<chapter id="images">
<title>Images</title>

<para>
Creating and modifying images is one of &chalk;'s core functionalities. While
most of the other chapters in this manual focus on the things you can do when
painting or editing, this chapter shows you what you can do with respect to
the images themselves.
</para>

<sect1 id="images-files">
<title>Working with files</title>

<para>
Unless you are doing some quick sketching, working with &chalk; will most
likely involve files. You can open existing images &mdash; &chalk; can work
with a large number of file formats, see <link
linkend="introduction-keyfeatures-imageformats">Image formats</link> &mdash;
or start &chalk; to create a new one. When you are done or if you want to
continue at a later time, you can easily save your work.
</para>

<variablelist>

<varlistentry><term>Opening existing files</term>
<listitem><para>When you start &chalk;, you can open an existing image with
the <guibutton>Open Existing Document</guibutton> button at the lower left of
the opening dialog. You can also use the
<menuchoice><guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Open</guimenuitem></menuchoice>
menu option (<keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>O</keycap></keycombo>).
This will bring up the <guilabel>Open Document</guilabel> dialog in which you
can choose an image to open. The opening dialog and the
<guimenu>File</guimenu> menu also contain a list of the most recently used
files for quick access.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry><term>Saving your work in progress</term>
<listitem><para>With the
<menuchoice><guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Save</guimenuitem></menuchoice>
and <menuchoice><guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Save As...</guimenuitem></menuchoice>
menu options (or their respective shortcuts <keycombo
action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>S</keycap></keycombo> and <keycombo
action="simul">&Ctrl;&Shift;<keycap>S</keycap></keycombo>), you can save your
work. The former option will save the modifications to the current image, the
latter option will show the <guilabel>Save Document</guilabel> dialog in which
you can give a new file name for the image. If this is the first time you save
the image, <guimenuitem>Save</guimenuitem> will ask for a file name as well.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry><term>Creating a new image</term>
<listitem><para>From the opening dialog (available via the 
<menuchoice><guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>New</guimenuitem></menuchoice>
menu option or the <keycombo
action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>N</keycap></keycombo> keys), you can create a
fully custom document or choose one of the image templates. These templates
offer a quick way of creating a new image.  See the <link
linkend="tutorial-starting">Starting to know &chalk;</link> tutorial.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

</variablelist>

</sect1>

</chapter>
