Photo Director

Regional Adjustment Tools

Use the regional adjustment tools if you want to modify only a specific area of a photo. You can also use these tools to crop, rotate, remove spots and red-eye, and more.

The following sections outline the features and functions available in the regional adjustment tools of CyberLink PhotoDirector.

To begin using a regional adjustment tool, just select it from the available icons.

Note: if required when using the regional adjustments tools, press and hold the spacebar on your keyboard, and then use the mouse to zoom or pan on the selected photo during the adjustment process.

Cropping and Rotating Photos

You can crop out portions of a photo you do not want, and rotate them up to 45 degrees for an effect or to straighten them if they are a little crooked or uneven.

To assist you when cropping and rotating photos, select a Tool overlay from the drop-down in the bottom right of the photo viewer window. Use the overlay that will best guide and assist you to more precisely crop and straighten a photo.

Cropping Photos

To crop a photo, do this:

1. Click to display the available crop and rotate options.
2. To crop, do one of the following:
   • click to manually crop out a section. Click and drag on the photo to manually set the crop area.
   • select a crop area shape from the Aspect drop-down. To create a custom shape, select Enter Custom, enter the Aspect ratio values in the field provided, and then click OK.

Note: click if you want to manually resize the crop area’s aspect ratio. Click if you want the crop area to maintain its aspect ratio.

1. Click and drag the corners and sides of the crop area to resize, if necessary.
2. Click inside the shape and drag to move the crop area, if necessary.
3. Click Done to crop the photo.

Rotating Photos

To rotate a photo, do this:

Note: when you rotate a photo, some portions are cropped to make it square. You can rotate photos 90 degrees by right clicking on it and selecting Rotate Right/Left.

1. Click to display the available crop and rotate options.
2. To rotate, do one of the following:
   • click and then click and drag on the photo to draw a line along the part you want to be horizontal or vertical. For best results, draw on a straight line in the photo that you know should be level, as shown in the example below.
     
   • click and drag the Angle slider until the photo appears to be level.
   • hover the mouse outside the crop area until the mouse pointer becomes curved. Then click and drag on the photo to manually rotate it.
     
3. Click inside the crop area and drag to move it, if necessary. You can also resize the crop area as well.
4. Click Done. CyberLink PhotoDirector crops out the excess portions of the photo to make it square.
   

Using the Adjustment Brush

You can use the adjustment brush to select, or brush, just the parts of a photo that you want to adjust.

To use the adjustment brush, do this:

Note: you can adjust multiple areas of the photo using masks. See Using Masks for Multiple Brush Adjustments for more information.

1. Click to open the adjustment brush controls.
2. Click and drag on the photo to apply a brush stroke. CyberLink PhotoDirector displays a mask color on the area you apply.

Note: the mask disappears as soon as you start adjusting the brush options. See Using Masks for Multiple Brush Adjustments for more information.

1. Set the adjustment brush options as follows:
   • Brush/Eraser: select the Brush to apply the set adjustments. Use the Eraser if you make some errors using the brush and want to remove areas of the applied adjustments.
   • Size: use the slider to set the size of the brushed or erased area. You can also use the mouse scroll wheel to adjust the diameter of the brush.
   • Feather: use the slider to set the transition level between the area being brushed and the pixels around the area. The area between the inner and outer circle is the size of the gradient that CyberLink PhotoDirector uses to create a smooth transition between the areas.
   • Flow: use the slider to set the amount of adjustment applied with a brush stroke.
   • Fit to edges: select this option to limit applied adjustments to areas of the photo that have a similar properties. CyberLink PhotoDirector auto applies them for you based on your brush strokes.
2. Set the type of adjustment you want to make using the available sliders:
   • Exposure: use to adjust areas of the photo that are over or underexposed. A negative value darkens overexposed areas, while a positive value lightens underexposed areas.
   • Brightness: use to adjust the brightness in parts of the photo.
   • Contrast: use to adjust contrast, or the difference between light and dark areas of the photo.
   • Saturation: use to adjust the intensity of a color in certain areas of the photo.
   • Clarity: use to adjust the clarity of details in the photo.
   • Sharpness: use to enhance definition of objects and content in the photo.
   • Blue/Yellow: use to adjust the color level of blues and yellows in the photo.
   • Green Magenta: use to adjust the photo’s green and magenta levels.
3. Click and drag on the other areas of the photo where the adjustments should be applied. Use the sliders to further refine the adjustments as required.
4. Click Done to finish the adjustments and close the panel.

