Photoline 16.50

The list of improvements, extensions, additions and - of course - corrections has become quite long. In order to keep this text short we are concentrating here on the highlights and most important details.

A lot of effort has been put in enhancing the user interface. Many things should work now more inituitively. Additionally the speed and quality of many functions have been improved.

Enhancements

Convert With Color Profile

This function is used to convert the color space of images or colors. A common example is the conversion of RGB images to CMYK. A new feature of this function is the ability to convert groups, pages or the whole document in a single step.

Convert With Color Profile

Touchpad, Mac OS X

PhotoLine is now supporting the touchpad on Mac OS X:

  • The zoom gesture allows to modify the zoom in documents and controls.
  • The rotate gesture can rotate documents in 90° steps. Aside from that some tools use it in a custom way.
  • The swipe gestures can be used as shortcuts. The swipe shortcuts can be used in combination with Shift, Ctrl, Alt and Cmd, too.

Full Screen Mode, Mac OS X

On Mac OS X (10.6 or better) document can now be viewed and edited in full screen mode. This function is accessible in the menu with View/Full Screen Mode.

Layer Tool, Distort Perspectively

If you were clicking and dragging a layer handle while holding the Ctrl key (Windows) or the Command key (Mac OS X), you could distort a layer perspectively. This is an old feature. Pressing Shift while dragging allowed you to distort the corresponding corner simultaneously. This is old, too. Now you can additionally press Alt+Shift in order to move the dragged corner along a line.

Layer Tool, Distort Perspectively

Crop Tool

You can now use the crop tool to rotate an image, correct its perspective and crop it in a single step.

Crop Tool

QR-Code

The Barcode function could already create QR Codes, but now it is supporting directly the creation of QR Codes containing SMS and vCard information.

QR Code

Adjustment Layer Palette

Commonly used adjustment layers can now be saved as presets.

Adjustment Layer Palette

Web Export With Clipboard Support

The Web Export can now put the result on the clipboard. This way you no longer need to save an intermediate file.

You can also directly attach a sRGB color profile in order to create a well-defined web file.

Furthermore the preview pictures are calculated in the background. So the operation of the dialog is smoother.

Filter Dialogs

The best way to work with the filter dialogs is to hide the embedded preview. This way the document window is the preview.

Now you can use the shortcuts for Zoom In, Zoom Out, Full View, View 100% and Mark Extreme Values while working with a filter.

Protect Underlying Transparency

Optionally layers no longer modify the transparency created by the previous layers.

Protect Underlying Transparency Protect Underlying Transparency

Tools Brighter and Darker

The tools Brighter and Darker can now work in the ranges shadows, midtones and lights.

Tools Brighter and Darker

Select Colors

The dialog shows now a list of all selected color ranges. These allows editing or removing a single range afterwards.

Select Colors

Rotate Layer

Layers can now be rotated from -180° to 180°. The rotation will always be clockwise.

Rotate Layer

Minor Enhancements

  • Several dialogs have been simplified and the handling is now more consistent.
  • Better processing of raw files.
  • ICC profiles are now forwarded to plug-ins.
  • The plug-in support is now much better.
  • The calculation of color palettes (Reduce Colors) has been enhanced.
  • Extended context menu: in combination with the keys Shift and Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS X) you get different context menus offering different options.
  • Calendars can now import special days from a CSV file.
  • Better PDF import and export: PhotoLine can be used as a simple PDF editor.

New in Version 16.00

Image Processing

The Adjustment Layer Palette

The Adjustment Layer palette is a new way for managing adjustment layers. All possible operations are unified in a single dialog:

  • You can create new adjustment layers.
  • You can assign additional adjustments to a layer. This means a layer can have more than one adjustment.
  • Adjustments can be removed.
  • The settings of the adjustments can be edited in-place.
Adjustment Layer Palette

The Adjustment Layer palette is in the menu at View/Palettes.

The Liquify Tool

The Liquify tool can be used to distort a picture by painting. You can use this tool to convert a photo to a caricature or to correct facial expressions.
> In PhotoLine Liquify is a lossless tool. If you are using it for the first time with an image, a new layer will be created gathering all the distortions. The original image will not be modified. This way you can enhance your modifications later if needed.
The Liquify tool can be found in the tool bar "beneath" the stamp tool:

Liquify Tool Liquify Tool 2

The Color Filter

The Color Filter controls the visibility of a layer on a per pixel base. The visibility can depend on the colors of the layer itself and on the colors in the background.

Color Filter

The Color Filter is in the menu at Layer/Display and in the context menu of the Layers panel.

Grain

Grain simulates film grain known from analogue photography.
By doing this uniform parts of an image are looking livelier. Blocky gradients can be enhanced, too.

Grain

Grain can be used as adjustment layer, too. It is in the menu at Filter/Quality.

Rasterize Image

Rasterize Image will create an effect similar to the halftone screening of newspapers or magazines.
Rasterize Image has several color modes:

  • Image Mode
    Every channel of the source image is rasterized. If the source image is in Lab color space, the channels L, a and b will be rasterized.
  • Gray
    The image will internally be converted to gray, and the gray channel will be rasterized.
  • RGB
    The image will internally be converted to RGB, and the channels R, G and B will be rasterized.
  • CMYK
    The image will internally be converted to CMYK, and the channels C, M, Y and K will be rasterized.
Rasterize Image

Rasterize Image can be used as adjustment layer, too. It is in the menu at Effects/Special Tools.

