We've put considerable effort into creating this online help system.
Beyond the usual good stuff (you'll find it comprehensive and very context-sensitive), the help system is actively managed to co-operate on screen, obscuring as little as possible so that items of interest and information about them are visible simultaneously. See Help System Operation for more information.
You will work most productively with the software by first familiarizing yourself with the operation and contents of the help system. We are pleased to provide free technical support to any customer who has consulted help and still cannot answer their question or solve their problem. But we may be a little testy with folks who call and obviously haven't checked the docs.
The documentation is organized in 5 sections:
Introduction contains overviews, with a guide to getting started, a short discussion of how things work, a look at the kinds of things you can create, etc. Also included are tips on configuring the software, guidelines for tech support, and info about the author.
Creating Compositions covers pretty much all of Easel's capabilities and how to use them, from the basics of adding, editing and deleting items to advanced tools and techniques for automated layout and precision alignment.
Image Editing provides detailed information about image-specific topics such as cropping and adjusting color.
Examples illustrates both basic and advanced Easel capabilities via detailed step-by-step instructions for how to create 4 different compositions.
Interface offers a methodical discussion of Easel's interface elements, including its main windows, menus, and toolbars.
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Topic |
Content |
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Intro and background | |
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Advice for new users | |
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Examples | |
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Brief technical discussion (worthwhile) | |
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Documentation Guide |
This topic |
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Configure how/when help is displayed | |
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Company background | |
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What do do about problems with the software | |
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How to get tech support | |
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Contributors | |
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Related Imaging Tools | |
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Overall configuration |
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Topic |
Content |
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The absolute basics | |
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Details about Step 1 | |
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Detailed discussion about working with images | |
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Choosing image files to add | |
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Image basics | |
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Detailed discussion about working with captions | |
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Caption basics | |
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Detailed discussion about working with frames | |
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Frame basics | |
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How to create an image file of your composition | |
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Learn to align images with precise cropping, moving, and resizing | |
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How to crop images to fit in specific locations | |
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Meet Easel's automated layout tools | |
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Using a grid to constrain your composition | |
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Determine what appears between images | |
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Modifying more than one item at a time | |
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Things you can do to more than 1 image at a time | |
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Features to help create very large compositions |
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Section |
Topic |
Content |
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Adjusting Color |
How to adjust colors across the entire image | |
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How to adjust highlights, shadows, midtones separately | |
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The color adjustment interface | |
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How to remove redeye and other reflective distortions | |
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How to make an image partially transparent | |
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Cropping |
Cropping basics | |
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Cropping interface | |
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Standard cropping method | |
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Other cropping method | |
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Other cropping method | |
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Change the appearance of a burst crop | |
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Other cropping method | |
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How to crop images to fit in specific locations | |
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How to control constrained cropping | |
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Other method of constrained cropping | |
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[None] |
Just like it sounds | |
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How to edit an image in a separate window | |
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View intrinsic properties of images, data embedded in them. | |
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Things you can do to more than 1 image at a time |
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Topic |
Content |
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Intro to the examples | |
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Simple example | |
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More complicated example | |
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More complicated example | |
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Most complicated example |
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Topic |
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