Can this be done in IrfanView?

An effect I use fairly often is a highlighted section like this:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4019461/ExampleHighlight.jpg
(Well, strictly it's a relative 'dimming' of the non-selected area.)

To do this I have to break off from working in IrfanView and load up
resource-hungry PaintShop Pro 8, a bit of a chore.

Over the years I've been delighted to find various features in IrfanView
that I wasn't aware of. I don't think this is one, but I'd appreciate
confirmation please.

Alternatively, any other fast-loading freeware tool that loads fast that
can do it?

--
Terry, East Grinstead, UK

On Sat, 23 Jun 2012 15:59:33 +0300, Terry Pinnell wrote:


An effect I use fairly often is a highlighted section like this:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4019461/ExampleHighlight.jpg
(Well, strictly it's a relative 'dimming' of the non-selected area.)

To do this I have to break off from working in IrfanView and load up
resource-hungry PaintShop Pro 8, a bit of a chore.

Over the years I've been delighted to find various features in IrfanView
that I wasn't aware of. I don't think this is one, but I'd appreciate
confirmation please.

AFAIK, IrfanView can only do rectangular selections.

Alternatively, any other fast-loading freeware tool that loads fast that
can do it?

Paint.NET (http://www.getpaint.net/) can do this. Use the Ellipse Select tool, invert the selection and use the Adjustments menu to dim the outside area.

Paint.NET is a nice intermediate tool to have when you need something more advanced than IrfanView, but also something lighter than, say, GIMP.

An effect I use fairly often is a highlighted section like this:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4019461/ExampleHighlight.jpg
(Well, strictly it's a relative 'dimming' of the non-selected area.)

To do this I have to break off from working in IrfanView and load up
resource-hungry PaintShop Pro 8, a bit of a chore.

Over the years I've been delighted to find various features in IrfanView
that I wasn't aware of. I don't think this is one, but I'd appreciate
confirmation please.

Alternatively, any other fast-loading freeware tool that loads fast that
can do it?

Irfanview can't do it since it doesn't offer the masking needed to
perform that task. However, some freeware programs can do that task
easily once you learn how to create and invert a mask, then lower the
brightness on the masked area.

The following are easy to use and allow you to move your masks.

Hornil StylePix Free
OS: Win XP/2003/Vista/2008/7
http://hornil.com/en/products/stylepix/Features.html

Photofiltre 7
OS: Win NT/98/ME/2000/XP/Vista/7
http://www.photofiltre-studio.com/pf7-en.htm

PixBuilder Studio
OS: Win XP/Vista/7
http://www.wnsoft.com/pixbuilder

"Elias Fotinis" wrote:

On Sat, 23 Jun 2012 15:59:33 +0300, Terry Pinnell wrote:


An effect I use fairly often is a highlighted section like this:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4019461/ExampleHighlight.jpg
(Well, strictly it's a relative 'dimming' of the non-selected area.)

To do this I have to break off from working in IrfanView and load up
resource-hungry PaintShop Pro 8, a bit of a chore.

Over the years I've been delighted to find various features in IrfanView
that I wasn't aware of. I don't think this is one, but I'd appreciate
confirmation please.

AFAIK, IrfanView can only do rectangular selections.

Alternatively, any other fast-loading freeware tool that loads fast that
can do it?

Paint.NET (http://www.getpaint.net/) can do this. Use the Ellipse Select tool, invert the selection and use the Adjustments menu to dim the outside area.

Paint.NET is a nice intermediate tool to have when you need something more advanced than IrfanView, but also something lighter than, say, GIMP.

On installing I got message that it needed XP SP3. I'm still on SP2 and no
imminent plan to update.

--
Terry, East Grinstead, UK

Bear wrote:

Terry Pinnell wrote in
:

An effect I use fairly often is a highlighted section like this:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4019461/ExampleHighlight.jpg
(Well, strictly it's a relative 'dimming' of the non-selected area.)

To do this I have to break off from working in IrfanView and load up
resource-hungry PaintShop Pro 8, a bit of a chore.

Over the years I've been delighted to find various features in
IrfanView that I wasn't aware of. I don't think this is one, but I'd
appreciate confirmation please.

Alternatively, any other fast-loading freeware tool that loads fast
that can do it?


The fastest way I know how to do something similar is to use Google's
Chrome Screen Shot extension and choose "capture page region"
(CTRL+ALT+R) and use the printscreen button to capture the desktop,
paste new image into Photofilter and crop the image to your liking.

When you choose page region, the entire page darkens except for the
selection box which you can move and size to the area of interest.

http://bearware.info/screenshots/example.png

Thanks, but I don't use Chrome.

I'm not clear why you'd use it? Or the PrtScr button? I've just installed
Photofiltre and that does it OK on its own. BTW, it seems unable to draw a
circle around a chosen point; is that possible please?

If only PaintShopPro 8 wasn't so slow to load and heavy on resources that
would be my obvious choice, as I'm so familiar with it.

