In this tutorial, we're going to examine the Photo Cocktail Extension within CorelDraw X8.
Photo Cocktail allows you to generate a stunning image, using your favorite photos
from a collection of your photos. One image will be the source,
and the remainder will be used to create a mosaic.
To prepare for this, create a folder on your desktop or other location,
and copy the images that you want to use for your project.
I've created a folder called flowers, and copied my images into that.
Once you've prepped your folder and the images
It's time to import the source image. I'm going to go on to my next page,
select Import from my toolbar,
and I'll bring in my source image.
Simply a matter of clicking and dragging for the size,
and now it's time to bring in my Photo Cocktail Extension.
If you have not already purchased the Photo Cocktail Extension,
go to your Welcome Screen, select Get More,
click on Get More, and then click on Extensions.
Here you can purchase the Photo Cocktail Extension.
I'm going to close this out as I've already purchased it.
I'll go back to my main document, and then from the Effects menu,
go down to Photo Cocktail.
Now as I already have my source image on page,
I have the ability to keep that as an original within the document.
Under Library, I'm going to browse to where my images are.
So simply click on Browse. I'll select the folder,
and then click on Select Folder.
Now under Grid Density, for Columns,
this box lets you specify how many columns
of tiles to include in the mosaic.
The bigger the number, the more detail in the mosaic.
for Rows, shows the number of rows to be included in the mosaic.
The number is automatically calculated based on the value in the columns box.
i'm going to set this to 75.
optimization controls allow you to recreate the reference image more accurately,
By applying a blending effect.
This blending box lets you specify to what extent
to blend the reference colors with the tile colors.
Higher values increase the likeness of the mosaic to the reference image.
Under Duplicates allows you the ability to repeat tiles,
as well as dictate the distance between the repeated tiles.
You can specify the minimum number of tiles that surround duplicate tiles
in the minimum distance box.
The output controls let you define the composition and quality of the final mosaic.
Either a single bitmap, bitmap stacked, or bitmap array.
And then of course, output resolution.
I can either use the priority of matching document, custom DPI,
custom tile dimensions, as well as custom output dimensions.
I'm going to leave these settings as they are.
I'll scroll down, and it's simply a matter of clicking on Apply.
Photo Cocktail will go through the entire folder of images,
and apply those in an array that will match what I have on screen.
It will automatically adjust the brightness and contrast of images,
to help fill in the lighter or darker areas as it goes through the calculations.
Now depending on the settings you're using with respect to grids, columns, and blending,
it can increase the time it takes to do the calculations.
And now that it's done, I'm going to zoom into our image with a shift+F2,
select my Zoom tool, and as you can see the image is made up of the images
that were in the folder that I had selected.
That's all there is to it! This extension is fun, and easy to use.
Go ahead and experiment with the various settings.
Do keep in mind that the higher the columns, the more images you have, the longer it will take to process.
This is a great little project for a birthday party,
maybe an anniversary or something like that, where you want to do a large poster,
a large banner with multiple images, and a great way to celebrate a special occasion.
Hope you enjoyed this tutorial and thanks for watching.
If you enjoyed this tutorial and you're looking for additional resources,
head on over to the Discovery Center at learn.corel.com.
You'll also find a number of regularly scheduled training events,
Corel customer forums,
As well as my book entitled Bring it Home With CorelDRAW:
A Guide to In-House Graphic Design,
and The Essentials of CorelDRAW x8 from lynda.com.
Thanks for watching.