This topic will be used to collect short messages and updates about the PhotoFlow development. It will also be used to notify interested people whenever new pre-compiled packages will appear on GitHub.
Therefore, let me start this thread by proudly announcing that new AppImage, Windows and OSX packages are available for download.
The main improvements in this version are the following:
fixed a mistake in the definition of the compiler architecture for the bundled RawSpeed library, leading to āillegal instructionā crashes on some systems.
improved the file open dialogs for the Windows version, which now properly list RAW files when āimage filesā is selected as a filter
fixed wring tooltips colors, making text unreadable
I would really appreciate any feedback from this new version, since I plan to release it as v0.2.8 if no major issues are found.
I have just downloaded this new version and tested on Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 (both 64 bit).
I have worked for around 1 hour with it.
For instance :
I have opened several Nef images in a row (even the same nef image, twice).
I have applied all basic tools to my images (clone tool, curves tool, gradients etc).
Saved these raw images as jpeg or pfi (which I have re-tested later on).
No crash so far
Hi Silvio, and thanks for checking so quickly! Itās really nice to see that now the windows version is getting stable, as it has been a real PITA during the past few monthsā¦
Hi , downloaded and tested on Mac, OS 10.11.6. No problems working with .NEF files. Saved as .tif and open with RawTherapee 5.2 for further work with no problems.
Just an observation, which is valid for previous PhotoFlow versions, the .tif from FotoFlow opens with no problem directly in Photoshop CS6 as .tif; but when I try to open the PF .tif in CameraRaw 9.1.1 the image opens but is not recognisable as if the number of pixels in the rows are shifted. If I open the PF .tif in Preview and use export as .tif, then it opens correctly in Camera Raw.
Concerning the TIFF problem, could you please do this short test:
open a Jpeg file with photoflow, for example one of those created by you r camera if you have them
export it as .tif
open the .tif with CameraRaw
If the problem does not show up, then it might be related with some EXIF data inherited from the RAW file. Otherwise, I have no ideaā¦ I am using VIPS/LibTIFF for saving the .tif files, which is a pretty solid and thoroughly tested combination.
Test done as you suggested and no problem when opening the PhotoFlow generated .tif file with Camera Raw.
Thus, as you mentioned most probably related with some EXIF data in the RAW file.
Again, it was only an observation and not at all a problem since eventually I go to Photoshop only to use the Nik collection; and directly opening the PhotoFlow generated .tif (without going through CameraRaw) is all what is needed.
I have just used the new version to process quite a few files with no problems. It behaves exactly the same as version 20170612 on my Mac with OS sierra 10.12.6 which is fine as I rarely have any problems. Only one I can recall is a hangup when I tried to use the multiscale_decomp.pfp but that may no longer be compatible?
Iām very happy with the way PF works, but there are three issues that would improve it for me. I hope itās ok to mention these in this thread and they are not major problems.
If I try to open a raw file or .pfi using āopen withā Photoflow then it does not open that file but opens the file selection window at the last used folder. I think this may have been mentioned in an earlier thread.
Iām using some adapted lens and would like to try the distortion correction for those included in lensfun, however the selection of camera and lens is automatic in PF and canāt be changed. If I use Darktable it does allow the items to be changed and if a generic camera of the appropriate type is selected any lens can be selected. Something similar for PF would be great.
The introduction of softproofing would be helpful in setting up files for printing.
I will check and see if I also get an hangup. The preset should still be compatible with the current version, if not I need to update it.
This is an OSX-specific problem that I still need to solve, but the work is postponed until after v0.2.8 is out.
I agree that this is something badly missing in the lans correction tool. Nothing conceptually difficult, but boring to program itā¦ will definitely go into the TODO list in the near future.
This is something that is actually already present in one development branch (called linear_gamma). If you are interested in testing this feature, I can provide you an OSX package from this branch. However, please DO NOT USE IT FOR EDITS YOU WANT TO KEEP, since the .pfi format is changed in this development version and is not backward-compatibleā¦
The soft-proofing part is already quite advanced and sophisticated, and allows you to load a proofing profile from disk, set the rendering intent, and simulate the black ink level.
If you have anything that you would like to have tested in the linear_gamma branch Iām very happy to do that. The soft proofing sounds good but is probably not so useful to me for printing generally if the edits are not compatible with the main branch.
