Due to incoming 2.6 fast question - Is PhotoFlow finally ready for GTK3? Can I compile my packs using that or should I wait?
Iām 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.
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:
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No reconstruction, in which case the RAW data is converted to the working colorspace without any clipping. This typically produces visibly pink highlights
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Clipping, the default an most simple method, which clips the RAW data to the [0ā¦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.
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āBlendā, derived from the method with the same name in RawTherapee and equivalent to dcrawās -H 2 option. This method produces neutral highlights and also cures at least part of the hue shifts where channels start clipping.
Iāve 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:
The last remaining thing to be done for the 0.2.6 release is to complete the GTK3 port, which still requires some work.
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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 didnāt 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 donāt tend to play nice. 
Keep up the awesome work!
Thanks Bryan!
Documentation will be the next priority once the 0.2.6 release is outā¦ 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, Iām 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 Iāll drop a message here as soon as the pre-compiled plug-in will be officially available for testing!
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 āstableā GIT branch!
It is mostly based on @TooWaBooās RawTherapee theme, plus some slider styles taken from Mint-X theme:
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The āstableā 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!
Any chance youāve got an actual icon in the works? Iām fiddling with the Software page right now and itās breaking my OCD to not have an icon for PhotoFlowā¦ 
I know that this is a shame, but somehow my brain is not capable of coming up with something decent for the application icon 
Maybe some talented volunteer will show up at some pointā¦ Iāll 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:
The settings are of course stored to disk and read back when the application is started again.
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 programā¦
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This is fantastic. I must say Iāve really been enjoying PhotoFlow and can really see myself using it for a majority of my editing. Iād love to lend a hand with tuts or documentation if need be.
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@MLC Wow, thatās really something! I must admit Iāve received not much user feedback so far, or better Iāve a few users that provide invaluable feedback, but I can count them on one hand 
Iām 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 Iāve 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 āmagicā 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!
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Thatās 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 Iāve 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 Iād be a great deal more motivated to get it done.
As far as the documentation goes, Iām more than willing to help out wherever needed. Iām at home with my toddler for the time being and could use something to keep my mind focused and occupied.
Oh, and Iād 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?
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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.
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Brilliant, thank you for this!
Very nice and schematic! Iāve 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?
Well, spreading the information is a lengthy processā¦
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! Iām open to any sort of discussion.