cloak mode, scripting and clarification

[jocelyn]

Hi Harald!

As we discussed a while back, I'm using photoshop scripting and I still have problem.

1) Cloak mode is indeed flaky as reported by another person. Using scripting I get even worse result. Even if I delete the 'cloak ini' file,
Focalblade seems not to notice it when I execute the plugin.

In the previous discussion, you talked about the following:

I would have said that you just need to make your VB program copy the appropriate FocalBlade preset file into the FocalBlade folder and rename it to FocalBlade.ini. The format of the preset files and the .ini file is identical. Unfortunatelly, FocalBlade only seem to read the .ini file when it is executed for the first time or after you pressed the Cancel button.

Is this done ? Is Focal blade looking at both the focalblade & cloak ini files everytime it execute.

2) Now, something different. If I'm using the auto sharpen, auto surface mode, the values calculated by Focablade change depending on the preview (at 100%). Is it normal ?
If not using the 100% zoom, but the 'fit' image preview mode, are the automatic value calculated analyzing the entire image ?

Thanks,

jocelyn

[jocelyn]

Just to be clear, when I say automatic values change depending on the preview, I mean the following:

• Simply, hold the ALT key and left mouse button to move(pan) to a different position on the image. Then the values change.

[Tbackher]

I, too, cannot get Focalblade to come out of cloak mode unless I delete the cloak ini file. I am running XP Pro and Photoshop CS. This is a pain.

[HaraldHeim]

I, too, cannot get Focalblade to come out of cloak mode unless I delete the cloak ini file. I am running XP Pro and Photoshop CS. This is a pain.

Sorry, that's a bug in FocalBlade 1.01 and 1.01b. It will be fixed in the next update. Please delete cloack.ini in the meantime to come out of Cloak mode.

[HaraldHeim]

Hi Harald!

I would have said that you just need to make your VB program copy the appropriate FocalBlade preset file into the FocalBlade folder and rename it to FocalBlade.ini. The format of the preset files and the .ini file is identical. Unfortunatelly, FocalBlade only seem to read the .ini file when it is executed for the first time or after you pressed the Cancel button.

Is this done ? Is Focal blade looking at both the focalblade & cloak ini files everytime it execute.

Sorry, I wanted to do that, but this behaviour caused other problems, so I didn't include that in Version 1.01. I will have a look at it again for the next update. My plan is to make FocalBlade scriptable anyway.

2) Now, something different. If I'm using the auto sharpen, auto surface mode, the values calculated by Focablade change depending on the preview (at 100%). Is it normal ? If not using the 100% zoom, but the 'fit' image preview mode, are the automatic value calculated analyzing the entire image ?

FocalBlade only analyzes the image section that is displayed in the preview to calculate the auto sharpening values. So it is recommended that you make the most important image section visible in the preview and set zoom to 100% to make the auto sharpening produce the best results. You can also draw a sample area on the preview to make the auto sharpening only evaluate the sample area. Analyzing the whole image for calculating a sharpness value isn't that effective as analyzing only an important part of the image.

[jocelyn]

Some more information on scripting (my experience).

After some more testing, it appears than delete/copying the focalblade.ini and cloakfb.ini file actually works well with scripting. BUT...

For it to work, I need to start Photoshop and not actually play with the Focalblade plugin manually. All the problem I had seems to be related to the time I was building my custom 'presets' in order to generate the focalblade.ini file. If I start switching from and out of cloak mode, everything goes crazy in a pattern I can't pinpoint. Thus, the problem are probably related to the user interface. At some point youre program seems to get lost in his 'state machine'. It's not a major problem, but quite annoying.

Once all my files are created, I can copy them using a script and all goes smooth.

Hope it helps you understand the problem.

[HaraldHeim]

When you run FocalBlade manually and exit it, Photoshop saves the current settings and gives them back to FocalBlade when it is executed again. That way, rereading the Focalblade.ini seems to be omitted. Seems that running FocalBlade from a script doesn't cause this behaviour.

I will do some tests and I try to make it reread the FocalBlade.ini everytime it is executed.