Report - Barack Obama: Long Form Birth Certificate

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REPORT BARACK OBAMA: LONG FORM BIRTH CERTIFICATE Page 8 of 12123Figure 17:Figure 18:Figure 19:Original resized Nordyke textwith gray surrounding pixelsAfter sharpen settings are appliedGreen background added to layerbelow, Note the jagged text andwhite surrounding pixelsSmart Sharpen Filterusing extreme settingsCheckerboard patternin preview indicatestransparent areas of layerEffects of over sharpening a resized imageC & G positions needto be reversedOne layerText letters on Excel screen capture will be movedSeparate layers for gray tab manipulationSeparate layers for white tab manipulationC & G after positionsare reversedText manipulation via layersC & B positions needto be reversedC & B after positionsare reversedOver Sharpening to CompensateBased on how the text appears in the PDF document, it would bemy guess that the user over sharpened poor resolution text in anattempt to achieve clarity. The problem with over sharpening isthat Photoshop is looking for edges of contrast, and increasingcontrast until eventually (in this case), the resulting pixels are eitherblack or white—with no transitional pixel colors (for antialiasing).This would explain the clunky bitmapped jagged edges, the solidblack text, and the white halo effect surrounding the text.Figure 17 helps to illustrate how this might work. Step 1 in theFigure shows the Nordyke enlarged text without a background.Notice that the surrounding edges of the text are grayish in tone(remnant colors of the original image background). Step 2 shows asharpening filter applied to the text using extreme settings. Noticethe jagged bitmapped result (starting to look familiar?). Finally,Step 3 shows a green background applied to a layer below thetext so you can easily see the pixel edges of the text. Notice theremnant gray pixels turned white (the white halo effect?).The results in Figure 17 are not an exact duplicate since it’simpossible to know every step taken when creating the document,but this Figure does display a valid explanation for the qualityof the text. Consider the clarity that would be present if the filehad actually been scanned from an official document. RecallFigure 4 (on page 2) in which the scanned text example providesa significant amount of clarity. And if the document had beencreated digitally by typing text within a graphic program, thetext would have been extremely clear and sharp (since typedtext would most likely be vector). Thus the poor quality is also astrong indication of image compilation, and also provides anothergood argument against the OCR theory, since an OCR scan wouldconvert the text to editable text, thus the text would be clear.LayersThink of Layers as analogous to transparencies used on a projector.If an image file is unedited, whether scanned, or transferredfrom a digital camera, the file will only have one flattened layer.In keeping with the transparency analogy, this would be likehaving the file printed on one transparency and showing it onthe projector. When a portion of an image is selected and copiedto a new layer, it would be like having that selected object on aseparate transparency above the starting transparency image. Thisallows you to move the object around independently of the othersurrounding layers (or transparencies).Figure 18 shows a screen capture of an Excel file, focusing on thetab text (to demonstrate moving text around). The starting imageshows one layer. The first four capital letters are in the wrong orderin both image tab areas. The correct order for both tabs (in thisexample) should display the letters as RBGC. Figure 19 showsthe copied letters moved into the proper position and the Layerspanel shows each copied letter on a separate layer which makesrepositioning easy to accomplish. Notice an additional layer wascreated for each tab and filled with the tab background color inareas of the affected original letter positions to keep the old lettersfrom show through behind the new letter copies. In other words,part of a B might show through if behind the letter C. The block ofgray or white tab color between the old letter and new letter solvesthe problem and leaves the original image intact.
REPORT BARACK OBAMA: LONG FORM BIRTH CERTIFICATE Page 9 of 12Window menuLinks panelRelease Clipping MaskCollapse or Expand iconLayers panelFigure 20: PDF file opened in IllustratorLinks panelClipping Mask pathCollapse or Expand iconLayer visibility iconSub-Layer GroupFigure 21: Objects displayed on the Links & Layers panelWindow menuLinks panelSelection ToolClipping Mask pathCollapse or Expand iconLayer group visibility toggled offFigure 22: Visibility of Background layer pattern toggled offObama’s Certificate PDF File in IllustratorThe previous page offered a crash course in layers, but the mainidea is that they allow for the ability to manipulate or repositionobjects separately within a document—emphasis on manipulate.At first glance, when opening Obama’s PDF file in Illustrator, youmay not notice any differences. Adobe programs offer manydifferent panels—each with its own purpose. The two crucialpanels that need to be open for this discussion are the Layers andLinks panel as shown in Figure 20. This is where the fun begins.If playing along and you’re not familiar with these programs, allpanels are toggled on or off via the Windows menu. So if you donot see these panels opened by default, just go to Windows andclick each panel name to toggle each panel on as needed.Layers and Clipping MasksAt first glance, the Layers panel appears to have only one layer,but the Layers panel in Illustrator varies slightly compared to thesame panel in Photoshop. In Photoshop, the layer stacking orderdetermines what object is on top or bottom. The same is true inIllustrator, but due to the vector nature of this program, you canalso have an object layer order within each layer—sub-layers—inaddition to multiple layers to determine order. Figure 20 showswhere the toggle icon is located to collapse or expand the viewof each layer. Click to expand the Layer as needed and a Group isrevealed.These groups are made up of the object and a clipping path, sowhat is a clipping path? Recall that in vector programs, the edgeoutline of each object is known as a path. When objects are pixelbased, there are no paths to define each specific outline (forexample, typed text is still pixels, not vector paths for the text), sothe outside edge of each pixel object image becomes known as aClipping Path. In other words, a path is generated for the outsideboundary—where the object ends.Additionally, all the individual objects import into Illustrator as onegrouped object—the total composite image of this document. Inorder to have free movement of each individual layered object,they need to be ungrouped. Perform the following steps:ÂÂPress Ctrl+A to Select All (Mac users: Command+A).ÂÂRight-click inside the document image and click the optionRelease Clipping Mask (see Figure 20).ÂÂRepeat the above step a second time to release any subgroupingof objects.ÂÂOn the Layers panel, click the Expand icon as necessary toreveal all sub-layer objects (see Figure 21).Notice that each Group layer is made up of subgroups whichconsist of the clipping path (the edge boundary) and the actualpixel object (also seen in Figure 21). The first column in the Layerspanel displays an eye icon which controls the visibility for eachobject. Simply click on this icon to toggle the visibility on or off.Figure 22 shows the visibility toggled off for the bottom group—the background pattern.Also, try this, click the Selection Tool (shown in Figure 22), thenclick and drag on any of the grouped objects within the documentto select it and move the selected object to a new location. Canyou do this with any of the official documents you scan? At therisk of sounding like a broken record, this is not normal, unless thedocument has been compiled digitally.
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