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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
- Bug Fix: Copying settings from one preview tab to another does not requires switching to that preview tab first anymore.
- 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 2.11 (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.
- 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 2.10b (November 2018)
- Support for the App Store versions of Photoshop Elements (Use the Install icon!)
Mac Version 2.10 (August 2018)
- The preview works again with Affinity Photo 1.6.7
- 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:
- 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
- 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 2.09c (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/FocalBlade/Presets/ in case this folder does not already exist. All user-saved presets from the old preset folder at /Library/Application Support/PhotoWiz/FocalBlade/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)
Mac Version 2.09 (October 2017)
- Installation support
for Photoshop Elements 2018
Mac Version 2.09 (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 the plugin folders of various Photoshop and Photoshop Elements versions
- No more problems with Gatekeeper
- Scrolling the preview at a zoom of 200% or higher works much faster now
- Bug Fix: No more crash for 200% or higher zoom with 16-bit/channel images
- 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, Grayscale 8-bit and Grayscale 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)
- Support for processing images that occupy more than 2 GB RAM with the FocalBlade plugin
- "The Plugin Site" sub menu does not appear at the top of the Filter menu anymore, because the leading space character was removed.
- Standalone/Lightroom Version:
- Support for the raw files of 38 new
cameras based on MetaRaw 2.07.
- 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)
- New Skin feature that imitates
the user interface of Lightroom, Photoshop, Photoshop Elements,
PaintShop Pro and Affinity. There are 17 skin options in total
on the Prefs tab sheet. Changing the skin option in one product,
automatically changes it in all others. Standalones, Lightroom
versions and plugins can have different skins though.
- New Reset arrow button, which replaced the
On Reset combo on the Prefs tab sheet
- The last selected tool is restored on startup now.
- Cosmetic UI enhancements
- Key Shortcuts:
- New Ctrl + 0 and Ctrl + 1 key shortcuts for zooming the preview to Fit and 100%
- You need to use Ctrl and the -/+ key for zooming the preview. Previously it worked with the -/+ keys only
- You can now use the 0 key to set the slider, which currently has the input focus, to a zero value.
- The space key shortcut for switching to the hand tool now only works if the cursor is over the preview.
- The key shortcut for undo is now Ctrl + Z instead of just Z.
- The welcome message now displays after the
main window appeared. It either asks if you want to use a dark
skin or if you want to use an easier mode.
- Bug Fix: The Adaptive Radius method now works
correctly on images with 16 bits per channel.
- 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
- Bug Fix: No more flickering when starting
up with a maximized window.
- The manual pages were rearranged to
match the structure of the other PhotoWiz product manuals.
- 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: A maximized window is restored
when running it again.
- Bug Fix: The image was not displayed
in the preview when running it as an external editor from
an application other than Lightroom or when running it with
an image path in the command line.
- Bug Fix: Fixed some memory leaks
- 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
2.08 (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: 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 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 problem also
persists for images in Lab and CMYK mode.
- The positions of some control were readjusted for high dpi
settings.
- Larger cursors and program icon
- 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.
- Double clicking the hand tool activates Fit
zoom.
- 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
2.08 (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 with the 32-bit plugin works fine in Photoshop, but
you will have to use the 64-bit version and much more RAM for
doing the same with the standalone.
- No more window flashing at startup
- 64-bit Standalone/Lightroom
version, which renders up to 30% faster.
- General Improvements:
- The Fit zoom option now uses zoom levels below 6% in order
to fit very big images into the preview.
- 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.
- The Split View combo box is now centered below the preview.
- Bug Fix: Switching between 6% and Fit zoom did not work
with cursor keys or mouse wheel
- Bug Fix: Brightened preview and Div/zero error fixed when
starting up with "v1 Logic" checkbox
- Bug Fix: Navigator thumbnail dragging does not displays
100% image at lower zoom ratios anymore.
- Bug Fix: The grain effect exhibited a strip pattern on multi-core
cpus.
