The Müller foto svet software supports the following file formats for photos/images:
| Name | File | Description |
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| JPEG | *.jpg | Graphics format for storing compressed photos. Widely used for digital cameras and on the internet. The name comes from the "J oint P hotographic E xperts G roup". |
| PNG | *.png | P ortable N etwork G raphics - graphics format for grid graphics with loss-free image compression. Supports transparency (alpha channel). |
| BMP | *.bmp | B it m a p - graphics format for the Microsoft Windows and OS/2 operating systems. |
| GIFF | *.gif | G raphics I nterchange F ile F ormat (especially for web graphics). Low colour depth (max. 256 colours), supports transparency (a colour can be "transparent"). |
| TIFF | *.tif | T agged I mage F ile F ormat. The Müller foto svet software does not support transparency or some TIFF layers. |
The file formats JPG and PNG are best.
The Müller foto svet software will not show image formats that are not supported.
A colour space is a combination of all the colours in an image that can actually be shown. The colour spaces differ depending on the image processing program and the image and output devices used.
Some Nikon cameras, for example, take photos in a special "Nikon sRGB" format, and Adobe Photoshop often uses its own "Adobe sRGB". Printers even work in a completely different colour space (CMYK), into which images first have to be converted by the printer driver.
The standard and intersecting set of the colour spaces is the simple "sRGB" format (standard RGB). All digital cameras, scanners, monitors and printer drivers support this colour space.
In production, the photos are always processed in "sRGB" colour format, and photos in other RGB formats are converted to "sRGB" format automatically and without any loss of quality. Most digital cameras take photos in sRGB format, so there should not be any problems in this respect.
| Please avoid using photos in the CMYK colour space. Our production work processes are optimised for the RGB colour space without exception. |
The A utomatic I mage O ptimization ("AIO") optimises the image quality of your photos.
It reduces any faulty exposure and colour tinge and also optimally adjusts contrast and colour saturation to the relevant output system. This happens automatically and the level of correction is specified by prior image analysis. The settings are optimised for a large average of all images, so that, as a rule, AIO leads to improved image quality.
We recommend you leave it switched on as default, if you have not already edited the colour, contrast and/or brightness of your images yourself. Moreover, AIO should be switched off for artificial images such as computer graphics and drawings.
AIO can be switched on and off for each individual photo. You can set a default setting that will apply to all images under Settings/Photos.
The images will always be sharpened slightly as they are adjusted to the output system, regardless of whether AIO is activated or not. We recommend you do not pre-sharpen the image data too much.
NB: If you are not currently working with a calibrated monitor and your image processing does not support calibration, the printed result may be slightly different than expected.
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Standard Settings Colour temperature: 6500 Kelvin |
You can turn "Automatic Image Optimization" on or off altogether, or for each photo individually.
Particularly with regard to images that have been edited with an image editing program (also results from the EXIF data), you can choose whether AIO should always be turned on, never be turned on, or whether you want the program to ask with regard to each image. AIO should also be turned off for photos taken in special lighting conditions (sunsets, candlelight), as otherwise the particular mood may be ruined.
The application checks the image material and optimises it for production and sending. They will be scaled down to the optimum size to keep the data file as small as possible. This saves storage space and transfer times during the burning process and online transmission.
It does not affect the quality, as the resolution of the compressed photos is adjusted precisely to the optimal print resolution in production.
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The image or photo effects enhance photos, usually in artistic ways. You can apply several effects to the same photo, one after the other.
If you do not like the result of the effect, you can "discard" it. The button for this is at the bottom in the expanded function view of the effect.
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Some of the effects shown here may only be available via the "Effects" menu item (in the menu bar), but they are listed here for the sake of completeness. |
For reasons of clarity, the photo effects are divided by theme into four tabs:
This tab contains:
To adjust contrast and brightness.
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Original |
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Less contrast |
More contrast |
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Lighter |
Darker |
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To adjust the colour of photos.
The slide control "Hue" specifies the colour to be used to colour the photo, the "Colour filter" specifies the intensity of the colour to be used.
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Original |
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More blue |
More red |
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This tab contains:
Your photo is converted into greyscale and looks like an old black-and-white photo.
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Original |
Black and White |
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This will give your photo a slightly yellowed, 'aged' effect.
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Original |
Sepia |
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Converts the light tones into white and the dark tones into black pixels.
