FotoSketcher 2.70 officially released!

Hi all,

After ironing out a couple of small bugs, I've just officially released FotoSketcher 2.70. As usual, you can download it from the download page here: http://www.fotosketcher.com/download-fotosketcher/

The main changes in this version are user interface improvements, bug fixes and the addition of Portuguese:

• New "minimize drawing parameters window" button on the parameters window (in the bottom right corner of the form)
• New "script" button on the drawing parameters window (in the bottom left corner of the form)
• New window style (Obsidian), which is lighter and more legible than the Charcoal default style
• Better conservation of the current zoom level
• Changes to the Z-order management of secondary windows (to avoid them getting hidden behind the main form)
• Possibility to auto-show the Windows taskbar when running FotoSketcher in full screen
• Painting 5 (watercolor) effect enhancement
• Addition of Portuguese as a supported language

 

Best regards,

David

FotoSketcher 2.70 beta available for testing

Hi all,

I am currently putting the finishing touches to FotoSketcher 2.70 and a stable beta version is available for testing.
You can download it directly here: FotoSketcher 2.70 beta 1

Here are the main changes in this version:
- user interface improvements:

• added a "minimize drawing parameters window" button. When clicked, the drawing parameters window stays open, but minimizes automatically to the top left corner of the main window.
• added a "script" button to the drawing parameters window to facilitate access to the script window (F5 still works of course)
• added a new window style (skin) called Obsidian, which is lighter than the Charcoal default style (and more legible)
• current zoom level is now saved more consistently

- effects enhancements:

• Painting 5 (watercolor) has been modified slightly to give a more painterly result (by increasing color variation between adjacent regions)

- languages:

• Portuguese is now a supported language, thanks to Carlo Moreira (muito obrigado!). Users from Portugal and Brazil should now see FotoSketcher automatically default to Portuguese when running the program for the first time.

Best regards,

David

Calling for a little help (Portuguese translation of FotoSketcher) ***updated***

***update*** Great thanks to Carlo M. who answered my call for help and sent me his translation! The next version of FotoSketcher (2.70) will therefore be available in Portuguese :-)


Hello all,

Thanks to some kind users, I have been able to add many languages to FotoSketcher. Here is the hall of fame of all translators who helped me:

 

For the next version of FotoSketcher which I'm currently working on, I would love to be able to add a Portuguese translation. If you are willing to help, please contact me through the contact form here http://www.fotosketcher.com/contact-us/ and I'll send you the terms to translate.

Thank you very much in advance,

David

FotoSketcher 2.60 officially released! 100% free, as always :-)

Hello all,

FotoSketcher 2.60 is now ready for download.
Head to http://www.fotosketcher.com/download-fotosketcher/ to get the latest version.

Here are the main changes in version 2.60:

• a brand new Painting 1 (watercolor) effect (which replaces the previous one)
• a new 'brushstrokes' frame
• a few bug fixes and interface improvements:
• solved the filename bug when dragging and dropping an image (thanks Casey for spotting that one)
• modified the naming convention to MyPhoto_FotoSketcher.jpg (better for sorting files alphabetically in a directory)
• solved a transparency bug with png files
• added a CTRL+S keyboard shortcut when an image is being processed to save an intermediate result
• added a progress bar when creating the new brushstrokes frame (which can take a few seconds)

Here is an example of the new Painting 1 (watercolor) effect (click on image for full-size view):

 

 (original photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29415407@N00/161436110/)

and here are the parameters used:

As always, you can use FotoSketcher completely for free, even for commercial work.

Enjoy!

