can enable this feature by going to View ▸ Guides and Grids and choose ‘Snap to Canvas’.  With your circle still selected, click on the gradient tool.  Choose a 2 color radial gradient and set the left tab to a light pink and the right tab to a slightly darker pink.  Save your gradient so it can be used again later.  To learn more, read 'gradient tool'.  Drag out your gradient on your circle.

￼
To create the eyes, choose the elliptical shape tool again with a fill but no stroke.  Choose black as the color in the back color well.  Draw out a small black circle.  Then, draw a smaller white circle and a white oval.  Click on the move tool and place the white oval and circle in the black circle to give the eye the appearance of light reflecting.  

￼
Choose the move tool and select all 3 shapes that make up the eye by holding down the shift key as you click on each shape.  Choose Shape ▸ Duplicate Shape.  Move the duplicate shapes into position on the opposite side of the face to create the second eye.  Use guides to position the eyes equally on the pig's face.  To learn more about how to do this, read 'Rulers and Guides'.  

￼
To create the snout, choose the elliptical shape tool and draw an oval with a fill but no stroke.  Choose the gradient tool and draw the same 2 color radial gradient you used on the pig's face earlier.  Use the move tool to position the snout in the vertical center of the canvas.  Then, draw two black oval shapes to create nostrils.  Use guides to position the nostrils evenly.

￼
Using the elliptical shape tool, draw a pink perfectly round circle to create the pig's cheek.  Draw a smaller darker pink oval and place it within the circle.  Select both shapes, and place the shapes where you want the cheek located.

Duplicate the cheek shapes, Shape ▸ Duplicate Shape.   Then choose Shape ▸ Flip Horizontally.  Move them to the other side of the pig's face.  Use guides to help you position them equidistant from the center.

￼
To create the pig's legs, choose the elliptical shape tool and draw a perfectly round pink circle with a fill but no stroke.  The color of the circle should be the same as the outer gradient color of the pig's body.  Duplicate the circle 2 times and move the circles in place where you wants the legs located.  Currently there is only one front leg, but an additional one will be added shortly.  

￼
Select the 2 circles in position to be the back legs and choose Shape ▸ Arrange ▸ Send to Back.  This will position these legs to be behind the body of the pig.

￼
Select the one circle in position to be a front leg and choose Shape ▸ Convert to Bezier Shape.  Choose Shape ▸ Add Points.   Using the Bezier pen tool, make the leg a little less round at the bottom and give it a little more length.  To learn more about this tool, read 'Bezier Curves'.
￼
Duplicate the front leg, Shape ▸ Duplicate Shape.  Choose Shape ▸ Flip Horizontally.  Move the duplicate shape in position to be the other front leg.

￼
Now it's time to give the legs a little accent color.  Using the elliptical shape tool, draw out a small oval slightly darker than the color of the pigs legs.  Choose Shape ▸ Convert to Bezier Shape.  Move the oval on top of one of the back legs and using the bezier anchor select tool, modify the shape of the oval to create the accent shape you desire.

￼

Duplicate the accent shape, and choose Shape ▸ Flip Horizontally.  Move the shape into position on the other rear leg.  Select both rear accent shapes and choose Shape ▸ Arrange ▸  Send to Back, then Shape ▸ Arrange ▸ Bring Forward until the accents are on top of the legs but below the body of the pig.
￼
Create accents for the front legs using the same process of creating an oval and converting it to a bezier shape.  These accents do not need to be moved forward or backward.

￼
To create an ear, choose the star shape tool.  Draw a star with a fill but no stroke.  The color of the star should be the same as the color of the pig's legs.  Change the number of star points to 3.

￼
Using the move tool, rotate the triangle and move it into position where you want the ear located.  Choose Shape ▸ Convert to Bezier Shape.  Change the points of the triangle to be more rounded using the Reset Bezier Control Points Tool.  
￼
Duplicate the triangle shape.  Decrease its size and change its color to a darker pink to create the inner accent to the pigs ear.

￼
Select both shapes that make up the pigs ear.  Duplicate the shapes, then choose Shape ▸ Flip Horizontally.  Move them in position to be the opposite pig's ear.  Use guides to get things lined up perfectly.
￼
Now give the pig's head a little reflection.  Draw out a light pink oval and move it towards the top left of the pig's head.  The oval seen here has an pink fill with an opacity of 45%.  The color opacity can be changed in the colors palette.    