The soft-proofing dialog is opened by selecting the small check box below the preview area.
The dialog contains a section for choosing the proofed ICC profile, a section to define the options for the ICC conversion from the working colorspace to the proofed one, and finally a section to control how the proofed image is displayed on screen using the monitor profile. Here one can choose to optionally simulate the paper black ink level or the paper color as well (this last option is only useful is rare cases).
It is also possible to mask with a grey color the areas that are falling outside the gamut of the proofed profile, by activating the gamut warning option (like in the picture above).
Let me know if something is not clear, Iāll be glad to give more in-depth explanations!
@alex666 Donāt know the context to your question but AppImage is sort of for Linux distros.
@Carmelo_DrRaw No longer crashing when opening CR2 and I like how raw files are now listed. In Windows, I still have to generate and append the icon to a shortcut of the app.
As @afre already said, the AppImage package is meant to provide a working version for Linux users, regardless of the distribution they use and of the availability of official packages.
If the AppImage does not work for you, please report it here, because thatās part of the things I need to check/fix for next releaseā¦
Iām really happy to hear that the Windows version is not as stable as the others. There is no icon because there is no installer. The application is packaged in a way to be portable and able to run from anywhere. You could for example extract it into a memory stick, and then run photoflow on any Windows computer by simply inserting the memory stick and naviganting into the bin folder.
Honestly Iām not a big Windows expert, and so I do not know if an application launcher could still be provided in such a caseā¦ any advice is welcome!
@parthaās portable apps have app and window icons. Maybe ask him for ideas. Icons, though minor, make the app identifiable and relatable to the masses. What I mean by window icon:
I managed to get a bit of time to look at the soft-proofing. I did not really look at processing raw files with the linear_gamma version as I quickly noticed that some functions, such as local contrast, did not operate as expected. Instead I used the current version of PF with a photo of a deep yellow flower and created prophoto, acescg and srgb output tif/jpgs. The difference between the wider gamut and srgb versions was easily noticeable on my wide gamut screen so it was an easy one to check how the soft-proofing worked.
I really like the comprehensive range of controls available.
Looking at the soft-proof of the wider gamut files with an ICC printer profile it all seems to work correctly with the on screen colours about what I would expect and the gamut warning was sensible (although I have not checked it against other programs yet). However if I selected srgb as the soft proofing profile the on screen view looked correct (i.e. it changed from the working profile version) but no gamut warnings would show.
The main problem, at least with my fairly old MacMini, is that it is very slow to check out any of the variables. For example viewing a processed soft proof and then clicking on the gamut warning results in a full reprocess and the same when the gamut warning is deselected. I also find it useful to be able to switch quickly between the view in the working profile and the one being soft-proofed but again this results in a reprocess which takes quite a time (more than the current version of PF I think). I got round this by opening the file twice in PF and I could then have one in working profile and one with the soft-proof and just switch between them. Something similar built in would be good.
Iām by no means an expert on this but the perceptual soft-proof gave a larger gamut warning than the relative colorimetric conversion which does not seem correct to my understanding. The gamut warning, I thought, would just show the aspects of the working space photo that are outside the soft-proof profile colour space? If it was showing what was altered to create the soft-proof then I could understand this as the perceptual conversion changes more than the relative colorimetric.
I am new to this site, but I wanted to give a bit feedback on Photoflow (I really like the workflow and the small footprint).
I tried to install and run the actual Win build today - a real adventure for me:
Download and unzip is easy, but when I tried to start photoflow.exe, my antivirus software (Norton I think, courtesy of my boss) marked every single lib as ādangerous, because I don not know itā, starting with photoflow.exe.
Not the fault of photoflow, but a PITA. I decided to scrap PF for the time being on that machine - 2.6 was running ok with the installer.
@abertelmann Welcome to the forum. I would create an exception for the PhotoFlow folder and the exe file. How you do that is different for every Antivirus software. There are instances where you would have to set the exception multiple times for every white list category that the Antivirus has. Personally, I donāt like Norton because it tends to slow down the computer and give too many false positives.
Yes, I tried to create an exception, for the exe first. But then I ran into creating an exception for every single dll. And, since I have no admin right on the antivir, I could only quit the whole trial, after closing about 50 windows with the warning.
Maybe I can create an exception for the folder, will try again.
Greets