Best regards,

David


 

FotoSketcher 2.60 Beta available for testing **updated**

** Post updated on 10/22/2013** Updates appear in red.

Hi all,

A new version of FotoSketcher is now available for testing. FotoSketcher 2.60 beta 2 can be downloaded here: http://www.fotosketcher.com/FotoSketcher_2.60_beta2.exe


The main changes are:
- a new Painting 1 effect (which replaces the previous one)
- a new 'brushstrokes' frame (with preview and 'in progress' icon)
- a few bug fixes and interface improvements (solved the filename bug when dragging and dropping an image, modified the naming convention to MyPhoto_FotoSketcher.jpg, solved a transparency bug with png files, added a CTRL+S keyboard shortcut when an image is being processed to save an intermediate result)

Here is an example of the new Painting 1 effect (click on picture for full view):

 

source image credit: http://photographpainter.de/venedig-hdr/

 and the parameters used:

There are still a few things that need to be polished, but you should be able to test version 2.60 with no problems.
Have fun!

All the best,

David

FotoSketcher 2.60 beta available soon

Hi all,

Just a quick post to let you know that I'm currently putting the finishing touches to version 2.60. There is still a little tweaking and debugging to be done, but I should be able to release a test version soon.

The main change will be a new watercolor painting effect which will replace the current Painting 1 effect that I'm no longer happy with. Here is an example of the new painting filter (click on image for full-size view):

Stay tuned :)

Regards,

David

FotoSketcher 2.50 complete tutorial - warning: long post

Hi all,

Here is a complete tutorial on how to create a painting using two merged effects in FotoSketcher and a custom paintbrush.

Step 1: open an image by clicking on the first icon in the FotoSketcher toolbar like so:

In this tutorial, I have used the following image: http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/849156 (credits Karpati Gabor).

Step 2: Once the image has loaded (as shown below), go to the Edit menu and click on "Automatic contrast and sharpening" (or press CTRL+A). 

 Step 3: The image might be a bit too large, so reduce its size by clicking on "Resize source image..." in the Edit menu (or press CTRL+R).

 Choose for instance 50% of the original size.

Step 4: Now in the parameters window (press F10 if the window is not shown), choose the "Pencil sketch 2" effect, with the following parameters and click on the Draw button to run the effect.

Step 5: Now right-click on the drawing and left-click on "Copy drawing to clipboard" or press CTRL+C. 

Step 6: In the parameters window, choose the "Painting 7 (brushtrokes)" effect and click on the "Load custom brush" 

 

 Here is the brush I used in this tutorial (download the image to your PC if you want to use it as a custom paintbrush):

Step 7: Now run the "Painting 7" effect with the values shown below by clicking on the "Draw!" button. In order to get the MAX value for the number of brushtrokes, you simply click on the number itself (50 by default). This will give you the maximum quality.

Step 8: Once the effect has finished running (might take a few minutes),paste the image that you previously copied to the clipboard (you can press CTRL+V).

Step 9: We're nearly there! Choose the "Merge source and result images" with the parameters below. At that final stage, you can add a frame, texture and some text.

 

Step 10: There is no step 10 ;-) 

Here is the final result (click on image for full size view):

Enjoy!

Best regards,

David

FotoSketcher 2.50 is officially released! 100% free, as always.

Hi all,

FotoSketcher 2.50 is now available for download.
Offical website: http://www.fotosketcher.com

Here are the main changes in this new release:

• New "Linear halftoning" effect (b&w or colour)
• Added Serbian translation (thank you Nikola)
• Resizing or pasting a new source image no longer erases the destination image (if the image sizes are the same). This is particularly useful for merging two images.
• The last effect used is now displayed at the bottom right of the window (useful when using the undo/redo buttons to keep track of what effect was being used).
• Minor interface changes (trackbar increments, manual brush trackbar focus rectangle removed, some window Z-order bugs corrected, visual cues added when parameters can be maxed by clicking on their value).
• Removed optional browser toolbar in the setup version. 

Here is an example of the new Linear halftoning effect on the famous Sean Connery portrait (click on image to view full size):

Have fun!

Best regards,

David

New 2.50 beta available - close to release version

Hi all,

I've just uploaded a new beta version of FotoSketcher 2.50. If no show stopping bug is found at the last minute, this beta will be close to the future release version.