- Bug Fix: v1 Logic check box is now activated by the "Version
1 Defaults" options and preset.
- Bug Fix: No scrollbar is placed over the preview tab buttons
anymore when using German language for the dialog.
- Plugin Improvements:
- Plugin Installer now displays "Photoshop
CC 2014" instead of "Photoshop CC2". It also
supports Photoshop Elements 13 64-bit, Paint
Shop Pro X6/X7 64-bit, Illustrator CS6 and Photoshop CS5.1.
The broken support for Photoshop CS2 was fixed. "Photoshop
CS7" was renamed to "Photoshop CC".
- Bug Fix: When using the Enter key instead
of clicking the OK button, the settings were not saved.
- Bug Fix: No memory error message anymore
when applying them to a layer in PSP X3 or higher.
- Bug Fix: Ctrl + F in Photoshop rendered
the split view to the final image
- Bug Fix: Crash for >100% zoom with 8-bit
image layer.
- Bug Fix: Crash for >100% zoom with
fixed transparency plus selection. But there is still a bad
preview for fixed transparency with selection.
- Standalone Improvements:
- Support for external editing in Bibble
and AfterShot Pro. The standalone installer automatically installs
into Bibble and AfterShot Pro.
- Support for new raw file formats in the
Standalone version
- The standalone offers a new "Recent
Files" sub menu on top left arrow menu, which offers the
20 last opened files.
- The standalone now shares the same raw,
color management and batch settings with other standalones that
were built in March 2012 or later.
- Bug Fix: 8-bit TIFF files with a transparency
channel can be opened now. The transparency infomation is ignored.
- Bug Fix: The Open and Save buttons have
the correct tab order.
- Bug Fix: When restoring the window after
mininize, the preview is updated.
- Bug Fix: Exiting with Exit item from the
arrow down menu did not save the settings.
- Bug Fix: Crash when opening images from
command line and switching to second image.
- Bug Fix: The filter settings of the first
image were overwritten when opening a second one.
- Bug Fix: Opening PNG files with 8-bit/channel
did not work.
- 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.
- Bug Fix: The big icon with the product
initials is now displayed in the task bar.
MacOS X Version 2.02 (January 2013)
- Support for Photoshop
Elements 11
- Support for GraphicConverter 8.2 and higher
- Bug Fix: The Sharpness combo box only
worked with activated "v1 Logic" check box
- Bug Fix: The correct preset files are
installed now. Previously it installed preset files from version
1.
- Bug Fix: Brightened preview and Div/zero
error when starting up with "v1 Logic" checkbox
- Bug Fix: Navigator thumbnail dragging does
not displays 100% image at lower zoom ratios anymore.
- Bug Fix: Ctrl + F in Photoshop rendered the
split view to the final image
- No memory error message anymore when applying
it to a layer in PSP X3 and higher.
- Bug Fix: The grain effect exhibited a strip
pattern on multi-core cpus.
- Bug Fix: Crash for >100% zoom with 8-bit
image layer.
- Bug Fix: Crash for >100% zoom with
fixed transparency plus selection. But there is still a bad preview
for fixed transparency with selection.
MacOS X Version 2.01 (July 2012)
- The plugin now appears on "The Plugin Site"
sub menu of the Filter menu. Previously it appeared on the PhotoWiz
sub menu.
- New "v1 Logic" checkbox that produces the
same auto sharpening as FocalBlade 1
- Bug Fix: Damaged .ini files do not produce
crash anymore.
- 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 and navigator backgrounds are
not white anymore. They are as 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 number of CPUs was added to "Multi-CPU
Off" check box
- The arrow down buttons have a more modern look
- Bug Fix: The welcome message had missing characters
and bad end of lines.
- Bug Fix: Dragging on the Navigator thumbnail
previously displayed a 100% image at other zoom ratios.
