Update Available - Version 8.0.17

[jsachs]

An update is available to Version 8.0.17 (29-Nov-2019)

The changes (taken from the update log) are:

Wave transformation: fixed problem of dpi setting being set to zero in its command line.

Added support for reading (but not writing) HEIF/HEIC files (new iPhone image format). This requires a codec that is included with Windows 10 since version 1803, so it may not work with older versions of Windows although you can download “HEIF Image Extensions” from the Windows Store. I noticed one of the HEIC sample images I found on the web comes in upside down, but it looks like it was photographed that way.

Fixed problem with tool tips cut off at the edge of the parent window.

Crop: added a button to set the crop box to match current view of the input image, reflecting zooming and scrolling.

Save Workspace Script with Image Names: this command now names the image copies it saves along with the script with filenames that reflect the original filename of the image, if any. If there is no original filename (e.g. if the original file was the result of a Paste command), images are simply numbered as before. If there is an original filename, the copy is named “copy of(original filename).tif”, so you can tell where it came from.

[priort]

Thanks for the crop add. I have a question about scripts....So I am using Faststone Image viewer as my file management tool with Picture Window for edits . It is great for review/previews across my directories...I use PW as an external editor from within...My question is related to scripts in this work flow I scan pics and select in FS image viewer ...hit Ctrl E for external editor and it opens PW, so I have PW open with a file load when I call it from within FS image viewer. If i want to apply a script there is the file open component so I can't simply apply the script to an already open file. Is there a way to do this and if not would there not be some merit....The current one supposes that you choose the script first and then open the file rather than open a file and then decide what script you might like to run to perform edits...so I guess to summarize if there was a way to have a script I would guess "without image names" run and prompt you to open a new file or use the current one that might be quite useful and further expand the already great script system...if I am missing something or this is unclear let me know....Kind of like being able to apply a sidecar to a current image...

[jsachs]

I have been thinking about the best way to turn a script into a sort of subroutine you could import into an existing image tree at a specific point, such as right after a file open. I'm still at the conceptual stage on this.

One idea is to create a script with one file open marked somehow as the "input". Then, using a new Script/Insert Workspace Script would insert the script, starting at the marked input, right after by the current image. I keep thinking there must be a cleaner way to implement this and that it could be very powerful if done right. It would also be nice to allow multiple inputs if there was some way to do this simply. I would also like to allow the insert scripts to load their own files so, for example, you could create a script to watermark an image with a specific watermark image and mask.

[jimbhicks]

You say for version 8.0.17:

Crop: added a button to set the crop box to match current view of the input image, reflecting zooming and scrolling.

But for the life of me I cannot find this button! I am using version 8.0.17. I have read the help for the crop transformation and the latest transformation document and I see no mention of this feature. And, of course, I don't see the button in the crop dialogue window.

I fear I am missing something obvious here but I need help!

[jsachs]

It should be in the upper right corner of the dialog box.

[priort]

Thanks Jonathan for your reply to the script question. I had not even thought about it in that level of complexity. Because there is no image browser per se in PW I use Faststone Image viewer. I can scroll the previews and select an image and then PW is configured as and external editor. So Ctl E opens PW with the image open. This is where my problem begins....I would love to apply a script to that image so in essence apply a script that was saved without image names but deleting the file open requirement. I have to go now to open script and it wants me to go and find the file to reopen it....That is the catch...if I could apply the script to the selected image just by opening it..then I hit save back, close PW and i am back in the browser...next image and so forth...obviously this is going image by image and if I had several images I would use PW as you have established a batch mode but for selective application of scripts the file open inserts a step that gets in the way. I wonder if you could just have scripts that were applied to the selected image at any point in the process and if the result was unintended the users could just undo...maybe they could be inserted in yellow banner the way you use the green one and then after pasting or applying it could be accept or cancel so basically you could develop a set of scripts as a user to add certain edits and apply them in an ad hoc basis to the image tree....just have them come in conditionally so the user can take a quick look at the result and back out if its is not what they want.....just talking off the top of my head......

[jsachs]

There is something you can do now that more or less deals with the scenario you are describing.

First set up a workspace to process a sample image and then double click on the File Open (the topmost image in the branch).

Next, drag and drop one or more files from FastStone to the main image area, and their names will be appended to the File Open file list.

To process a file in the list, click to the left of its name to move the red dot down to the file you want to process next and then click OK. The file will be loaded and the workspace recalculates. You can then save a result image, and then double click on File Open again and select another image.

Admittedly kind of awkward, but better than having to navigate to each file.

[Charles2]

Scripts as subroutines -- Another instance of its use: I sometimes like to see how an image looks if I apply a chiaroscuro effect. I have the effect saved as a script without image name. Currently, I save the image, then open the script and start from the saved file. But if I like it, what is a convenient way to concatenate the chiaroscuro series of transformations onto the end of the work up to that point?

Could the menu opened by right-click on images in the image browser be the point to insert the script actions?

[jsachs]

While I am still trying to design a better way, here is how you can do it now...

Create the workspace file:

1) Create the chiaroscuro effect workspace starting with a Copy transformation instead of a File Open.

Currently, you need to have an image open before you can create a Copy transformation, but I am fixing that for the next release. Also, it will generate a dummy checkerboard image if its input has not been assigned yet.

What you need to do for now is open a file and immediately create a Copy that references the open file. Then close the File Open just before you save the workspace in the next step.

2) Save the workspace script.

Apply the workspace file:

3) When you open the workspace script (without closing all the images), it will be added as a new top-level branch.
4) Double-click on the Copy transformation and select the image you want to apply the effect to.
5) You can now save the combined workspace.

[priort]

Thanks for the suggestions Jonathan, I'll give it a try....