Preview of PhotoFlow 0.2.6: what's new in the coming release

Software PhotoFlow
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I am proud to announce that PhotoFlow now has a Chromatic Aberration (CA) correction algorithm in the RAW development module!

The code is based on the equivalent tool in RawTherapee, with two main differences:

  1. the automatic correction parameters are computed only once at image loading
  2. the code that performs the correction of the Bayer data has been modified to work in parallel on image chunks. This means that the processing can run in multi-threaded mode even without OpenMP support.

The corrected image is directly visible in the preview area when zooming at 1:1.

Both automatic and manual corrections are available. As a future development, I will try to add “profiled” corrections based on LensFun and/or Adobe lens correction profiles, again applied directly to the Bayer data in the pre-demosaicing stage.

To use this new feature, you need to install the development packages under Linux, like that:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:dhor/myway
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install photoflow-git

It will probably take a couple of days until the updated package will be available in the PPA.

Below are two screenshot, showing the same image without and with automatic CA correction applied (the RAW file is taken from here).

2560×1550 2.45 MB

2560×1550 2.37 MB

2 Likes
19

Hello everyone,

Just installed PhotoFlow 0.2.6 on Kubuntu (KDE Desktop) through the Ppa Package.
I have modified some Nef files (from Nikon D810) and jpeg images and everything worked extremely well : No crash whatsoever ! :slightly_smiling:

THANKS a lot indeed for releasing such a great software !

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Thanks for trying photoflow and for the positive feedback!

Things will hopefully get even more stable with the official 0.2.6 release, which I’m planning for the end of next week.

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Due to incoming 2.6 fast question - Is PhotoFlow finally ready for GTK3? Can I compile my packs using that or should I wait?

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I’m indeed working on the gtk3 compatibility. At the moment everything seems to be fine except the sliders in the theme. I hope to get this fixed soon enough so that the gtk3 version can be tested before the release.

In any case, gtk2 compatibility will still be provided, due to the gimp plugin.

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In view of next release, I have added some basic highlights reconstruction, something that was badly lacking so far. For the moment, three options are offered:

  • No reconstruction, in which case the RAW data is converted to the working colorspace without any clipping. This typically produces visibly pink highlights

  • Clipping, the default an most simple method, which clips the RAW data to the [0…1] range after the demosaicing and before the exposure compensation is applied. This method produces neutral highlights but has also some hue shift where one or two channels are clipped, but not all of them.

  • “Blend”, derived from the method with the same name in RawTherapee and equivalent to dcraw’s -H 2 option. This method produces neutral highlights and also cures at least part of the hue shifts where channels start clipping.

I’ve also added two separate controls to fine-tune the RAW black and white points. The adjustments are expressed in % of the default black/white level, and the original and modified values are shown above the controls for reference.

Here is the new UI selector for adjusting the RAW black/white points and for choosing among the three HL reconstruction options:

1286×666 209 KB

The last remaining thing to be done for the 0.2.6 release is to complete the GTK3 port, which still requires some work.

1 Like
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The progress of Photoflow is very encouraging!

Is there any written documentation, such as a manual, that we can download and read through to familiarise ourselves as to how to work it? Or is it pretty much trial and error? A quick Yahoo search didn’t resolve anything but a couple of YouTube tutorials, which were informative.

Secondly, is there any advancement with the gimp plugin? I mean, is it packaged up for easy implementation (such as gimp-gmic), or does one still need to build it? Eager to try, but builds and I don’t tend to play nice. :slightly_smiling:

Keep up the awesome work!

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Thanks Bryan!

Documentation will be the next priority once the 0.2.6 release is out… I have started to create a skeleton on the github wiki, but it is still almost empty: https://github.com/aferrero2707/PhotoFlow/wiki/Photoflow-User-Manual

This is where the main documentation should end up once written.

Concerning the gimp plug-in, I’m working with a couple of great people to provide Ubuntu packages as well as Windows and OSX GIMP installers with the photoflow plug-in included. However, the Ubuntu packages still have few issues and the OSX and Windows versions are still under testing, so I cannot tell anything official yet.

Anyhow, be sure that I’ll drop a message here as soon as the pre-compiled plug-in will be officially available for testing!

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Here is a preview of the current GTK3 interface. The work is almost over, and very soon it will be possible to create GTK3 packages from the “stable” GIT branch!

