Combining images

Corel PaintShop Pro lets you combine two images into a third image. The new image is the product of the color data from the two source images combined on a pixel-by-pixel basis according to the arithmetical function you select, such as Add, Subtract, Multiply, or Difference.

If you want to combine images without these functions, you can simply use layers to paste a second image over a background image, and use masking to adjust the transparency. For information about copying and pasting images as layers, see Cutting, copying, and pasting. For information about masking, see Working with masks.

To combine images by using the Arithmetic command

Edit workspace

1 Open the two images you want to combine.

2 Choose Image  Arithmetic.

The Image Arithmetic dialog box appears.

3 In the Image #1 and Image #2 drop-lists, select the images to combine.

Note: The size of the image you choose in the Image #1 drop-list determines the size of the new image.

4 In the Function group box, choose one of the following options for combining the images:

• Add — Image 1 Value + Image 2 Value

• Subtract — Image 1 Value – Image 2 Value

• AND — Binary And

• Average — (Image 1 value + Image 2 Value) / 2

• Multiply — Image 1 Value x Image 2 Value

• Difference — Absolute Value of (Image 1 Value – Image 2 Value)

• OR — Binary Or

• Darkest — Minimum of (Image 1 Value, Image 2 Value)

• Lightest — Maximum of (Image 1 Value, Image 2 Value)

• XOR - Exclusive Or

The color data from the two images is combined on a pixel-by-pixel basis according to the function you choose.

5 From the Channel group box, do one of the following:

• To produce a 24-bit image, mark the All channels check box to use all the color channels in both images to produce a 24-bit image

• To produce a grayscale image, choose a color channel option for each image. In the Modifiers group box, type or set values in the following controls:

• Divisor — divides the color values by the value you specify. This value can reduce the effects of the other selections.

• Bias — shifts each color value by amount you specify.

These modifiers are applied to the color values produced by the Formula and the Channel selections.

6 Mark or unmark the Clip color values check box to determine how Corel PaintShop Pro handles final color values that are greater than 255 and less than 0.

When the Clip color values check box is marked, color values less than 0 become 0, and color values greater than 0 become 255.

When the Clip color values check box is unmarked, color values less than 0 are calculated as 256 plus the value, and color values greater than 0 are calculated as 256 minus the value.

7 Click OK.