Sunday, August 16, 2015

FotoSketcher 3.20 alpha 5 - for testing purposes

Hi all,

If you like to be on the bleeding edge, here is an early version of FotoSketcher 3.20: http://www.fotosketcher.com/FotoSketcher_3.20_alpha5.exe

I have tried to improve compatibility with Windows 10 and reduce occasional window flickering. There is also a new preview window next to the drop down list of effects as shown here:
I have also optimized Pencil Sketch 1, which can now process larger images than before without giving an out of memory error (I have successfully tested on a 7000x4000 pixels image).

I have tested this version on a Windows 10 PC and on a Windows 7 virtual machine, so I would be grateful if you could let me know if you encounter any bugs on your PC.

As a small bonus, here is a script file: http://www.fotosketcher.com/Painting9and10.zip. Unzip the file and open it in FotoSketcher's script window (F5). This is the output (source: Wikimedia commons):


All the best,

David


15 comments:

Mark Trusz said...

David, I have no problems (so far) with Windows 10 and 3.20. Painting 10 (brushstrokes) still takes some time to process, but overall it's all good. Very Good! Kepp up the good work!

David said...

Hi Mark,

Thanks a lot for your feedback. Glad that you haven't hit any bug yet :-)

Cheers,

David

Peter, BC said...

Hello David,

First, the idea of having a small thumbnail to preview the effects are absolutely wonderful!

Now, I tried v3.20, and I used the included script on a small photo (1200x675). I went on to do something else on my computer (by using Alt-Tab), and when I came back (Alt-Tab again), suddenly my whole screen was filled up with the modified image, and I couldn't minimize it or shut it off. I tried all keys, but after doing something (maybe Esc, don't remember), I got the software back, but with the following error message:

Violation d'accès à l'adresse 00534C03 dans le module 'FotoSketcher_3.20_alpha2.exe'. Lecture de l'adresse 00000278.

I didn't try to repeat it, yet.

Peter

Casey said...

Sorry, mate... it's borked on Win 7 x64.

Painting 1 works on a 1920 x ? image (possibly smaller as well, I didn't try smaller).

On a 2400 (roughly) image it produces nothing but hash horizontal lines.

- http://i.imgbox.com/17j8nMZ6.jpg

On a larger image it moves the image up and left and fills the rest of the canvas with white.

- http://i.imgbox.com/dibeT4KR.jpg

Also to note - that pop up guide to the effect (pretty cool!) also shows the same thing - the picture of the parrot is top left with a grey surround bottom and right hand sides.
It's not, for me, as you show it in your picture in the news section.

So far, the other styles seem to be OK though.

Andrew Finnie said...

Thanks!! I love your work.

David said...

@Peter and Casey: Thank you very much for testing and helping me make FotoSketcher more stable. It's back to debugging for me! Concerning Pencil Sketch 1, I might have to revert to my previous code. I have a older PC with Windows 7, so I'll fire it up and test on it.
@Andrew: Thanks a lot :-)

raindropm said...

Thanks for another update of this great software! It's keep getting better and better. :) The Painting 10 effect is awesome!

Do you think the watercolor effect in Fotosketcher will, one day, rivaled the effect from Waterlogue app?(as much as I love FotoSketcher, that app's effect is insanely natural)
Well, I bet you can do it. Cheers!

David said...

@raindropm: Thank you very much for your comment. I'm glad that you like the Painting 10 effect. Combined with Painting 9, it can give nice results. As for Waterlogue, I have seen some example images and I must say that the results look fantastic! It gives me another incentive to continue improving FotoSketcher ;-)
@Casey: I believe I have now solved the problem with Pencil Sketch 1. I had tried using some faster code for rotating a bitmap, but unfortunately I was using the SetWorldTransform and BitBlt Windows API functions and apparently there is a devious bug when the rotated image is too large. I have now reverted to a more conventional approach and although it is slower, it seems much more robust.

David said...

