External editor

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bruce1951
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External editor

Beitrag von bruce1951 »

I often user the External Program feature.
I needed to use FotoSketcher a few times so I installed it as an External Program. (FS only accepts Jpeg, Bmp and png).
Works fine except when I close FS it never returns to PL. So I have to save the image and reload it in PL.
Any hints on what may be the problem.

Bruce
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photoken
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Re: External editor

Beitrag von photoken »

The problem is the bizarre way that FotoSketcher treats saving images. It will never save over (and replace) the image that is passed to it.

When you're finished editing the image in FotoSketcher, you need to use the main menu to do a "Save As", and in the "Save As" dialog you need to manually navigate to your Temp directory and choose the temporary image that PhotoLine created for saving (answering "Yes" to the prompt to overwrite). The PL temp image is fairly easy to spot -- it has the format of
tmp*.PNG

Last year I complained to FotoSketcher's developer about the "Save" button in the toolbar only doing the equivalent of a "Save As" to a new image, and he said he did that because some of his users forgot what they were doing and inadvertently saved over an existing image. :!: :!: :shock:
Ken
Yes, I think it can be eeeeeasily done....
Just take everything out on Highway 61.
bruce1951
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Re: External editor

Beitrag von bruce1951 »

Thanks Ken. I was worried it was something I was doing!!!

bruce
bruce1951
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Re: External editor

Beitrag von bruce1951 »

While on the subject of External Programs!

Example. - I open a 150 meg 16bit tiff. Duplicate it. All transparent layers. Then work on the top layer. I want to reveal some of the detail from the bottom layer. So I use the eraser on the top layer. Very low setting of 5%. Everything is fine. Then I want to use a feature in PSPx8. So I send/open it in PSPx8. Do my bit of editing and close PSPx8. (Close the file. Not PSPx8). When I examine the file again in PL the area I have erased earlier in PL is very pixelated. The soft transition from the Outer Radius and the Inner Radius has turned to crap.

Is there a simple explanation?

Bruce
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photoken
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Re: External editor

Beitrag von photoken »

What are you sending to PSP? The Active Layer only (the one you erased)? Or the entire document (which will be reduced to one layer)?
Ken
Yes, I think it can be eeeeeasily done....
Just take everything out on Highway 61.
bruce1951
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Re: External editor

Beitrag von bruce1951 »

Just the active top layer with the small erased section. As a tiff.

bruce
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photoken
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Re: External editor

Beitrag von photoken »

OK, leaving PSP out of the equation for the time being, if you export just that erased layer as a TIF and then open that exported TIF, do you have the same pixilation?
Ken
Yes, I think it can be eeeeeasily done....
Just take everything out on Highway 61.
bruce1951
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Re: External editor

Beitrag von bruce1951 »

Yes Ken. For some reason all is fine until that tiff file comes back into PL I've only seen it after it has been to PSP and back. I think it must have something to do with how PL and PSP handle transparencies.

If, in PL, I use a round eraser with say, 20 outer and 10 inner, to give a soft edge and an opacity of 2%. It works just fine. But then I send, just that tiff layer, it to PSP and back again. The brush edges of that erased area are now very visible and very coarse. It's as though the transition from 20-10 edge on the PL eraser has fallen to pieces in PSP.

If I use a PNG then all seems ok!!!

It's not the end of the world but just something I would like to learn from.

Bruce
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photoken
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Re: External editor

Beitrag von photoken »

Hi Bruce,
I think you're probably right about PSP having a problem with semi-transparency in TIFs, but I was trying to nail it down a bit better.

Sorry I wasn't more clear in my previous message -- what I was trying to get at is:
  • Working exclusively in PhotoLine, if you export that erased layer to its own TIF and then open that exported TIF in PhotoLine, is there any pixilation? This will tell us if PL has a problem with semi-transparency in TIFs.
  • If the above works OK, then open that exported TIF in PSP and simply save it (overwriting it). Open the saved TIF in PhotoLine and see if there is pixilation.
  • If that second test works OK, then open a new TIF (exported from PL) in PSP, do your editing and save it (overwriting it). Any pixilation when opened in PL?
Those tests will narrow down where the problem is being created.
Ken
Yes, I think it can be eeeeeasily done....
Just take everything out on Highway 61.
bruce1951
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Re: External editor

Beitrag von bruce1951 »

Ken I haven't had time to run your tests. But another interesting result points to an Opacity/Transparency issue between PL and PSP.

From PL I sent a layer to Topaz Impressions. The final step in Impressions was to reduce the opacity. Saved and sent it back to PL. All was fine. Then I needed a small adjustment in PSP. Opened it via the External Program. In PSP the entire layer/image was covered in an artifact like a line texture. Just for the hell of it I sent it back to PL where that linen texture remained. Keep in mind I always have a background layer.
So it appears that Pl and PSP do handle opacity/transparency in different manners.
Something to keep in mind during workflows.

regards