New beta available - FotoSketcher Christmas edition ;-)

Season's greetings to all!

I've just uploaded a new beta version of FotoSketcher 2.00 (http://www.fotosketcher.com/FotoSketcher_beta.exe).

This version now supports 9 languages. I've ironed out a lot of small bugs and made the interface more responsive.

In Painting 7, if you want to get a much higher number of brushstrokes (warning, this will be slow), you can double-click on the number of brushstrokes (to the right of the slide bar):

Apart from some more work that needs to be done internally on the undo/redo feature, this beta is very close to release. Unless of course, someone finds more bugs!

original photo credit: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1325636

All the best,

David

Calling for a little help (translating FotoSketcher)

Hi all,

Thanks to some kind users, FotoSketcher will soon be available in English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Polish and Czech (and maybe more).

If you are willing to translate into other languages (or know someone who might) I would be very grateful if you could contact me.

Of course your name would appear in the credits section of the program: you'll be famous ;-)

There are around 180 words or short sentences to translate. If you are courageous enough to undertake this translating task, please don't hesitate to drop me a line at contact@fotosketcher.com

Best regards,

David

FotoSketcher 2.00 early beta available

Hi all,

As promised I have just uploaded an early beta of FotoSketcher 2.00. Here is the download link: http://www.fotosketcher.com/FotoSketcher_beta.exe

It is still a bit rough around the edges and only supports English and French for the time being. The undo/redo function is also a little bit funny sometimes.

BUT apart from that it is perfectly usable and as far as I know stable.

Now for the goodies! The new features present are:

• Crop
• Rotate (in 90° increments, lossless)
  
• improved interface (12 skins and flicker-free icons)
  
• one-click automatic contrast adjustment (based on histogram stretch and unsharp mask)
• check for updates
• automatic saving of window size, position and chosen skin
• 4 new realistic frames
• more responsive preview
• new custom brushes loading for Painting 7 effect
• new old photo effect (sepia, vignette, old photo texture)

As usual, I would be very grateful if some brave souls were to test this beta version and let me know (either by mail at contact@fotosketcher.com or on this blog) if they find any bugs.

All the best,

David

Loading custom brushes in FotoSketcher 2.0

Hi,

In addition to the new functions previously mentioned (http://fotosketcher.blogspot.com/2010/10/working-on-fotosketcher-200.html), the next version of FotoSketcher will support custom brushes (in bmp, jpg or png format) for the Painting 7 (brushstrokes) effect.

The user defined brushes can be grayscale images (up to 512x512 pixels) where lighter pixels mean transparent areas and darker pixels mean (yes, you guessed right) opaque areas. Here is an example of a square brush, with a transparent area around it:The Painting 7 effect with this brush can create a kind of mosaic (click on the picture to view in full size):


Regards,

David

Working on FotoSketcher 2.00

Hi all,

Just a quick word to let you know that I'm busy working on the next version of FotoSketcher (it will be version 2.00). Here are some of the new features you will find:

• lots of new interface languages (thank you to all the users who kindly offered their help!)
• a crop tool
• a rotate tool
• improved interface
• automatic image adjustment (based on histogram stretch)
• check for updates
• automatic saving of window size, position and chosen skin
• new realistic frames
• maybe more...
  

Hopefully, version 2.00 will be ready in a few weeks. In the meantime, here is one of my 'manual' sketches. It is supposed to represent Steve McQueen :-)


All the best,

David

FotoSketcher 1.98 is officially released

Hi all,

After a little tweaking (special thanks to user Kempton for his help in spotting a bug), version 1.98 of FotoSketcher is officially released.

Here are the new features and changes in this release:
- Two new cartoon effects
- Full undo/redo function
- Improved interface (with twelve different skins)
- New application and toolbar icons
- German language added (translation by Josef KASPARBAUER)
- Full PNG support
- Bug fixes

As usual, FotoSketcher can be downloaded from the official website: http://www.fotosketcher.com/


Best regards,

David

FotoSketcher 1.98 release candidate

Hi!

At long last, after a lot of debugging and 'behind the scenes' coding, I have finally completed the latest version of FotoSketcher.

If you want to test it before everyone else, you can download it here: http://www.fotosketcher.com/FotoSketcher_beta.exe

Here are some of the changes:
- 2 new cartoon effects
- 12 different skins
- full PNG support (load and save)
- full undo/redo
- new application icon and splashscreen
- German language support

I would be very grateful if you could let me know if you find bugs (I'm bound to have let some in)!

All the best,

David

Still working on version 1.98...

Hi all,

I'm still busy working on version 1.98. On top of the previously mentioned new functions, there will also be one or two new effects and some improvements to the interface. Here is an early screenshot of the main form:

Stay tuned for more news soon!

Regards,

David

FotoSketcher 1.98 early beta: full undo/redo and German language

Hi,

I've just uploaded an early beta version of FotoSketcher 1.98 (as usual, you can download it here: http://www.fotosketcher.com/FotoSketcher_beta.exe).

So, what's new? Well, no new effect yet, but a full undo/redo function (up to 255 steps!). Also, a kind FotoSketcher user from Germany, M. Josef Kasparbauer has translated all the terms into German.

Here is a screenshot with the German language selected:

If you are willing to test the new beta version, please don't hesitate to send me your feedback either on this blog or by e-mail (contact@fotosketcher.com).

