Version History

Windows Version 2.13 (November 2022)

• Standalone:
  • Support for the raw files of 25 new cameras based on MetaRaw 3.12
• Installation:
  • Installation support for Photoshop Elements 2023 and Affinity Photo 2
  • The installation now deletes the registry keps that keep Photoshop Elements 2022/2023 from loading plugins that crashed 3 times.
  • Support for the MS Store version of Photoshop Elements 2022. Does not try to install into the WindowsApps folder anymore.

Windows Version 2.12 (September 2021)

• The "Photoshop Dark" skin style is now used by default
• The scroll bar of the thumbnail list is now displayed dark for dark skin styles.
  
  
• Standalone:
  • Support for the following new raw formats: CR3, SRW, MFW, BMQ, CINE, HDR, IA, KC2 and PXN
  • Support for the raw files of 120 new cameras based on MetaRaw 3.10
  • Bug Fix: When minimizing a maximized window two times, the controls previously vanished when displaying the window again.
  • Metaraw.dll does not require vcruntime140.dll to be installed anymore
• Installation:
  • Installation support for newer versions of Photoshop Elements
  • The installation now deletes the registry keps that keep Photoshop Elements 2020/2021 from loading plugins that crashed 3 times.
• Demo version:
  • The window of the demo version can now be expanded up to a size of 1680 x 1050 pixels (instead of 1024 x 768).

Mac Version 1.11b (May 2020)

• Bug Fix: BWStyler sometimes crashed on startup in Photoshop 2020 (Version 21.1.0 and higher)
• Bug Fix: The Help text was previously not visible if the plugin window had a dark background.
• Updated instructions on the .dmg window background

Mac Version 1.11 (April 2020)

• The preview works again in Photoshop 2020 (Version 21.1.0 and higher)
• No security warnings under macOS 10.15 Catalina
• MacOS 10.6-10.8 is not supported anymore (to avoid installation problems under macOS Catalina)
• Installation support for Photoshop Elements 2020

Windows Version 2.11b (November 2018)

• Affinity Photo:
  • Fixed control repositioning in Affinity Photo 1.6.4 when maximizing the window
  • Color dialogs are now displayed in Affinity Photo.
• Bug Fix: The Preview check box on the Color dialog is not cut off anymore for hidpi settings
• Standalone:
  • Support for the raw files of 35 new cameras based on MetaRaw 3.03.
  • Support for saving grayscale 8-bit images as PSD files
  • No more crash when reading the EXIF data from DNG files taken by the Huawei P20 (Pro).
• Plugin Installer:
  • Works again under Windows XP
  • Support for the Microsoft Store version of Photoshop Elements 15

Mac Version 1.10b (November 2018)

• Support for the App Store versions of Photoshop Elements (Use the Install icon!)

Mac Version 1.10 (August 2018)

• The preview works again with Affinity Photo 1.6.7
• Bug Fix: The preset icon texts are now displayed under MacOS 10.11 and higher.
• Installation support for Photoshop Elements 2019

Windows Version 2.11 (April 2018)

• All tools can now be used if the preview zoom is 200% or higher
• Bug Fix: The preview coordinates on the Info tab sheet are displayed correctly if the preview zoom is 200% or higher
  
  
• Plugin:
  • You can now render the mask view (M buttons on the Mask tab sheet) to the image by pressing the OK button. Previously the mask view was automatically deactivated when clicking the OK button.
  • Bug Fix: No more error message and vanished controls when running the plugin with previously maximized window and brush or eraser tool selected
  • Plugin Installer:
    • Supports the Microsoft Store version of Photoshop Elements 2018
• Standalone:
  • Support for the raw files of 70 new cameras based on MetaRaw 3.01.
  • Bug Fix: Saving PNG files works again
  • Brush Mask:
    • New "Open Bush Mask" and "Save Brush Mask" menu items on the Mask > Brush tab sheet for opening and saving a brush mask as JPEG, TIFF, PNG and PSD files.
    • Bug Fix: When drawing with the brush and closing the image, the brush mask of the previous image is not distorted and no crash happens anymore.
      
    • Bug Fix: When closing a second image with a brush mask, there is no more crash or error message on exit.
    • Bug Fix: Previously the brush mask of the first image was erased when opening a second image.
    • Bug Fix: When reopening raw files at full size, the brush mask is now automatically resized.
  • Installation:
    • Bug Fix: The External Editor Installer previously crashed on some systems. This should not happen anymore.
    • Bug Fix: The individual installation previously did not correctly install into Lightroom, because the name of the .exe file was set incorrectly.

Mac Version 1.09c (November 2017)

• Bug Fix: The presets were previously not installed. They are now included in the plugin itself. When running this version for the first time, they are copied to a new preset folder at /Users/<user name>/Library/Preferences/PhotoWiz/BWStyler/Presets/ in case this folder does not already exist. All user-saved presets from the old preset folder at /Library/Application Support/PhotoWiz/BWStyler/Presets/ are also copied to the new preset folder. If you previously modified included presets, you have to manually copy them from the old Presets folder to the new one.

Windows Version 2.10c (October 2017)

• Scrolling the preview with a maximized window on a 4K screen now works fluently. It also works faster on Full HD screens.
  
