Tools

Tools to adjust Appearance

Rotation

• Click the right arrow to rotate any item 90° clockwise
• Click the left arrow to rotate any item 90° counter-clockwise

Opacity

If you want to make a photo or graphic see-through or transparent you slide the opacity tool to the left. When an image is at 100% opacity it is opaque and you can not see anything behind it. This is equivalent to 256 on the slider. As you reduce the opacity, the photo fades, becoming paler so that you can see photos or the background behind the photo.  If you set the slider to 0, you will no longer see the image as it is completely see-through.  Note: If you decrease a framed photo's opacity to 0 you will only be able to see the frame itself and you will need to remove the frame.

Tools to adjust Colour

Auto-Enhance

The Auto-Enhance feature can really bring photos that are lacking in contrast to life but it may not be suitable for all photos and can create unusual results on dark or intentionally low-contrast photos.  So please review the before and after effects onscreen, and your PDF Preview before submitting your file to Momento.  Note: Auto enhance can be set as a default by ticking the check box in the Tools Panel.  See our Before and After auto-enhance photo below.

Presets

The software includes three preset colour effect buttons: 

• Reset: removes all colour effects and return a photo to its original colour
• Grey: removes colour from a photo and convert it to shades of grey, black and white only
• Sepia: converts a colour photo to shades of brown only (for an old-fashioned look & feel)
• Tint: converts a colour photo to an image with a single colour tint (monotone)

To change the Tint Colour

When using the Tint effect, the default is a blue tint.  You can change the tint to any colour by changing the setting on the Hue slider.

Saturation

Saturation is a measure of the intensity of the colours and contrast in a photo (or any other graphic).  An image with no saturation only contains shades of grey, black and white. You would achieve this affect by sliding the Saturation bar all the way to the left. Sliding the bar all the way to the right will achieve maximum saturation and result in an image with exaggerated, blown-out colours.

This effect can be applied to an under-exposed image to liven up the colours or simply to create an interesting colour effect. Be careful not to 'over-saturate' images as a small move along the slider to the right can make a big change and may result in unnatural skin tones.  Always double-check the results to ensure you are happy with the colour.  See below for varying levels of saturation.

Hue

The hue of a photo (or other graphic) is defined by the predominant colour in the photo.  A photo can be changed so that any one colour e.g. blue, red, brown, purple can be strengthened while its inverse colour suppressed.  As with the saturation tool, the slider value ranges from -128 to 127.  A photo with a saturation or hue of 0 has no adjustment applied to it at all.

Tools for adjusting Position

The Position tools allow you to conveniently move your content automatically in to predefined positions or in to perfect alignment with other content on a page.

Snap-dragging

This turns the Snap-dragging function on or off. For more information please visit the Align and Position page.

Snap All

Snap All is another auto-alignment tool within the software that allows all objects on a page within a few millimetres of any other object to automatically relatively align edges and give a symmetrical and slick finish to any page. For more information please visit the Align and Position page.

Mirror Layout

All photos on the current page are repositioned so that photos on the left of the page are moved to the right, and vice versa.  Sizes and other attributes of the photos are preserved.  Note that the photos themselves are not mirrored, only their positions on the page. For example, the two pages below are "mirrors" of each other.

Align to Page

The Align to Page tools allow you to centrally position a photo, graphic or text box horizontally and vertically, equidistant from the left or right, top or bottom margins of a page.  From left to right, the buttons centre any selected photo:

• Vertically and horizontally
• Horizontally only (equidistant from left and right margins)
• Vertically only (equidistant from top and bottom margins)
• To the portion on the page corresponding to the arrow you click on
• Spanned over two pages. Note: Not possible for the Cover or page 1. 

