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Color Line Control
This control lets you specify a sequence of points along a line, controlling the location and color of each point and how colors transition from one point to the next. A color line is displayed as a color strip with numbered tic marks above it and buttons below it:
To move a point, simply drag its tic mark or number. The first and last points are fixed at the ends of the color line.
To add a new point, Shift-Click on the color strip where you want the new point to appear. (To Shift-Click, hold either Shift key on the keyboard down with one hand while you click the left mouse button with the other.)
To remove a point (other than the first or last point which cannot be removed), Control-Click on its marker or number. (To Control-Click, hold either Ctrl key on the keyboard down with one hand while you click the left mouse button with the other.)
To change the color of a point, Double-Click its marker or number. This pops up a Color Picker you can use to select the color of the point.
To alter the type of transition between two points, click on the button displayed between them, below the color strip. This pops up a menu offering you the following transition options in two groups:
Step Left -- makes an abrupt transition at the left point.
Step Center -- makes an abrupt transition halfway between the two points.
Step Right -- makes an abrupt transition at the right point.
Line -- makes an even transition from one point to the other.
Sine -- makes a transition that varies more gradually near the two points and faster in the middle.
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RGB -- computes transition colors in RGB color space.
HSVCW -- computes transition colors in HSV color space, with hue increasing clockwise from the first point to the second.
HSVCCW -- computes transition colors in HSV color space, with hue increasing counterclockwise from the first point to the second.
HSLCW -- computes transition colors in HSL color space, with hue increasing clockwise from the first point to the second.
HSLCCW -- computes transition colors in HSL color space, with hue increasing counterclockwise from the first point to the second.
Probes
In the Tint transformation, the Adjust transformation or the Monochrome transformation, the color line control responds to clicks on the input image. Clicking and dragging on the input image displays a red line over the color gradient at the gray level corresponding to the properties of the image at the cursor location as illustrated below.
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Shift-clicking on the input image inserts a new control point into the color line at the location corresponding to the brightness of the image where you shift-clicked. This feature makes it easier to control what colors are assigned to specific parts of the image.
If you create a color picker to edit a control point color, the color picker takes over the probe to select colors from the input image. However, when you close the color picker window, the probe reverts back to the color line.
Settings Menu
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pops up a menu containing the following items:
Reset -- Resets the color line to its default settings.
Help -- Displays this document.
Load… -- Lets you restore a previously saved color line from a file. Picture Window comes with a number of pre-configured color line files you can use.
Save As… -- Lets you save a color line as a file.
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Invert Colors -- Replaces each color with its inverse (inverts each of the RGB channels).
Reverse Order -- Causes the color line gradient to run in the opposite direction.
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Equal Spacing -- Adjusts the spacing between all control points to be equal.
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Ruler -- toggles display of a scale just above the color strip
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Examples
Tinting a Black and White Image
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Creating a Gradient
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Rainbow Color Line
Set both the starting and ending colors to red; then click on the button below the color strip and the transition to HSVCW. This creates the following effect:
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