  
• Plugin:
  • Affinity Photo Fixes:
    • Bug Fix: No more crash when applying the plugin a second time to a 16-bit/channel image.
    • Bug Fix: When opening the maximized plugin window for the second time, the controls do not vanish anymore.
  • Plugin Installer:
    • Support for Paint Shop Pro 2018
    • Support for Corel Draw & Photo-Paint 2017
    • Fixed support for Corel Draw & Photo-Paint X5 and older
    • The Add Folder button now asks if you want to install the 64-bit versions of the plugins in the new folder. Previously the 32-bit plugins were automatically installed in the new folder.
• Standalone:
  • Support for the raw files of 200 new cameras based on MetaRaw 2.54.
  • Support for the 16-bit PSD files created by ON1 Photo Raw, ON1 Photo 10 and OnOne Perfect PhotoSuite 9. Previously these files were displayed distorted. Now you can pass images from ON1 to the standalone as 16-bit per channel PSD files.
  • Bug Fix: The standalones do not produce TIFF files with empty IPTC meta data anymore, which are not supported by Lightroom.
  • The manual now includes instructions on using it in ACDSee, AfterShot Pro, Capture One, DxO Optics, Exposure, ON1 Photo RAW and Raw Therapee.
  • External Editor Installer:
    • Support for Exposure X3

Mac Version 1.09 (October 2017)

• Installation support for Photoshop Elements 2018

Mac Version 1.09 (June 2017)

• New installation:
  • Install, Uninstall and Manual icons
  • Installation support for Affinity Photo, GraphicConverter and Photoline via the new Install app
  • Installation support for the full version of Affinity Photo and the upcoming Photoshop Elements 16
  • Icons for drag and dropping the plugin to various Photoshop and Photoshop Elements versions
  • No more problems with Gatekeeper
• Bug Fix: Sometimes there was a crash when using a 16bit/channel image, maximized window and HiDPI setting (Retina screen)
• Bug Fix: In Affinity Photo the preview is displayed correctly for RGB 16-bit images.
• Bug Fix: When scrolling the preview in Affinity Photo, it is not displayed distorted anymore for RGB 8-bit images.
• The ? button displays the pdf manual now

Windows Version 2.10b (March 2017)

• "The Plugin Site" sub menu does not appear at the top of the Filter menu anymore, because the leading space character was removed.
• Bug Fix: No more error message or crash when running the plugin on images larger than 2 GB, but it is not possible to process such large images by clicking OK.
• Standalone/Lightroom Version:
  • Bug Fix: The automatic image rotation previously produced strange results for 180 degree rotated JPEG, TIFF and PSD images.
  • Bug Fix: The EXIF orientation item was previously not adjusted when saving JPEG files, which resulted in wrong rotation when opening the saved file again.
• Installation:
  • Bug Fix: On 32-bit systems the installer previously did not install the Standalone/Lightroom versions.
  • Bug Fix: Activating the check box on the last installation page previously did not run the standalone version.
  • Plugin Installer:
    • Support for Irfan View
    • The Install button now gets the focus when the dialog shows up.
  • External Editor Installer:
    • In Lightroom the version numbers are again displayed after each product name
    • Bug Fix: No more message is displayed on uninstallation
    • Bug Fix: No PhotoWiz entry is added to Lightroom on uninstallation anymore
    • Bug Fix: Does not crash on uninstallation anymore

Windows Version 2.10 (February 2017)

• Two new Affinity skins
• Improved skin look for HiDPI settings
• Cosmetic UI enhancements
• The welcome message now either asks if you want to use a dark skin or if you want to use an easier mode.
• Bug Fix: Some skins displayed the selected color of a color box only as a think line instead of filling the whole color box.
• Bug Fix: Some effect settings were previously not correctly applied from actions. This was fixed.
• In Photoshop Elements under Windows 10: The preset group labels are now displayed.
• Bug Fix: In Photoshop Elements under Windows 10: The background color of all controls on tab sheets are now pure white. Previously some were light grey.
• Bug Fix: Under Windows 10 with a Wacom graphics tablet: Clicking on the preview with the hand tool to show the original image works now
  
  

• Standalone/External Editor Versions:
  • New "Convert to sRGB" and "Do not save meta data" options on the Batch and Save Options dialogs
  • Support for the raw files of 80 new cameras based on MetaRaw 2.06.
  • Improved PSD support:
    • Reading and writing PSD files with 16-bit per channel now works without downsampling to 8-bit/channel
    • Support for color profiles when opening and saving PSD files
  • Improved meta data handling:
    • EXIF meta data is now preserved when opening a JPEG, TIFF, PSD or certain camera raw files (CR2, NEF, DNG, PEF) files and saving a JPEG, TIFF or PSD file.
    • When saving a PSD file, all available meta data (PSD, XMP, IPTC, EXIF) is now saved.
    • Opening and saving IPTC meta data for TIFF files works again.
    • All meta data is preserved when opening a PNG file and saving a PNG file.
    • When opening a PNG file, XMP meta data is opened and when saving a PNG file, available XMP meta data is saved now.
  • Bug Fix: Fixed some memory leaks
  • Bug Fix: No more error message when starting up the standalone with maximzed window and the brush tool selected
  • Bug Fix: No more error message when opening an image with the brush tool selected
    
