RAW converter-like optional workspace - other suggestions

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lutz
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Registriert: Mi 12 Apr 2006 19:53

RAW converter-like optional workspace - other suggestions

Beitrag von lutz »

Outside Photoline the quickest developing tools are RAW converters introducing new tools and ideas. I believe the option of a RAW converter-like workspace could speed up essential image adjustments and optimizations also in a traditional style image editor and not only for RAW files. This could be a special workspace giving simultaneous acces to a levels-like tools, gamma, luminosity CLUT, saturation, vibrancy ( another usefull RAW tool idea), sharpening and a local contrast tool, cropping and perhaps red-eye and copy-brush tools. This workspace would be sufficient for the vast majority of photos and would allow faster editing since tools are accessible simultaneously and do not to be opened and closed.

Please inlcude an option allowing each slider to be individually and quickly reset to zero (or the default) - without the need to use the keyboard !!! (e.g. right-click?, reset button for each slider, ....). This would be helpful for all filters and settings as well as the RAW-importer. Once one has used an interface which offers this option (Helicon Filter, Bibble, RawTherapee, ...) one does not want to be without it.

If there is no lasso or other selection active, consider the complete layer to be selected and thus being ready to be copied (or the complete image in case of the "Merged Copy" command). The filters and plug-ins are working on the complete layer just fine; why not "copy"? The currently neccesary "select all" seems redundant.
Actually, I still have not figured out why the "Merged Copy" command often is greyed out and unaccessible in multi-layer images. :?: :oops: :?:

Add a "Merge Down" command to the layers dialog - enabling a simple merging of the selected layer with the layer directly underneath it. Anybody coming from another editor is going to search (a long time) for this option. To do this now one has to
i) mark the layers
ii) then group the layers
iii) and then one can use the "Reduce to one layer" command.

Introduce more top-level menu categories. Tools could be easier accessed if fewer levels of the menu would need ot be navigated. Even laptop screens offer plenty of real-estate for more menu categories. Useful menues could be a dedicated photo optimization menu (digital camera) and and a dedicated Plug-In-menu. Currently my "filters" menu is over-boarding and has very little structure to it making it, slowing down the selection of individual tools.
In the best of all worlds the Plug-In menu would be easily customizable for the user to categorize the plugins and to hide or un-hide them.

It would be really great if one could chose the color-space inside the CLUT tool dialog (similar to many filters which already give the option; e.g. unsharp masking). Nice would be the quick application of LAB curves without needing to convert the layer.

Currently there are two independent setting for layer transparency which seem to act independently, the transparency check in the layer dialog and the layer properties context menu dialog. This can be confusing. Although both settings do not do exactly the same the latter one seems unnecessary.