- 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
2.02b (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
- Bug Fix: Entering a minus sign in a slider
edit box does not changes the zoom anymore.
- Bug Fix: The grain effect exhibited a strip
pattern on multi-core cpus.
Windows Version 2.02 (June 2011)
- New v1 Logic check box for using the
auto sharpening algorithm of version 1 of FocalBlade. It is available
in Easy Mode, Classic Mode and for the "One Pass Classic" workflow
option in Advanced Mode. it is automatically activated by the
"Version 1 Defaults" options and preset.
- 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 title bar instead of a graphical
one. The last opened preset is displayed in the title bar.
- Smoother and faster window resizing
- The position of the + and - zoom buttons
were swapped to be conform with Photoshop.
- 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.
- When zoom is set to Fit, resizing the
window now fits the image into the preview
- 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.
- 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:
- At more than 100% zoom some parts of
the image were not displayed in preview previously.
- The split views are now displayed correctly
at more than 100% zoom.
- Pressing the ESC key sometimes caused
the plugin to not update the preview anymore.
- Sometimes after using the navigator the
preview did not update.
- If the user previously did not switch
the Preview tab sheets when running FocalBlade for the first
time, doing that in subsequent sessions produced bad settings.
- Problem with preview update after second
execution was fixed.
- The Print Resolution combo box appeared
below the Cancel button.
- The Edge/Surface label on the Info tab
was adjusted
- Tile size calculation respects the median
effect.
- No progress bar flashing anymore.
- The sample area is now also displayed
if it lies partially off the preview.
- The color values on the Info tab do not
flicker anymore when moving the mouse over the preview.
- The Reset button did not deactivate the
N/P/C buttons in Special Effects mode.
- Problem with activation of "Evaluate"
check box was fixed.
- 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 2.0 (January 2011)
- Only one version of FocalBlade is offered.
This universal binary contains PowerPC 32-bit, Intel 32-bit and
Intel 64-bit plugins. It works in Photoshop CS2-CS5 and Photoshop
Elements 6-9.
- Bug Fix: Images larger than the available RAM
are now processed.
- Various bug fixes
MacOS X Version 2.0 (November 2010)
- FocalBlade 2.0 for MacOS X is based on the
Windows Version 2.01. For more details see Version 2.0 and 2.01
for Windows below.
- Available versions:
- 64-bit version for Photoshop CS5 (Intel
only, also works in 32-bit mode)
- 32-bit version for other applications
(Intel & PowerPC)
- Not supported anymore are Photoshop 7/CS and
Photoshop Elements 1-4. But we can provide FocalBlade 1.01, which
works with them as well as other old applications.
- There is no Standalone/Lightroom version for
MacOS X available.
- Support for images larger than 30,000
pixels in width or height. The Windows version does
not support such large images yet.
Windows Standalone/Lightroom Version 2.01b
(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: 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
- The manual was updated with explanation for
the new features.
Windows Version 2.01 (September 2010)
- Standalone and Lightroom versions
of FocalBlade 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.
- The sample area is drawn faster.
- To unify the UI of all PhotoWiz plugins
the following changes were made:
- New Instant Preview check box that
makes the sliders react instantly. It is activated by default.
No cursor flicker anymore when moving sliders with Instant
Preview activated.
- New key shortcuts: H/Space for
the hand tool, M for the sample area tool, I for the eyedropper,
+ 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 "Auto Preview" check box was renamed
to Preview .
- "Deactivate Multiprocessor Support" was
renamed to "Multi-CPU Off".
- Saved presets are now displayed at the top
on the main arrow-down menu.
- The included preset files are now accessed
from the installation folder. They are not installed in the Application
Data folder anymore.
- If you change something on the Calibrate
and 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.
- Bug Fix: The Add Grain slider produced too
strong grain for 16-bit images.
- Bug Fix: Deinstalling the demo version after
the full version was already installed, causes no problems for
the full version anymore.
