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October 2000

Web Sight: Corel Knockout by Marshal M. Rosenthal

Back in the pre-digital days, time were tough if you made a mistake and included something in your photo that was unintended. This could be anything from catching the arm of an assistant to picking up part of a light stand. We won’t even go into the trials and tribulations of the on-location shoot: passerbys getting in the way, trucks that parked on the “perfect” street, and power lines crisscrossing and destroying that perfect vista of the sky. Who didn’t cheer when digital graphic software started to make it possible to “airbrush” on the computer screen; no longer having to go to an expensive airbrusher was bad enough, but having to own up to not seeing that crushed bag in the shot, or the rumpled shirt or dirty shoe on the model was embarrassing—and often costly since there wasn’t a budget for fixing such mistakes (i.e., it came out of your pocket).

One of the first “retouching” programs that really was useful was Ultimatte’s KnockOut (we reviewed it a few years back). Using it, you could remove images from the foreground without major heartache. Even tricky things like stray hair could be managed. While the learning curve was not minor, it wasn’t odious either—the main impediments to using the program were the price and the fact that you had to stick a “dongle” into the computer to make it work (the software basically checked for this pass-through device, declared your version legal and became active). The real downside to the program was that its company didn’t keep it current and pretty much forgot all about it. It didn’t send KnockOut to the mat, but it sure wasn’t scoring any points as time danced around it.
So it is good news to hear that Corel Systems not only bought Knockout from Ultimatte, but has updated it. We got in touch with Program manager Sean McLennan to get the skinny on what changes have been made to make the software more up-to-date and useful for today’s photographer/digital imager.

Rangefinder: First, what are the overall changes or differences in the basic use of Knockout 1.5 as compared to the previous versions?

McLennan: The basic feature set and use of the product remain basically the same for our Windows/Mac users. Our objective was to fine-tune certain areas of the product.

Rangefinder: Still, isn’t there anything new about this version worth noting?

McLennan: Of course. This is the first box version of [Corel] KnockOut for Windows. This means for PC users that images, tutorials and manuals are provided for the first time.

There are also a number of specific features worth noting as well that make KnockOut impressive. These include:
*Loupe Cursor—which allows users to interactively zoom and mask at the same time - ideal for fine masking.
*Background Image—enabling users to be able to insert an image (from an included library or from disk) as their KnockOut background—rather than just a flat color.
*Automatic Error Handling—which eliminates the potential of creating errors by automatically expanding overlap areas and not allowing the user to insert in a place of error.
*The Syringe Tool—cursor has been modified with a live swatch that amplifies the underlying color. This tool allows for finer control of the individual pixel color value.
*Selective removal of Syringe Points—a marquee mode for the Syringe tools which allows users to selectively remove Syringe points rather than having to delete all.
*Keyboard Shortcuts—all tools now have shortcuts for faster access by power users.

The images include the original image, which in this case is a butterfly, and 3 other images where the butterfly has been “knocked out” and placed in the new image. These particular images show the precision of the application when masking blurred or fuzzy images. You can also see how well the transparencies are maintained throughout the images.

Rangefinder: So the interface and program haven’t followed the trend lately to become “dummied” down for use by the less skillful?

McLennan: KnockOut remains a professional product. The advances Corel has made to the product are to the tools that our professional user base typically finds difficult to use.

Rangefinder: If you had to compress all the information and knowledge about this program in your head into a few sentences—what would that be?

McLennan: That Corel KnockOut is an exceptional image masking program that provides professional designers with very accurate and powerful tools to mask, or cut‚ objects away from a background image (typically done so that it can be placed/merged onto another background image). People, for example, can require a lot of work—masking strands of hair can be extremely tedious and time consuming. The unique strength of Corel KnockOut is that it reproduces the soft transitions of foreground edges, however wide or variable in density, while removing any trace of the visible background in that transition. When this ‘knocked out foreground’ is combined with a new background, the transitions have the same transparency as the original. The software doesn’t just work, but works well and provides the professional photographer with the results he/she requires.

Rangefinder: Finally, why has the “dongle” been eliminated?

McLennan: It is not Corel’s security policy to use dongles. Our users said it could limit their use of Corel KnockOut if the dongle was lost or not functioning correctly. We listened to what they said and acted accordingly.

More information on Knockout can be found at www.corel.com/corelknockout/. A free upgrade offer for users of 1.0/1.1 version is also available at this site (shipping/handling charges for the CDROM), and a downloaded version of the software can be purchased as well. In addition, an online Quicktime-based tutorial can be accessed.

System Requirements
Knockout—for the PC or Mac; $239.00 retail (Mac or PC).
Requirements: Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows NT 4.0; Pentium® 133 processor,64 MB RAM, 8X image size (RGB + Alpha) recommended, 2X CD-ROM drive, VGA monitor with 24-bit color display adapter, Mouse or tablet
Requirements: Power Macintosh, MacOS 7.61, 2 MB RAM plus 5X image size, 256-color display adapter (24-bit recommended).

Marshal M. Rosenthal is a photojournalist based in Los Angeles, and a frequent contributor to many imaging and computer publications. He can be reached at marshalr@pipeline.com/.