Maximum Round

Maximum Round is replacing - similar to the Maximum filter - every pixel with its neighbour having the highest gray or color value. The size of the neighbourhood is controlled by the filter size. The examined are is circular.
Maximum Round produces a result similar to the Bokeh effect known from photography.

Maximum Round

Maximum Round can be used as adjustment layer, too. It is in the menu at Filter/Other.

Paint Tool

  • Brush Size
    The brush size can now be adjusted quickly by holding the Ctrl key (Windows) or the Command key (Mac OS X) and dragging with the mouse.
  • Mouse Smoothing
    The mouse movements are now smoothed while drawing in order to avoid jaggy lines.

Better User Interface

Palettes

  • Context Menu
    The title bars of palettes are now offering a direct access to the context menu of these palettes.
  • List Palettes
    All list palettes are now supporting copy and paste. Furthermore multiple selections are supported in order to delete several entries in a single operation.
  • Color And Brush List
    The Color and the Brush List can now manage several separate lists.

Font Replacement List

PDF and PSD files can contain formatted text. If a font, that is not installed on the computer, is used in this text, PhotoLine is asking for a replacement font. Each font replacement is stored internally, so that PhotoLine doesn't have to ask once more for the same font.
With Font Replacement the current replacement list can be viewed and edited..

Font Replacement List

The Font Replacement List is in the options dialog under the topic Extended.

Mac OS X: Context Help

On Mac OS X there is now the menu entry Context Help. It can be used to show the help corresponding to an user interface object. On keyboards with a Help key, this key can be used, too.

Miscellaneous

Morph Marked Vector Layers

Morph Marked Vector Layers is used to create transitional steps for 2 marked vector layers. The number of steps is adjustable:

Morph Marked Vector Layers Dialog

Aside from the shape the following properties are blended, too:

  • the fill and the line color
  • the line width
  • the layer intensity
Morph Marked Vector Layers 2

Morph Marked Vector Layers is a dynamic effect. This means, that the marked layers are not modified and can be edited afterwards like before. The transitional steps are recalculated automatically after each modification. The number of steps can be edited afterwards, too.
Morph Marked Vector Layers is in the menu at Layout/Vector.

QR-Code

PhotoLine's built-in barcode function can now create QR Codes.

QR-Code

The barcode function is in the menu at Layout.

Fit in Vector Layer

Fit in Vector Layer will create a new rectangular vector layer having the size and position of the active layer. The fill color will be the foreground color and the line color will be transparent.
This function is useful for various tasks, for example:

  • For lossless image processing you can assign an adjustment to the vector layer making it an adjustment layer.
  • You can use the rectangle for coloring the background of a text layer.

Fit in Vector Layer is in the menu at Layout/Vector.

Ghostscript Import

PhotoLine can only read simple EPS files, Postscript files are not supported.
In order to enhance its import capabilities PhotoLine can utilize Ghostscript.
On Windows you have to copy the Ghostscript DLL into PhotoLine's Hlp directory. The 32-bit version of the DLL must be named gsdll32.dll and the 64-bit version gsdll64.dll.
On Mac OS X you have to copy Ghostscript.framework to /Library/Frameworks.

Mac OS X: Scanning With Image Capture

Until now on Mac OS X PhotoLine could only scan using the TWAIN interface. As most scanners don't have a 64-bit TWAIN driver, PhotoLine had to be started as 32-bit application for scanning.
But now PhotoLine can use the Image Capture interface for scanning with Mac OS X 10.6 or better allowing scanning in 64-bit.
The function is in the menu at File/Import.

Minor Enhancements

  • PNG Export
    The PNG export is now able to export images with an indexed palette and partial transparency.
  • Painting
    The paint tool is now working more precisely.
  • Browse
    Many operations of the Browse panel are now showing a progress bar.
  • Gradient Editor
    The context menu of the gradient editor inside a document offers now a function to revert the order of the colors.
  • Virtual Copies
    Virtual copies can now have adjustment layers as children.
  • Vector editing
    The vector points are now optionally aligned to the guide lines.
  • Layers/Channels Palette
    The sub-dialog Channels has now a new function: Channel to Layer.
  • Layers/Channels Palette
    In the sub-dialog Layers the context menu of a thumbnail allows to modifies its size.
  • Dialog Preview
    If "Mark Extreme Values" is activated while holding Shift, the dialog preview will be operating in difference mode and will be showing the differences between the resulting and the original image.
  • Correction Wizard
    The dialog of the Correction Wizard is now collapsable.
    Correction Wizard

    Furthermore it now contains a light/shadow correction, too.
    Correction Wizard Light/Shadow
  • Support Of Graphic Tablets
    The settings for graphic tablets can now be modified in the Tool Settings.
    Support Of Graphic Tablets
  • PDF Import
    PhotoLine can now import 16 bit images and images with full transparency.
  • PDF Im- And Export
    PhotoLine can now import and export ligatures.
  • PSD Import
    The PSD import has been enhanced especially on reading layer styles and adjustment layers.
  • Text Tool
    If the active layer isn't a text layer, it can be deleted with Edit/Delete - just the same as with the layer tool.
  • And last but not least there are a lot of performance optimizations and small enhancements in the user interface.


What was new in:
Version 15
Version 14
Version 13
Version 12
Version 11
Version 10
Version 9

Detailled list of changes in forum