    
• Installation:
  • Combined installer for plugins and standalones
  • Future versions will be able to install over the current version without uninstallation. Please uninstall any previous version to avoid superfluous files.
  • It is now also possible to install the full version over the demo version without uninstalling the demo version.
  • The installation does not allow selecting an installation folder anymore. You can only select the drive. This avoid double installations of plugins.
  • Only one uninstall option is added to the "Add/Remove Programs" section of the control panel for new minor versions of the same product including demo/trial and full versions.
  • New Uninstall item is added to Start menu which displays the Add/Remove Programs dialog
  • The desktop icons of the standalones are uninstalled now
  • Bug Fix: The PhotoWiz Bundle uninstallation previously did not remove the external editor presets from Lightroom. To remove left-over entries manually go to c:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Lightroom\External Editor Presets\
    
    
  • Plugin Installer:
    • Two new "Adobe Photoshop CC (All Versions)" items for installing plugins to a 32-bit or 64-bit plugin folder which is used by all existing and future versions of Photoshop CC. This way you do not need to install the plugin again after you installed a new version of Photoshop CC. Best uninstall the previous version to avoid duplicate plugins when using this new option.
    • Support for Affinity Photo (Please activate the "Allow Unknown plugins to be used" check box under Edit > Preferences > Photoshop Plugins in Affinity Photo to make it work.)
    • Plugin Installer now correctly displays "Photoshop CC 2015.5" instead of "Photoshop CC 2016".
    • Clicking on a list item activates its check box now
    • Plugin Installer has all applications activated by default during installation.
      
      
  • External Editor Installer (previously called "Lightroom Installer"):
    • Support for Exposure X2 and higher
    • Support for Corel AfterShot Pro 1 and higher
    • Support for ACDSee Ultimate 8 and higher
    • Support for ACDSee, ACDSee Pro, Bibble Lite/Pro 5
    • In Lightroom only the product name is added without the version number to avoid clutter.

MacOS X Version 1.08 (Installer Update) - June 2016

• Support for installation in Photoshop Elements 14
• Support for installation in Serif Affinity Photo. You may have to activate "Allow unknown plugins to be used" check box under Affinity Photo > Preferences > Photoshop Plugins in order to make the plugins appear on the Filter > Plugins sub menu.

Windows Standalone Version 2.09b (March 2016)

• MetaRaw Converter is now used for opening camera raw files. This has the following advantages:
  • Support for 285 new raw file types
  • The images have a higher quality by default (so the High Quality options were removed).
  • The images already look brighter by default (so the Vivid style option was removed).
  • Full-size raw files are opened at least 20% faster
  • Support for new raw file types can be added much faster in future
• Bug Fix: No more crash when saving a raw file with the default raw settings.
• Bug Fix: The width, height and profile information on the Info tab sheet are now updated immediately after opening a new image.
• Bug Fix: The width and height information on the Info tab sheet are updated after saving a raw file in case it was reopened.
• Bug Fix: In the Save dialog the original file extension is not displayed anymore to avoid an unecessary overwrite prompt.

Windows Version 2.09 (December 2015)

• Support for HiDPI
  • The skins now use appropriate font and control sizes for high dpi settings.
  • The Standalone/Lightroom versions do not show a scaled up UI by default anymore.
  • The UI-Scaling-Preview-Cutoff problem in Photoshop CC 2014/2015 and Photoshop Elements 13/14 was fixed. However, the Soft Proof effect is not visible in the preview anymore if UI Scaling is active.
  • The preset thumbnail are bigger for high dpi settings, which means that they need more time to be rendered.
  • The histograms and curves are displayed larger.
  • The positions of some control were readjusted for high dpi settings.
  • Larger cursors and program icon
• Bug Fix: With activated skin the controls were previously jumbled up when clicking above the first slider in Quick Edit Mode.
• Bug Fix: Dragging one of the curve control points outside the diagram does not change the first control point anymore.
• Standalone Bug Fix: When saving to a path, which contained a dot character, and the entered file name contained no extension, the file was previously saved to the wrong folder with a wrong file name.
• Standalone Bug Fix: Previously a crash occurred when choosing "Fit" from the zoom combo box after opening an image for the first time.
• Improved installation:
  • Three less clicks are necessary, because the language, start menu and ready pages are not displayed anymore.
  • There are no separate Start menu folders and desktop icons added for different versions anymore. So better uninstall previous and demo versions before installing new/full versions.
  • Under Windows 8 & 10 there are even less icons with better names installed on the All Apps section of the Start menu to avoid clutter.
  • Please uninstall from the Control Panel as the uninstall icon is not added to the Start menu anymore.
  • Plugin Installer supports HiDPI

MacOS X Version 1.08 (October 2015)

• Requires OS X 10.6 or higher
• Support for Retina displays and HiDPI under OS X 10.7 and higher
• The Fit zoom option now uses zoom levels below 6% in order to fit very big images into the preview.

