FotoSketcher 3.30 officially released

Hi all,

The new version of FotoSketcher (v 3.30) is now available. As usual, you can head over to http://fotosketcher.com/download-fotosketcher/ to download either the full (with setup) or portable 32bit versions.
If have a 64bit bit version of Windows, I encourage you to use the 64bit versions of FotoSketcher, available from the official mirror website here: https://www.fosshub.com/FotoSketcher.html

You will find a list of the new features in my previous post: http://fotosketcher.blogspot.fr/2017/01/beta-version-of-fotosketcher-330.html

I hope you will have fun experimenting with FotoSketcher :) Be creative!

All the best,

David

Screenshots of FotoSketcher 3.30:

 drag the red line with your mouse to stop any effect at x%

 when opening a source image, click in the top right corner for a large preview

in painting 10, load custom brushes (in transparent .png format)

you can also double the size of the brushstrokes (check the x2 tick box)

 if you press the END key on your keyboard, you can toggle long filenames ON or OFF

 with long filenames ON, the effect used and associated parameters will be saved in the filename

 obligatory cute red panda :)

Beta version of FotoSketcher 3.30 available

Hi all,

A stable beta version of FotoSketcher 3.30 is now available for download here: http://www.fotosketcher.com/FotoSketcher_3.30_beta1.zip version 3.30 is now officially released


Just download anywhere on your PC, unzip the file and run!

Here are the new features in v3.30:
- user interface improvements:
         . cleaner splash screen
         . better window management (when the application is maximized)
         . new simpler panel backgrounds
         . more legible text for high dpi screens
         . skinned dialog windows

- new draggable cursor to interrupt an effect at x% (useful for some effects where the result can be interesting before reaching 100%)
- possibility to load your own brushes for Painting 10 (in transparent .png format) and render with twice larger brushstrokes
- new abstract effect (great for desktop wallpapers or phone and tablet backgrounds)

- option to save the effect number and parameters used in the filename (e.g. "FotoSketcher_Image1_Painting10 (brushtrokes)_50_50_50_130_130_130.png". To enable this function, either manually edit the fotosketcher.ini file (change the last line from False to True) or while in FotoSketcher, press the 'END' key.


After extensive testing, I believe this beta version to be stable, but I welcome your feedback, should you find any bug.

Have fun :)

best regards,

David

Upcoming features in FotoSketcher 3.30 for Windows

Hi all,

I'm currently putting the finishing touches to a new release of FotoSketcher for Windows (version 3.30).

Here are some of the new features you can expect to find in v3.30:

• user interface improvements:
• new splash screen
• better window management (when the application is maximized)
• new panel backgrounds
• more legible text for high dpi screens
• skinned dialog windows

• new draggable cursor to interrupt an effect at x% (useful for some effects where the result can be interesting before reaching 100%)
• possibility to load your own brushes for Painting 10 (in transparent .png format) and render with larger brushstrokes (warning... slow!)
• new abstract effect
• option to save the effect number and parameters used in the filename (e.g. "FotoSketcher_Image1_Painting10 (brushtrokes)_50_50_50_130_130_130.png"

I'll post a beta version for you to play with as soon as possible :)

All the best,

David

Best wishes for 2017!

Dear FotoSketcher users,

I wish you all a very Happy New Year :)

Best regards,

David

New Patreon page to support the development of FotoSketcher

Hi all,

I've just launched a Patreon page to allow people to financially support the development of FotoSketcher: https://www.patreon.com/FotoSketcher

Of course this is entirely optional. FotoSketcher remains 100% free, even for commercial use.

As I recently shelled out over €1000 for my development setup, I thought I might try out Patreon as a revenue source.

Some users have also made donations via PayPal (https://www.paypal.me/FotoSketcher) and I take the opportunity of this post to say a big thank you! Many a cup of coffee was bought thanks to these donations :)

All the very best,

David

Nouveau tutoriel FotoSketcher en français - new FotoSketcher tutorial in French

Hi all,

This post is exclusively for our French speaking users, sorry ;)

Bonjour à tous,

La formatrice Clarisse RENARD (https://www.facebook.com/CRFormations/ et https://twitter.com/CrFormations) a créé un excellent tutoriel vidéo en 3 parties sur FotoSketcher 3.20.

Voici le lien vers la première partie.

Bonne formation !

David

FotoSketcher for Android - new test app available

Hi all,

If you like to be on the bleeding edge and have an Android device (phone or tablet), here is a new .apk file for you to play with (you will need to allow your Android device to allow untrusted applications to be installed, so it's for advanced users only) : FotoSketcher.apk

You can take photos, open images from your picture gallery, apply different parameters and save the resulting "painting". To open the parameters menu (and run the effect), tap on the menu icon in the top right corner of the screen.

The available effect is very much a work in progress and is far from being finalised.

BTW, you might still encounter "application not responding" error messages, but hopefully they should be rare.

Have fun!

David

FotoSketcher for Android - progress report *** update: Android test app available ***

Hi all,

As promised, here is a quick update on the FotoSketcher for Android proof of concept. I have started experimenting with direct pixel access (which is needed for my algorithms) and as a testbed I have ported part of the Painting 9 algorithm.

Here is a screenshot of the work in progress (obviously the interface will be improved!):

On my 3 year old development PC, the process takes about 4 seconds to produce the 1024 x 681 pixels picture. On a Galaxy S6 Edge, the same process takes about 1 minute and 35 seconds. This means that I will need to optimize quite a bit (if possible) and that processing large images will take a long time...

Hey, at least it works ;)

Best regards,

David

06/06/16 update: you can download (at your own risk!) an Android executable here

You will need to allow your Android device to allow untrusted applications to be installed, so it's for advanced users only.

Just load or take a picture using the bottom buttons and then click on the FotoSketcher logo in the top left corner to launch the effect.

This is a proof of concept, which allows you to take pictures or load them from your image gallery and turn them into watercolors. 
You can also save the result in the image gallery.
At this time, it os not possible to modify the effect parameters (it will look good on some images, not so much on others). 

Don't hesitate to let me know if it works for you or if you encounter any problems.  

www.fotosketcher.com new responsive website

Hi all,

I have finally updated the FotoSketcher website to be responsive, with the help of my friend Martin (thanks, Martin!).

More and more users now surf from phones or tablets and the old website was no longer adapted. This is also relevant as I am currently porting FotoSketcher to the Android platform.

So far, FotoSketcher on Android can :

• take photos with the phone camera
• open existing photos from the image gallery
• zoom in or out on the photo
• apply simple image filters (sharpen, Gaussian blur, contrast and brightness)
• apply a simple pencil sketch effect

As you can see, there's still a lot of work to do :)

I'll keep you posted and for those of you who want to test it, I will upload an apk file in the next few weeks.

All the best,

David

Just a quick word

Hi all,

Just a quick word to let you know that I've been very busy at work since the beginning of this year and unfortunately I have not been able to spend as much time as I wanted on FotoSketcher (PC program and future mobile app).

But, I'm still working on FotoSketcher and I will keep you updated here.

In the meantime, here is an abstract piece, made entirely in FotoSketcher 3.20 (click on image for full view):

untitled - March 2016 - made in FotoSketcher 3.20

This was a fun experiment. I first pasted a screenshot of my desktop in FotoSketcher and reduced the size to 1% of the original dimensions. I then increased the size by 300% a few times and ran the Painting 10 effect a couple of times.

Best regards,

David