@Peter: I have also made some changes to the way the windows behave. Could you check again (alpha 4 at this time) when you have a minute?

Casey said...

First test shows the little demo pop-up of the styles still has the same "up and left" problem (the parrot has a right and bottom border of grey).

(la la la la la - just waiting for FS to Paint10 a huge image... Haha)

I'm baaaa-aaack!

http://i.imgbox.com/zExfP4n8.jpg

P10 is working now for big images - did you forget to redo the code for the pop-up?
I only ask becasue P10 IS good now but the little demo pop-ups are still borked.

An aside - I have sympathy for programmers, it must be a bitch to put all that effort in and find it's flaky..

Peter, BC said...


Bonjour David,

So far, the alpha 4 version seems to work fine. Here are some comments:

- When painting 10 is used with a medium size image (3840x2160) it takes exactly 3 min. 30 sec. to complete. That effect is the longest of all, from what I recall.

- When I use Painting 9 effect, I have to push the cursor "Darken/Lighten" all the way to the left (0), otherwise the image is much too bright. In fact, the "0" should be the middle point (128).

- Whenever I use the Drawing Parameters by itself, or in conjunction with the Script box, they always remain "On top" of all other screens. So, if I "Alt-Tab" to switch to another opened screen, like the browser, both boxes will remain on top. This is annoying since I have to go back and minimize them, or if an effect is launched, I can't minimize them, and I have to slide the box in an onubtrusive corner of my monitor screen, until the effect has completed its work.

- Got an error while using "Source Image Modifications": Impossible de changer Visible dans OnShow ou OnHide.
which then brought up another error: Impossible de focaliser une fenêtre désactivée ou invisible.

- The script box cannot accept "Modify Source Image" settings, yet I've never tried it before, maybe it's normal.

I didn't do a "stress test" of alpha 4, yet I think, as we say in French, you have "du pain sur la planche !" (bread on the table - for all others!)

Cheers!

Casey said...

Peter is right about that darken lighten thing on P9.

It's set at default 10 and anything higher is just WAAAAAY too light.

I can't replicate the error with the modify source image, I'll try a bigger image.

Painting10 has always been a long process - I think becasue of the way it works... it seems to segregate the image then create brushes from the image itself, from those segments. It's a bloody brilliant style, worth the wait almost every time!

OK... found a 70 megapixel image and the modify source thing works fine here.

(Ps, just to remind - Win 7 x64, 8G ram, i7 cpu, laptop)

PS - I REALLY REALLY HATE this "select all the street signs" capture thing - it takes a dozen goes to verify properly!

I always go to that read-out numbers thing, SO much easier!

David said...

Hi Peter and Casey,
I think I have now solved the pop-up window problem. I successfully reproduced the issue (by changing the size of Windows fonts to 150%). It should now work properly (alpha 5).
I have also slightly tweaked the painting 9 Darken/Lighten sensitivity. As for the "stay on top" windows, that is a compromise to make sure that the drawing parameters always stay over the main FotoSketcher window in all versions of Windows (from XP to 10). I have made some changes there too.
And finally, the "modify image source" settings are indeed not included in the script language (might add that one day).
If all works reasonably correctly, I'll move alpha 5 to beta status.
Cheers and thanks again for your help,
David

Casey said...

Yep, (beta) all working fine here. Handy little thing, that pop-up-parrot, visual reminder of what each style does.

I'm sorry - I should have told you I use larger fonts, (17" laptop screen and 1920 x 1080 and poor eyes = need big fonts); I'd forgotten all about it to be honest.



I'm not 100% sure that modify source would work in a script - virtually all pictures will need unique modifications.
Still, it might be handy for a small change like saturation +10

Thanks, mate!

David said...

Hi Casey,

Thanks for your feedback. I will probably release v3.20 soon. Once FotoSketcher is stabilised for all flavors of Windows I will finally be able to get back to the fun part: creating a brand new effect!

Cheers,

David