Reflection Tasks

Along with the 2D Reflections Gallery file, there are 4 .TSK files included in the zip file.  These can be loaded as PhotoImpact tasks and accessed from the Quick Command Panel's Task tab.   They are handy if you want to quickly create a partial reflection effect that  does not exist in the easypalette, 75% for example.

To load them, go to the Quick Command Panel's Task tab and select the task manager from the menu (Figure 9).

Figure 9

This will bring up the Task Manager dialog box.  Select 'Import' (Figure 10).

Figure 10

The 'Load' dialog box will appear.  Navigate to the location on your system where you extracted the .TSK files, select one of them and click Open (Figure 11).

Figure 11

Your new task is now listed along with the other tasks provided with PhotoImpact and can be selected for use at any time (Figure 12).

Figure 12

To demonstrate how these tasks may be used, create a new project and then add a text object (Figure 13).

Figure 13

Select the 'Reflect Bottom' task from the task list (Figure 12).  The task will now list all the steps that PhotoImact will go through to accomplish the 'Reflect Bottom' task.  We will mainly be concerned with the 2 'Resize' steps (Figure 14).

Figure 14

When you click on any of the steps listed in the task window, PhotoImpact will attempt to perform that operation on whatever object you currently have selected.  Ensure that you have the text object from Figure 13 selected and begin by clicking on the first step, Copy.  Even though you didn't see anything happen, PhotoImpact copied the current object (your text object) to the clipboard.  Continue the 'Reflect Bottom' task by clicking on each successive step in the task window.  As you do this,  you will be able to see the result of each individual step.  When you get to the first 'Resize' step, the Resize dialog box will appear (Figure 15).

Figure 15

This resize step is creating the reflection image portion of the task.  Notice that the New image height in Figure 15 is currently set at 40 Percent.  To create a reflection image of 75 percent, this will need to be changed to 75.  Before doing this, however, take note of the Active image height (29 pixels in this case, Figure 15).  We will need this value later during the 2nd Resize step.  After changing the height to 75 and clicking OK, continue on with the remaining steps until you are prompted with the 2nd Resize dialog box (Figure 16).

Figure 16

This step resizes the final image so that it includes both the original image and the reflection image.  Notice the size of the Active image (21 pixels in this case, Figure 16).  We will need to enter a new height value of 29 pixels for the original image plus 21 pixels for the reflection image giving a total of 50 pixels.  In the resize dialog box, change the New image units from 'Percent' to 'Pixels' and then enter a new height of 50.  Make sure that the 'Keep aspect ratio' option is NOT checked.  Before clicking OK, change the New image units BACK to Percent.  This should show a new percentage of 238 (Figure 17).

Figure 17

PhotoImpact actually updates the task with all changes made in any completed dialog box.  By changing the New image units back to Percent, this ensures that the updated Reflect Bottom task will correctly produce a 75% reflection of any sized image.  Continue on with the remaining steps in the task.  You will be prompted with a dialog box on both the 'Change Object Properties' and 'Fade-out' steps as well.  In the 'Change Object Properties' box, you can alter the amount of transparency for the reflection image if you wish or just click OK.  Remember, any change in these dialogs is permanently updated in the task.  After completing the last step, you should have a final image that looks something like that in Figure 18.

Figure 18

As you can see, tasks are a very powerful feature of PhotoImpact.  I hope you found this information useful.