The Prefs tab contains some options for defining the behavior of ColorWasher.
On Start Up
The default "Previous Settings" of the On Start Up control will load the settings that were used to correct the previous image when running ColorWasher. The "Default Settings" will set all controls back to default values with activated automatic contrast and exposure correction. "Original Image" will start ColorWasher with no correction applied to the image. The "Logged Settings" option will automatically open the settings that were applied the last time to the same image. It only works if you previously had the Log Settings check box activated and if you are using Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro (see below for more information). The "Auto 1" to "Auto 4" settings will simulate a push of the appropriate Auto button when ColorWasher starts up.
Language
The Language combo box lets you switch between various localizations of the ColorWasher dialog. You can choose to have it in English, German, Netherlandish, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian. When running ColorWasher for the first time, it will automatically set this option to the language of your Windows installation.
Skin
The Skin combo box features various skin options. Skinning means that the user interface receives a new look. There are different options for imitating the user interface of Lightroom, Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, PaintShop Pro and Affinity Photo. There is also a dark version of Aero (the default UI style of Windows Vista/7), a special PhotoWiz skin style as well as an option to only skin the sliders. You can use a different skin for the plugin, standalone and Lightroom versions. The None option of the Skin combo box recreates the standard controls and deactivates skinning, which requires restarting the plugin or standalone.
Multi-CPU Off (x
CPUs)
If you encounter any problems, you can deactivate the support for multiple processors and hyperthreading processors with this check box. The number in brackets displays how many processors were detected. For example, for a hyperthreading or dualcore processor you will see "2 CPUs" displayed. If you only have a non-hyperthreading, singlecore processor, this check box will be disabled by default.
Instant Preview
Activating the Instant Preview check box makes the preview update while you drag a slider, create a sample area, move the sample area, drag the eyedropper tool or move the Split View separation line(s). This immediate visual feedback helps you saving time.
B/W Before Correction
The B/W Before Correction check box on the Prefs tab determines the behavior of the B/W button. If you activate this check box and click the B/W button, the B/W conversion will be done before the correction is applied. That way you can create colored B/W effects with the help of the Color tab features. If the check box is deactivated, the B/W button allows you to create B/W variations of your image.
Histo Zoom
Activating the Histo Zoom check box in the Prefs tab cuts off peaks for some images when displaying a histogram in the Histo tab sheet. This avoids a flat histogram display where only a few high spikes are visible. That's also how Photoshop displays histograms. This options is activated by default.
Log Settings
With activated Log Settings check box ColorWasher automatically saves preset files in the logfiles sub folder of the application data when you press the OK button to apply a correction to an image. In Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro the presets are named with the file name of the image. In other applications a random number is used, because these applications don't supply the file name of the image to plugins like ColorWasher. If you apply ColorWasher a second time to the same image and have Log Settings activated, the previous preset file will be overwritten.
At least with Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro this feature allows you to easily find the settings that you applied to certain images by looking into the logfiles sub folder. For other applications you can only look at the file date and guess which preset files was used for which image.
In connection with the Logged Settings option of the On Start Up combo box (see above), you can use the Log Settings check box to automatically make ColorWasher start up with the settings that were applied the last time to the same image. So if you need to correct the same image again, you will automatically be presented with the same settings that you used the last time.
In case you don't want to start up ColorWasher with the logged settings or forgot to activate that option, you can also open the logged settings by right clicking on the Reset button and choosing "Logged Settings" from the context menu.