You can download the executable here: http://www.fotosketcher.com/FotoSketcher_2.50_beta2.exe

Here is a quick rundown of the changes in FotoSketcher 2.50:

• New "Linear halftoning" effect.
• Added Serbian translation.
• Resizing or pasting a new source image no longer erases the destination image (if the image sizes are the same). This is particularly useful for merging two images.
• The last effect used is now displayed at the bottom right of the window (useful when using the undo/redo buttons to keep track of what effect was being used).
• Minor interface changes (trackbar increments, manual brush trackbar focus rectangle removed, some window Z-order bugs corrected, visual cues added when parameters can be maxed by clicking on their value).

Have fun!

David

FotoSketcher 2.50 beta 1 available for testing

Hi all,

I've just uploaded a beta for FotoSketcher 2.50, with the new linear halftoning effect (plus various improvements).
You can download the executable here: http://www.fotosketcher.com/FotoSketcher_2.50_beta1.exe

As usual, I would be grateful for your input should you find any lingering bugs :-)

All the best,

David

Cross-hatched linear halftoning... wow, that's a mouthful!

Hi all,

I'm currently putting the finishing touches to version 2.50 of FotoSketcher. A stable beta should be available soon, so stay tuned...

I have added a new effect (linear halftoning) which works quite well on portraits, even if I say so myself :-)
With a script (which I'll provide with the beta) it's easy to create a cross-hatched image like the example below (click on the picture to view full-size):

The new algorithm can also work in color:

In version 2.50, I will also add a new language, Serbian (thanks Nikola!).

All the best,

David

FotoSketcher 2.45 is officially released

Hi all,

FotoSketcher 2.45 is now officially released. As usual you can download either the full version (with setup, uninstall and optional community toolbar) or the portable version here: http://www.fotosketcher.com/download-fotosketcher/ Both are 100% free.

What's new in version 2.45:
- improved brushstrokes placement in Painting 7 (brushstrokes) to give a more painterly effect.
- added a new stylized effect called Emergence 2, based on calculating an approximation of the source image using shaded triangles. The result is different from Emergence and can look a bit like knife painting.  
- solved a bug in the custom brush code used for Painting 7 and 8 effects.
- solved a few bugs in the script (F5) code

In Emergence 2 you can double-click on the number to the right of the slider for the number of iterations (80 by default) and this will change it to MAX. This provides maximum quality for the effect, but is very slow. 

Default value:

MAX value:

I have also made available some scripts for FotoSketcher. You can download the zip file here: http://www.fotosketcher.com/scripts.zip
Simply unzip the files to your hard drive and open them in the scripts window of FotoSketcher (press F5).

Here is an example of the updated Painting 7 effect (click on image for full view):

and here is an example of the new Emergence 2 effect (click on image for full view):

original photo credit Sias van Schalkwyk (http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1181840)

Have fun!

David

FotoSketcher 2.45 beta available

Hi,

FotoSketcher 2.45 is almost ready. I just need to test it thoroughly before releasing it. If you want to try it for yourself (and don't hesitate to let me know if you find any lingering bugs), here is a stable beta version: http://www.fotosketcher.com/FotoSketcher_2.45_RC2.exe

What's new:
- improved brushstrokes placement in Painting 7 effect to give a more painterly effect.
- added a new stylised effect called Emergence 2, based on calculating an approximation of the source image using shaded triangles. The result is different from Emergence and can look a bit like knife painting. 
- solved a bug in the custom brush code used for Painting 7 and 8 effects. Any image can be used as a brushtroke template (must be dark pixels on a white background)

Here are some digital paintings made with FotoSketcher 2.45:

Painting 7 with new algorithm

Original photo credit Pierre Hanquin: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pierrehanquin/7170104717

Emergence 2

Original photo credit: http://www.shorpy.com/node/11302

Have fun with this new version of FotoSketcher :-)

Regards,

David

Upcoming features in FotoSketcher 2.45

Hi all,

The next version of FotoSketcher (2.45) will include a new abstract effect (based on shaded triangles) and better brushstroke placement for the Painting 7 effect, which should give an even more painterly look.
I have also detected a bug in the manual brush code which will be corrected.

