Retouching Digital Images
Images captured by the Nikon DXM 1200 digital camera system can be conveniently processed by a retouching menu available with the ACT-1 control software (Figure 1). Correction factors include image brightness, contrast, gamma, sharpness, hue, saturation, intensity, rotation, color balance, white/black balance, and cropping.
In order to launch the retouching software, the desired image must first be displayed in the image display area. Upon acquisition, images are presented in either the large or small display window, depending upon the radio button selection in the Live Window menu of the Live settings panel. Images located in the captured image display window can be loaded into the Image Retouch window (Figure 1) by clicking on the Image Correction button located in the main menu tool bar (Figure 2). Alternatively, the retouch window can be launched with the currently displayed image by accessing the Retouch command in the Image main menu item (not illustrated). Previously saved digital images may be loaded into the display window by either selecting them with a double click from the thumbnail display area, or by utilizing the Open button or open command in the main tool bar or File menu, respectively.
The Retouch Image window has a settings panel and a menu command for each correction factor included in the software. Images displayed in the captured image display area are periodically updated to reflect changes to each factor. The following correction factors are available through their respective settings panels and menus:
Enhance Panel - Brightness, Contrast, Gamma, Sharpness
Color Panel - Hue, Saturation, Intensity, Color Balance
Size Panel - Image Size and Resolution
White Balance Panel - White Balance, Black Balance
Image Menu - Flip, Rotation, Black & White Conversion, Negative Conversion
Edit Menu - Cropping
After image corrections have been performed, the user has an option to click on the Reload button, located in the lower right-hand side of the Retouch Image window, to start again from the original image. When satisfied with the corrections, click on the OK button (adjacent to the Reload button) to receive the Retouch Image dialog box (not shown), which has the option to apply the update. If the corrections are unsatisfactory or an update is not desired, click on the Cancel button (adjacent to the OK button) to return to the main ACT-1 control software. After changes have been made and applied to the image, it can be saved using the Save command features available in the ACT-1 control software.
Interactive Java Tutorial
Retouch Image Window
Explore the various features available in the DXM 1200 ACT-1 image correction and retouching software. Included are algorithms for brightness, contrast, color correction, cropping, and resizing images.
More comprehensive discussions of the various features included in the Retouch Image window are presented in the links below.
Enhancement Settings Panel - The enhancement settings panel, available as a tabbed dialog box through the Retouch Image window panel tab header, is utilized to adjust the brightness, contrast, gamma, and sharpness of digital images captured with the DXM 1200 camera system.
Color Settings Panel - Minor adjustments to hue, saturation, intensity, and color balance can be performed using the Color settings panel in the Retouch Image feature that accompanies the ACT-1 control software. Although not as sophisticated as Adobe Photoshop or similar image editors, this control panel can be effectively utilized to make minor corrections to color problems in digital images.
Image Size Settings Panel - Options for changing image resolution in the Size settings panel are available through a pull-down menu. Although this image editing utility will not increase image resolution, it can reduce resolution of the image by 75, 50, or 25 percent through selections made in the menu.
White/Black Balance Settings Panel - The overall tonal quality of digital images can be established with the White and Black Balance settings panel found in the Retouch Image window panel tab header. These controls can be utilized to set a single pixel or a selected area for calculation of the white and/or black tones in a photomicrograph, leading to enhanced contrast, color rendition, and background color purity.
Retouch Image Menu - Although most of the image correction subroutines are housed in the settings panels within the Retouch Image window, several important functions are found in the menu. These include image rotation and flipping, color conversion, and cropping.
