PhotoFlow News and Updates

I am still fighting with that… no idea why Windows behaves differently from Linux/macOS in this respect.

You need to load a specific ocio.config file for this to work. There is no “default” configuration for the tool… anyway, it is still WIP :wink:

Two new improvements are available in the latest PhF version:

Color correction load/save function
The “color correction” tool, which implements the ASC-CDL controls, now has two buttons for loading and saving standard CDL files. It is therefore now possible to inter-change color grading presets between applications that support ASC-CDL.

Notice that the CDL file format does not specify the colorspace and encoding expected by the adjustments, and it is therefore the responsibility f the use to prepare the data in the correct colorspace (via a colorspace conversion layer prior to the color correction) and tick the “log encoding” checkbox if needed.

The range of the sliders has also been modified/improved. The sliders now directly reflect the value being applied in the CDL, except for the offset where a x10 scaling is introduced to allow a finer tuning. This makes the tool more standard.

Notice that the change in the sliders only affects the values exposed by the UI, not those used internally in the calculations. Therefore all previous edits will still look the same.

Here is how the new dialog looks like:

Dynamic range compressor

I have introduced a new version of the dynamic range compressor tool, which uses the guided filter instead of bilateral blur for the local contrast adjustment. The guided filter should be faster and more accurate around edges.

Again, old edits will not be affected and will still use the previous version of the tool. However, for new edits only the new version is available.

Enjoy!!!

The (x10) could be ambiguous. Does it mean val=slider*10 or val*10=slider?

Some news about recent developments:

  • an improved shadows/highlights tool is available. It is meant to replace both the old shadows/highlights as well as the dynamic range compressor. More info can be found here and here (the blog post is still work in progress).

  • the RAW black levels can now be adjusted separately, and the controls have been moved to a separate “advanced” tab in the RAW processor GUI. The other controls have been also re-shuffled:

    • “input” tab: WB, exposure and demosaicing
    • “corrections” tab: hot pixels filter and lens corrections
    • “output” tab: colorspace conversions and DCP profile selection
    • “advanced” tab: black and white level corrections
  • the tone mapping tool has now an additional slider to control the saturation of the shadows, similar to the already existing highlights saturation control

  • The title of the main application window now shows the branch, commit hash and build date

2 Likes

Thanks! This is a big update for me. All long hoped for. :slight_smile:

Dear all,

the new UI layout has landed in the stable branch, and is available in the latest packages.

The UI still works optimally only for GTK2, I am still working on the GTK3 version.
The main goal is to provide a maximum of space for the image preview, and also to provide better looking UI controls (like sliders).

A new feature has also been added to the shadows/highlights tool: a local contrast control, that, as the name suggests, allows to boost the local contrast while avoiding over-brightened highlights. The concept behind was partly introduced here, but I will write some better description in my blog very soon.

Here is how the new UI and the latest shadows/highlights interface look like (notice the new “local contrast” slider):

Comments/suggestions are welcome as usual!

2 Likes

Hello,

On your screenshot it looks quite nice! :slight_smile:

The preview image is looking better than ever! It has come a long way and appears acceptable now. I await your blog post.

I’m no PhotoFlow expert but it feels nicer than before. As a rare user of PhotoFlow I have a few suggestions. In no particular order but numbered anyway. Please take the suggestions with a pinch of salt.

  1. The top left buttons do not respond to the width of the panel. Including getting cut off as there is no minimum width. Some sort of reflow or scaling would feel better and a min width that prevent the buttons from being cut would be great.
  2. The first and second row of buttons are different types but follow the same visual logic. The first row is what typically goes in a File menu.
  3. The export to raster button has both a position and icon that is hard to find whilst being one of the most important buttons. Perhaps move it to the position of the “exit” button?
  4. The camera info lacks padding around the text but has excessive line-height placing the whitespace (greyspace in this case) in such a way that the information is visually scattered. The center alignment could perhaps also be reconsidered in favour of left aligned?
  5. The “new layer” button becomes aligned with the mask, sticky, info icons. Some sort of vertical border splitting the tools off perhaps. Or a different vertical alignment.
  6. I’ve always felt that PhotoFlow and in particular the new layer dialog would benefit from a dmenu type hud. Using type ahead to filter the list of possible layers hit enter to create.
  7. Enable spacebar (gimp) for panning and double click for toggle 1:1 <> zoom to fit

Thanks!