Best regards from the beautiful city of Lyon,

David

FotoSketcher 1.97 officially released

Hi all,

FotoSketcher 1.97 is now officially released and can be downloaded from http://www.fotosketcher.com/

The new feature in this version is the "Oil Pastel Sketch" effect. Here is an example (original photo credit www.sxc.hu):

And here are the parameters I used:

Have fun :-)

David

FotoSketcher 1.97 beta ready for download

Hi all,

If you want to try the new 'oil pastel sketch' filter, you can download the latest beta version of FotoSketcher here: http://www.fotosketcher.com/FotoSketcher_beta.exe

Here is an example of the new effect (original photo credit stock.xchng) :

And here are the settings used :

Best regards,

David

Working on new pencil sketch filter + some real drawings

Hi all,

I am currently tweaking a new pencil sketch filter. Here are two examples (click on the images to view them in full size):



I have also started taking drawing lessons and I like sketching portraits. It gives me ideas for new algorithms for FotoSketcher. Here are a couple of my early attempts:


Best regards,

David

New beta version for multimonitor users

Hi all,

Some users have reported issues when using FotoSketcher on multiple monitors and I have been able to reproduce the problem on my configuration: some windows tend to open on the wrong monitor or half on one monitor and half on the other...

If you have experienced this bug, you can download a beta version of FotoSketcher which should hopefully correct this: http://www.fotosketcher.com/FotoSketcher_beta.exe

I would be grateful if you could let me know whether this has solved the problem for you.

All the best,

David

P.S. Nothing to do with the bug fix, but here is portrait of late actor James Stewart (original photo credit Baron/Getty Images). I used the pencil sketch 1 filter (with maximum contrast), then used as source (F12) and applied the painting 7 (brushstrokes) filter:

FotoSketcher tutorial on makeuseof.com

Hi all,

I am currently busy working on a rather ambitious and time consuming complete rewrite of FotoSketcher. I have already completed the new user interface and I plan to add undo/redo capability and support for layers (more info in the following weeks).

In the meantime, here is a nice FotoSketcher tutorial found on the popular website www.makeuseof.com.

Best regards,

David

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

FotoSketcher 1.96 new beta version available

Hi all,

After quite a bit of tweaking, optimising and debugging, FotoSketcher 1.96 is now almost ready. You can download the latest beta version here: http://www.fotosketcher.com/FotoSketcher_beta.exe

The new painting 7 filter (brushstrokes) has been improved and now uses 35 different brushstrokes to give a more realistic result.
Also, FotoSketcher can now open PNG files, either directly from the open menu or by dragging and dropping a PNG image onto the first panel. However, FotoSketcher cannot save in PNG format though, but I have added a 'save as BMP' function if you don't want compression artefacts from JPG.

Here are a couple of samples from the new algorithm (original source images from www.sxc.hu). Click on the following images to view them in real size:



As usual your feeback is much appreciated.

Best regards,

David

Are you brave enough...

...to test the beta version of FotoSketcher 1.96?

If you are, here is the direct download link: http://www.fotosketcher.com/FotoSketcher_beta.exe
Just a word of caution: the new effect (Painting 7 - oil Pastel) is very computer intensive (who said poorly coded?!).

Here's an example made with this new effect:photo credit: Stock.xchng.

Here are the parameters I used:


All the best,

David

A thousand monkeys...

I'm currently working on a new algorithm which reminds me of the infinite monkey theorem (cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem).

The idea is to position different size brush strokes on an image to try and produce a kind of painting. The main idea is that the brush strokes are randomly (hence the monkeys...) positioned on the resulting image but are only kept if they produce a result closer to the original. Therefore if you run the filter long enough, with smaller and more precise brush strokes you should hopefully get a pleasing image. Well that's the theory anyway...

Here is an early example (just click on the picture to view full size), based on a photo of the city of Porto Venere (credits Stock.xchng):


The algorithm still needs a lot of tweaking, but I hope you'll like it.

Cheers,

David

FotoSketcher 1.95 officially released

Hello all,

After a few modifications (thanks to Kempton and Diane for their beta testing!) I have finally released FotoSketcher 1.95 (available from http://www.fotosketcher.com/).

I hope you'll like the new version.

Here is an example from a HDR photo found on Stock.xchng (thanks to John Nyberg for making it available for free):

The worflow is as follows (I have mostly kept the default parameters):
- Pencil sketch 3 + merge source and result image
- F12 (to use the drawing as source image)
- Watercolor + merge source and result image
- F12 (to use the drawing as source image)
- Vivify photo + merge source and result image + triptych frame + texture 1

Best regards,

David

FotoSketcher 1.95 beta available!

Hi all,

As promised, a beta version of FotoSketcher 1.95 is now available for download. The direct download link is: http://www.fotosketcher.com/FotoSketcher_beta.exe

I would be grateful if you could let me know if any bugs are still lurking in the shadows... I have tested in Windows 7 and everything seems all right to me. Don't hesitate to contact me (contact@fotosketcher.com) if you encounter difficulties in XP or Vista.

There are quite a few changes from 1.9, but here are some I can think of:
- two new stylised effects (squares and dots)
- two new miscellaneous effects (vivify photo and alphablend source and drawing - only enabled if the source and result images are the same size, ie no frame)
- larger preview for source image retouch
- faster load time
- new realistic frame
- new triptych frame

Best regards,

David

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all Fotosketcher users!

Version 1.95 should be ready very soon now. I will probably release a beta version in the next few days.

In the meantime, I'm still experimenting with sunflowers ;-)

Here's an example of multiple effects combined:


All the best,

David