Chromakey Function

How To Use The Chromakey Tool

Your first step is to open an image with a suitable solid-color background.

There are two icons on the Toolbar used for chromakey functions:

  is used to initiate the chromakey function.

  is used to change the background of the chromakey image, once created.

Using the chromakey function

1. Select the Chromakey icon.

2. Click the color area in the image that you want to make transparent.

In this example, we'll click on the green area because we want to create transparency, leaving only the subject.

2.  The next dialog box will prompt you to perform one of two actions.

The first option, Make Transparency From Selected Color, simply creates transparency from the selected color. This will allow you to simply save the file as a transparent GIF image. For more information on transparent images and how they can be used, see the Help section on Creating Transparent Images.

There are two variations of the chromakey function. The default is Variant 1 which works well with green colored backgrounds.

Chromakey Variant 1 works with green only.

Chromakey Variant 2 works with all colors.

Try both to find which gives you the best result.

The second option, Insert Background Image, allows you to select a background image to insert behind the keyed image. Remember that the solid color will become transparent.

Choose a background by selecting a thumbnail image in the top preview area, or browse to select your own image.

Click OK to select the background. The result is the keyed image, now placed over the background. You may resize and rotate the keyed image over the background.

The Color Tolerance slider determines the range of the selected color. This is important because a cloth backdrop will have slight variations of color due to lighting and shadow. By providing tolerance, you can get cleaner keyed images by allowing a small range of color to be keyed out to make up for slightly darker or lighter areas. If the tolerance is set very low, only the exact color selected when you click the mouse will be keyed out, and you will still see portions of the background color in your keyed image. If this happens, try increasing the Color Tolerence percentage by moving the slider right, which allows a wider range of the color to be keyed out. The default setting should work well for most images.

    To select a different background image after closing the chromakey function window and returning to the main program window, select the Change Background button on the toolbar.

Backgrounds

Sample green images and backgrounds can be found in Program Files/Caricature Studio 5.0/Clipart/Photo Backgrounds. Open a sample green image and try out the chromakey functions to familiarize yourself with how it works.

Novelty Backgrounds

Caricature Studio 5.0 includes a variety of novelty backgrounds. To find more online, select the Browse Template Store link on the Template Panel or the Tools menu.