￼
Choose Shape ▸ Convert to Bezier Shape.  Using the Bezier Anchor Select Tool, modify the position of the anchor points to make the oval follow the curve of the pigs head.
￼
Duplicate the shape you just created.  Change its color to an even lighter pink and decrease its size so it fits within the first oval.

￼

Now to create the tail.  Choose the Bezier Pen Tool with a fill but no stroke.  Draw out a curved shape to create the swirl of a tail.   You can download an image of the tail here. 

￼
With the tail selected, choose Shape ▸ Arrange ▸ Send to Back to make the tail appear as if it is coming from behind the pig.  

If you want to make the pig's belly a little flatter, select the pig's body.  Choose Shape ▸ Convert to Bezier Shape.  Click on the Bezier Pen Tool and add a point at the inside of each of the pig's front legs.  To add points, hold down the shift key while clicking on the shape outline.  Then select the anchor point located between the two points you just added and hit the delete key.

￼

Now you've got a pretty cute little piggy!  Continue on with the tutorial if you want to give her a landscape.  

Start by adding a new shape layer, Layer ▸ New Shape Layer.  Move this layer below the pig layer but above the white background layer in the layers list.  Using the elliptical shape tool, draw out a few overlapping circles and ovals with a blue fill and no stroke. 
 
Select all the shapes you just drew and choose Shape ▸ Union Paths to make a single cloud shape.  Repeat this process to create a second cloud.

￼
Now using the elliptical shape tool, draw out an oval hill with a fill but no stroke.  Choose Shape ▸ Convert to Bezier Shape and modify the oval if you want your hill to have irregular boundaries.  Using the gradient tool, add a 2 color radial gradient with 2 shades of green.

￼
Draw out two more oval shapes, one slightly smaller than the other to create the pig's shadow.  Use a dark green or gray color, and try decreasing the opacity of the color in the colors palette to create a more subtle shadow.

￼


￼


c0url: vignette_effect.html
c1subject: Vignette Effect
c2body:
Vignette Effect  
￼

This tutorial will outline a couple of different methods for creating a vignette effect with your images.


Vignette Effect Using a Radial Gradient Filter

Using a radial gradient filter is probably the easiest and quickest way for creating a circular vignette effect.  To start, open your image in Acorn, File ▸ Open.  Go to Filter ▸ Gradient ▸ Radial Gradient. 

￼

Click on the 'Color 1' color well to bring up the colors palette.  Drag the opacity slider down to 0%.

￼

Click on the 'Color 2' color well and choose the color for your vignette.  White will be used here.  Select the move tool from the tools palette and drag the gradient radius adjusters and the center point located on your image to your liking.  Alternatively, you can use the radius sliders and center point fields in the filter window.

￼
￼


And that's it!

￼


<% if (writer.contextType() == "html") { writer.write("<hr/>"); } %>

Vignette Effect Using Selections and Filters


This method involves more steps than the first technique outlined, but you have more flexibility with creating the shape of the vignette.  To start, open your image in Acorn, File ▸ Open.  Select the elliptical selection tool from the tools palette and make a selection around the area of the image you wish to focus on.
￼
Choose Select ▸ Inverse.  Then go to Layer ▸ New Layer with Selection.  

￼
Now select Edit ▸ Fill.  Click on the color well in the pop up window to select the color you want around the borders of the image.  White, black, and gray are commonly used colors for this effect. Click 'OK'.

￼
Deselect (⌘D).   Choose Filter ▸ Blur ▸ Gaussian Blur.   Adjust the radius slider.  Click the '+' towards the bottom of the filters window.  Choose Blur ▸ Zoom Blur.  Adjust the position of the blur to center the vignette effect by clicking and dragging on the 'zoom blur center' in the canvas window.  Adjust the amount of the blur to your liking.   Once things are looking good, click 'Flatten'.  

  ￼

If the effect turned out too strong, you can try decreasing the opacity of the vignette effect layer.  



