Fuzzy edges on BlackBar.jpg

FotoMagico
1

Looking at the demo file one can see various slides made up of multiple images separated by a black bar (either horizontal or vertical). I examined them (get info) to see that they were .jpg files of approximately 2500 pixels x 20 pixels. So I created my own and popped it onto a slide. At 100% the edges of the bar look fine. If the bar is zoomed in to very large percentages, the edges become “fuzzy” – the very edge is not a clean, sharp edge.

I figured that the single bar could be used at ANY percentage so that I can create a black bar of any width I wanted (20 pixels at 100% would be 20 pixels wide, 20 pixels at 1000% would be 200 pixels wide, etc.). But since the edges become fuzzier and fuzzier at higher percentages, that idea doesn’t work. I’d have to create ANOTHER bar with a bigger width so that it looks okay at 100%.

I haven’t tried going the other way – I should do that first. That is, create a bar that’s really wide and then instead of zooming in to enlarge it, zoom OUT to reduce it.

But, doesn’t it make sense that the very edge should remain crisp through all resolutions? It’s just a completely black rectangle, after all.

On the same topic, I think we should have the ability to scale horizontally and vertically INDEPENDENTLY. Currently, all zooms are proportional. It would allow for some interesting effects if non-proportional scaling were introduced.

2

There is a technical reason for the blurry edge: If you want to smoothly rotate an image or smoothly pan over an image you have to calculate subpixels in order to prevent rendering pixel staircases on screen. The downside of the used technique is that you get blurry borders when zooming in too much.

Btw: We are planing to implement “Masks” so that you don’t need the black bars anymore in order to crop the image to the right proportions.

3

The implementation of “masks” is GOOD TO HEAR!!! At first thought, that would eliminate the problem of having different black bars to create the multi-image slides used in the demo. Just create a slide with a solid black background, then create a mask of whatever size you want and place the image inside it (or however you plan to implement it). Thanks!!