Features: The Image Composer Toolbox

The toolbox is a secondary toolbar that provides access to the image editing tools. Most of the icons open tool palettes that work as dialogs to help you apply and adjust modifications to sprites. The tools in the palettes are grouped according to the kinds of effects they produce: Tool pallettes are out of view until you activate them by clicking a tool on the toolbox or by selecting a tool from the Tools menu. To hide or display a tool palette, press F2, or click Toggle Palette View on the View menu. You can dock a tool palette by using the Dock Tool Palette command on the View menu to return a tool palette to the lower left corner of the workspace. You undock a tool palette by moving it. You also can move a tool palette anywhere in Image Composer and its position is retained until you move it.

Icon

Function

Description

Selection Tool
 Selection Tool Returns Microsoft Image Composer to selection mode, so that you can easily select sprites. To select more than one sprite at a time, drag a selection rectangle around the sprites.

Colour Swatch

Colour Swatch

Displays the Colour Picker dialog box for setting the current Colour or creating a custom Colour. The Colour Picker has two tabbed dialogs: True Colour or Custom Palette. The current tab is the tab most recently used. You can drag Colours between the Colour Swatch and the smaller Colour chips on the tool palettes.

Click the icon to find out more about Arrange Palette

Arrange (Alt+2) 

The Arrange tool palette contains tools to arrange, resize, rotate, flip, and change the order of sprites in the stack. Tools to crop or extend the bounding box of a sprite are also included, as are three interactive warp tools.

Click the Icon to find out more about the Cutout Tools

Cutout tool (Alt+3)

The Cutout tool palette contains tools to create masks, shadows, and any other cut-outs in a variety of shapes. In addition, you can use the Select Colour Region tool to create a new sprite of a single colour from an existing sprite or to extract the texture of a sprite.

Text

Text (Alt+4)

The Text tool palette contains tools to create text sprites using the set of scaleable fonts that are installed on your computer.

Shapes

Shapes (Alt+5)

The Shapes tool palette contains tools to create new sprites in geometric shapes or in freeform shapes you create with the Curve or Polygon tool. 

Paint

Paint (Alt+6)

The Paint tool palette contains tools to apply various paint effects, such as spraying a colour with an airbrush or painting a colour with a brush you choose from dozens of sizes and shapes.

Effects

Effects (Alt+7)

The Effects tool palette contains tools to add effects to sprites, including arts and crafts, colour enhancement, outlines, photographic, and other effects.

Texture Transfer

Texture Transfer (Alt+8)

The Texture Transfer tool palette contains tools to transfer the content of pixels in one sprite to another.

Colour Tuning

Colour Tuning (Alt+=):

The Texture Transfer tool palette contains tools to transfer the content of pixels in one sprite to another.

Zoom

Zoom (Alt+9)

Switches Microsoft Image Composer to zoom mode, so that you can enlarge or shrink the composition view. To enlarge the composition view· On the Tools menu, click Zoom, and then click anywhere in the view window. To shrink the composition view· On the Tools menu, click Zoom, and then press CTRL and click anywhere in the view window.

Pan Button

Pan button (Alt+0)

Lets you slide the work space around to view different regions.

When a new tool palette is called up, the right-click menu for sprites is also modified to reflect the tools available in that palette.