￼

Photo Credit
© Ruth Black


c0url: vintage_photo_effect.html
c1subject: Vintage Photo Effect
c2body:
Vintage Photo Effect



This simple tutorial will outline how to give your images an older appearance.  Below is the original photo.
￼
First, adjust the levels by choosing Filter ▸ Color Adjustment ▸ Levels and clicking the auto levels button ￼ (keyboard shortcut ⇧⌘L). Then click the ‘+’ button in the lower left hand corner of the filters window and choose Color Adjustment ▸ Color Controls and adjust contrast, brightness, and saturation.  The contrast of this image was increased.

￼
Create a new layer, Layer ▸ New Layer, and use the flood fill tool to fill it with a yellow or a blue, depending on whether you want the image to look warm or cool.  Click on your foreground color well to select the color you want.  For this example use a blue fill. Change the blending mode to 'screen' and set the layer opacity to about 70%. What you set your opacity to really depends on the color in the original photo. 

￼
Now create a new layer, Layer ▸ New Layer. On this new layer create a black to transparent radial gradient.  There should already be a preset black to transparent radial gradient that you can use, but if you want to create your own you can read here for more about gradients.  Set the blending mode of this layer to 'overlay' and adjust the opacity. 

￼


Final Product:

￼￼

Blue Screen Layer                                                                             Yellow Screen Layer


c0url: watermarking_a_single_image.html
c1subject: Watermarking a Single Image
c2body:
Watermarking


If you are interested in watermarking a single image or just a few images, you are in the right spot.  If you want to watermark a large batch of images, then check out Batch Watermarking.  First things first, choose a watermark.  Watermarks are typically company logos, or a copyright with an individual's name.   Both examples will be explored in the examples below.  


Logo Watermark

In this example an image of a dog will be watermarked with the Flying Meat logo.
￼￼

Open the image you want to watermark in Acorn, File ▸ Open.  Choose File ▸ Add Images...  Find the file you want to be your watermark and click 'open'.  Below you can see that the Flying Meat logo has been added as a layer above the dog image.

￼
Adjust the watermark layer size to your personal preference using  Layer ▸ Rotate and Transform ▸ Scale and Rotate (⌘⇧T) (see resizing and rotating a layer).  Place your watermark where you want it.  Once the size and placement looks right, click ‘Apply’ in the palette, or double click with your mouse to commit.  The watermark will be fairly small in this example.  

￼
Once you have your watermark layer sized and placed the way you want it, turn the opacity of the layer down.  The watermark here looks best around 30% opacity.  Also play around with the blending modes to create your desired look.  You can use "Darken" to take out some of the white of the logo.  Voila!  You have a watermark.  

￼
If you think you'll re-use the watermark you created in the future then select the layer with your watermark, copy that layer (⌘C), then File ▸ New from Clipboard (⌥⌘ N).  Adjust the opacity to where you want it, then save!

Important Tip:  Remember to always make a copy of the original image you are working with, otherwise you may find you've saved your changes and lost the original!


<% if (writer.contextType() == "html") { writer.write("<hr/>"); } %>

Text Watermark

Text watermarking is just as easy as using an image.  Open up the image you want to place a watermark on in Acorn, File ▸ Open.

￼
Select the text tool from your tools palette and write out what you want your watermark to say in the appropriate font, size, and color.  

￼
In the example below, the opacity of the text layer was reduced to 73%.  Hit the escape key to end text editing and then use the move tool to place your watermark wherever you wish.  

￼
It turns out the text watermark is hard to see here.  You can either experiment with changing the text color, or you can add a solid shape background to help the text stand out more.  To practice the latter, click on the rectangle shape tool in the tools palette.  Draw out a rectangular shape that covers the text.

￼
Move the rectangle shape layer below the text layer in the layers list.  Adjust the shape's length and width further if needed using the move tool, and decrease the layer opacity. 

￼
If you want to move your text watermark around to see where it looks best, you can put your text and shape layers together in a group layer.  Go to Layer ▸ New Group Layer.  Drag and drop your watermark and shape background layers into the group folder in the layers list.  Use the move tool to move the group layer around in your image.

￼

If you think you'll want to re-use your text watermark in the future, copy that layer or group layer (⌘C), then  File ▸ New from Clipboard (⌥⌘N).  Adjust the opacity to where you want it, then save!

