ScanSoft KAI S PHOTO SOAP 2 User manual

1User Guide
for Windows®and Macintosh®

2
Trademarks
Kai’s Photo Soap 2 is a trademark of ScanSoft, Inc.
“Macintosh” is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Incorporated. “Windows” and
“PowerPoint” are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. “Pentium” is a
registered trademark of Intel Corporation. All other product names mentioned in the
manual and other documentation are used for identification purposes only and may be
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Registered and
unregistered trademarks used herein are the exclusive property of their respective owners.
ScanSoft, Inc. makes no claim to any such marks, nor willingly or knowingly misused or
misapplied such marks.
Copyright
Copyright © 1998–2000 by ScanSoft, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be transmitted, transcribed, reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or translated
into any language or computer language in any form or by any means, mechanical,
electronic, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual, or otherwise, without the prior written
consent of ScanSoft, Inc., 9 Centennial Drive, Peabody, Massachusetts 01960. Printed
both in the United States of America and the United Kingdom. The software described in
this book is furnished under license and may be used or copied only in accordance with
the terms of such license.
Important Notice
ScanSoft, Inc. provides this publication “as is” without warranty of any kind, either
express or implied, including but not lim-ited to the implied warranties of
merchantability or fitness for a particu-lar purpose. Some states or jurisdictions do not
allow disclaimer of ex-press or implied warranties in certain transactions; therefore, this
statement may not apply to you. ScanSoft reserves the right to revise this publication and
to make changes from time to time in the content hereof without obligation of ScanSoft to
notify any person of such revision or changes.
® ScanSoft, Inc.
9 Centennial Drive
Peabody, Massachusetts 01960
Kai’s Photo Soap 2 User’s Guide
August 2000

iii
TABLE OF
Welcome to Kai’s Photo Soap 2 7
12 What’s New?
13 Getting Help
14 Starting and Quitting Soap 2
15 Exploring Kai’s Photo Soap 2
22 The Soap 2 Transporter
23 Undo, Apply, and Save
25 Using Albums
26 Exporting Photos
27 Expanding Soap 2’s Power
Installing Kai’s Photo Soap 2 29
Organizing Photos 31
32 Overview
32 Loading Photos
33 Working with Thumbnails
37 Previewing Photos
38 Getting File Information
39 Removing Image Files from your Computer
40 Switching Views
41 Working with Desktops
43 Sorting and Searching for Photos
Fixing Photos 48
49 Overview
50 What Kai’s Photo Soap 2 Can Fix
50 Using the Tools

iv
54 Rotating and Sizing Photos
59 Adjusting Color
71 Automatically Fixing Photos
74 Healing Flaws
77 Smoothing and Sharpening
79 Removing Red Eye
80 Removing date and time stamps
81 Duplicating photo elements
83 Other Fun Effects
86 Having Fun with Masks
Composing Images 91
92 Building Compositions
93 Working with Composition Layers
104 Adding Photos to your Composition
105 Adding Text
107 Adding Objects, Backgrounds, and Edges
108 Adding Shadows to Layers
110 Adding a Canvas Color
111 Saving and Reloading a Composition
Using Albums 114
115 Overview
116 Selecting an Album Style
117 Changing the Layout
118 Loading Photos
119 Adding Text
121 Printing Albums

v
TABLE OF
122 Saving Albums
122 Viewing Album Information
122 Sharing Albums
Printing Photos 123
125 Overview
126 Printing a Single Photo
127 Printing in Rows and Columns
128 Printing to Popular Sizes
128 Supported Avery and Kodak Papers
128 Loading Special Papers Correctly
129 Printing to Perforated Paper
130 Printing to Special Designs
132 Printing Posters
133 Adding Backgrounds or Frames
134 Scaling Up or Down
135 Rotating Photos to Fit
135 Flipping for Iron-Ons
136 Repeating Images on a Page
136 Printing Page Text
136 Printing Filenames, Dates, and Headers
137 Setting Margins
137 Keeping Settings
138 Previewing
138 Page Setup
Sharing Photos 139
139 Sending Photos with E-mail

vi
141 Exporting a Desktop as a Web Page
143 Exporting an Album as a Web page
145 Exporting Photos as a PhotoCube Web Page
(PC only)
Using Plug-Ins 147
Appendix A:Tips About Photos 151
152 Tips About Scanning
152 Selecting Photos
Appendix B:Key Shortcuts 154
154 Using Soap 2 Keyboard Shortcuts
Appendix C: Supported Papers 155
Glossary 156
Index 162

