Opening Images

Image files can be opened in three ways with FaceEditor. Images can be opened through the Open File Dialog using the Open File button on the toolbar or select File>Open on the menu bar. One or more image files can be dragged and dropped into FaceEditor. When a file is opened using the Open File Dialog, FaceEditor creates a list of all the images it can open in the same folder as the file selected. The image navigation buttons on the toolbar are updated to allow navigation through all the images in the current folder. Files can be opened by using the image navigation buttons on the toolbar. If image files are dropped onto FaceEditor the list created only contains the dropped files that FaceEditor is able to open.

Editing Face Regions

If the mouse is moved over any people identified in the image, a box will be displayed showing the face region. The name of the person will be displayed below the box to identify them. The cursor changes either to arrows or a hand depending on the position over the box. Hold the left button down and move the mouse to either resize the box if the cursor is an arrow or move the box if the cursor is a hand.

To create a new face region, simply hold down the right mouse button anywhere on the image and drag a box to the desired size. After creating a new face region it can be resized and moved around until it is the way you like it. New face regions are not saved unless they are given a name to identify the person in the region.

Face regions will sometimes overlap and make it difficult to grab hold of the rectangle you are trying to change. Changing the order in which FaceEditor sees the face region will make it so you can grab the rectangle for the face region you are trying to get hold of. Clicking the Right mouse button over a face region opens a popup menu with options to change the order of the face regions. Bring Forward will bring a region to the front of the list where it will be seen before all others. Send Back will send the region to the back of the list so all others will be seen first.

The popup menu that opens when you click the right mouse button over a face region also has options to delete a face region or name the person defined by the region.

Naming People

There are two ways to add or change the name associated with the person in the face region. The first is through the Name Dialog which can be opened by double clicking the left mouse button inside a face region or through the right click popup menu. Each time a person is named, their name is added to the top of a most recently used list of names on the right click popup menu for easy access. The number of names kept in this list can be adjusted in the Settings Dialog.

Zooming

FaceEditor gives you the ability to zoom and pan the image so you are better able to identify individuals and define face regions that better frame the face of the person you are identifying. Use the Zoom Buttons on the toolbar or the mouse wheel to make the image any size needed to clearly see the area you are interested in. You can scroll the image using the scrollbars or hold down the left mouse button anywhere on the image outside a face region and drag the image around. Any face region that is not entirely on the screen will not be displayed. When a face region is being resized or created it cannot extend past the bounds of the onscreen image.

Constraining Face Region Proportions

If a constraint has been selected from the Constraint menu, the proportions of the box defining the face region will maintain the size ratio selected any time a face region is resized or created. This feature makes for nice neat images in the People folders in Picasa as well as makes them a size ready for printing.

Constraining the face region can sometimes make things difficult because once any side of the region reaches the edge of the on screen image it cannot get any bigger. You have to grab the rectangle in another spot to keep enlarging it. Sometimes constraining the face region simply does not suit the situation. You can always select None from the Constraint menu to freely size the face region any way you want.

Saving Changes

Changes are saved on a file by file basis. Before you can move on to the next image, the changes must either be saved of discarded. You can at any time save your changes for the current file using the Save button on the toolbar or through the File menu. When you open a new image you will be prompted to save any unsaved changes unless Auto Save (Options>Auto Save) is checked in the Options menu. If the Auto Save feature is turned on, any changes will be automatically saved when you open another image or close the FaceEditor program.

Rescan Images

After identifying all the people, force Picasa to scan or rescan the images and you are done. Forcing Picasa to scan the images can be done by temporarily removing the folder from Picasa using the Folder Manager (Tools>Folder Manager) then adding back once Picasa has updated its databases. The easiest way is to use FaceEditor to name all the people in your photos before putting them somewhere Picasa can find them.