G'MIC as a plugin for Adobe CS6

Hi, I have recently become aware, via DPReview, of G’MIC as a plugin for Photoshop, in particular for me, CS6 64bit

I downloaded and installed the plugin and all went smoothly, it ran as an 8-bit filter; however, I became aware that it should be compatible with 16-bit images and to this end I updated the software via 1.1.1 to 1.1.2

For some, using G’MIC within CS6, this update made it a 16-bit filter but not for me, but I was delighted, even with this slight anomaly, to have it available

My query is regarding the exporting back to the host programme (CS6) where only ‘Save’ is available with no options available before this

I looked within another host programme, Krita x64, initially there were several options available before exporting the image back to the host

However, (within Krita) these options disappeared and were no longer available and the export became one of just saving the G’MIC filter alterations you had made, the same option as in CS6

If anyone can shed any light on this, there comments would be most welcome, my feeling is that this is not normal behaviour but a corruption and that G’MIC within CS6 should have more export options available before being saved

Thanks for any help

image

Sorry two images failed to post with above message

image

Hello, I think there are limitations inherent to the 8bf plug-in format that make it impossible to set input-output parameters as in the plug-in for GIMP or Krita.
@PDN_GMIC may confirm this. From what I understood, the 8bf plug-in API somehow sucks in a number of ways :slight_smile:

Hello David, thanks for the response

Firstly

If my interpretation of what you have said is correct, then:

The second image is, certainly at present, what I should expect to see as the export option for CS6 as is 8-bit working system rather than a 16

Further, this means that on returning the offerings from G’MIC filter to CS6 it overwrites the layer that was sent; no problem once I realise that these are the limitations of using this set of filters within CS6

Any confusion on my part, since I was new to G’MIC, was from reading what others seemed to be suggesting, that they were able to use 16-bit images and having options re export; all of this suggested to me that for some reason the G’MIC filter set was not functioning correctly on my Windows machine and that for some unknown reason my system would/could not host the filter collection correctly

Thanks for clearing that up, but please do let me know if I’m wrong in any of my assumptions

Secondly

There appears to be a corruption of G’MIC within Krita, in that its ‘Input/Output’ options are now as shown in the second image (non-existent), rather than when as first opened it was as the first image shows (with options)

I added G’MIC to CS6 before I opened Krita for the first time, on opening it I saw the various options ‘Input/Output’ before ‘OK’, however having trialled G’MIC within CS6, Krita’s options changed

Not being familiar with Krita and therefore how G’MIC appears within it, I am only able to judge it from various You Tube videos and my initial opening, the alteration to the G’MIC lay out struck me as odd and raised the question of how it was supposed to be
Again your comments would be most welcome

Apologies for the long-winded reply

There has been some changes within G’MIC and Krita recently. It is now a inherent plugin, so I will need to ping Krita authors here @Boudewijn_Rempt. That may have something to do with that. From my end which still has a earlier Krita version, and latest G’MIC does have input/output options.

Thank you Reptorian for the swift response; I look forward to the definitive answer re Krita
The reply should finally settle any doubts regarding G’MIC working correctly within either of my two host programmes and particularly Krita with this reply
Regards

The input parameters can be set, GIMP is the only host that supports the output parameters.
I made a change in version 1.1.3 so that the input parameters are displayed for documents with only one layer, this matches the behavior of GIMP, Krita and Paint.NET.

This was changed in version 1.1.3.
If a G’MIC filter resizes the image or produces multiple output images, it will now prompt the user to save the modified image(s) without changing the active layer.

I have seen a few reports that 16-bit images are not working in some versions of Photoshop.
I do not have a copy of CS6 to test with, but 16-bit images work correctly (if somewhat slowly) in CC 2020.

The only thing I can think of is that Photoshop may be caching the plugin information from an older version, this could cause it to not recognize the 16-bit image support.
I would recommend clearing the Photoshop plugin cache:

  1. Navigate to %APPDATA%\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop [Version]\Adobe Photoshop [Version] Settings\
  2. Delete the PluginCache.psp file.

This will force Photoshop to rescan all installed plug-ins the next time it is started.

See the following page for more information: https://support.exposure.software/hc/en-us/articles/200144325-Resetting-Photoshop-preferences-

1 Like

Hello David, thank you for the very fulsome response and the assistance you are providing, much appreciated

Having read all the information you gave, I immediately updated G’MIC to version 1.1.3 for my host CS6

I am very happy to report that and without clearing the cache, the update now allows 16-bit images to be processed returning the alterations to overwrite the host layer.

However, having tried several times, I am unable to get the prompt to "save the modified image(s) without changing the active layer.”

I have tried using several filters and applying each result before using ’OK’ to send the result to CS6, but so far, no option is offered

Maybe I’m not understanding the complexity of filter required to be transferred to the host to trigger this prompt

Anyway, progress :blush:

Those prompts will only be shown for two kinds of filters:

  • A filter that produces an animation / sequence, e.g. the filters in the Sequences category.
  • A filter that creates an image with a size that is larger or smaller then the active layer, e.g. Rendering > 3D Image Object (when the width and/or height parameters do not match the active layer).

Any filter that produces a single image that is the same size as the active layer will be written to the active layer after the user clicks Ok.

The apply command does not send the result back to Photoshop, it only changes the active layer within G’MIC-Qt.
The convention for Photoshop filters is that the active layer in the host application is only updated if the user clicks Ok in the filter dialog.

Also, I think you are confusing me with David Tschumperle. :smiley:
He is the author of G’MIC, I am the author of the the 8bf plug-in.

1 Like

Apologies for any confusion on my part

Thanks for the explanation re obtaining the prompts, as I think you will have guessed I am coming into for me, uncharted territory and struggling to grasp all of the implications and opportunities available.

I had gained the impression that following use of the G’MIC filters, any options available and used before the ‘OK’ would/might produce a new layer returned to the host when ‘OK’ was used with possibly a choice of format

From your reply I see I was mistaken

Thank you for your patience