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

FotoSketcher 1.95 - Progress report

Hi!

Here's a quick update on the development of FotoSketcher. I'm currently experimenting a new abstract algorithm called 'coloured circles', which turns a photo into thousands of different sized... coloured circles!

The following is a test image I've produced with this new effect + a new 'vivify photo' filter + the triptych frame:

Photo credit : stock.xchng (thanks to author Mike Korn).

Happy holidays everyone,

David

Testing the new 'triptych' frame

Hi!

Here's a quick preview of the new 'triptych' frame which separates an image into three equal sized panels (border size is user-defined):


This new frame will be added in the next release.

Regards,

David

Windows 7 compatibility

Hi all,

FotoSketcher 1.9 is almost 100% compatible with Windows 7. However, while doing some tests I have noticed that there is a small problem with the Destktop Wallpaper function:

When you right-click on a drawing and choose 'Set the drawing as wallpaper (ctrl + w)' the FotoSketcher image correctly appears as your wallpaper, but next time you start Windows 7, it will have disappeared.

I have already fixed the problem and the next release of FotoSketcher will not have this issue anymore.

By the way, I'm currently busy working on version 2.0, but I still have some work to do before releasing it. As usual, I'll keep you posted on this blog.

In the meantime, here are a couple of images found on Stock.xchng (thanks and credits to the original photographers) and processed in FotoSketcher:



All the best,

David