Here is an example of the new shaded triangle effect (click on the image to see the details):

Source image credits (Haiwen Chen - http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobochen/8722751927/)

And here is a portrait made with the improved Painting 7 effect (click on the image to see the details):

Source image Photo: © Getty images, MaxPPP

Stay tuned ;-)

All the best,

David

FotoSketcher secrets - tricks you may not know :-)

Dear FotoSketcher users,

Over the years I have added quite a few shortcuts and hidden features in FotoSketcher. Even if you are a regular user, there might be a few that you did not find. 
Since I never really mustered up the courage to write a full fledged manual, this post will help you discover some of the useful little secrets of FotoSketcher.

Interface tricks:

1: this is the zoom indicator. If you click on the percentage (shown here at 100%), you can manually enter the desired value (from 5% to 1000%).

2: if you left click on the left magnifying glass icon, you will zoom out of the image. You can keep your finger on the mouse button and FotoSketcher will zoom out further. Now, the fun bit: you can also RIGHT-CLICK on this icon, for faster zooming out!

3: if you left-click on the middle magnifying glass icon, the zoom level will revert to 100%. However, if you RIGHT-CLICK the icon, the images will be automatically zoomed to best fit their respective panels (pretty useful for large images).

4: yes, you guessed it... you can also RIGHT-CLICK on this icon :-)

5: if you click and drag on the division line, this will resize the two panels. Now the fun part: if you DOUBLE-CLICK on the division line, both panels will automatically resize to their default widths.

6: you probably know that you can click and drag the image around. But did you know that DOUBLE-CLICKING will show you a full screen preview?   


In the drawing parameters window, there are also a few useful tricks.
First of all, if you double-click on the name of a parameter (like "image simplification" as shown below) this will reset its value to the default (10 in this case).

 
Also, for some effects, it is possible to increase the number of iterations. Simply double-click on the value at the right of the trackbar (255 in the example below) and the value will change to MAX. This increases the time taken by the effect (and hopefully the quality of the rendering!).

 So far, this trick works with the following effects: 

•  Painting 7 (brushstrokes) - for the "number of brushstrokes" parameter
•  Emergence - for the "number of iterations" parameter

Another tip is that in Windows explorer you can drag and drop a picture onto the FotoSketcher icon and the program will start with your image loaded. If FotoSketcher is already started, you can simply drag and drop an image onto the first panel (source image) and it will open.


Keyboard shortcuts:

There are quite a few keyboard shortcuts you can use in FotoSketcher. Most of them are listed in the menus, as shown below:

 

If you have a keyboard with a number pad, you can also use the + (plus) and - (minus) keys to respectively zoom in and zoom out.

I hope these tips will help you enjoy playing with FotoSketcher even more!

All the best,

David

Small bug fix - FotoSketcher 2.41 available

Hi all,

Just a quick word to let you know that I've just released version 2.41 of FotoSketcher. This is minor update, due to a bug I found today concerning frames.

As usual, you can download the latest version here: http://www.fotosketcher.com/download-fotosketcher/

To all users who updated to version 2.40 since yesterday, I apologize.
In the hope that you'll find it in your hearts to forgive me, here is a painting of my faithful cat (who is unfortunately not very useful in bug hunting):

  
All the best,

David

FotoSketcher 2.40 now available for download - 100% free, as always :-)

Hi all,

FotoSketcher 2.40 is now officially released.
You can download it here: http://www.fotosketcher.com/download-fotosketcher/

Thank you to everyone who helped me by providing feedback, suggestions, bug reports and translations :-)

Here is a list of new features and improvements in version 2.40:
- new script engine (press F5 to call the script window) to automatically apply multiple effects
- more powerful image merge function (with multiplication of both images)
- improved interface (no third party code, reorganised menus and menu icons)
- DPI support for JPG images
- possibility to save a picture during processing
- better directory management (keeping track of current open, save and manual brushes directories)
- automatic saving of last texture, text and frame parameters used (tip: on some Windows 7 and 8 systems, you might have to run FotoSketcher as administrator for this to work)
- new translated terms (mainly for the script function)
- various bug fixes and improvement
- Windows 8 support

 source image credits  http://www.flickr.com/photos/bcnbits/134741553/

Enjoy :-)

Best regards,

David

FotoSketcher 2.40 Release Candidate available ***updated***

Hi all!