7
INTRODUCING SOAP 2
Welcome to Kai’s Photo Soap 2
Kai’s Photo Soap 2 is the next generation of Kai’s Power Soap. Load photos from your
computer’s hard drive, a digital camera, a scanner, a picture CD, or right off the Internet.
Collect photos, correct them, then tweak them with special tools and filters. Present
photos in digital photo albums and slideshows. Print photos and even output them ready
for the Web!
Some of the many things you can do with Soap 2.

8
What Can You Do with Soap 2?
With Soap 2, you can:
• organize your photos
• display and share photos in Soap 2 electronic photo albums
• repair damaged old photos
• create fun special effects
• add clip art, text, or cartoons to a photo composition
• create artful collages, using multiple photos
• export photos or albums to use on the WEB
• prepare photos to send over e-mail or in an interactive slideshow
• view photos in several ways
You can see your photos on a Soap 2 “desktop” or “lightbox”.

9
INTRODUCING SOAP 2
• print photos in rows and columns, or in popular sizes
• crop and rotate photos
You can print in rows or in popular sizes.
No more messing with scissors to trim a photo to the correct size. You can rotate or crop photos
easily in Soap 2.

10
• rescue torn, faded, dusty, or wrinkled photos
• make a photo brighter or sharper.
You can rescue torn, faded, dusty, or wrinkled photos.
Adjust the brightness or tweak the contrast to get a better look.

11
INTRODUCING SOAP 2
• fix red eye or even remove a time/date stamp
• create fun projects—working with multiple photos, using plug-in filters, adding clip
art, text, backgrounds or frames.
Get rid of red-eye.
Get creative!.

12
What’s New?
For those using Version 1 of Kai’s Photo Soap, there are so many cool new features in
Kai’s Photo Soap 2 that you’ll want to explore the entire program. Here are a few of the
things you’ll find:
• The image window is sizable and Soap 2 now lets you work with multiple photos, so
you can fix and clone like crazy. Think of the possibilities.
• A Transporter lets you move photos between the Organize, Clean, Compose, and Print
areas of the product. Just drop photos into the Transporter then drag them out when you
want to work with them.
• You can fix color problems with the new QuickColor tool, use Auto Enhance—a way
to handle some photo color problems one click at a time, paint right on a photo, and
colorize photos for cool effects.
• There are multiple levels of Undo, so you can experiment... change your mind... and
use the Undo command to step back through your changes.
• You can greatly expand Soap 2 capabilities by using PhotoShop compliant filters.
Apply these kinds of effects to the entire photo or brush them onto specific parts of the
picture.
• There are new ways to share photos. Layouts from leaders in photo technology (like
Avery and Kodak) help turn your computer into a mini-darkroom! Print sheets of
photos, greeting cards, collages, and even posters—right from Kai’s Photo Soap 2.

13
INTRODUCING SOAP 2
Getting Help
You will find the answers to most of your questions within the pages of this User Guide.
If you need further assistance, contact ScanSoft Technical Support on the World Wide
Web at:
www.scansoft.com

14
Starting and Quitting Soap 2
To start Soap 2:
✤Double-click the Kai’s Photo Soap 2 logo.
To quit Soap 2
✤Choose Output menu > Quit Soap 2 or Input menu > Quit Soap 2. (You can also Press Ctrl
+ Q on Windows or Cmd + Q on a Macintosh).
If you’ve made changes to a photo, Soap 2 asks if you want to save your work before
quitting. Refer to “Saving your Work” on page 24 for more about the ways you can save
your work. As a rule of thumb, if you aren’t ready to actually make changes to the
photo file you’re modifying, save your work using a new file name or save it as
work in progress (a Soap 2 project or composition file).
To access your computer’s operating system while using Soap 2:
✤Click in the upper right or upper left portion of the Soap 2 screen.
You can quit/minimize Soap 2 (Win). You can hide, select another program, or use
the Apple menu (Mac).