It is mostly based on @TooWaBoo’s RawTherapee theme, plus some slider styles taken from Mint-X theme:

2560×1346 680 KB

1 Like
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@Dariusz_Duma

The “stable” git branch is now ready to be compiled with GTK3. I cannot exclude some residual issues, but most of the UI should look fine (or even nicer than with GTK2).

The GTK3 support is activated by adding

-DUSE_GTKMM3=ON

to the cmake flags.

Maybe it would be a good idea to create a separate package for the GTK3 version (something like photoflow-gtk3-git) so that users can easily switch between one version and the other?

The GTK3 support will of course be part of version 0.2.6 once it will be out.

Another minor issue with the photoflow-git package is that it does not show up in the applications menu, most likely due to a missing .desktop file. The package for the official 0.2.5 release is instead fine.

Thanks!

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Any chance you’ve got an actual icon in the works? I’m fiddling with the Software page right now and it’s breaking my OCD to not have an icon for PhotoFlow… :smiley:

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I know that this is a shame, but somehow my brain is not capable of coming up with something decent for the application icon :confused:

Maybe some talented volunteer will show up at some point… I’ll open a topic on that to trigger some discussion.

Meanwhile, another piece of the door management puzzle in photoflow has been put in place: custom monitor profile support.

The interface is still quite basic, as one can only choose between a custom profile from disk and standard sRGB, but it should be already enough for getting the right image on screen of your monitor has been profiled:

1279×722 252 KB

The settings are of course stored to disk and read back when the application is started again.

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PhotoFlow is still badly lacking documentation for the interface and the various tools.

As a first step in this direction, I have added to each tool an help button in the form of a small i icon.
When clicked, the button opens a dialog containing a short text that explains the scope and usage of the corresponding tool.

This will hopefully help new user to find their way through the program…

2560×1446 1.2 MB

1 Like
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This is fantastic. I must say I’ve really been enjoying PhotoFlow and can really see myself using it for a majority of my editing. I’d love to lend a hand with tuts or documentation if need be.

1 Like
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@MLC Wow, that’s really something! I must admit I’ve received not much user feedback so far, or better I’ve a few users that provide invaluable feedback, but I can count them on one hand :wink:

I’m really glad you are enjoying the program, and definitely I could profit from help on the documentation and advertisement side. I know tutorials are a very lengthy job, and I have a very limited time to devote to that. I you are willing to provide some, count on me for any proof-reading or suggestions for improvements.

For what concerns the documentation, my idea is to use the github wiki pages as the main infrastructure. We can certainly find the good way to give you editing access to the wiki if you are willing to contribute.

The online help that I’ve been discussing in the previous post is much easier: I simply have one text file for each tool, separately stored in the resources folders of the application (/usr/share/photoflow/help/en in a default Linux installation). As soon as a new text file is added it will be picked by the program and shown in the help dialog. The file just needs to have a “magic” name so that it can be associated with the right tool, but once I have the text I can easily create the file and push it to the git repository.

Thanks a lot for your offer!

1 Like
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That’s rather surprising as it really is a nice piece of software with loads of potential. And if it were a GIMP plug-in (as I believe was a possibility mentioned in the past) even better!

Creating tutorials for the applications I’ve been using has always been an interest of mine. I simply could never get my act together to get them out there. But as @patdavid has recently mentioned on jpeg2RAW, F/OSS applications are in dire need of better quality tutorials. If I am beholden to a project to deliver, I am quite certain I’d be a great deal more motivated to get it done.

As far as the documentation goes, I’m more than willing to help out wherever needed. I’m at home with my toddler for the time being and could use something to keep my mind focused and occupied.:slight_smile:

Oh, and I’d also be willing to take a crack at an icon. My background is in web design (defunct and in need of some serious refreshing) but I have been known to muck about in Inkscape when the mood strikes.

Edit: Would something like this work?

1 Like
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Pat, if you need an icon for LightZone, here it is, extracted from exe file. Being old, it only goes up to 128 x 128.

1 Like
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Brilliant, thank you for this! :slight_smile:

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Very nice and schematic! I’ve linked it on the other thread dedicated to the photoflow icon (Help needed: PhotoFlow application icon design - #13 by Carmelo_DrRaw).

Maybe one could replace the over-used rainbow colors with something else? Any suggestions?

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Well, spreading the information is a lengthy process…

If you happen to have suggestions on the overall UI design and on the usability, do not hesitate to drop a message on this forum! I’m open to any sort of discussion.