Version 13

[Koyaanis]

Wow!!!

Yet again, some amazing improvements!!!



What you've done with the Lightness/Shadow tool is amazing. And that's just one of the many wonderful new features.

THANKS!!!

[DJJohnson]

I have to agree. Some of the new features are phenomenal.

I did find one small bug. Selecting "Optimize Text Layer Size" doesn't seem to work right in this version. All I get is a small set of icons in the upper-left of my text-edit window, and I can't edit or move anything anymore.

Weird, I just tested it again to see how it gets disabled. I first got those misplaced icon images in the upper-left and editing became disabled. So I hit the undo button like I usually do to get out of this bug. Then selected "Optimize Text Layer Size" again to watch it happen again and it works okay now.

Well, that's just plain freaky. I can't make it duplicate this bug that just happened again, even after rebooting v13. It was happening every time I tried using this feature the last 2 days.

Maybe I need to have my browser open to the PhotoLine forums to make the program behave. It doesn't want me to "tell on it".

Okay, I just now figured out how to duplicate this bug. I'm just learning to use PhotoLine, so I would always select "Fit In Text Layer" first, then realize that's not what I wanted to do. So I would then select "Optimize Text Layer Size" right after. That's how to duplicate this bug.

Type some text in a text window. Select "Fit In Text Layer", then select "Optimize Text Layer Size". And I get the text-edit lock-up bug.

Doing these two steps in reverse also causes an odd bug. It leaves behind the original text window size if you try to manually resize the window later, and other odd things, like no longer being able to edit text. Maybe I just don't know what I'm doing yet too.

[DJJohnson]

Let's chalk this up to "I don't know what I'm doing yet!"

I just read the help file in the difference between "Optimize Text Layer Size", and "Fit To Text Layer".

There is no bug. Just my inability to understand the tools.

In English, there is not a lot of difference in meaning between the words "Fit Text" and "Optimize Text Size", so I get these options confused.

Sorry for my report about a bug that doesn't exist!


But I have noticed one thing I would like changed. When you enlarge text with "Scale Special" that has a drop-shadow behind it, the shadow and text stays the same resolution as the original text size. Making the shadow have bands in it, and the larger text having low-quality. It would be nice if "Scale Special" would act on the original vector or font size, instead of acting on the resulting raster graphic. It's easy to bypass this by just using a larger font at first. But it's difficult to pick a font size first and then later add a shadow so that they fit the area that you want it to match.

Just some newbie's observations.

[Koyaanis]

Let's chalk this up to "I don't know what I'm doing yet!"

Yes, all the tools and features take some getting used to. There's so much to explore and learn. I made the same mistake as you did at first.

[Gerhard Huber]

I did find one small bug. Selecting "Optimize Text Layer Size" doesn't seem to work right in this version. All I get is a small set of icons in the upper-left of my text-edit window, and I can't edit or move anything anymore.
Okay, I just now figured out how to duplicate this bug. I'm just learning to use PhotoLine, so I would always select "Fit In Text Layer" first, then realize that's not what I wanted to do. So I would then select "Optimize Text Layer Size" right after. That's how to duplicate this bug.
Type some text in a text window. Select "Fit In Text Layer", then select "Optimize Text Layer Size". And I get the text-edit lock-up bug.
Doing these two steps in reverse also causes an odd bug. It leaves behind the original text window size if you try to manually resize the window later, and other odd things, like no longer being able to edit text. Maybe I just don't know what I'm doing yet too.

That's not a bug, "Fit In Text Layer" will create a new text layer without any text in it. When you select "Optimize Text Layer Size" it will shrink the new text layer to zero size.

Gerhard

[Gerhard Huber]

In English, there is not a lot of difference in meaning between the words "Fit Text" and "Optimize Text Size", so I get these options confused.

"Fit Text" is intended to write text into a border. For example, you create a vector layer, then press "Fit Text". It will create a text layer that is the same size as the vector layer is and the text will be shown centered in the text layer.
"Optimize Text Layer Size" will decrease the size of a text layer, if possible, to the minimum size.

But I have noticed one thing I would like changed. When you enlarge text with "Scale Special" that has a drop-shadow behind it, the shadow and text stays the same resolution as the original text size. Making the shadow have bands in it, and the larger text having low-quality. It would be nice if "Scale Special" would act on the original vector or font size, instead of acting on the resulting raster graphic. It's easy to bypass this by just using a larger font at first. But it's difficult to pick a font size first and then later add a shadow so that they fit the area that you want it to match.

If you scale a text layer in "Special Mode" it won't be really scaled, but only virtual. The effects are calculated for the real size. Use "Layer/Fix Layer" to get a "Real Size" from a "Virtual Size".

Gerhard

[DJJohnson]

"Fit Text" is intended to write text into a border. For example, you create a vector layer, then press "Fit Text". It will create a text layer that is the same size as the vector layer is and the text will be shown centered in the text layer.
"Optimize Text Layer Size" will decrease the size of a text layer, if possible, to the minimum size.

Thanks! I finally got the hang of the difference. It took your explanation and trying a few things to see how it works. I realized after I posted that, that it wasn't a bug. Just my inability to figure it out.

If you scale a text layer in "Special Mode" it won't be really scaled, but only virtual. The effects are calculated for the real size. Use "Layer/Fix Layer" to get a "Real Size" from a "Virtual Size".

Again, thanks for pointing this out, and how they work. That makes it clearer to me. I made a small text layer and put a drop-shadow behind it, then used "Scale Special" to enlarge it, I saw the usual banding and low-resolution text (the virtual layer enlarged). Then I selected Layer/Fix Layer and it smoothed it all out, but the text was all blurry. So I checked the help file to read up more on the "Fix Layer" command, and read where if you hold the shift key when using "Fix Layer" then it calculates it differently. So I tried that and IT WORKS! The text was now larger, nice and clear, and so was the shadow.

It's going to take un-learning some old thinking from previous editors I've used and re-learning to use your tools properly, but I feel it's going to be well worth it.

Just for fun, I tried installing the program on a memory-card for my camera to see how well that works. Hooking up my camera to the computer with a USB cable. I was able to run the program right from my camera! I can't think of a more compact and portable solution for the photographer on-the-go. I can just borrow a computer at the library or wherever, and do all my editing while traveling.

What a wonderful feature!

Like someone else said, you deserve some kind of award for this software. If more pro-photographers knew they could carry their whole graphic editor in a little stick in their camera-bag, PL32 would be the hit of the photo-journalist community. I'll try to help spread the word.