15
INTRODUCING SOAP 2
Exploring Kai’s Photo Soap 2
No more dusty boxes of pictures! Photo Soap 2 makes it easy to store photos. The
Organize tab opens an area where you can load, view, and sort your photos. Select a
photo, then drop it in the Transporter to work with it. From here, you can save a
thumbnail desktop arrangement for later Soap 2 sessions; export a desktop of thumbnails
as a Web page; print selected photos; see a quick photo “slideshow” and prepare photos to
send with an e-mail.Soap 2
Load, view, and sort your photos in the Organize area.
Click the Organize tab to
open, view, or sort photos.
Open photos.
Sort photos.
View photos in different ways.
Drop photos on the Transporter, then move
them to other areas in Soap 2.
Print, make slideshows, send
photos over e-mail, export for the
Web, or Quit Soap 2 program.
Help answers
your questions.
Converse with other Photo Soap 2
users.

16
In Contact Sheet view, you can study photos in a popular photographers’ review sheet
layout. Export this desktop view to HTML and drop it on a browser for a great way to
pass photos around for review. From here, you can also print selected photos, make
slideshows and send selected photos via e-mail.
Look at photos in Contact Sheet view for easy recognition.
Choose a Contact Sheet view from the View
menu.
Drop photos on the Transporter, then move them to other
areas in Soap 2.

17
INTRODUCING SOAP 2
Soap 2 Albums make it easy to display photos. Pick an Album style and just drop photos
into place. Add some text and your album’s complete. From here, you can print your
Album or export an Album to use on the Web.
Display or print photos in cool electronic Albums.
Click Album, then put photos into Albums or Frames to
be presented, printed, e-mailed, or posted on the Web.
Drag photos from the Transporter into
empty Album slots.
Choose an
Album or
Frame style,
then click
the Select
button.
Click Prev
and Next for
more Album
styles.

18
You can fix or enhance a photo in the Clean area. From here, you can also print or export
a photo for use on the Web.
Fix or enhance photos in Soap 2’s Clean area.
Drag a photo from the Transporter.
Click Clean to make changes to a photo.
Zoom in or
out.
Adjust brush size.
Fix or enhance parts of your
photo, using the Soap 2 tools.
Move the
photo in the
window.
Choose
an
effect.
Use the Image menu to
correct color, paint, crop,
rotate, or add effects to your
photo.
Click to
access
features

19
INTRODUCING SOAP 2
To make fast adjustments to brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, red balance, green
balance, or blue balance in your photo, choose Image menu > Quick color. The Quick color
selector first lets you select what you want to change, then gives you variations or
selections from which to choose. Pick what looks best to YOU.
Each time you click a variation, new variations are displayed. Click until you get the look
you like best. Hit Reset anytime you want to start over. And, be sure to try the Auto
Enhance button!
QuickColor lets you adjust brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, as well as red, blue, and green
balance in your photo. Make quick adjustments with QuickColor!
Choose Quick color.
Click the
selection that
looks best.
Select what
you want to
change.
Try the
Auto
Enhance
button!
Compare
selections with
your original
photo.

20
The Compose tab opens an area where you can really get creative. After you’ve fixed or
modified photos, you can create compositions by dropping one or more photos onto the
canvas, adding objects (like cartoon elements), put in a little text, and generally have fun.
From here, you can print, export for use on the Web.
In the Compose area, you can build a picture. Drop photos on the canvas. Resize or stretch them.
Rotate elements. Add some text. Put a cartoon in for fun. Add a background. Have FUN!
Edit layers.
Stretch,
move rotate
a layer.
Preview
layers.
Hide/Show
layers.
Control layer
transparency.
Set up shadows
Set
background
color
Add text to
composition
.Set text
attributes