Balloon Captions

Stormy Weather · Post by **Stormy Weather** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 9:22 pm

I would like to add balloon captions (like comic book captions) to my photos. Does anyone know how to do this with Photo Impact 8.0? Any help would be appreciated. Stormy

keenart · Post by **keenart** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 12:43 am

I am using PI11.

Go to the EasyPalette, select the Tab named Libraries, expand Outline, and select Call Out to view various shaped captions. Click on the Call Out you like to add to an image. Later you can add text over the Call Out object.

If you cannot find Call Out, then press F1 to open the Help files and go to tab named Search and type in Call Out to locate this group in your version of PI.

Stormy Weather · Post by **Stormy Weather** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 1:50 pm

Keenart, thanks for the tip. It works! Wish there were more choices for types of balloons, e.g. bubble balloons that show "thinking". Also would like to make "fill" colors for inside of balloons. Again, thanks for your help.
Stormy

keenart · Post by **keenart** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 5:46 pm

OH! Don't give up yet. You can do all of that.

Create a transparent image.
Select the Path Drawing Tool, add a predefined shape, with fill color, and then a Border line thickness with the color of your choice.
Select the Path Edit Tool, switch modes, and add new points to create the tail to the shape you like.
It takes a little practice but works great. You can add text and when finished you can drag your selection into the EasyPalette and have a permanent Callout.
Later, if you decide you do not like the color you can use the Magic Wand Tool and select the inside of the Callout and fill using the Bucket Fill tool with a new color.

Stormy Weather · Post by **Stormy Weather** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 8:05 pm

Keenart. You amaze me. Thanks for the advice. Will give it a try. Stormy

CaptainKen2 · Post by **CaptainKen2** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 7:52 am

I found the Call Outs. I would like to use them in some of my MSP8 productions as overlays. I know how to add a text box to it.

What I can't figure out how is how to make matte outside the call out to be transparent without making everything inside the call out transparent as well. I would also like to control the color of the background inside the call out.

vampire101 · Post by **vampire101** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 7:42 am

CaptainKen2 wrote:What I can't figure out how is how to make matte outside the call out to be transparent without making everything inside the call out transparent as well. I would also like to control the color of the background inside the call out.

what i did to solve this is to use the path drawing tool of photoimpact. after choosing my desired call-out and dragging it onto the workspace to create a new image file, i hid the base image which then made the background of the call-out transparent. to add color to the background within the call-out, i used the path drawing tool of photoimpact. i draw a shape that covers the inside of the call-out (with the background color i want) then i convert it to image (right click the shape then choose "convert object type" then choose "from text/path to image") then make the call-out the top most image. after converting it to image, i then used the object paint eraser tool to erase the parts of the shape that goes beyond the outline of the call-out. you can then save this as a web format file to keep the transparent background (GIF or PNG) then import it to MSP.