Keyboard shortcut to get back to Tools

[tkarl__nn]

I would really like a Keyboard Shortcut for Publisher, when in Text Mode, to get me back to the Tools.  I know I can mouse-click off-page to do this, but I'm finding it quite cumbersome do this, and then select a Tool.   Why can't there be a Keyboard Shortcut, in Text mode, to get me back to Tools?  I use the Pointer, the Hand, and the Text window-maker Tools most often.

[Old Bruce]

I find using the escape key twice will get me to the point where the Text Caret is no longer active and the V or H keys will select the Move (pointer) or Hand tool. Plus of course P selects the Pen tool etc.

[R C-R]

3 hours ago, tkarl__nn said:

Why can't there be a Keyboard Shortcut, in Text mode, to get me back to Tools? 

What could such a shortcut be that would not be the same as some text character one might want to enter into the text block?

[tkarl__nn]

5 hours ago, Old Bruce said:

I find using the escape key twice will get me to the point where the Text Caret is no longer active and the V or H keys will select the Move (pointer) or Hand tool. Plus of course P selects the Pen tool etc.

Wow!  Thank you!  I am still new to Publisher, but I looked through their "Keyboard Shortcuts" and I found nothing!
What else doesn't the F1-Help know about?

Thanks again!

OT:  Why do my Image Editing Tools, like Levels & Curves, work backwards in Publisher?
The Levels sliders:  The Black Slider makes the image brighter; while the White Slider makes the image darker.  Is this a bug?

[walt.farrell]

43 minutes ago, tkarl__nn said:

Is this a bug?

No.

[tkarl__nn]

3 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

No.

Well, those same adjustments work oppositely in Affinity Photo -- as well as Photoshop -- along with every other image program I have.  Why is Publisher different?

[GarryP]

6 hours ago, tkarl__nn said:

The Levels sliders:  The Black Slider makes the image brighter; while the White Slider makes the image darker.  Is this a bug?

Watch the vertical white lines in the histogram above the sliders and check which Level sliders you are using.

The way I think about it is that all of the ‘shades’ to the left of the Black Level are made Black and all of the ‘shades’ to the right of the White Level are made White.

In other words you are defining a region, outside of which, the ‘shades’ are either Black (to the left) or White (to the right).

(This may not be how it actually works, it’s just how I think about it.)

Also, if the Black Level is to the right of the White Level then the ‘shades’ get inverted.

As for the Output Black/White Levels, I don’t have a mental model for those because, for example, 100% Output Black Level gives a totally white image which doesn’t make sense to me – 100% Black = White.

2 hours ago, tkarl__nn said:

Well, those same adjustments work oppositely in Affinity Photo -- as well as Photoshop -- along with every other image program I have.  Why is Publisher different?

The Levels Adjustment in Publisher seems to be working exactly the same as the Levels Adjustment in Photo for me.
Can you give an example of where they give different results?

[tkarl__nn]

52 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Watch the vertical white lines in the histogram above the sliders and check which Level sliders you are using.

The way I think about it is that all of the ‘shades’ to the left of the Black Level are made Black and all of the ‘shades’ to the right of the White Level are made White.

In other words you are defining a region, outside of which, the ‘shades’ are either Black (to the left) or White (to the right).

(This may not be how it actually works, it’s just how I think about it.)

Also, if the Black Level is to the right of the White Level then the ‘shades’ get inverted.

As for the Output Black/White Levels, I don’t have a mental model for those because, for example, 100% Output Black Level gives a totally white image which doesn’t make sense to me – 100% Black = White.

The Levels Adjustment in Publisher seems to be working exactly the same as the Levels Adjustment in Photo for me.
Can you give an example of where they give different results?

Sure, how about Affinity Photo, or Photoshop CS-3?  They both work by having the White Slider brighten the Image.  Publisher seems backwards to me.  I just checked Photo v2.1 & Publisher 2.1 -- they are STILL opposite from each other.

[GarryP]

Can you show us an example?

A screenshot of the same Adjustment applied to a similar (preferably made in the same way) layer in both Photo and Publisher, where we can see the difference for ourselves, would be good. Make sure we can see the Adjustment settings in each, and the Layers Panel.

[tkarl__nn]

My (Partial) mistake.  The attached screenshot shows that this issue was corrected in Publisher 2.0 or 2.1.  The attached Screenshot shows both Publisher v1.10 and v2.1 both running.  On the left is v1.10 -- you can tell by the enhancements made to the icons in 2.0 or 2.1.  On the left, we see the Levels adjust is making the daisies darker; while the same image on Publisher 2.1 on the right, that same slider is now making the daisies brighter -- as it should.

