Workspace

AKVIS Explosion can work independently as a standalone program or as a plug-in to a photo editor.

 

When you start the program, you will see the Explosion effects thumbnails. Click to choose the effect.

AKVIS Explosion Effects

 

The workspace will be arranged according to the interface mode: Express or Advanced. In Express mode, the program's interface is extremely simplified and offers the minimal set of parameters and a full list of the ready-to-use presets.

AKVIS Explosion Express
AKVIS Explosion Workspace, Express Mode

In Advanced mode, the full functionality of the program is accessible, with all tools and parameters.

AKVIS Explosion Advanced
AKVIS Explosion Workspace, Advanced Mode

 

Elements of the program window:

Most of Explosion's window is taken up by the Image Window with two tabs, Before and After. The original image is displayed in the Before tab, and the After tab shows the result. You can switch between the windows by clicking on a tab with the left mouse button.

In the upper part of the program's window you can see the Control Panel with the following buttons:

 

To the left of the Image Window is the Toolbar. The tools' parameters are shown in a pop-up box after right-clicking in the image window.

 

Selection Tools

 

Post-Processing Tools

 

Additional Tools

 

Navigate and scale the image using the Navigator. The frame in the Navigator surrounds the area of the image which is visible in the Image Window; the area outside of the frame will be shaded. The frame can be dragged, thereby changing the visible portion of the image. To move the frame, place the cursor within it, left click the mouse, and then drag.

Navigator

In addition, you can move the image in the Image Window using the scroll bar or by holding down the space bar, and then holding down the left mouse button while moving the mouse. The mouse's scroll wheel can move the image up and down, while holding Ctrl on Windows, on Mac – while moving the scroll wheel will move the image left and right. Holding Alt on Windows, Option on Mac will scale the image. Right-click on the scroll bar to activate the quick navigation menu.

Use the slider or the buttons and , to scale the image in the Image Window. When you click on the button or move the slider to the right, the image scale increases. When you click on the button or move the slider to the left, the image scale reduces.

You can also change the image scale by entering a new coefficient into the scale field. The fall-down menu shows some frequently used coefficients.

You can use hot-keys to change the image scale + and Ctrl++ on Windows, ++ on Mac to increase the image scale and - and Ctrl+- on Windows, +- on Mac to reduce the scale.

 

Below the Navigator, there is the Settings Panel at the top of which you can see the effect control buttons:

Also, here you can choose the Effect and adjust its settings.

 

In the Presets field you can save the current settings as a preset to use them in the future.

Under the settings and presets you can see Hints for the parameters and buttons when you hover over them with the cursor. You can choose where the hints will be shown or hide them in the program's preferences.