Olympus Viewer 3: A Key Line Picture Book

A graphic art technique that outlines subjects or reduces photo colors into flat posterized fields bordered by distinct dark lines, mimicking a comic book style.

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One of the interesting aspects of working with Olympus Viewer 3 (OV3) is that the software suite includes the Art Filter and Art Effect tools, which are part of the software's RAW development capabilities. The Art Filters and Art Effects, the same as those available as on-camera options on Olympus E-camera systems, allow images to be edited with a range of creative effects to transform images into works of art, or whatever the notion is.

On OV3, Art Filter and Art Effects can only be applied to *.orf RAW files, meaning that it will only work if the original image is shot in Olympus RAW files.

Options available on the desktop, which may differ from what is offered in-camera settings, include Soft Focus, Pop Art, Pale & Light Color, Light Tone, Pin Hole, Grainy Film, Diorama, Cross Process, Gentle Sepia, Dramatic Tone, Key Line, and Watercolor.

A Key Line Photo Creative

The Key Line art filter, which is used for this presentation, separates different colored areas with a thin black (or other dark colors) border, and colors the areas with slight color variations, just like you see how comic strips and manga are illustrated and colored.

This creates the opportunity to edit photographic images into comic - or manga-like images, which can be stitched together into storyboards. All you need now are the text bubbles, sound effects (not much of it here), and you will have yourself a complete comic strip or manga presentation. Bet you it'll be a whole lot of fun doing it.

The menu system is accessed from the RAW tab of the Edit menu.

The Key Line art filter, used for this presentation, outlines different colored areas with a thin black (or other dark color) border and fills the areas with subtle color variations, similar to how comic strips and manga are illustrated and colored.

Olympus Pen E-P5, Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 EZ

Images here were shot with an Olympus Pen E-P5, mounted with an Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 EZ.

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