- Bug Fix: Log files are now always saved in
the appdata folder and not the installation folder.
- Bug Fix: The top arrow-down menu is displayed
even if memory is low.
- Bug Fix: H and S values on Info tab displayed
16-bit values for 16-bit images while the other values were 8-bit.
- Bug Fix: The final rendering time is now
displayed correctly in the progress bar.
- Bug Fix: Clicking Display or Print when Details
is set to "off" produced strange Surface Radius slider values.
- Bug Fix: Deactivating multi-CPU support unnecessarily
doubled the rendering time prviously.
- Bug Fix: Presets do not deactivate the Help
check box anymore.
- Bug Fix: When switching between Preview tabs
the Navigator image turned black.
- Bug Fix: Transparent areas are mirrored when
the first four split view options are activated together with
the Multi check box
- Bug Fix: Changing the zoom combo box setting
with the cursor keys or mouse wheel caused a lock up between 200%
and 300%.
- Bug Fix: Fixed messed up controls in demo
version when the full version window was larger than 1024x768.
- Bug Fix: The navigator image vanished after
opening a preset changing the mode.
- 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 1.01 (May 2010)
- This is only an installer update. The installer
now detects the plugin folders of Photoshop and Photoshop Elements
and offers these as installation options.
Windows Version 2.0 (April 2010)
- General Improvements
- FocalBlade 2 renders 10 to 14 times
faster than Version 1 if only one processor or core is
used. (For certain settings FocalBlade 2 renders even up to
20 times faster).
- Support for hyperthreading, dual core,
quad core and multiple processors. With one of these CPUs
FocalBlade 2 again renders 1.5 to 4 times faster than with
a single core processor. So with an Intel i7 processor FocalBlade
2 renders 60 to 85 times faster than FocalBlade 1.
- A 64-bit version of FocalBlade 2
is available with no additional cost.
- Scripting and smart filter support.
FocalBlade 2 now saves its parameters to actions/scripts and
smart objects.
- Sharpening Improvements
- Auto Sharpening:
- FocalBlade 2 offers various sharpening
workflows with one pass, two passes and three sharpening
passes. The old FocalBlade 1 workflow is now called "One-Pass
Classic".
- Improved auto sharpening including
four output options. Instead of only two output options
as in Version 1 you can now choose between five display
types as well as inkjet, continuous tone and halftone
printing. Additionally you can specify image source,
paper type and print resolution.
- Two options for noise reduction
are now available in the Surface combo box on the Auto
tab sheet.The Details combo box on the Auto tab sheet
now provides useful radius values even for larger prints.
In FocalBlade 1 the suggested radius was usually too high
for large images.
- New Evaluate check box that evaluates
the preview for calculating the sharpening amount. It
is deactivated by default. In FocalBlade 1.0 it was not
possible to deactivate the preview evaluation with auto
sharpening activated.
- The Calibrate tab sheet lets
you adjust the strength of the auto sharpening and softproof
options independently for the display, inkjet, contone
and halftone output. That way you can calibrate the sharpening
and softproofing according to your taste and special conditions.
- Manual Sharpening:
- FocalBlade 2 provides stronger
sharpening with less artifacts and halos than FocalBlade
1.
- FocalBlade 2 now offers three
sharpening methodsinstead of one. The new Adaptive
Radius method sharpens each pixel with a different radius
depending on the image details. There is also a Single
Radius method, an improved version of the popular Unsharp
Mask filter with a Surface slider. The old sharpening
method of FocalBlade 1 is now called "Dual Radius".
- The maximum sharpening radius is
32 pixel instead of 16.New White and Black Peak
sliders for removing black and white halos even more
effectively. They remove extreme halos that are not fixed
by the White/Black Halo sliders.
- All FocalBlade modes support sharpening
up to 2000%. In FocalBlade 1 it was only possible
in the DeBlur modes.
- Bug Fix: FocalBlade 1 applied a weaker
edge sharpening when running it with the Last Filter command
in Photoshop. This does not occur anymore.