1 Like

I agree with everything you have said. I either mentioned it before or have experiened the same qualms.

1-3. The appearance, design and placement of these icons need some consideration. I avert my eyes until I need to use them. :see_no_evil:

4. Moreover, I am beginning to think that it may be a good idea to make it into a tab after histogram and samplers since it is static information. Would save vertical space.

5. More padding would help. Nothing else, besides the camera info, is that tight. Consistency is important. Mask, sticky and info should be on the right side.

6. My frequently asked request. Needs a search function!

7. Yes, better panning and zooming, and edge examination is important to me.

You are absolutely right, and that was part of the “glitches” of the new UI layout that I still had to work on. Fixed in current git.

I am indeed planning to implement a proper File menu, which will replace the first row of buttons. So I prefer to keep things like this until the menu will be ready…

See above: it will go into a File menu.

Improved in current git:
26
Still requires additional work, and more information displayed. To save vertical space, it is now moved into an additional tab, after “histogram” and “samplers”

I’ll keep that in mind. Will look into that once the File menu is ready.

This is already possible:

  • Ctrl-double-click to toggle 1:1 <> zoom to fit
  • Ctrl-click&drag for panning

I agree, it is done.

It would look like this:

What do you mean by “edge examination”?

Is CTRL necessary?

Ability to pan beyond the edge.

Pan is buggy to me. If I click and release while accelerating in one direction, it scrolls for a distance. If I hold that click and move the mouse across the screen, the preview moves back and forth along the x or y axis but not gradually and ultimately to whatever direction the mouse is guiding it.

@Carmelo_DrRaw looks better already!

I do think the camera info could have even less line-height. Looks like near 2em at the moment. For info such as that 1.2em or even 1em could work. (1em is a relative measure equal to the point size of the type)

The new arrangement of the new layer icon and the rest looks way cleaner!

Unless there’s a reason I’d consider skipping the ctrl for the “viewport” and copy the behaviour from existing software people are likely to have used which one is the best I can’t say. I suggested gimp for oss familiarity.

Opening the raw files provided here Denoising: How variance stabilization transform work - #3 by rawfiner results in crashes.

image

1 Like

Looks like it is time to update the camera support in PhF… I’m looking into that right now.

Thanks for the heads up!

The latest version should be able to open those recent files without problems!

Dear all,

I have just introduced a couple of interesting usability improvements in the image export process, namely:

  • a dialog that informs the user if the destination file already exists, and asks whether to overwrite it or not. Selecting “NO” brings you back to the export dialog, where the output file name can be changed
  • a warning dialog the informs the user if the export fails, although it does not yet provide hints about the reasons of the failure

Enjoy a safer export!

2 Likes

Here is a little update about what’s going on in PhotoFlow’s development.

Recently, after a short break, I have been working on the integration of LibRTprocess into PhF.

At the moment, only the Amaze demosaicing is taken from the librtprocess code, the rest still uses PhF internal code. However, this is a first step towards the integration of a common raw demosaicing and processing library, that will allow PhF to stay up-to-date with other projects using the same code.

The change should be completely transparent to the user. Nevertheless, I had to modify a number of source files, so if you encounter any new issue/bug, please report it here, I will take care of it as quickly as possible!

5 Likes

Hello DrRaw,
How are you my Dear? I see you work yet very hard in this summer…
Very good news… demosaicing!

On my linux, I haven’t yet the last Photoflow release because I have difficulties with the Dariusz Duma ppa and my Mint 18.1 serena…but soon all would be resolved, I hope.

At soon.
Patrick D.

Latest continuous win10 release. I cannot open t/sharpening-techniques-lizard-subject/13427. PF is stuck at loading null and the window is not interactive. When I maximize window, I see two windows. If PF cannot load, make it stop gracefully and alert the user about it.

Edit Oops, I downloaded the link. Not the file.