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Please be patient while the page loads - there are many large images................. KnockOut 2 Corel/Procreate Academic Version Maureen Shannon, NJPCUG
“If you have
ever looked at an advertising graphic such as a light bulb set against a
background of sky and clouds, you might have wondered why but have you every
wondered how (it was done)? How was
it masked so that the transparent object could be placed against the background
and you could through see it? How was the original background completely
removed? Masking is how we take an image from one graphic/picture and place it
into another. But perfect results
are nearly impossible. Corel now has
the solution, professional masking tools for precision results; it’s called
Corel KnockOut. Knock is available
for both the PC and the Mac.” Quote from my review of KnockOut 1.5.
The polar bear was the first
tutorial I tried and the dragonfly the second. I had a few problems creating the
dragonfly transparency although I had varying degrees of success as I continued
to work with it. This software does take some time to understand when working
with more difficult masks but it is more than worth the effort when you see the
results. My only complaint would be that it needs more in the way of tutorials
in order for users to fully understand the capabilities of this product. Other
than that, this is a wonderful product that can help you to take any part of an
image and place it into another graphic. Having said this, please see the slide
show below of our friend the polar bear shown on the left as he has his image
placed into a variety of scenes that I called the “Polar Bear on Vacation”!
I had a lot of fun putting him into beautiful stock photos that I had and making
a slideshow out of it. Even though it was fun, the purpose was to show how
perfectly the original background was removed and how the polar bear looks as
though he really was in the scenes even though we know he wasn’t at the beach,
on the moon, visiting the Redwood’s, or any of the other locations he shown
in. The polar bear was part of
three tutorials that came with the software. It required placing a mask on the
inside of the bear’s fur and then creating the outer mask and knocking out the
background. This tutorial was extremely easy to follow and worked perfectly the
very first time I tried it. You might wonder why you couldn’t use a standard
magic wand mask to select the bear and then remove the background…you could.
What you couldn’t do, with any great degree of success, is capture the
details of the edges of the fur and have the colored background completely
removed. In a larger example of the photo, you would be able to see the
individual strands of fur/hair and the detail between them. This is where the
product shines…it shows the fine edges of the fur or hair and enables you to
place the masked selection onto another background with perfectly clean,
detailed edges. This is also true for transparent items, as seen in the light
bulb image from the review of KnockOut 1.5 shown at the beginning of this
review. You can completely remove the areas you do not want and save and use the
portions that you do. Imagine the possibilities! KnockOut 2 is a plug-in only
version. The previous versions were both plug-ins and stand alones. You must
have Adobe Photoshop or a compatible product (such as Photoshop Elements, Jasc
Paint Shop Pro, Corel Photo Paint) in order to use KnockOut 2. Installation is
easy, load the CD and follow the instructions and point it to your
application’s plug-in directory. System requirements are Windows 98, 2000, NT
4.0, Me, or XP. Pentium 200 or higher, Adobe Photoshop 5 or higher (or
compatible host product), 128 MB of RAM [3X image size (RBG + Alpha)
recommended], 30MB or greater available hard drive space, SVGA monitor with
24-bit color display adapter, and a 2XCD ROM drive and mouse or tablet.
KnockOut 2 requires that you create a working layer and load it in order
for the product to work. When you open a picture, you need to open the layer menu or use the required key
stroke shortcuts to create a duplicate layer, then select the plug-in from the filter or effects list and choose “Load
Working Layer” (unless you are opening an image you were already working on and had saved, then you would select
“Load Saved Project”). To knock
out the background on the bear, the inside selection tool was used. A line was
drawn
KnockOut can also be used on
images with shadows, hair, transparent liquids. You can work with saved masks
and knock out areas of an image. Workspace:
Property Bar, Toolbox, Selection
Palette, Process, and Info Palette
Tools:
Inside Object (includes inside add,
inside subtract, & the push pin tool for single pixel selection), Outside
Object (includes plus and minus tools and outside single pixel selection tool),
Inside Shadow (with plus, minus and push pin tools), Outside Shadow (with plus,
minus, and outside pixel selection tools), Inside Syringe (with inside subtract
and syringe to extract color to inject), Edge
Feather (also plus and minus tools), Touchup Brush , Touchup Eraser, Hand Tool,
and the Zoom Tool. There are also 99 levels of undo available. A Loupe Zoom
feature zooms at 100 per cent to magnify areas being worked on. The Selection
Palette lets you hide or view selection lines and also single pixel selections. (The bear placed against a
new background)
KnockOut
2 in another invaluable tool
for use with graphic projects. The ability to remove a section of an image and
place it onto another background without any telltale details left over from the
original opens up an entire new realm of possibilities only limited by the
imagination of the user. This is especially valuable when working with
transparent objects such as light bulbs, water or other liquids, ice, and any
other item that is clear and needs to have the background removed so it can be
placed onto another background. It creates the illusion that it was always part
of that image or that what you are seeing is real. If you are interested in or
work at creating designs or just having fun with photos, this would be an item
you would want to add to you list of must have tools. You will have to spend a
little time mastering the more difficult techniques but the results will
certainly be worth it. But even beginners will be able to easily use the basic
techniques and get excellent results. My only suggestion or recommendation to
Corel/Procreate is to please add more tutorials to the online section that go
more in depth for working with the transparent images, in particular the ones
that use water or other liquids. KnockOut 2 is available for purchase on the
Procreate web site with a suggested retail price of $329. Check their web site
for more information and any current special offers. KnockOut 2 Host Application, Interface, Mask Examples
Plug-In and Tools
"Polar Bear on Vacation Slide
Show!"
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