- Masking:
Color Protection options:
Up to three colors can be selected to protect image areas
with these colors from the sharpening effect.
- Improved edge mask options:
- New Equalize slider for amplifying
weaker edge details.
- New Contrast slider for adjusting
the contrast of the edge mask.
- The old Smoothness slider was
renamed to "Width".
- The Expand slider was renamed
to Lightness. The negative range of the Intensity
slider was moved over to the Lightness slider.
- The new Intensity check box automatically
adjusts the edge mask intensity depending on what
is displayed in the preview. The value of the Intensity
slider can also be deactivated and set manually. This
new check box makes edge sharpening slightly stronger
and more effective than in FocalBlade 1.
- Other New Features
- A Softproof option (located on
the zoom combo box) that simulates the look of the print.
It displays the image on the monitor at the same physical
size as the print and imitates the softness of the print.
The Softproof preview is updated in real-time, so you can
use it while adjusting the settings in FocalBlade.Up to
3200% preview zoom
- New Navigator tool for quickly
displaying a certain image section in the preview.
- Color Noise Removal option for
suppressing color noise. There is also a Resaturate slider
for adding back saturation that was removed by strong sharpening
or color noise removal.
- Support for Lab and CMYK image modes.
Limitations: The Color Mask feature does not work and the
Glow feature is not colored. In CMYK mode additionally the
Color Noise feature does not work.
- Grain feature for adding subtle
grain of three types to the image. This can make the image
appear sharper or make soft looking areas look natural again.
- Three Preview tab buttons above
the preview for working with three different filter settings
at the same time.
- The new Show Halos (High Pass) check
box on the Info tab sheet visually shows you how strong
each pixel is sharpened. It is helpful for fine-tuning the
halos.A new Fade slider for reducing the intensity of the
overall effect.
- Preset files of FocalBlade 1 are still
supported.
- 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\FocalBlade\
Vista/7:
c:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\ThePluginSite\FocalBlade\
To avoids write permission conflicts the .ini, preset and
log files are now saved in this folder.
- Many more and new key shortcuts
- The PDF manual was greatly enhanced and
contains 74 pages (26 pages more)
- Bug Fix: With activated B/W option the
final result was not black and white in FocalBlade 1.0.
- Bug Fix: The Soften slider works correctly
in Grayscale mode
- Dialog Changes
FocalBlade 2 is easier to use with
a more organized UI and one central tab control.
- FocalBlade 2 offers 6 modes: Easy
Mode, Unsharp Mask, Soft Blur, Noise Reduction, Special Effect
and Advanced Mode.
- A total of 80 presets on various
arrow-down button menus. The FocalBlade 1 presets are now
available from the arrow-down menu on the Effect tab sheet.
- If the Interactive Menus check
box is activated on the Prefs tab, then placing the mouse
over a preset item on a menu automatically displays its effect
in the preview.
- A new tool bar above the preview
for choosing between three tools: hand, sample area and eyedropper
tool.New maximize button on the title bar for enlarging the
windows. The task bar is now respected and no controls vanish
under it.
- Double clicking the label of a slider
or combo box resets it to its default value.
- "Remove Sample Area" command was added
to the context menu of the Reset button
- The old Mask Display combo box was turned
into six small buttons available on the Adjust and Effect
tab sheets.The following options were removed, because they
did not make a significant difference: Precise check box,
Antialias check box, Compensate check boxes, Method combo
box. The second Method combo box was replaced with a Median
check box.
- The German localization was improved
by using image processing terms found in the German localization
of Photoshop.
- Bug Fix: Some cosmetic problems under
Vista/7 were fixed.
- Plugin Installer now supports Fireworks
CS2 to CS5 and displays less options during installation.
MacOS X Version 1.01 (January 2010)
- 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 placed 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.
- Bug Fix: Scrolling the preview by holding
down the Alt key and dragging works again.
