Kaleidoscope

This transformation generates effects similar to a kaleidoscope, but with a few more variations.

The result image is created by rotating and reflecting a sector of the input image in a pattern that has circular symmetry about the center of the result image.

When you start Kaleidoscope, it displays an overlay over the input image window to show you the sector of the image that will be repeated to fill the result image.

Two control points and two intersecting line segments are displayed over the input image. The angle between the two lines is determined by the repeat factor (see above). You can drag the control point at the intersection of the two lines to position the center point. Drag the other control point to rotate and scale the sector about the center. The further you move the second control point from the center point, the larger the output image.

 The output image is always square with width and height equal to twice the distance between the two control points.

Repeat Factor

This control lets you select the number of times the image will repeat as you rotate about the center. A traditional kaleidoscope has 6-fold rotational symmetry that corresponds to a repeat factor of 6. You can set the repeat factor to any value from 2 to 1000.

Style

This control lets you select different types of rotational symmetry. A little experimentation will illustrate the different effects.

Shape

Shape can be Square or Circular as illustrated in the two example above.