Req: Run external app as a PhotoLine process?

[photoken]

One of the most outstanding features of PhotoLine is its ability to launch an external application, passing a layer or the entire image to the external program as a parameter.

However, there are external applications that require multiple images as input and produce a single image as output. The major areas of usage that do so are:

• Panorama stitching. Microsoft's Image Composite Editor (ICE) is an example.
• Exposure blending. HDRMerge is one of these.
• Focus stacking. Helicon Focus, for example.

For these types of applications, it is not important for PhotoLine to be aware of the input images -- only the output image is relevant for editing in PhotoLine.

I don't know if this can be done, but I'll suggest it anyway:
Would it be possible for PhotoLine, without having any images open in it, to launch one of those external applications in something like an "auxiliary" PhotoLine window? All image selecting, processing, and saving would be done by the external application; and after closing the external application the "auxiliary" PhotoLine window would also close and the output image that the external application created and saved would be automatically opened in PhotoLine.

[Eurgail]

The external applications are also available in the "Browse..." window. So, there you can select the images you want to combine (multiple files are possible of course), right click and send them to the external application. But, the newly created image has to be opened by yourself. (If you created it in the same folder as the initial files, it would be just one (double-)click for example also in the "Browse..." window. Hm...or it is possible to configure the other apps to open the exported file in PhotoLine afterwards, then it's really similar to the way you described.)

[photoken]

The external applications are also available in the "Browse..." window.

Yes, but this request is for a more seamless integration, if it's possible. Just as passing a layer or image to an external application is now possible for seamless round-tripping of single images. Otherwise, I might as well launch the external application from Windows Explorer, or XnView's browser window, etc.

Added:
I just checked, and neither ICE nor HDRMerge allow specifying an external editor for post-processing. I've submitted requests for that feature to both, but....