Span photo across two pages

A spanned photo is one that spreads across two pages, like a double page spread in a magazine. Momento’s software automatically calculates the overlap needed so that when the book is bound, the photo flows perfectly across the pages without replicating or losing any part of the photo. The software also identifies when an action is made to one page of a spanned photo and automatically updates the adjacent page accordingly. The software will automatically ensure that the two pages featuring a spanned photo stay together for printing as a double page spread, on a facing left and right page. To span a photo 

• Select the photo you want to span across two pages
• Click the Span Photo tool in the Tools Panel
• The photo will automatically span across two pages (visible in the Pages Panel)
• A green Span icon will appear in the centre of the photo
• Manually align the photo across two page by editing as you would any other photo

Relative Align

To quickly and efficiently perfectly align two or more photos or graphic to another without spending time nudging the images in to position, you can use the handy Relative Align tools.  From left to right, the Relative Align tools will have these effects to the selected photos:

• Align their left edges to the left edge of the left-most selected photo
• Centre them horizontally between the left edge of the left-most selected photo and the right edge of the right-most selected photo
• Align their right edges to the right edge of the right-most selected photo
• Align their top edge to the top edge of the top-most selected photo
• Centre them vertically between the top edge of the top-most selected photo and the bottom edge of the bottom-most selected photo
• Align their base edges to the base edge of the lowest selected photo on the page

Below is an example of a group of photos before and after relative alignment tools have been applied.

To relatively align a group of photos

• Select all the photos that you would like to share a common edge
• Right-click on any one of the selected photos
• Select the Relative align sub-menu (or select from the Layout Menu)
• Select the Top (or Base) option
• The photos will all align on their top (or base) edge

Note: You must have at least two photos selected to use the Relative Align options.

Tools to adjust Size

Size to Page or Safe Area

These tools make it easy to resize and scale an image to fill or fit the whole Page Area, or the Safe Area.  From left to the right, the buttons change the photo to:

• Fill the page: Resizes a photo so that the shortest dimension is the same as the Page Area, and the photo fills the whole space on the page, so there is no white space.  This effect is called Bleed-to-Edge in the print world.  Some of the image is cropped in this case. Note: The different between Fill Page and Set to Background is that it is still possible to place other photos behind a full-page photo if you are trying to create interesting layering effects.
• Fit to page: Use this to resize a portrait photo so that the top and base edges perfectly align with the top and base edge of the Page Area, or a landscape photo fills the page so that its left edge meets the left Page Edge and the right edge meets the right Page Edge. This is the largest an image can be sized to keep the whole photo visible. the page
• Fill the Safe Area: Resize the selected photo so that the shortest dimension of the photo (width or height) is the same as the Safe Area. This will result in a portion of the photo being cropped out of the frame.  Note: This option is similar to the Fill Page option but it aligns with the Safe Area rather than Page Edge.
• Fit to Safe Area:  Resizes the selected photo so that the longest dimension of the photo (width or height) is the same dimension as the Safe Area, making the photo as large as possible while keeping the whole photo visible.

Size To other content

There are 6 Size To options in the Tools Panel (L to R):

• Largest (biggest area on the page)
• Smallest (tiniest area on the page)
• Widest (biggest left to right)
• Narrowest (smallest left to right)
• Tallest (biggest top to bottom)
• Shortest (smallest top to bottom)

To resize a photo to match the size of another photo

• Select your group of photos
• Select the appropriate Size To icon

To resize a group of photos to the same size

• Select all the photos you wish to resize
• Right-click on any of the photos
• Select Size To from the submenu
• Then select your preferred size option

Note: Alternatively go to Layout Menu > Size To

To resize 2 or more photos to the same height as the tallest photo:

• Select two or more photos that you wish to resize (including photo with desired width)
• Right-click on any selected photo
• Select Size To > Tallest from the submenu

Note: Alternatively go to Layout Menu > Size To or use the Size icons in the Tools Panel

Layering Tools

The layering buttons are available to use when one or more photos are selected (L to R):

• Set photo as Background: photo will fill background and sit on the back layer
• Send to back:  moves photos behind all other photos on the page (except a background)
• Send backward: moves photos backward one layer toward the back of the page
• Bring forward: moves the photos forward one layer toward the front of the page
• Bring to front:  moves the photos to the top, in front of all other photos on the page

Please read the help section on Working with Layers for full details.