Not to be confused with "Black and white", when the photo really only consists of two colours, black and white.
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Original |
Posterisation |
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Adds fuzziness to the photo. You can also de-saturate the photo (fade the colours) and cross-fade it with white (lay a white haze over the photo).
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Original |
Soft focus |
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Adds movement to the image. The angle of motion and the intensity can be set by means of slider controls.
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Original |
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Motion-fuzziness |
Motion-fuzziness |
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A special photo effect which adapts your picture so that it can be used as a discreet background image. It is actually a "soft focus" image (see above) with preset values.
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Original |
Background Image |
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The "Art" Tab contains photo effects to transform your photos in an artistic way.
The individual photo effects under this tab are as follows:
This makes your photo look like an oil painting. The painting can be made more or less abstract by adjusting the brush radius.
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Original |
Oil Painting |
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This effect reduces the colours of the photo, making it very simplistic.
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Original |
Poster |
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This makes your photo look like a charcoal drawing that has been sketched by an artist. The brush radius controls the width of the pencil strokes and the charcoal smudging on the page.
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Original |
Charcoal |
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With Relief, your photo looks as if it has been carved out of a surface, including light and shade effects.
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Original |
Relief |
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Looks like a line drawing with a thin pencil.
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Original |
Weak Contours |
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Looks like a line drawing with a thicker pencil.
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Original |
Strong Contours |
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Simulates a prism filter (special effect lens for cameras). The number of pieces can be adjusted.
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Original |
Illusion |
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Simulates concentric ripples, like when a stone is thrown into water. The amplitude and the wavelength can be adjusted.
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Original |
Ripple Effect |
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This effect projects your photo onto a tiled wall. You can set the size of the grid and the depth of the lines between the tiles.
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Original |
3D Tiles |
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Simulates a ring filter (special effect lens for cameras). The picture becomes blurred at the edges, steering the viewer's eyes to the sharp centre of the picture. The intensity of the effect can be adjusted.
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Original |
Radial Soft Artist |
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This makes your photo look as if it has been sprayed with colour.
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Original |
Spray Effect |
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Turns your photo into a mosaic of single coloured tiles. Attractive as a background image if the intensity of the tile effect is set low. The greater the intensity of the tile effect, the more abstract the result.
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Original |
Tiles |
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Splits the photo into lines and columns. The individual cells can be rotated towards each other.
You can set the number of lines and columns, the maximum angle of rotation, the size and colour of cell borders and shadows, and a background colour.
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Original |
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Photo Collage |
Photo Collage |
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This tab contains photo effects which involve the displacement of pixels.
The individual effects for photo distortion are:
Displaces pixels in a circular pattern around the centre of the picture. It looks like a whirlpool in the photo. You can adjust the intensity of the swirl effect by means of the angle.
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Original |
Swirl |
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This distorts the photo into an arc or circle segment.
You can adjust the size of the circle segments by changing the size of the arc. If the control is to the far left, the photo will not be distorted at all. If it is precisely in the centre, the photo will turn into a semicircle. If it is to the far right, the photo will be turned 360° into a full circle.
You can turn the arc around its axis by means of the rotation angle. If the control is in the centre, the photo is upside down.
And you can adjust the width of the arc by means of the inner and outer radius settings. If the control for the inner radius is set to the far left (i.e. 0), the arc turns into a sector of a circle (cake slice).
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Original |
Arc |
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The implosion draws the pixels to the centre of the photo. The intensity of the effect is adjusted by means of a slider control.
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Original |
Implosion |
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An explosion distorts the photo from the centre to the edge. Here too the intensity of the effect is adjusted by means of the slider control.
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Original |
Explosion |
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This twists the photo into a wave shape. The wavelength affects how many peaks and troughs the photo contains, the amplitude and the height of the waves.
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Original |
Wave |
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To emphasise photos or make them stand out better against the background, you can place a coloured border or frame around them, which is then also printed or developed. You can specify the frame width (line thickness) and a colour in the frame properties.
With the left mouse button, select the photo, which has already been inserted in the CEWE PHOTOBOOK. Now select the "Edit image frame and shadow..." function in the toolbar. Left-click this function and a window opens. Here you can now set the properties of the frame.
You can adjust the width of the frame in 1/10 mm steps. That means if you enter "3", you will produce a frame with a width of 0.3 mm, not 3 mm!