Using Masks for Multiple Brush Adjustments

You can make up to five different brush adjustments on a photo. When you modify the adjustment options and use the brush to apply them to a photo, a mask is auto created and labelled by color.

The mask label is visible in the Mask drop-down at the top of the brush panel.

To create a new adjustment mask, do this:

1. Select New from the Mask drop-down to create a new mask.
   
2. Apply a brush stroke and then use the sliders to set the adjustments as required for the second adjustment.
3. CyberLink PhotoDirector labels the mask with another color in the Mask drop-down.
   
4. CyberLink PhotoDirector marks each mask on the photo with the color label.
   
5. Click the color label to toggle the masks on and off, and view the areas of the photo where each of the adjustments was applied.
   

Removing Spots

The spot removal tool lets you fix any imperfections or blemishes in a photo.

To remove spots, do this:

1. Click to open the spot removal tools.
2. Set the spot removal options as follows:
   • Clone/Heal: select and use Clone if you want to copy an area of the photo and use it to cover up the spot. Select and use Heal to touch up the spot using the photo information (texture, lighting, and shading) that surrounds it.
   • Size: use the slider to set the size of area that the tool covers up.
   • Feather: use the slider to set the transition level between the area being covered up and the pixels around the area.
   • Opacity: use the slider to set the transparency of the applied cover up.
3. Click on the part of the photo you want to touch up and then drag the spot removal tool to the part of the photo you want the spot to resemble.
   
4. Click Done to finish the adjustments and close the panel.

Using a Gradient Mask

Use the gradient mask to apply adjustments gradually across a large area of a photo.

To use a gradient mask, to this:

1. Click to open the gradient mask tools.
2. Click and drag on the photo to set the gradient across a portion of the photo. CyberLink PhotoDirector displays a mask color on the area you apply.

Note: the mask disappears as soon as you start adjusting the gradient mask options. See Using Multiple Gradient Masks for more information.

1. Set the type of adjustments you want the gradient mask to use as follows.
   • Exposure: use to adjust areas of the photo that are over or underexposed. A negative value darkens overexposed areas, while a positive value lightens underexposed areas.
   • Brightness: use to adjust the brightness in parts of the photo.
   • Contrast: use to adjust contrast, or the difference between light and dark areas of the photo.
   • Saturation: use to adjust the intensity of a color in certain areas of the photo.
   • Clarity: use to adjust the clarity of details in the photo.
   • Sharpness: use to enhance definition of objects and content in the photo.
   • Blue/Yellow: use to adjust the color level of blues and yellows in the photo.
   • Green Magenta: use to adjust the photo’s green and magenta levels.
2. Click Done to finish the adjustments and close the panel.

Using Multiple Gradient Masks

You can use up to five gradient masks on a photo in CyberLink PhotoDirector. When you modify the adjustment options and use the gradient mask on the photo, CyberLink PhotoDirector auto creates a mask labelled by color.

The mask label is visible in the Mask drop-down at the top of the gradient mask panel.

To create a new gradient mask, do this:

1. Select New from the Mask drop-down to create a new mask.
   
2. Click and drag on the photo to set the gradient across a different portion of the photo.
3. Use the sliders to set the adjustments as required for the second gradient mask.
4. CyberLink PhotoDirector labels the mask with another color in the Mask drop-down.
   
5. CyberLink PhotoDirector marks each gradient mask on the photo with the color label.
   
6. Click the color label to toggle the masks on and off, and view the areas of the photo where the gradient was applied.
   

Removing Red-Eye

You can remove red-eye from photos using the tool in regional adjustments.

To remove red-eye, do this:

1. Click to open the remove red-eye tools.
2. On the photo, click in the center of the affected eye, and drag the mouse to resize a color spot that is placed over the red-eye.
   
3. CyberLink PhotoDirector should auto detect the red-eye, and then fix it for you. If it is unable to detect it properly, click and drag the applied spot to center it over the red area, and then use the available sliders to manually fix it as follows:
   • Pupil size: use the slider to resize the spot on the red area of the pupil.
   • Darken: use the slider to darken the spot to the desired color.
4. Click Done to finish the adjustments and close the panel.

Regional Adjustment Tools