Windows Version 2.08 (October 2014)

• Support for processing images larger than 30,000 pixels in witdh or height. Processing such big images usually only works with the 64-bit version and enough RAM.
• Support for Paint Shop Pro 6 and earlier was restored
• The Fit zoom option now uses zoom levels below 6% in order to fit very big images into the preview.
• The hue values of the Red and Green presets of the BWFilter group were slightly changed to produce more than 20,000 (instead of 255) greyscale levels for 8-to-16-bit converted images.
• The installation files, Standalone/Lightroom executables and Plugin Installer are now signed to avoid potential problems with security software.
• The installation offers 46 instead of 21 languages.
• Plugin Installer now supports the 64-bit version of Photoshop Elements 13 and displays "Photoshop CC 2014" instead of "Photoshop CC2".
• Bug Fix: When clicking the Reset button the sliders at FX1 > Convert > BW update correctly.
• Bug Fix: When switching from Advanced+ Mode to Quick Edit Mode with activated B&W effect, the top three sliders were positioned incorrectly.
• Plugin Bug Fix: When using the Enter key instead of clicking the OK button, the settings were not saved.
• Plugin Bug Fix: Canceling the plugin after clicking OK, previously sometimes caused a freeze if multiple cores were used for rendering.
• Plugin Bug Fix: The scriptstring buffer is freed on exit.
• Standalone Bug Fix: 8-bit TIFF files with a transparency channel can be opened now. The transparency infomation is ignored.
• Standalone Bug Fix: Resizing the window with displayed Images tab caused preview to scale below the Images tab.
• Standalone Bug Fix: When opening an image via command line does not work, that image does not appear on the Files tab anymore and the next command line image is automatically opened.
• Standalone Bug Fix: The big icon with the product initials is now displayed in the task bar.

Windows Version 2.0b (August 2013)

• Scroll through all preset thumbnails with the cursor left/right keys.
• Plugin Installer now supports Paint Shop Pro X6 64-bit.
• Bug Fix: The Brush and Mask controls do not vanish anymore when displaying them in Advanced+ Mode.
• Bug Fix: The controls vanished previously when starting up with a maximized window and the brush tool selected.
• Bug Fix: No more empty space at the right hand-side of the thumbnails when "Show All" is not selected at startup.
• Bug Fix: German localization previously produced error message in 64-bit plugin and standalone
• Bug Fix: Fixed preset name problems in German localization
• Bug Fix: Previously when using the Cursor Left/Right keys for collapsing a preset group, it was not possible to continue with the cursor keys.

Windows Version 2.0 (August 2013)

• Seven new effects and more than 60 new effect options
• A total of 680 presets, 470 of them are new. Many old presets were improved.
• The presets can be viewed as image or icon thumbnails.
• Improved simulation of film types, film grain, polarizer lens, ND grad lens, development strategies, paper, color toning, vignetting and framing.
• Enhanced masking options and new masking brush
• Support for smart filtering and action recording
• Runs up to four times faster by fully supporting multiple cores and hyperthreading.
• New 64-bit Standalone/Lightroom version
• Many UI enhancements
• New Skin feature that imitates the user interface of Lightroom, Photoshop, Photoshop Elements and PaintShop Pro.
• New one-step Undo/Redo feature as arrows near the Mode combo box. Using the Ctrl+Z and Crl+Y key shortcuts is also possible.
• Three Preview tab buttons for simultanously working on three different effect settings.
• Up to 3200% zoom and navigator tool
• New menu bar in the top left corner.
• Support for preset files from BWStyler 1. In some cases the effect will be similar, but not 100% identical.
  
  
• New Effects & Improvements:
  • New Average method for B&W conversion
  • New Polarizer effect, which also includes the old Color Contrast slider.
  • New Dynamic contrast effect for bringing out small image details
  • New Tonal Look effect for simulating the look of famous photographers
  • New Aging effect for adding dust, vapur, spots, stains and drops to the image.
  • New ND-Grad effect with Shadows/Highlight sliders.
  • New Colorkey effect for bringing back up to seven colors at the same time.
  • New cross tool for setting the center of various masks and gradient-based effects, e.g. the vignette effect.
  • Gray image areas can be selectively adjusted on the Select tab sheet. There are also general Intensity and Tolerance sliders for all selective adjustments.
  • New curve tools on the Main tab sheet offer possibilities for brightness, contrast and color adjustments.
  • The Diffusion and Glow effects can be applied at the same time. Both have new options for more flexibility.
  • Color, brightness, saturation and gradient masks can now be used at the same time.
  • New Shape slider for the Vignette effect, which produces rounded rectangles.
  • The look of the Grain effect was improved.
  • New Highlights protection slider for the Paper effect
  • The Frame effect was enhanced with a new edge shaping feature.
  • New Fade sliders for adjusting the overall effect
    
• UI Changes:
  • The 15 simple modes were combined into one Easy Mode.
  • New Advanced+ Mode that allows switching between all effects with a combo box.
  • The old B/W Quick Mode was renamed to Quick Edit Mode and additionally offers selective Contrast and Colorkey effects.
  • The Channel Mixer conversion method was removed. You can achieve very similar results by using the Color Filter method.
  • The old Colorize > Standard/Enhanced effects can be reproduced with the new Color or RGB curves.
  • The old Colorize > Partial Toning effect is now located as a Partial check box near the Color curve.
  • The old Colorize > Split Toning effect can be reproduced with the Bicolor curve.
  • The Impact slider was renamed to Tolerance.
  • The Mist effects were renamed to Glow.
  • The old Prefs > On Reset options are now located on the Reset arrow menu in the top right corner.
  • The bottom tab control can be moved to the top and back by clicking the arrow icon.
  • Larger histogram display with new No Gaps option.
  • New option for changing the preview background color.

