The Overlay tool is an advanced composition aid and is commonly used when shooting tethered. This function is often used to capture an image that will match a specific layout. For example, an image could be made for a magazine cover specifically to take into account the space required for a nameplate or masthead and cover lines. The tool is located by default in the Capture tool tab and it is also available to use in the Live View tool tab when working with Live View.
While you can load a JPEG file as an overlay, it makes the most sense to use a file format with a transparent background layer in order to be able to see the captured images beneath. Capture One’s Overlay tool is compatible with the majority of popular file formats that support transparency, such as TIFF, PNG, and GIF. In addition, Mac users can also use PSD and PDF files, while Windows users can use BMP files. Transparency support will ensure that the overlay can be displayed clearly over the image in the Viewer.
- Go to the Overlay tool in the Capture tool tab. When using Live View, go to the Live View tool tab in the Live View dialog.
- Drag and drop a suitable transparency file (e.g., with the magazine nameplate and cover lines or headline and copy, etc.) into the Overlay tool’s Drop image here field.
- Alternatively, to browse for the file using the Finder/Explorer, click on the File drop-down menu and select Choose File… The File drop-down menu will remember the 10 most recently added overlays, making it easy to quickly switch between them to check different setups. If you need to locate where the currently selected overlay is saved on your computer, click on the arrow at the end of the File drop-down menu and the file location will open in Finder/Windows Explorer.
- The inserted image should automatically be displayed as an overlay over the image in the Viewer. If not, ensure that the Show option is enabled. You can toggle the visibility of the overlay on and off by using the Show option.
- Alter the Opacity, Scale, and Horizontal/Vertical placement sliders as needed. Notice how there are four resize handles at the corners of the overlay image in the Viewer. These are making it easier to interactively resize the overlay directly in the Viewer instead of using the Scale slider. Note that you need to have the Move Overlay Pan cursor selected for the handles to be active.
- If you want to remove the overlay from the tool, click on the Action menu, the (…) icon, and choose Clear Overlay. If you select Reset Tool instead, the Opacity, Scale, and Horizontal/Vertical placement sliders will be reset to their default positions.
- The Follow Crop option will automatically resize the inserted overlay to follow any crop you apply to the image with the Crop tool. This feature ensures that the overlay keeps its size relative to the crop and that a change to the crop will not cut parts of the overlay off or change its relative position.
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