Windows Version 1.07 (December 2009)
- Bug Fix: No error message when applying FocalBlade
to an adjustment layer or from the top of the Filter menu.
- Bug Fix: Images that are larger than the available
RAM are supported again and do not display an preview zoom error
message.
- Bug Fix: Error message in cloak mode when
running in Photoshop CS4 64-bit under Windows 7 was fixed.
- Bug Fix: Opening a preset from the menu list
disabled the Open Preset and Save Preset options.
- Bug Fix: After leaving cloak mode the title
bar and auto preview check box are not moved anymore.
- Bug Fix: No error message when switching between
the Prefs and Help tab sheets and then clicking on the Print button.
- Bug Fix: Problem with the Reset button causing
zero sharpening values solved.
Windows Version 1.06 (Novermber 2009)
- A 64bit version of FocalBlade is available.
It can be used with the 64bit version of Photoshop CS4.
- Visual styles are now supported.
- The plugin file size was reduced to 60% of
the previous version.
- Plugin Installer now supports Photoshop
Elements 8 and PageMaker 7.
- Bug Fix: Under rare circumstances FocalBlade
displayed a "preset loading failed" error message with every preview
update.
- Bug Fix: When switching between the Help and
Prefs tab sheet and changing one of the Auto settings, the sharpening
was set to zero.
- The demo version renders less opaque watermarks
faster to the image.
Windows Version 1.05 (December 2008)
- DEP Compatibility: Even if Data Execution
Protection (DEP) is activated in the Windows Control Panel, FocalBlade
still works.
- FocalBlade now supports the Photoshop
memory management.
- 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.
- Some controls on the FocalBlade
dialog were changed to bring it in line with the other PhotoWiz
plugins:
The dialog background is now silver
colored instead of brown-grey.
- The Open, Save and Undo buttons were
removed and are now items of the new arrow-down button menu
at the top
- New Help/Prefs tab sheet at the bottom
with new On Startup, On Reset and Log Settings features
- Right clicking on the Reset button displays
a context menu
- The context menu that appears when right
clicking the dialog background was removed
The FocalBlade dialog was localized
to German.You can switch languages with the Language option
on the Prefs tab. The manual is still only available in English.
- The the .ini files are now saved in the user's
application data folder in case the folder of the FocalBlade plugin
is not accessible. This avoids problems with restricted user permissions.
- Bug Fix: After maximizing the window (by
double clicking the FocalBlade logo), exiting and running FocalBlade
again, it was not possible to minimize the window (by double clicking
the FocalBlade logo). It works now.
- Bug Fix: Exiting the plugin with the ESC
key does not cause a messed up dialog anymore when running the
plugin again.
- Bug Fix: Opening a preset does not change
the state of the Auto Preview, SplitView and B/W controls anymore.
- The Manual and interactive help texts were
updated.
- New multilingual installation.
- The Plugin Installer now supports several
new compatible applications. It is now also available in German
language and correctly installs plugins into various localized
versions of Photoshop CS2, CS3 and CS4 (German, French, Spanish,
Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Danish).
MacOS X Version 1.0 (April 2, 2007)
- Mac-Intel Version for Photoshop CS3 is now
available
Windows Version 1.04b (File Date: March 13,
2007)
MacOS X Version 1.0 (January 13, 2006)
- First MacOS X release of FocalBlade
- It is based on the Windows Version 1.03.
However, some features and bug fixes from the Windows Version
1.04 are already available, e.g. visible selections in the
preview. The remaining features of the Windows Version 1.04,
e.g. interrupted rendering, will be included in the next free
update.
Windows Version 1.04 (File Date: May 31,
2005)
- New Features:
Selections from your graphics application
can now be seen in the FocalBlade preview. The effect is
only applied to the selection area in FocalBlade. This feature
currently only works in Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Paint
Shop Pro 4 - 7, Photo-Paint, Canvas, FotoCanvas and Ultimate
Paint.
