Saturday, March 20, 2010

FotoSketcher 1.96 officially released

Hi all,

After lots of testing (thanks to the 200+ users who were brave enough to try the beta version) FotoSketcher 1.96 is now officially released.
As usual, you can download it from http://www.fotosketcher.com/

So, what's new?
  • First and foremost, the new Painting 7 effect, which uses an algorithm to automatically place various size and shape brushstrokes on the canvas. There are now 35 different brushstrokes used in this filter. Beware, the algorithm is greedy and the filter can take a long time to finish, especially on large images. Still, I think the result is worth the wait. Oh, and it's fun to watch FotoSketcher paint for you.
  • Due to the computer-intensiveness of the new effect, I've had to add a progress bar to the preview. Also, when clicking on the Draw it! button, it sometimes takes a second or two before processing starts.
  • At any time you can interrupt the running process.
  • At the request of many users, I've added the possibility to open PNG files, as well as JPG and BMP. Sorry, no saving in PNG format yet.
  • If you wish to save in uncompressed format (if JPG produces too many artefacts for you) you now have the ability to save in BMP format (large file sizes).
Here's an example of the new effect:

Original photo (credit www.sxc.hu):


FotoSketcher painting (click on image to enlarge):


Parameters used:


Have fun with FotoSketcher!

Best regards,

David

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Merci beaucoup David pour la nouvelle mouture !
J'attends maintenant l'effet "Impasto" avec impatience ;-)

Pierre, Colombie-Britannique, Canada

David said...

Bonjour Pierre,

Merci ! Pour l'effet Impasto... j'y travaille ;-)

Unknown said...

Hi David,

Thank you for sharing your continued improvments to Fotosketcher!

I currently have Fotosketcher 1.9 installed. Should I uninstall that first and then install 1.96, or is there a better way to upgrade to 1.96 from 1.9?

Thanks again,

paul

Mark E said...

I am really floored by the quality of your efforts. I'm a PhotoPaint user and hands down, your effects makes theirs pale. Frankly, I still use Micrografix 7 because of the superior effects over Corel. Between the two, I seem to get what I want...until now. Lots of work to do, learning, with your outstanding product. Cups of coffee coming your way. Really unbelievable that you offer it for free. My hat's off to you!

David said...

To Paul and Mark: Thanks for your comments and your praise. :-)
Paul, there is no need to uninstall 1.9. When you install 1.96 it will automatically replace the older version.

Unknown said...

Thanks David! I installed Fotosketcher 1.96 today and wow what a great job you have done!Thank you again for sharing this with us. I haven't experimented to much with Fotosketcher previously but I know I will now!

Thanks again,

paul

David said...

Thanks Paul!

Juan said...

Great work, very good and easy to use software.

Congratulations from Spain.

David said...

Muchas gracias, Juan !

EagerReader said...

Amazing. I use Picassa and even PhotoShop, but your effects stand up to everything out there. They are easy to use, plenty fast, very varied and just outstanding in every way. It's an amazing program and thanks for making the portable version! I look forward to testing some beta versions in the future. You've earned a permanent place on my computer!

David said...

Thank you EagerReader! I'm currently working on a complete rewrite of FotoSketcher so it may be a while before I have a working beta version. I'll let you know on this blog when an early alpha of the brand new FotoSketcher is ready.