• Standalone/Lightroom Version:
• 64-bit version which runs up to 30% faster and can use more RAM. Only the 32-bit or the 64-bit Standalone/Lightroom executables are installed depending on your system.
• Recent Files sub menu was added
• Support for newer raw files

MacOS X Version 1.05 (January 2013)

• Support for Photoshop Elements 11
• Support for GraphicConverter 8.2 and higher

MacOS X Version 1.04 (July 2012)

• The plugin now appears on "The Plugin Site" sub menu of the Filter menu. Previously it appeared on the PhotoWiz sub menu.
• Bug Fix: Damaged .ini files do not produce crash anymore.
• Bug Fix: Program error in Photoshop CS6 is fixed
• Fit and 100% zoom buttons were added at the left of the zoom controls. To comply with Photoshop the - zoom button is now on the left and the + zoom button on the right.
• Bug Fix: Entering "-" in a slider edit box previously changed preview zoom
• The preview background is not white anymore. It is gray as the window background.
• The last opened preset is displayed in title bar
• Pressing the Esc key cancels the plugin
• The blue focus rectangle now vanishes from a slider text box when you click on a slider or other control.
• The Reset button now activates the Preview check box
• Bug Fix: The ND combo items in Photography Mode were truncated to "D"
• The arrow down buttons have a more modern look
• Bug Fix: The filter settings are not saved anymore if you click Cancel (unless you change the Prefs settings).
• Bug Fix: The Split View options are now names correctly.
• Bug Fix: When you enlarging the window the Split View combo and the Multi check box moved away from each other.

Windows Standalone/Lightroom Version 1.06b (November 2011)

• Support for newer camera raw formats
• Support for external editing in ACDSee. The installer automatically adds it to the External Editors menu of ACDSee and ACDSee Pro.
• No preview flicker when switching between images
• The Colors histogram is better visible on a white tab sheet background.
• The Prefs > Histo Zoom check box zooms 1.5 times stronger
• The Reset button now activates the Preview check box.
• Bug Fix: Entering a minus sign in a slider edit box does not changes the zoom anymore.
• Bug Fix: Resizing the window with displayed Images tab caused preview to scale below the Images tab.
• Bug Fix: The ND combo items in Photography Mode were truncated
• Bug Fix: The split view items were renamed to correctly indicate the position of the actual effect
• Bug Fix: No control mess up anymore when starting up in Photography Mode or Quick Mode.

Windows Version 1.06 (June 2011)

• Plugin improvements:
  • Avoids artifacts when processing 16-bit/channel images in PSP X3 SP3.
  • The plugin now appear on "The Plugin Site" sub menu of the Filters menu (and not on the "PhotoWiz" sub menu anymore).
  • The window cannot be made smaller than 800x600 pixel.
  • No more black check box backgrounds in PSP X2 and X3.

• Standalone improvements:
  • Support for newer camera raw formats
  • Opening a logged preset with "Logged Settings" works now.
  • The Log Settings function is performed after each image saving. Previously it happened on exit.
  • Batch processing does start anymore in the case of an nonexistent output folder.
  • Wrong error message texts were displayed on some occasions.

• UI improvements:
  • Shift clicking on a tab button resets all control of the tab sheet to default values.
  • New standard tab controls instead of custom ones
  • New standard title bar instead of a graphical one. The last opened is displayed in the title bar.
  • The window width was reduced by a few pixels.
  • Smoother and faster window resizing
  • The position of the + and - zoom buttons were swapped to be conform with Photoshop.
  • New Fit and 100% zoom buttons
  • Press and hold flick under Vista/7 is deactivated
  • The arrow menus are now positioned correctly under Vista/7
  • Selected color boxes have a better visible frame
  • The Instant Slider check box is deactivated by default again.
  • When typing in the edit box of a slider the preview is updated after half a second.
  • Double clicking a slider label only updates the preview if the slider value was changed. Additionally the focus is set to the slider.
  • New label on Info tab sheet which displays image size and bit depth.
  • Help texts are now displayed when moving the mouse over labels and edit boxes of slider controls.
  • Improved visual color box selection in Expert Mode > Selective > Expert.
  • New image for the arrow down buttons.
  • The number of CPUs was added to the "Multi-CPU Off" check box on the Prefs Tab sheet.
    
    
• Bug Fixes:
  • The settings were previously saved when canceling the plugin without changing the Prefs controls.
  • Pressing the ESC key sometimes caused the plugin to not update the preview anymore.
  • Double clicking the appropriate slider label now resets the color of the color box.
  • Double clicking the slider label while the edit box was in focus did not update the edit box value.
  • No progress bar flashing anymore.
  • Zero division error when Amount slider of Lab > Posterization effect was set to zero
  • Zero division error when Intensity slider of Grain effect was set to zero
  • German locale: Deactivating the Kontrast check box displayed "H-Kontrast" instead of "L-Kontrast".

• Installation:
  • One installation for the 32-bit and 64-bit plugins.
  • Plugin Installer now detects PSP X2 Ultimate, XnView, FixFoto, Imagelys Picture Styles as well as Photoline 32-bit on a 64-bit system.
  • The installation now creates a new folder, start menu group (and desktop icon) for each new version. This makes it easier to have multiple versions installed and allows you to remove older versions without problems after installing a newer one. Please manually remove older versions from the Start > All Programs > The Plugin Site menu.
  • The installation now supports 8 more languages and a total of 46 languages.

