Hi all,
Work on the next version of FotoSketcher Studio is well underway and the first alpha of version 4.60 is now available for download and testing. This one has a good mix of new creative tools, photo correction features and under-the-hood improvements.
Here is what is new:
- New Truchet Tiles effect
A new Truchet Tiles effect has been added to the Stylize category. Truchet tiles are square tiles decorated with a simple pattern (typically arcs or diagonal lines) that, when placed on a grid in random orientations, produce surprisingly intricate and organic-looking designs. The concept dates back to the 18th century and was later explored by mathematicians and computer scientists. You can read more about them on Wikipedia. FotoSketcher uses the colours from your source photo to fill the tiles, turning your pictures into geometric compositions. You can also save and load your own custom tilesets for different visual styles.
- New Denoise effect
A new Denoise effect has been added to the Photo Lab category. It is powerful enough to clean up noisy skies and high-ISO grain whilst preserving fine details in the rest of the image. Very handy as a first step before applying an artistic effect, or simply to rescue a noisy photo.
- Fine rotation
A new fine rotation tool lets you correct the horizontality of your photos with precision. An auto-rotate option is also available, which analyses the image and straightens it for you automatically.
- High quality full screen preview
The full screen preview now uses high quality sampling, which eliminates the Moiré artefacts that could appear on detailed images and regular patterns. What you see in the preview is now much closer to the final output.
- Faster zoom and smoother panning
Zooming in and out is now much faster, and panning around the image is noticeably smoother. This should make navigating large images a more pleasant experience overall.
- Improved Batch mode
The Batch mode window has been improved. In addition to selecting individual files, you can now add entire folders to the processing queue, which saves a lot of time when you want to apply the same effect to a large collection of photos.
- Bug fixes and performance
This build also includes a good number of bug fixes and performance enhancements throughout the application.
- New bugs
I may have introduced new bugs, debugging is often a game of Whack-a-Mole! If you report any, you will have my eternal gratitude ;)
You can download Alpha 1 (for Windows) here: https://fotosketcher.com/beta/FotoSketcher_4.60_alpha1.zip
This is an early alpha, so there may be rough edges. As always, any feedback is very welcome - bugs, oddities, or anything that does not feel right on your particular setup. Please leave a comment below or send me an email at contact@fotosketcher.com.
Happy testing!
David
