Hello all
Fixer Labs has a beta of v.2 of its P'shop plug-ins out -- Focus Fixer, Noise Fixer, Shadow Fixer and TrueBlur. They seem to work fine with PL32 14.51 on Mac, Intel, OS X.4.11.
Cheers, Geoff
Geoffrey Heard, Business Writer & Publisher
"Type & Layout: Are you communicating or just making pretty shapes", the secrets of how type can help you to sell or influence, and "How to Start and Produce a magazine or Newsletter", now at the new low price of $29.95. See these books and more at http://www.worsleypress.com or Amazon.
Fixer plug-ins work with PL32
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greenmorpher
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lutz
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Re: Fixer plug-ins work with PL32
Hello Geoff,
which of these plugs are you using? and which would you recommend for which oocasions?
which of these plugs are you using? and which would you recommend for which oocasions?
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greenmorpher
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Re: Fixer plug-ins work with PL32
I actually bought them to work with Canvas before I bought PL32. The v.1 no longer work with Canvas (I can't remember whether they worked okay under OS X.3.9 or an early X.4.x on the G4, but under X.4.11 on the Intel Mac -- my current set-up -- they don't work) and the v.2 crash Canvas.
I originally bought them for the NoiseFixer and ShadowFixer. NoiseFixer v.1 was good but was bettered by Noise Ninja although with it might be a little too easy to go too far and end up with something that looks painted. I think NoiseFixer v.2 beats Noise Ninja. In particular, it seems to be a bit more progressive. ShadowFixer is pretty useful for a quick fix to bring out shadow detail although I suspect LightZone will beat it in the hands of a skilled operator.
I was testing FoxusFixer (which I haven't had occasion to use before) on a particularly tricky picture yesterday and it did good work. I haven't tried TrueBlur; the example on the website looks a bit desperate! Since it mimics lens blur for the particular lens used, however, I could see it being useful in blurring backgrounds of portraits, and emphasising differential focus effects in other situations -- something which digicams don't do well.
Regarding "skilled operator" above -- I'm not one and don't intend to do the work to become one, so ShadowFixer is probably more useful to me than LightZone (I don't like its black interface, anyway!).
You can download the plug-in package for testing. They'll take a registration and send you a number so you can run the plug-ins at full functionality for testing.
Cheers, Geoff
Geoffrey Heard, Business Writer & Publisher
"Type & Layout: Are you communicating or just making pretty shapes", the secrets of how type can help you to sell or influence, and "How to Start and Produce a magazine or Newsletter", now at the new low price of $29.95. See these books and more at http://www.worsleypress.com or Amazon.
I originally bought them for the NoiseFixer and ShadowFixer. NoiseFixer v.1 was good but was bettered by Noise Ninja although with it might be a little too easy to go too far and end up with something that looks painted. I think NoiseFixer v.2 beats Noise Ninja. In particular, it seems to be a bit more progressive. ShadowFixer is pretty useful for a quick fix to bring out shadow detail although I suspect LightZone will beat it in the hands of a skilled operator.
I was testing FoxusFixer (which I haven't had occasion to use before) on a particularly tricky picture yesterday and it did good work. I haven't tried TrueBlur; the example on the website looks a bit desperate! Since it mimics lens blur for the particular lens used, however, I could see it being useful in blurring backgrounds of portraits, and emphasising differential focus effects in other situations -- something which digicams don't do well.
Regarding "skilled operator" above -- I'm not one and don't intend to do the work to become one, so ShadowFixer is probably more useful to me than LightZone (I don't like its black interface, anyway!).
You can download the plug-in package for testing. They'll take a registration and send you a number so you can run the plug-ins at full functionality for testing.
Cheers, Geoff
Geoffrey Heard, Business Writer & Publisher
"Type & Layout: Are you communicating or just making pretty shapes", the secrets of how type can help you to sell or influence, and "How to Start and Produce a magazine or Newsletter", now at the new low price of $29.95. See these books and more at http://www.worsleypress.com or Amazon.
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greenmorpher
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Re: Fixer plug-ins work with PL32
Hiya Lutz
Of course, whether you need such plug-ins is another matter. If you have iPhoto 08 on Mac, you get both a Shadow and a Highlights fixer built into that -- single slider, easy to use. Along with fixing noise, these two are my most common needs for fixing photos.
PL32 has the light/shadow adjustments under Filter > Digital Camera but I'm afraid I just don't get them -- I don't get the connection between Intensity, Width and Protected Range. Protected Range is explained in the Manual, so I kind of get that, but there is not a word, not one single word, explaining "Intensity" and "Width" and in particular, their interaction. Gerhard did explain it in this forum once, I think, but it still wasn't clear.
A simple single slider would do me.