MacOS X Version 1.03 (January 2011)

• New 64-bit version for Photoshop CS5
• Only one version of B/W Styler 1.03 is offered. This universal binary contains PowerPC 32-bit, Intel 32-bit and Intel 64-bit plugins. It works with Photoshop CS2-CS5 and Photoshop Elements 6-9. Not supported anymore are Photoshop 7/CS and Photoshop Elements 1-4. But we still provide Version 1.02, which works with them as well as other old applications.
• Support for images larger than 30,000 pixels in width or height. You need at least 6 GB RAM to process such images with B/W Styler 64-bit. The Windows version does not support such large images yet.
• Selections are shown in the preview. This means that the effect is not applied to pixels outside the selection in the preview.
• Bug Fix: The Soften effects of Expert Mode as well as the Black Mist and Blur Vignette effects are now correctly applied after pressing OK.
• To unify the UI of all PhotoWiz plugins the following changes were made:
  • A new tool bar above the preview for choosing the following tools: hand, eyedropper and split view.
  • New maximize and exit buttons on the title bar.
  • New Instant Preview check box on the Prefs tab sheet that makes the sliders react instantly. It is activated by default.
  • New key shortcuts: H/Space for the hand tool, I for the eyedropper and S for the splitdrag tool, + and - for zooming, R for reset.
  • Double clicking the label of a slider resets it to its default value.
  • The Reset button now deactivates the Show Blown Highlights check box.
  • On the Info tab sheet only 8-bit pixel values are shown (even for 16-bit images).
  • The "Auto Preview" check box was renamed to "Preview".
  • The "Multiple" check box was renamed to "Multi"
  • "Deactivate Multiprocessor Support" was renamed to "Multi-CPU Off".
• If the zoom ratio is set to "Fit" and you maximize the window, then the image in the preview is also zoomed.
• The background of the preset icons blends with the window background and is not white anymore.
• The demo version renders less opaque watermarks faster to the image.

Windows Standalone/Lightroom Version 1.05b (October 2010)

• Support for color management, which means that embedded profiles in JPEG, TIFF and PNG files are used for displaying an image.
• The RAW Options dialog was renamed to "Options" and now contains RAW and Color tab sheets. The Color tab sheet contains color management options.
• A Color Space option for raw files was added to the Options dialog. You can now choose to convert raw files to sRGB, AdobeRGB or ProPhotoRGB.
• Improved handling of profiles and meta data:
  • New label on the Info tab sheet which displays image size, bit depth and profile
  • Embedded profiles in JPEG, TIFF and PNG files are preserved when saving them as JPEG, TIFF or PNG.
  • If a JPEG, TIFF or PNG file does not have an embedded profile, but mentions sRGB as color space in the EXIF data, an sRGB profile is embedded when saving it as JPEG, TIFF or PNG.
  • A profile is embedded when saving a RAW file as JPEG, TIFF or PNG.
  • The metadata of JPEG files (EXIF, IPTC etc.) is preserved when saving the image again as JPEG.
  • XMP, IPTC and Photoshop tags are preserved when opening and saving TIFF files. This means that the EXIF information is correctly displayed in Lightroom for processed images.
  • Automatic rotation is now also supported for TIFF and PNG files.
• New "Use Source Folder(s)" check box on the Batch dialog, which lets you save the batch processed images in the same folder as the original image.
• New Minimize button in the title bar for hiding the main window.
• Improved Lightroom Installer, which is more reliable and sets ProPhotoRGB as the color space for processing images.
• The Batch button on the Batch dialog was renamed to "Start".
• The Instant Slider check box is deactivated by default, because of user complaints.
• Bug Fix: the Color values on the Info tab do not flicker anymore when moving the mouse over the preview.
• Bug Fix: File dialog was sometimes displayed at start up
• Bug Fix: Memory access error in the standalone when using the Diffusion > Mist presets or the Dark/Bright Mist effect.
• Bug Fix: No memory access error message anymore if you close an image and move the mouse over the preview with the Info tab sheet displayed.
• Bug Fix: The preview is not redrawn unnecessarily anymore.
• Bug Fix: Fixed the color of the labels on the Options dialog under Vista/7
• Bug Fix: When the demo version started up at maximum dialog size, an unnecessary message was displayed.
• The manual was updated with explanations of the new features.