- FocalBlade now immediately reacts
to user actions. You don't have to wait anymore until
the preview is rendered before you can readjust a setting
or drag the preview. The current rendering will be stopped
immediately and rendering will start again.
- Right clicking on the Open Preset button
will display all presets from the Preset sub folder
in a context menu and lets you choose one.
- Dragging the window is now only possible
with the title bar. Previously you were able to click
anywhere on the background to drag the window. That made some
people who missed the sliders drag the dialog instead of the
slider.
- You can now use the mouse wheel to
change slider values. You need to click the slider at
first though.
- Two new preset for doing noise reduction
in FocalBlade.
- A tool called Plugin Installer
is installed with FocalBlade and also executed during setup.
It lets you copy the FocalBlade plugin to the plugin folder
of various applications and also uninstall it later again.
It can detect the plugin folder of 25 graphics applications.
- Improvements:
- If necessary FocalBlade will now look
for the html manual and presets in the original installation
folder. That means, if you only copy the FocalBlade.8bf file
into a plugin folder, the mentioned features will work nevertheless.
- Bug Fix: No artifacts occur anymore in
Photoline on 16bit images. Bug Fix: Transparent areas are
now correctly displayed with a chessboard pattern when applying
FocalBlade to a 16bit layer in Photoshop.
- Bug Fix: The Expand slider works correctly
now in X-Ray Negative mode on 16bit images. Bug Fix: Sample
area marquee was displayed transparent when working with 16bit
images.
- Bug Fix: All split view options were
available in all modes, although they didn't work in some
modes.
- Bug Fix: Previously the sample area feature
also worked in modes where it had no effect.
- Bug Fix: Zoom combo box sometimes displayed
the zoom value wrongly when running FocalBlade a second time.
- Bug Fix: Using the mouse wheel to scroll
through the combo boxes works now.
- Bug Fix: Zoom combo box was deselected
on 6%
- Bug Fix: Beta screen problems
- The Demo version now applies a slightly
less visible watermark
Windows Version 1.03 (File Date: July 11,
2004)
- Context menu with settings for
landscape, portrait and night photos appears if you right
click on the Auto combo boxes or Screen and Print buttons.
- Context menu that pops up if you right
click the window background.
- Double clicking the FocalBlade letters in
the title bar will maximize the window, double clicking
them again will restore the old window size.
- Nonlinear behavior was added to the
Radius sliders, the White/Black Halo sliders, the Smoothness slider,
the Remove slider and the Glow slider. This makes it easier to
select important slider values.
- The Manual was extended with a "Sharpening
with a Brush" instructions on the Step by Step page and information
about "Non-destructive Sharpening" and "Sharpening Tips
for for Landscape, Portrait, Night photos" on the Tips page.
- The slider edit boxes were made smaller and
the sliders were made a bit longer. Bug Fix: The three Auto options
sometimes didn't work with 16-bit images and deactivated sharpening.
It is fixed now.
- Bug Fix: The setting of the Auto Preview
check box isn't changed anymore when opening a preset.
- Bug Fix: The preview isn't recalculated if
the whole image is displayed and you try to the preview image
drag with right mouse button.
- Bug Fix: Unsteadiness of progress bar was
fixed.
- Bug Fix: Small inaccuracy in Cloak Mode was
fixed.Bug Fix: The setting of the Auto Preview check box is restored
across sessions
- Demo Version: A white watermark is now applied
instead of a red one.
Windows Version 1.02b (File Date: January
31 , 2004)
- More precise sharpening. The brightness
isn't increased unnecessarily anymore when sharpening 8-bit images.
This will also produce a better overall saturation in some cases.
- Bug Fix: Applying FocalBlade on a selection
doesn't cause a memory error anymore when the preview is updated.
- Bug Fix: Applying a blur effect to an image
doesn't cause black borders or colored streaks at the vertical
image border anymore.