One Replier said that this was not a bug.  I think it was, and Affinity fixed it.  Great news for me -- I was really perplexed by the inconsistency.

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, tkarl__nn said:

One Replier said that this was not a bug.  I think it was, and Affinity fixed it.  Great news for me -- I was really perplexed by the inconsistency.

I wonder one thing: In your teating between, say, Photo and Publisher (or even two releases of Publisher) have you made sure that both tests were made using RGB documents, or both were using CMYK documents? 

Many adjustments work differently, and (correctly?) appear reversed when applied to CMYK documents because CMYK is a subtractive process, rather than an additive process.

[Old Bruce]

17 hours ago, tkarl__nn said:

OT:  Why do my Image Editing Tools, like Levels & Curves, work backwards in Publisher?
The Levels sliders:  The Black Slider makes the image brighter; while the White Slider makes the image darker.  Is this a bug?

Not a bug.

I do believe you are working with a CMYK publisher document. The Channels are inverted, this is the nature of the beast with CMYK colour.

[tkarl__nn]

10 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

have you made sure that both tests were made using RGB documents, or both were using CMYK documents? 

All of my files were .JPEGs.  The "daisies" .jpg I've uploaded were the same file.

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, tkarl__nn said:

All of my files were .JPEGs.  The "daisies" .jpg I've uploaded were the same file.

But what color format was the Publisher document you were adding them to?

[R C-R]

1 hour ago, tkarl__nn said:

All of my files were .JPEGs.  The "daisies" .jpg I've uploaded were the same file.

Just food for thought (& not saying everything presented is accurate or complete):

https://allfreemockups.com/can-a-jpg-have-cmyk-color-the-facts-explained/

Also, consider this JPEG I converted to CMYK in AP:

 

I have read in various places on the web that JPEGs cannot be saved in CMYK but this seems proof enough that it isn't true?

[tkarl__nn]

1 hour ago, walt.farrell said:

But what color format was the Publisher document you were adding them to?

These JPG's where PrintScreen captures -- I see no reason for those files to have anything to do with CMYK.  As far as I know, the Publisher document was in RGB.  When I'm ready for printing, there may be CMYK further down the line.

[Old Bruce]

2 hours ago, tkarl__nn said:

... As far as I know, the Publisher document was in RGB. ...

Compare with your screenshot from which these were taken.

 

Your "Backwards" Levels are working from a CMYK document. As I said this is due to the nature of the CMYK images' channels being inverted because that is how CMYK works.

[tkarl__nn]

3 hours ago, Old Bruce said:

Your "Backwards" Levels are working from a CMYK document. As I said this is due to the nature of the CMYK images' channels being inverted because that is how CMYK works.

Wow, you're right!  How do I change the document to/from CMYK/RGB?

[tkarl__nn]

On 7/15/2023 at 9:11 PM, Old Bruce said:

Your "Backwards" Levels are working from a CMYK document. As I said this is due to the nature of the CMYK images' channels being inverted because that is how CMYK works.

After more research, the only place I can find to have an entire Document in either RGB or CMYK is in the "New Document" Setup window.  As you can see from that attachment I sent awhile ago, the RGB/CMYK is shown as a selectable item in the Levels Adjustment itself.

Do you know of any other place(s) to set an entire Document to either RGB or CMYK?

[R C-R]

13 minutes ago, tkarl__nn said:

Do you know of any other place(s) to set an entire Document to either RGB or CMYK?

If you only have APub, I do not think there is any place to do that. But if you also have AP, you can use Studio Link to switch to APub's Photo Persona & use the Document > Convert or Document > Assign profile options to do that; or just open the document in AP to do that.

EDIT: well duh! I'm not sure what I was thinking when I first wrote the above. In APub all you need to do is go to File > Document Setup... & use the Color tab to change format & profile there.

[Old Bruce]

1 hour ago, tkarl__nn said:

Do you know of any other place(s) to set an entire Document to either RGB or CMYK?

What R C-R wrote in his Edited bit.

[tkarl__nn]

Hey -- that "Document Setup works just fine to change the color mode CMYK/RGB!  Thanks!

Just for the fun of it, I was editing an image; and I changed modes, in the Level Dialog, from CMYK to RGB.  This was NOT a transparent change; as it added a blue color cast to my image.  Is this normal?