I now have what I believe to be a stable release of FotoSketcher 2.40. It does not have any obvious bugs that I could find and all the new features I wanted to add are now functional.

You can download the release candidate here: http://www.fotosketcher.com/FotoSketcher_240_RC4.exe

Here is a summary of all changes and additions in this version:
- script engine (press F5 to call the script window)
- more powerful image merge function (with multiplication of both images)
- improved interface (no third party code, reorganised menu and menu icons)
- DPI support for JPG images
- possibility to save a picture during processing
- better directory management (keeping track of current open, save and manual brushes directories)
- automatic saving of last texture, text and frame parameters used
- new translated terms (mainly for the script function)
- small bug fixes and improvements

If you would like to test the new script feature, you can download an example script here (right click and choose "Save link as..."): http://www.fotosketcher.com/Sketch_and_Emergence.fss

Here is an example using this script on a photo I took in Neath (Wales) last year:

Source photo:

Result:

Here is a second script you can download to give a comic book effect (right click and choose "Save link as..."): http://www.fotosketcher.com/Comic_book.fss

Here is the result on the same source image:

Should you find bugs in this Release Candidate, I would be grateful if you could let me know so that I can correct them before going live :-)

All the best,

David

Still adding new features in FotoSketcher

Hi,

I am still adding new features to FotoSketcher 2.40. There will now be a new way to combine effects, plus various improvements to the interface.

Here is an example of the new combination of effects, which will be quite useful with scripts (the two effects used here are 'colored dots' and 'pen & ink sketch 2':

I will write a new post when I have a stable beta available, so stay tuned :-)

All the best,

David

Update on upcoming version 2.40

Hi all,

Here is a new screenshot of FotoSketcher 2.40 with a lighter theme I've just added (click on the image to view full size):

Apart from working on the user interface, I have ironed out some small bugs and added support for more languages in the script engine.

Once I've added all the new translated terms I will make a release candidate available.

Stay tuned!

Regards,

David

FotoSketcher 2.40 beta available (updated)

Hi all,

I have just finished a beta version of FotoSketcher 2.40. You can download it here: http://www.fotosketcher.com/FotoSketcher_beta_240b.exe

Here are some of the new features:
- new script engine to automatically apply and merge multiple effects
- new interface (rewritten from scratch to try and avoid bugs)
- support for dpi setting in jpg images
- possibility to save a picture during processing
- better directory management (keeping track of current open, save and manual brushes directories)

In order to try the new script function, you can download a test script here (right-click on link and choose "save target as"): http://www.fotosketcher.com/script_1.fss

You can of course create your own scripts and save them. I have tried to make the interface self explanatory, but don't hesitate to let me know if it is confusing. When I find the courage time, I will post a tutorial on how to use the script engine.

As usual, I welcome your feedback and would be interested in knowing if you find any bugs.

All the best,

David

Happy New Year and upcoming FotoSketcher 2.40

First of all, let me wish you the very best for 2013!

I have been busy rewriting quite a lot of code in FotoSketcher, mainly to recreate the user interface without using any third party code.
Hopefully this will make it easier for me to maintain and debug.

Here is a screenshot of the future release (2.40):

I have ironed out most of the bugs and I am now working on some new functions. The first one I've added is DPI support for JPG images (for the technically oriented, I now read and write the JFIF header).
I am also planning on adding quite a few more features and will let you know when a beta version is ready for testing.

In the meantime, have fun!

All the best,

David