Hi everyone,
I'm very happy to announce the release of the FotoSketcher 4.0 Release Candidate. After months of development, bug fixing (a lot!) and refinements, I feel this version is solid enough to share widely before the official 4.0 launch.
For the very first time, FotoSketcher runs natively on MacOS - on both Apple Silicon (M1 to M5) and Intel-based Macs.
Whether you're on a recent M-chip Mac or a slightly older Intel machine, there is now a native version of FotoSketcher built for you. Windows users are of course not forgotten - FotoSketcher 4.0 RC is also available for Windows (64-bit), better than ever.
Download
- Windows: https://fotosketcher.com/beta/FotoSketcher_4.0_RC.zip
- macOS (Apple Silicon - M1 to M5): https://fotosketcher.com/beta/FotoSketcher_4.0_RC_Apple.zip
- macOS (Intel): https://fotosketcher.com/beta/FotoSketcher_4.0_RC_Intel.zip
These are portable versions - no installer needed. For Windows, extract the zip and double-click
FotoSketcher.exe. For macOS, unzip, drag to your Applications folder (or run directly). If macOS warns that "the developer cannot be verified," just right-click the app icon, choose Open, and confirm.
14 artistic effects
FotoSketcher 4.0 RC ships with a full set of 14 effects, spanning pencil sketches, drawing effects, painting styles and photo filters:
Pencil Sketch
- Pencil Sketch 1 - classic edge-based pencil sketch with adjustable contrast and color tint
- Pencil Sketch 2 - stroke-based rendering with variable stroke size and density
- Pencil Sketch 3 - dynamic pencil effect using iterative directional strokes
Pen & Ink / Drawing
- Black & White - dramatic high-contrast ink rendering with tonal simplification
- Stippling - B&W stipple/dithering effect using the Atkinson algorithm
- Felt-tip pen - mimics the look of bold marker strokes
Painting
- Watercolor - smooth, flowing watercolor effect built on spoke-based rendering
- Oil Pastel - oil pastel brushwork using custom brush shapes
- Watercolor splashes - loose, expressive watercolor with directional splashing strokes
- Impasto brushstrokes - thick, textured paint with heavy impasto-style brushwork
- Smooth painting - soft, blended painting style, well suited to portraits and landscapes
- Stochastic Painting - a new effect with varied, randomised brushstrokes
Photo Filters
- Dream glow - the classic Orton soft-glow effect for a dreamy atmosphere
- Adjustments - vibrance, sharpness and structure enhancement for your image
All the other features
Beyond the effects themselves, FotoSketcher 4.0 includes a range of tools for creative control:
Manual Brush - paint any effect selectively onto your image using a brush, just as in the classic Windows version. Adjust brush size, softness and opacity, and apply any of the 14 effects only where you want them. This makes it straightforward to combine multiple effects on the same image.
Image History & Blending - a history gallery at the bottom of the screen lets you browse all your previous results. You can also select two images from the gallery and blend them together to create composite effects.
Crop & Rotate - straightforward tools to compose your image before or after applying an effect.
Preview with Zoom - a live preview of the selected effect, with the ability to zoom in and inspect fine details before committing to the full render.
Text Tool - add custom text anywhere on your image, with font, size and style options, and drag it into position.
Frames - a selection of ready-made frames to finish your artwork, including the brushstrokes frame. You can also load your own custom frames.
Textures - apply a texture overlay to give your image the feel of canvas, paper, or any other surface.
Custom Brushes - for the painting effects, you can load your own brush shapes (transparent PNG files, or brushes converted from Photoshop .abr files) to change the character of the painted output.
Combine Images - blend two images from your history together with adjustable opacity for layered composite artwork.
Split View - see the source photo and the result side by side for a before/after comparison.
Save, Load and Reset Parameters - your effect settings can be saved and reloaded at any time, so you can keep your favourite configurations for future use.
Drag & Drop - drag an image file straight into FotoSketcher to open it.
Use Result as Source (F12) - chain effects together by feeding the output of one effect back in as the new source. Combined with the manual brush, this opens up some interesting creative possibilities.
Printing support - print your artwork directly from FotoSketcher.
Alpha channel / Transparency - most effects preserve transparency, making it easy to composite your artwork on other backgrounds.
A word about this Release Candidate
As with any RC, there may still be a few rough edges. That said, I've been doing a lot of testing and I'm happy with the stability of this version. I plan to move to the official 4.0 release shortly - but your feedback over the next few days will be valuable in catching anything I may have missed.
Thank you to everyone who tested the Alpha, Beta 1 and Beta 2 versions and took the time to send in reports and suggestions. It really did help shape this release.
I hope you enjoy it - and as always, FotoSketcher is 100% free.
Happy FotoSketching,
David
