Change and mask colors in bitmaps

To color a monochrome bitmap
To apply a screen to a bitmap
To hide or display a color in a bitmap
To open a bitmap color mask
To change a masked color

CorelDRAW lets you change colors in monochrome images, apply PostScript halftone screens to optimize color and black-and-white bitmaps for printing, hide and show colors, and mask colors. Monochrome bitmaps have two colors: black and white. You can replace the black and white pixels with any color on a color palette.

If you plan to print to a PostScript printer, you can optimize color or black-and-white printing by applying a halftone screen to an image. Halftone screens break down an image into small dots or lines for clearer printing, continuous tones, and special effects. However, you can see the effect of the screen on the bitmap only after you print it on a PostScript printer. For information about making changes to halftone screens, see To customize a halftone screen.

You can hide and display selected colors by masking them. Hiding colors in a bitmap lets objects or backgrounds show through the image. Hiding a color can also alter the apparent shape of a bitmap. For example, if a bitmap shows a person on a black background, you can hide the background so that the bitmap appears to take on the shape of the person rather than a rectangular shape. Also, hiding colors in bitmaps can increase the speed at which objects are rendered on the screen. You can also display certain colors in a bitmap to change the appearance of the image or to see where a particular color has been applied. You can mask as many as 10 colors in a bitmap.

Color masking also lets you change selected colors without altering the other colors in an image. You can also save a bitmap color mask to a file and open the file for future use.

To color a monochrome bitmap

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1 Select a bitmap by using the Pick tool .
2 Right-click a color on the color palette to change the color of the foreground (black) pixels.
3 Click a color on the color palette to change the color of the background (white) pixels.

To apply a screen to a bitmap

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1 Select a bitmap by using the Pick tool .
2 In the toolbox, click the Interactive fill tool .
3 On the property bar, click the Uniform fill button , and then click the Edit fill button .
4 In the Edit fill dialog box, enable the Color palettes option.
5 Choose a spot color palette from the Palette list box.
6 Click PostScript options.
7 In the PostScript options dialog box, choose an option (other than Default) from the Type list to set the dot shape or line type.
8 Type a value in the Frequency box to set the number of dots or lines that appear in each inch of the screen.
9 Type a value in the Angle box to set the angle of the dots or lines that appear on the screen.

To hide or display a color in a bitmap

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1 Select the bitmap by using the Pick tool .
2 Click Bitmaps Bitmap Mask.
3 In the Bitmap Mask docker, click the Color selector button , and click a color in the bitmap.
4 Enable the check box next to the channel that you want to hide or display.
5 Move the Tolerance slider to set the color tolerance for the color.
6 Enable one of the following options:
• Hide selected
• Show selected
7 Click Apply.

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Higher tolerance levels target a broader range of colors around the color you select. For example, if you select baby blue and increase the tolerance, CorelDRAW hides or displays such colors as pastel blue or electric blue.

To open a bitmap color mask

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1 Click Bitmaps Bitmap Mask.
2 Click the Open mask button .
3 Choose the folder where the color mask file is stored.
4 Double-click the file.

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Files containing bitmap color mask have the filename extension .ini.

To change a masked color

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1 Click Bitmaps Bitmap Mask.
2 Choose a color from the list of masked colors.
3 Click the Edit color button .
4 Use the controls in the Select color dialog box to edit the color.

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You can also change a masked color by clicking the Color selector button , selecting another color from the bitmap, and clicking Apply.

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