 


c0url: weathered_text.html
c1subject: Weathered Text
c2body:
Weathered Text


￼


This tutorial will outline how you can create the appearance of weathered or scratched text.  Open an image in Acorn that contains a lot of vertical and horizontal lines, File ▸ Open.  The image used here can be found in the credits below.

￼
Go to Filter ▸ Color Adjustment ▸ Exposure Adjust.  Click on the '+' at the bottom of the window and choose Color Adjustment ▸ Color Controls.  Increase the exposure, set the saturation to '0' and maximize the contrast.  You want the image to be mainly white with little chunks of black.  Click on the '+' again and choose Color Adjustment ▸ Transparentomatic.  Choose white as the color to be removed.    Click 'Flatten'.

￼￼

Go to Layer ▸ Add New Layer.  Using the flood fill tool, fill it with the color of your choosing.  White is used here.  Choose the text tool and type out your text.  The text settings seen here are shown below.

￼

Once you have your text looking good, go to Layer ▸ Rasterize Shape Layer.  You won't be able to modify your text after doing this unless you choose 'undo'.  Go back and select the original layer with the little chunks of black in it.  In this example, it is called ‘line texture’ in the layers list.  Choose Select ▸ Make Selection from Layer.    

￼

Move the layer with your text in it around with the move tool so that it is sporadically covered by the selection.  Hit the 'delete' key once things look lined up.  Deselect by using ⌘D.  You can move the text or the selection around some more and repeat the process to create more weathered areas.  


If you don't like the way the selections lined up with your text, 'undo' by clicking ⌘Z and repeat the last step.  


￼



<% if (writer.contextType() == "html") { writer.write("<hr/>"); } %>
Photo Credits
© English 106


c0url: wood_text.html
c1subject: Wood Text
c2body:
Wood Text

￼


Open a new image in Acorn, File ▸ New.  This example uses dimensions of 1200 x 900  pixels and a white background.  Find a wood texture image you want to use for your text, the one used here can be found at http://www.cgtextures.com.  Drag the wood texture image into your layers list so it is above the white background.

￼

Depending on how large you want the wood grain to be on your text, you may want to scale the wood texture layer.  Using Layer ▸ Rotate and Transform ▸ Scale and Rotate (⇧⌘T), the wood texture layer has been scaled to 32% here.   Choose the text tool and type out your text.  The color doesn't currently matter, but you don't want a stroke.

￼

Make a copy of your text layer Layer ▸ Duplicate Layer (⇧⌘D), and move the copied layer below the wood texture layer, but above the white background.  Make sure the top most wood text layer is selected and choose Select ▸  Make Selection from Layer.

￼

Click on the visibility eye to the left of the top most text layer to hide it.  Now click on the wood texture layer.  Click on the cogwheel towards the bottom left of the layers list and choose 'Add Layer Mask'.    

￼

Click on the wood texture thumbnail in the layers list to select it.  Go to Filter ▸ Stylize ▸ Bevel, then click the '+' button on the lower left hand corner of the window and choose Stylize ▸ Inner Shadow.  Use the settings seen here:

￼


￼

If you're happy with the text, you can stop here.  Or, if you want to beef it up a bit, continue on with the tutorial.  

Click on the color picker.  It looks like an eye dropper and can be seen just to the right of the color wells in the tools palette.  A magnifying glass will appear.  Using the magnifying glass, click on a light area of the wood texture to choose that color.  The color will show up in the colors palette.  Drag and drop the color to the bottom of the colors palette as a swatch.  This allows you to easily retrieve the color for the next step.    

Click on the visibility eye on the wood texture layer to hide it.  Click on the lower text layer to select it.  Select the text (if it's white you won't be able to see it at first).  Increase the stroke setting to around 4.    Drag and drop the color you saved in the colors palette in the previous step into the front color well in the tools palette.  

￼

Choose Filter ▸ Stylize ▸  Bevel and enter the settings seen here:

￼


Click on the visibility eye of the wood texture layer so it appears again.  You can fatten up the text even more by increasing the stroke value on the lower text layer.

It's hard work carving wood, isn't it?


￼


