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. Correction factors include image brightness, contrast, gamma, sharpness, hue, saturation, intensity, rotation, color balance, white/black balance, and cropping. This interactive tutorial explores how images can be corrected using the ACT-1 Retouch Image window.
Operation of the tutorial is identical to the native Nikon software. All four of the settings panel tabs are functional and can be utilized to manipulate the image positioned in the display window. For additional information about each settings panel, use the links below to navigate to extended discussions that include examples of photomicrographs that have been corrected or retouched with the ACT-1 Retouch Image software.
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 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 panel, several important functions are found in the menu. These include image rotation and flipping, color conversion, and 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.
Contributing Authors
John C. Long and Michael W. Davidson - National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, 1800 East Paul Dirac Dr., The Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, 32310.