--
Terry, East Grinstead, UK

If only PaintShopPro 8 wasn't so slow to load and heavy on resources that
would be my obvious choice, as I'm so familiar with it.

Terry, East Grinstead, UK
================================

Terry, any chance you can increase the memory on that PC? PSP8 should not
be /that/ slow. A disk with significant built-in cache might also help.

http://www.dabs.com/products/seagate...32mb-70JK.html

Cheers,
David

On Sun, 24 Jun 2012 07:41:53 +0100, Terry Pinnell
wrote:

Bear wrote:

Terry Pinnell wrote in
m:

An effect I use fairly often is a highlighted section like this:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4019461/ExampleHighlight.jpg
(Well, strictly it's a relative 'dimming' of the non-selected area.)

To do this I have to break off from working in IrfanView and load up
resource-hungry PaintShop Pro 8, a bit of a chore.

Over the years I've been delighted to find various features in
IrfanView that I wasn't aware of. I don't think this is one, but I'd
appreciate confirmation please.

Alternatively, any other fast-loading freeware tool that loads fast
that can do it?


The fastest way I know how to do something similar is to use Google's
Chrome Screen Shot extension and choose "capture page region"
(CTRL+ALT+R) and use the printscreen button to capture the desktop,
paste new image into Photofilter and crop the image to your liking.

When you choose page region, the entire page darkens except for the
selection box which you can move and size to the area of interest.

http://bearware.info/screenshots/example.png

Thanks, but I don't use Chrome.

I'm not clear why you'd use it? Or the PrtScr button? I've just installed
Photofiltre and that does it OK on its own. BTW, it seems unable to draw a
circle around a chosen point; is that possible please?

If only PaintShopPro 8 wasn't so slow to load and heavy on resources that
would be my obvious choice, as I'm so familiar with it.

What kind of machine and what operating system are you running? From
your comments, I suspect you are labouring under a burden of age.

Regards,

Eric Stevens

In article ,
, Terry Pinnell says...

"Elias Fotinis" wrote:

On Sat, 23 Jun 2012 15:59:33 +0300, Terry Pinnell wrote:


An effect I use fairly often is a highlighted section like this:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4019461/ExampleHighlight.jpg
(Well, strictly it's a relative 'dimming' of the non-selected area.)

To do this I have to break off from working in IrfanView and load up
resource-hungry PaintShop Pro 8, a bit of a chore.

Over the years I've been delighted to find various features in IrfanView
that I wasn't aware of. I don't think this is one, but I'd appreciate
confirmation please.

AFAIK, IrfanView can only do rectangular selections.

Alternatively, any other fast-loading freeware tool that loads fast that
can do it?

Paint.NET (http://www.getpaint.net/) can do this. Use the Ellipse Select tool, invert the selection and use the Adjustments menu to dim the outside area.

Paint.NET is a nice intermediate tool to have when you need something more advanced than IrfanView, but also something lighter than, say, GIMP.

On installing I got message that it needed XP SP3. I'm still on SP2 and no
imminent plan to update.

Why???? - you're on an unsupported platform, IIRC.

--
Duncan.

Dave Doe wrote:

In article ,
, Terry Pinnell says...

"Elias Fotinis" wrote:

On Sat, 23 Jun 2012 15:59:33 +0300, Terry Pinnell wrote:


An effect I use fairly often is a highlighted section like this:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4019461/ExampleHighlight.jpg
(Well, strictly it's a relative 'dimming' of the non-selected area.)

To do this I have to break off from working in IrfanView and load up
resource-hungry PaintShop Pro 8, a bit of a chore.

Over the years I've been delighted to find various features in IrfanView
that I wasn't aware of. I don't think this is one, but I'd appreciate
confirmation please.

AFAIK, IrfanView can only do rectangular selections.

Alternatively, any other fast-loading freeware tool that loads fast that
can do it?

Paint.NET (http://www.getpaint.net/) can do this. Use the Ellipse Select tool, invert the selection and use the Adjustments menu to dim the outside area.

Paint.NET is a nice intermediate tool to have when you need something more advanced than IrfanView, but also something lighter than, say, GIMP.

On installing I got message that it needed XP SP3. I'm still on SP2 and no
imminent plan to update.

Why???? - you're on an unsupported platform, IIRC.

Traumatic failure when I last attempted it a couple or three years ago.
And no obvious benefit - apart perhaps from the lack of official support
you highlight!

--
Terry, East Grinstead, UK

An effect I use fairly often is a highlighted section like this:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4019461/ExampleHighlight.jpg
(Well, strictly it's a relative 'dimming' of the non-selected area.)

I've just installed
Photofiltre and that does it OK on its own. BTW, it seems unable to draw a
circle around a chosen point; is that possible please?

I couldn't find such a feature, but Photofiltre allows you to easily
move your circular selection to wherever you want.