Modes

Picture Window treats the image displayed in the main image area differently depending on the current mode. This can be a little confusing if you are not aware of how it works, but actually the underlying mechanism is pretty simple. If no transformation is in progress, you can select one of five base modes via the main tool bar. One of these modes is always in effect.

A mode can be thought of as a rule for what happens when you interact with the main image area. The four basic modes selectable from the main tool bar are:

 Zoom and Scroll -- Clicking and dragging scrolls the image while the mouse scroll wheel zooms the image in or out. This is the default base mode that you will normally use most of the time.

 Magnifier -- Clicking and dragging displays a magnifier window to let you view part of the image at a higher zoom factor.

 Readout -- Clicking and Dragging displays a readout window that displays pixel values at the cursor location.

 Histogram -- Clicking on the image displays its histogram in a format you select.

 Palette -- Clicking on the image displays its histogram in a format you select.

Mode Selection

If a tool or transformation is active, it may activate a new mode if it displays an overlay over the input image. For example, the Crop transformation displays a crop box that indicates what part of the image will be cropped out. Clicking and dragging the corners or sides of the crop box adjusts its location, overriding whatever mode is set on the main tool bar.

Transformations may bring up additional windows such as a mask dialog or a color picker and these windows may have their own modes that override the transformation’s primary mode. If a mask dialog is active, clicking and dragging on the image manipulates the mask. For a color picker, clicking on an image selects the color at the location you click. For a curve control, clicking on an image displays a red line on the curve corresponding to the color of the image where you click.

Since only one mode can be active at a time, the mode is set by clicking anywhere on the caption or background of a window or control. This makes it the active window and turns on its mode, if any. So, for example, if your transformation overlay suddenly disappears, just click on the transformation dialog box to bring it back.

To temporarily switch back to zoom and scroll mode, hold down the Alt key on the keyboard while dragging the cursor., or you can also scroll using the Alt-arrow keys.