Windows Version 1.05 (September 2010)

• Standalone and Lightroom versions of B/W Styler are now available. Both can open multiple images and support images with 8-bit and 16-bit/channel.
  • The Lightroom version can be used as an external editor in Adobe Lightroom 1, 2 and 3.
  • The Standalone version is a program that runs on its own. It offers a batch processing feature and opens the following image formats: Camera RAW (including DNG), JPEG, TIFF, PSD, PNG, BMP, TGA, PCD, PCX, WMF. It can save JPEG, TIFF, PSD and PNG files.
• Selections are shown in the preview. This means that the effect is not applied to pixels outside the selection in the preview.
• The split view line and focus point can be moved smoother and faster over the preview.
• Please move your self-saved presets to the Presets sub folder at the following location to make them appear on the arrow-down menu:
  2000/XP: c:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\ThePluginSite\BWStyler\
  Vista/7: c:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\ThePluginSite\BWStyler\
  To avoids write permission conflicts the .ini, preset and log files are now saved in this folder.
• To unify the UI of all PhotoWiz plugins the following changes were made:
  • A new tool bar above the preview for choosing the following tools: hand, eyedropper and split view.
  • New maximize and exit buttons on the title bar. When maximizing the window the task bar is respected. When clicking the maximize button again the normal window size correctly is restored. Double clicking the title bar logo does not maximize the window anymore.
  • No cursor flicker anymore when moving sliders with Instant Preview activated.
  • New key shortcuts: H/Space for the hand tool, I for the eyedropper and S for the split view tool, + and - for zooming, R for reset. If the input focus is on an edit or combo box, you need to additionally hold down the Alt key to make the shortcut work.
  • The key shortcuts now also work all the time and not only if the mouse is positioned over of the preview.
  • Double clicking the label of a slider resets it to its default value.
  • No cursor flicker anymore when moving sliders with Instant Preview activated.
  • The Reset button now deactivates the Show Blown Highlights check box.
  • On the Info tab sheet only 8-bit pixel values are shown (even for 16-bit images).
  • Under Vista and 7 the height of the sliders is slightly larger to avoid cutting off the arrows buttons.
  • A size grip was added in the bottom right corner.
  • The "Auto Preview" check box was renamed to "Preview".
  • The "Multiple" check box was renamed to "Multi"
  • "Deactivate Multiprocessor Support" was renamed to "Multi-CPU Off".
• If you change something on the Prefs tab sheet and press Cancel, all settings are saved. Previously you needed to press OK to save changes on the Prefs tab sheet, which meant that you would need to apply the effect to the image even if you did not want that.
• The preset icons are displayed faster.
• The rendering time is measured more accurately.
• Bug Fix: A scroll bar was added to the Film combo box in Photography Mode
• Bug Fix: Several sliders are not colorized anymore when visual styles are active
• Bug Fix: Deinstalling the demo version after the full version was already installed, causes no problems for the full version anymore.
• Bug Fix: When the Histo tab sheet was displayed, the preset icons vanished after resizing the window
• Bug Fix: Preset icons are now redrawn after a file dialog was displayed
• All files are now installed in the "The Plugin Site" sub folder of the Program Files folder by default. Additionally "The Plugin Site" sub menu of the Start menu is now used for installation items.
• Support for silent installation: If you run the installer with the /silent or /verysilent command line parameter, the installation will run automatically and require no click. Plugin Installer will then automatically install the plugin in every supported application that it can find.
• Plugin Installer supports more applications, e.g. Sagelight and Fireworks CS2 to CS5, and displays less options during installation.

MacOS X Version 1.02 (May 2010)

• This is mainly an installer update. The installer now detects the plugin folders of Photoshop and Photoshop Elements and offers these as installation options.
• Bug Fix: Some sliders did not appear in Expert Mode.

• A Universal Binary version is now available that works with PowerPC as well as Intel processors in Photoshop CS2, CS3 and CS4. There is also a PowerPC version for Photoshop 7, CS and other old applications.
• The ini files are now stored in a folder (at /Users/<user name>/Library/Preferences/PhotoWiz/) that always has write permissions. This avoids reoccuring error messages and lost settings. Different settings are stored for different versions of Photoshop.

• A 64bit version of B/W Styler is available. It can be used with the 64bit version of Photoshop CS4.
• The plugin file size was reduced to 50% of the previous version.
• The installer now supports a total of 38 languages. Plugin Installer supports Photoshop Elements 8, localized versions of Photoshop CS2 and CS3 and several new applications.
• The demo version renders less opaque watermarks faster to the image.

MacOS X Version 1.01: (October 2008)

• Support for multiple processors and hyperthreading processors. But only for the following effects: (Film) Grain, Paper Grade / Multigrade, Diffusion / Soften, Vignette Blur and Dark Mist. If one of these effects is used, the rendering will be 7% faster (hyperthreading), 20% faster (dual core), 30% faster (quadcore). In case of problems, you can deactivate this feature with the Deactivate Multiprocessor Support check box on the Prefs tab sheet.
• The simulation the B/W films is more precise now.
• 22 new B/W film presets in Photography Mode and on the arrow menu of the Selective tab sheet:
  • 17 new B/W Films: Adox CHS 50, Adox CHS 100, Adox CHS 100 PL, Adox CMS 20, Classicpan, Fomapan Classic, Fomapan, Fortepan, Kodak Tech Pan, Kodak PORTRA, Kodak Copy Film, Maco Cube, Maco PO, Polaroid 54, Polaroid 55, Rollei Ortho, Rollei Retro
  • 5 new B/W Infrared films: Ilford SFX, Kodak HIE, Konica IR, Maco IR, Rollei IR
• 7 new presets
• German Language Support: The dialog and the help texts are now availabe in German language. You can switch between English and German with the Language combo box on the Prefs tab sheet.
• The language files are now included in the plugin itself.
• Switching between modes works faster.
• Bug Fix: Using Cloak Mode does not produce a crash anymore.
• Bug Fix: Having the Intel as well as the PowerPC version in the Photoshop Plug-Ins folder does not create a crash anymore
• (Bug Fix: Opening a preset file does not change the dialog language anymore.)
• (The the .ini files are now saved in the user's application data folder in case the folder of the B/W Styler plugin is not accessible. This avoids problems with restricted user permissions.)

