ColorWasher/FocalBlade, New user

[kmz98]

I don't want to load more work on you Harald, you seem to have more than you need
I have had too little time with the programs yet to have an opinion on how good they are. I hope to come back to that.
But after having tried your programs only shortly, here's what I think.
A full screen preview mode.
I think everyone that is working with pictures agree on the value of getting an overall view of the picture to estimate the effect of your corrections. It's not enough to see only a part of the picture. The normal way is to toggle between a work window and a full screen view. And especially is this important when working on images for sceenshowing, when you apply sharpening after it's resampled. But even for evaluating color correction, it's always better to see the picture full screen than in a small 1/4 screen window.
(This means of course that you need to have it disabled in the evaluation version).

Just two questions: Why is it that when I click on "Fit"
the picture doesn't fill out the available space? I have to click on 20% to have that. (Have I missed a setting somewhere?)
And also, I find the "blinking" of the picture when moving the adjustment sliders irritating. It seems that the change is taking place continuously. Wouldn't it be better to have the changing effect applied after I have stopped moving the slider to avoid this?

[HaraldHeim]

Thanks for your comments.

1. The ColorWasher and FocalBlade windows are resizable, so you can make them cover the whole screen.

2. Fit chooses a zoom ratio that will make the image fit fully into the preview. As only zoom ratios of 100%, 50%, 25% and so on are supported, the nearest ratio is chosen, which sometimes means that the image doesn't fully cover the preview.

3. The preview is only updated continuously if you have the Shift key pressed when moving a slider. Please check if you have Caps Lock activated.

[kmz98]

1. I know that the windows can be resized. In Corel PhotoPaint, wich I happen to use, I work on a picture, and then I press F9 and I can see the Image full screen. That's what I meant.

2. I see what you mean about the zoom function.

3. You say: "The preview is only updated continuously if you have the Shift key pressed when moving a slider." But in the Help instructions it says: Hold down the Shift key to update the preview while dragging the slider. Now if I don't do that, I can still see how the picture change when I drag the slider. So what's the point of holding down the Shift key?

[HaraldHeim]

1. I see. Should be no problem to add such a feature.

3. The preview is only updated when you release the left mouse button. If you don't have the Shift key pressed and the preview is continually updating, them there must be some kind of problem, because that is not how it is suppossed to be. Is there anything in youR computer or on your keyboard that simulates a pressed shift key?

I can't imagine that this problem is caused by Photo-Paint. Did you try ColorWasher or FocalBlade in any other graphics application?

[kmz98]

I just tested this again Harald, and yes, the picture changes even when I don't press the Shift key. And it doesn't matter whether I have Instant preview enabled or not. I suppose I should have it enabled?
I can't explain this. I have no particular setting related to the Shift key as
I know.
I use Corel Photopaint 9. In fact I bought this version 9 for the sole purpose of testing ColorWasher and Focal Blade, since your information says that version 8 (wich I had) is not supported.
I just remember that I have Adobe Photoshop 5.0 LE. Is that something I
could test it in? It's not in the compatibility list.

[HaraldHeim]

I'm not sure if Photoshop 5 LE supports plugins. I have an OEM CD with it somewhere, but I never tested it. Please try it and see if the same problem occurs.

There are also freeware programs that let you use plugins:

IrfanView: http://www.irfanview.com
Ultimate FX: http://www.ultimatepaint.com/ufx/
XNView: http://www.xnview.com

Just to name the best ones.