You can select the colour as a basic colour or click in the colour table and set your own custom colour. This selected colour can now be fine-tuned using the narrow right-hand bar. Confirm your chosen colour by clicking "OK" in the open window.
You can apply the window properties to the active (selected) image, to all images on this page or to all images in the product.
TIP: A coloured border distinguishes the photo from other photos and from the background (e.g. a white border around the photo against a black page background) and makes it more effective.
This is a very effective and attractive function in the design of the CEWE PHOTOBOOK.
Shading gives the photos in your CEWE PHOTOBOOK a very nice effect. The photos are positioned more prominently in the foreground.
Click the "Edit image frame and shadow..." function in tools to edit the photos. A window opens. Now you can set the properties of the shadow. Activate the shadow function by checking the check box.
Here you can specify the shadow properties.
The "distance" is set in mm and determines how far the shadow stands out below the photo.
This simulates whether the light source is directly above the centre of the photo or outside.
The intensity determines how transparent and how dark the shadow will be.
0% would be completely transparent (lowest value therefore 1%) and 100% would be opaque black. (The higher the photo floats against the page background, the less the intensity through scattered light from the pages).
The "direction" is set using a mouse-operated control and determines the position of the light casting the shadow, and thus the direction of the shading.
See the preview at the bottom of the open window.
Exception: If the distance = 0mm, then the direction does not matter.
The "blur" is the softness of the shaded border.
"0 px" creates a hard shaded border, and the higher the fuzziness value, the softer the shaded border.
Caution: this is very CPU-intensive and can take a long time if you have lots of photos with soft shading.
The "overhang" is the size of the shading (to simulate the distance of the light source).
If the light source casting the shadow is the sun, then the rays of light will run parallel to each other and the shadow will be as big as the photo, i.e. the overhang will be 0mm.
If however the light source is small and closer to the photo (e.g. a ceiling light), then the rays of light will be conical (divergent) and the shadow will be larger than the photo.
The closer the light source to the photo (e.g. a desk lamp), the larger the shadow (see right).
Exception: If the overhang is greater than the distance, then the shading will overhang on all sides of the photo.
In combination with this parameter, you can create the effect that the photo is floating very close to the background (low distance and overhang, hard shadow edge, high intensity), or that it is floating high above it (larger distance and overhang, soft shadow edge, lower intensity).
Observe what really happens with shadows with different light sources and distances to the background (e.g. table surface).
TIP: Discreet, narrow shading will often make your photos stand out very well from the background.
This will make the designed CEWE PHOTOBOOK page more interesting and more attractive.
The optimum size in pixels when using your own photos as a background of a CEWE PHOTOBOOK page varies depending on the format and size of the photobook.
It is no problem if the picture size is smaller. The main point is that the quality indicator must be green. Photos with smaller dimensions will remain unchanged. But photos which exceed the required pixel size will have no recognisable effect on the print quality. They will be scaled down to the optimum size to keep the data file as small as possible. This will speed up the transmission and storage of the pictures at the time of ordering.
The software may cut the picture size further to the actual required size and the photos may be scaled down to the necessary resolution at the time of ordering.
The CEWE PHOTO SHOW is the central program module used to edit your photos.
You can use it to improve a photo, e.g. to correct over- or underexposure, weak contrast, colour tinges or red-eye. You can apply artistic effects to your photo, e.g. turn it into a black-and-white picture, age it with a sepia effect or make it look like an oil painting or a drawing. You can distort, reflect and turn a photo, and much more besides.
And you can manage your photos using the CEWE PHOTO SHOW, rating your photos and adding titles and comments and filtering them according to these and other meta data (in order to show only certain pictures).
The CEWE PHOTO SHOW can also be opened as a standalone program (own icon on the desktop, pop-up menu for photos in Explorer).
To find photos more easily in the selection area or to use them for different products, it is possible to rate a photo. When photos are rated they are awarded a number of stars, which are displayed in the selection area. This rating can be an additional way of sorting your photos.
In the selection area, right-click a photo and a pop-up menu will open. In this pop-up menu you can sort photos by date taken, file name or rating. This means you can quickly find your best photos in the selection area.
The rating is also an effective way to pre-sort your pictures in the CEWE PHOTOBOOK Assistant. Just click the minimum number of stars your photos must have in order to be selected by the Assistant.