The same goes for noise reduction. As usual, the PL32 Manual is pretty useless. In respect of color it says:
In respect of "Intensity Noise" the manual says
We also come up against "Size" in the "Sharpen" part of the dialog. Size of what?
Apart from TrueBlur (I don't know how that fits in with PL32's blur provision), the Fixer plug-ins add only ease of use to PL32 because they have a simpler controls than PL32's similar features. In fact, the outcomes of using these easier controls are fine for the vast majority of image adjustments, which are fairly small, and you avoid operator error which might be introduced through the more complex controls by the operator who only knows a bit but is not expert.
I have said bit before -- a simpler use level ought to be built in to PL32, with provision for expert users to work at the highest level the program providdes if they wish to do so. It is something that is available in some respects in PL32 already. Look at brush selection. You can select a brush shape and width from the palette for that quick, everyday task, but when you have something mnore complex or whatever, you can go to expert level by double clicking on the brush to open up a dialog box which offers you the ability to customize your brush.
That kind of interface concept would be great for the Digital Camera (and some other) tools. For example, the Light/Shadow too could open to a dialog with two single sliders, one for light, one for shadow, plus a check box marked "Expert". Click on Expert and you would get the present dialog with multiple sliders to be set individually -- which might always appear set at the safe default (which, in fact, would be the way the single sliders were working in the simple dialog mode). Oh -- and explain what the parameters are all about in the Manual. As it is, there is too much room for operator error to foul up use of what, presumably, are excellent tools.
Cheers, Geoff
Geoffrey Heard, Business Writer & Publisher
"Type & Layout: Are you communicating or just making pretty shapes", the secrets of how type can help you to sell or influence, and "How to Start and Produce a magazine or Newsletter", now at the new low price of $29.95. See these books and more at http://www.worsleypress.com or Amazon.
Of course, whether you need such plug-ins is another matter. If you have iPhoto 08 on Mac, you get both a Shadow and a Highlights fixer built into that -- single slider, easy to use. Along with fixing noise, these two are my most common needs for fixing photos.
PL32 has the light/shadow adjustments under Filter > Digital Camera but I'm afraid I just don't get them -- I don't get the connection between Intensity, Width and Protected Range. Protected Range is explained in the Manual, so I kind of get that, but there is not a word, not one single word, explaining "Intensity" and "Width" and in particular, their interaction. Gerhard did explain it in this forum once, I think, but it still wasn't clear.
A simple single slider would do me.
The same goes for noise reduction. As usual, the PL32 Manual is pretty useless. In respect of color it says:
. Great. What is "size"? Is it pixels? And what is "too high"? Give us a figure. Why not mark a "normal" range on the scale in the dialog box?if you set the filter size too high, the edges in your image may become gray
In respect of "Intensity Noise" the manual says
By "Threshold" I presume the writer means "Limit" (that's a term used in the dialog box). Ah, some advised limits. Excellent. But 10% of what? And "Intensity"? What does that mean? I seem to get little difference here unless intensity is set to 100% or close to that. And what about "Size"? That's in this part of the dialog too.In order to avoid this there is Threshold. Threshold defines the minimum value for reducing noise. 0% doesn‘t reduce anything. Usually this value should be - depending on the image - between 4% and 10%.
We also come up against "Size" in the "Sharpen" part of the dialog. Size of what?
Apart from TrueBlur (I don't know how that fits in with PL32's blur provision), the Fixer plug-ins add only ease of use to PL32 because they have a simpler controls than PL32's similar features. In fact, the outcomes of using these easier controls are fine for the vast majority of image adjustments, which are fairly small, and you avoid operator error which might be introduced through the more complex controls by the operator who only knows a bit but is not expert.
I have said bit before -- a simpler use level ought to be built in to PL32, with provision for expert users to work at the highest level the program providdes if they wish to do so. It is something that is available in some respects in PL32 already. Look at brush selection. You can select a brush shape and width from the palette for that quick, everyday task, but when you have something mnore complex or whatever, you can go to expert level by double clicking on the brush to open up a dialog box which offers you the ability to customize your brush.
That kind of interface concept would be great for the Digital Camera (and some other) tools. For example, the Light/Shadow too could open to a dialog with two single sliders, one for light, one for shadow, plus a check box marked "Expert". Click on Expert and you would get the present dialog with multiple sliders to be set individually -- which might always appear set at the safe default (which, in fact, would be the way the single sliders were working in the simple dialog mode). Oh -- and explain what the parameters are all about in the Manual. As it is, there is too much room for operator error to foul up use of what, presumably, are excellent tools.
Cheers, Geoff
Geoffrey Heard, Business Writer & Publisher
"Type & Layout: Are you communicating or just making pretty shapes", the secrets of how type can help you to sell or influence, and "How to Start and Produce a magazine or Newsletter", now at the new low price of $29.95. See these books and more at http://www.worsleypress.com or Amazon.