The number of variables that you are permitted to change makes using this application incredibly versatile; especially when you consider that its sole purpose is to create mosaics. Conversely, the number of parameters can be a little daunting when you first use the software because many of the settings will be irrelevant to the construction of basic mosaics.
Mosaic images are constructed of a source image upon which cells (tiles) are overlaid. Cells are divisions of the source image and can be filled with coloured tiles or other images. The cells needn't be rectangular; circles, squares, polygons and various irregular shapes are available. The five sample patterns to the left represent just a few of the cell shape variations available as presets. The coloured tiles can represent either photographs or solid colours; whichever you choose, their colour and luminosity will be based upon a background (source) image.
Mosaic creator excels in the creation of photo-mosaics in which the cells are populated by other images. A large number of cell images give the best results as this reduces the degree of repetition of the same cell images which might detract from the effect you're trying to achieve. The extent to which the cell images blend with the source image can be set in the 'cell filling' and 'cell enhance' menus. It often works best to use a predominance of the source image's colour and a more equal blend of the cell and source's luminosity. 'Cell Recognition Quality' is a measure of how much analysis of the image takes place to best determine which cell images are best suited to blend with corresponding areas of the source image. A high setting will increase the processing time but yield better blended mosaics. The image on the right show us a detail from a much larger image. To show the full image would be pointless at web browser resolution as you would not even see any of the cell images that comprise the mosaic. The cells would be so small relative to the full image that, at the resolution of your monitor, a web browser image would appear to be nothing more than a noisy jpeg.
An 8-bit alpha channel mask can also be applied to your cells to further alter their shape and a drop shadow can then be applied to emphasize this amendment. The terminology used within the application can be a little esoteric at times and maybe future versions will benefit from a more user friendly approach - 'alpha mask' = 'shape change'.
ASCII Art is reminiscent of how you would have had to print graphics on a daisywheel printer back in the 1980s and '90s - clever at the time but considered to be consigned to the retro category now. (Expect moiré patterns, especially when viewed at screen resolution). The magenta sample of ASCII art that you can see on the right shows how poor this treatment can appear at low resolutions, but if this image were to be printed at full resolution as a poster, the effect could be appreciated more as you would be able to discern the letters that comprise the image. Clicking the sample will give you the full resolution image.
Text Mosaic is a variation of ASCII Art that allows you to create a similar effect using a body of text of your own choosing. The apparent variation in tone that ASCII Art achieves by the weight of its choice of character must now be achieved by varying the size of the font. This method lacks the authenticity of the ASCII Art effect, but if you get the desired result, most people won't know or care.
Photo Mosaic is the area that will impress most people. The ability to combine numerous images in a single array of digital mosaic tiles is a task that this software can handle with ease and photoshop users will appreciate that, in this area, photoshop can do nothing - not even via a plug-in.