- Bug Fix: In Cloak Mode a slightly weaker
sharpening effect was applied sometimes. FocalBlade does more
pre-processing in Cloak Mode now, to produce accurate results.
- Bug Fix: Sometimes the controls were not
correctly positioned when running FocalBlade. This has been fixed.
- Bug Fix: The Sharpen sliders in the deblur
modes aren't cut off at 1000 anymore when their values are restored.
- Bug Fix: The Focalblade setup will now display
the previous installation folder by default.
Windows Version 1.02 (File Date: December
31, 2003)
- Stronger sharpening possible . The
range of the Sharpen sliders has been increased from 400% to 1000%.
In the Deblur Modes even to 2000%.
- Resizable window and preview. Minimum
screen resolution is now 640x480 pixel at Small Font setting and
not 800x600 pixel as before.
- New Antialias feature for reducing
artifacts and grain thus allowing a stronger sharpening effects
to be applied.
- A 100% preview for images of any size
can now be displayed, because no additional RAM is now needed
to generate it.
- 15 new preset files for creating artistic
effects.
- Cloak Mode was greatly improved:
- FocalBlade now calculates the auto sharpening
values more precisely during Cloak Mode. That means that there
may be some delay because of precaluclations before FocalBlade
starts processing an image in Cloak Mode. If you don't need
any auto sharpening in Cloak Mode, you can avoid that by setting
Auto Sharpen to "Off" before entering Cloak Mode.
- In Cloak Mode the image is now processed
in tiles and not as a whole as in previous versions.
- The FocalBlade.ini file is now read every
time FocalBlade is applied in Cloak Mode. This lets you use
Cloak Mode with graphics applications that don't save plugin
settings across invocations and it doesn't force you to enter
Cloak Mode again when restarting your graphics application.
- Leaving the Cloak Mode by holding down
the Shift key is possible again.
- Bug Fix: Auto features work in Sharpen Edges
mode again .
- Bug Fix: The color of the color box left
of the Glow slider is saved now during invocations.
Windows Version 1.01b (File Date: November
17, 2003)
- Memory-Error-Bug fixed. This bug occured
when the Precise check box was activated. It also occured when
processing a greyscale image in Paint Shop Pro.
- The setup overwrites all files and not only
the older ones. This makes sure that the demo version is always
overwritten by the full version.
- Some small fixes in the Manual
Windows Version 1.01 (File Date: October
31, 2003)
- FocalBlade processes images in tiles now.
FocalBlade can now process huge images with very little RAM and
renders up to 10% faster at low RAM. There is no limit
to the size of images that FocalBlade can process.
- Better Sharpening: The saturation
and brightness are less increased when sharpening.
- New Highlights/Shadows sliders on
the Fix tab sheet in the Expert and BeBlur Pro modes for reducing
the sharpening in the highlight and shadow areas. The same sliders
can also be used in the Expert and Selective Blur Pro modes for
reducing the blurring in the highlight and shadow areas.
- The White/Black Halo sliders previously
only affected the edges, now they also affect the surface area.
They also work more precise.
- Support for grayscale images (8 bit
and 16 bit). In this image mode FocalBlade will render a bit faster.
A few features, e.g. the B/W button and the color box, won't have
any effect.
- Enhanced compatibility with Photoshop
CS: The preview works now when applying FocalBlade on a layer
in 16bit mode.
- When holding down the Alt key, you can use
the left mouse button (instead of the right mouse button) for
scrolling the image in the preview.
- The default setting for Auto Details has
been changed from "Medium" to "Fine" as this usually produces
better results.
- The Undo button now also removes or restores
the sample area.
- After drawing the sample area the preview
was sometimes updated twice, which interfered with the Undo feature.
That was fixed.
- The demo version now applies a watermark
instead of a large grid.
- The Manual was updated, especially the Tips
section.
- Several smaller bug fixes
Windows Version 1.0 (File Date: July 25,
2003)
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