Windows Version 1.02 (May 29, 2008)

• DEP Compatibility: Even if Data Execution Protection (DEP) is activated in the Windows Control Panel, B/W Styler still works.
• B/W Styler now supports the Photoshop memory management which avoids memory shortages in Photoshop.
• Improved compatibility with some applications, e.g. color dialogs now work in GIMP and PhotoBrush and preview scrolling now works in SignLab and Image Analyzer.
• The the .ini files are now saved in the user's application data folder in case the folder of the B/W Styler plugin is not accessible. This avoids problems with restricted user permissions.
• Bug Fix: Opening a preset file does not change the dialog language anymore.
• Bug Fix: After maximizing the window (by double clicking the B/W Styler logo), exiting and running B/W Styler again, it was not possible to minimize the window (by double clicking the B/W Styler logo). It works now.
• Bug Fix: A scroll bar appears for Film combo box in Photography Mode so that the list is not cut off anymore at the bottom of the screen.
• Bug Fix: Exiting the plugin with the ESC key does not cause a messed up dialog anymore when running the plugin again.
• Updated Plugin Installer tool and installation

Windows Version 1.01 (April 6, 2007)

• Support for multiple processors and hyperthreading processors. But only for the following effects: (Film) Grain, Paper Grade / Multigrade, Diffusion / Soften, Vignette Blur and Dark Mist. If one of these effects is used, the rendering will be 7% faster (hyperthreading), 20% faster (dual core), 30% faster (quadcore). In case of problems, you can deactivate this feature with the Deactivate Multiprocessor Support check box on the Prefs tab sheet.
• The simulation the B/W films is more precise now.
• 22 new B/W film presets in Photography Mode and on the arrow menu of the Selective tab sheet:
  • 17 new B/W Films: Adox CHS 50, Adox CHS 100, Adox CHS 100 PL, Adox CMS 20, Classicpan, Fomapan Classic, Fomapan, Fortepan, Kodak Tech Pan, Kodak PORTRA, Kodak Copy Film, Maco Cube, Maco PO, Polaroid 54, Polaroid 55, Rollei Ortho, Rollei Retro
  • 5 new B/W Infrared films: Ilford SFX, Kodak HIE, Konica IR, Maco IR, Rollei IR
• German Language Support: The dialog and the help texts are now availabe in German language. You can switch between English and German with the Language combo box on the Prefs tab sheet.
• The historgrams, hue bar (from Expert Mode > Selective > Expert) and icons are drawn faster. The difference is probably not noticable with your bare eyes.
• Bug Fix: Previous versions of B/W Styler crashed under Windows Vista on some computers if there was 2 GB or more RAM available. This was fixed now.
• Bug Fix: One side of the split view was displayed magenta colored for 16bit images if the Multiple checkbox was activated.
• Bug Fix: The Own Default feature did not work correctly in previous versions. It was deactivated now and will be fixed in a future version.

MacOS X Version 1.0: (February 13, 2007)

• First MacOS X release of B/W Styler based on the Windows Version 1.0b.
• There are three versions included in the product:
  • Standard PowerPC (for various applications on PowerPC-Macs)
  • CS2/CS3 PowerPC (for CS2/CS3 applications on PowerPC-Macs, e.g. Photoshop CS2, Photoshop CS3, Illustrator CS2, ImageReady CS2 )
  • CS3 Intel (for Photoshop CS3 on Intel-Macs)

Windows Version 1.0b (November 1, 2006)

• The Amplify slider works logarithmical now, which means that you need to drag the silder much further to get higher slider values.
• "BW Styler" instead of "B/W Styler" will now be displayed in the Filter or Effect menu in your application. This avoids a bug in PhotoImpact which creates a second sub menu if you use the / sign in a menu name.
• Bug Fix: Expert Mode > Colorize > Enhanced did not work on 16bit images.
• Bug Fix: Expert Mode > Colorize > Partial Toning did not work on 16bit images if one of the methods from the Selective tab sheets was activated. The same problem occured if you used some of the presets of Split Color mode and a preset from the B/W Films mode on 16bit images.
• Bug Fix: The Contrast slider of Expert Mode > Selective > Expert produced too extreme results on 16bit images.
• Bug Fix: The Highlights, Midtones and Shadows sliders from the Grain tab sheet of Expert Mode produced a stronger grain effect at other value than zero.
• Bug Fix: The Shadow-Hue and Highlight-Hue sliders of Expert Mode > Convert > Split B/W were sometimes stacked above each other.
• Bug Fix: The controls from Expert Mode > Mask > Frame did not vanish when switching to other tab sheets.
• Bug Fix: If the Vertical Sliders check box from the Prefs tab sheet was activated, the sliders were arranged in strange ways when starting B/W Styler or switching to Expert Mode.
• Bug Fix: The icons in some modes were not redrawn after using the Vertical Sliders check box.
• Other smaller bugs were fixed...

Windows Version 1.0 (September 28, 2006)

• First Release