Image
Pan/Scroll
@@ -6675,7 +6709,127 @@
This function lists all missing
translations to a popup window. Translations left as English are not
reported, since this is often deliberate, e.g. words like "font" or
- "icon".
+ "icon".
+
+
+Printer Color Calibration
This utility may be able to improve the color accuracy of printed images.
+
+How It Works
+A chart of known colors is printed on the target printer. The print
+will have some false colors caused by the printer. This print is
+scanned into a file, and the colors in this file are compared to the
+original colors that were sent to the printer. Any differences are
+errors that are now known. When an image file is printed, these errors
+are subtracted from the image colors before printing. The printer adds
+the errors back, leaving a result that is theoretically correct (practice may be otherwise).
+
+Perform the following steps in sequence, as listed by the function dialog.
+Each step has instructions to perform the step.
+
+ - Generate and print a color chart on the printer to be calibrated.
+ - Scan the printed chart into a PNG file (scanchart.png).
+ - Edit the PNG image to trim off margins left by the scanner.
+ - Process the chart to create a color map file (colormap.dat).
+ - To print a color-adjusted image, apply the color map prior to printing.
+
+Once you have made the color map, you can print any image using step 5 only.
+
+Hopeful Assumptions
+
+ - Your scanner produces accurate colors. Scanners are generally better than printers.
+
+ - The color chart was accurately trimmed (no color tiles were cut short or left with margins).
+
+
+ - The printer color errors are small enough that negating them
+before printing will cancel
+most of the error. This works best when the errors are small.
+
+
+ - The limited set of colors in the chart (4913) can correctly calculate all in-between colors.
+(each RGB color adjustment is interpolated from the nearest 27 chart values (3x3x3).)
+
+
+Precautions For Best Results
+
+
+
+
+ - Use a large paper size for printing the chart (A4 or US Letter) to make the color tiles as big as possible.
+
+ - Clean the scanner glass before scanning the color chart.
+Dirt spots or smudges will falsify the colors.
+
+ - Scan with a high DPI setting (300+) to make a large chart file.
+This will make the next step more accurate.
+
+ - Use the black squares
+in the image corners as alignment guides: cut off these squares
+exactly.
+Accurately
+trimming
+the margins is critical. The tile positions
+are calculated from the image dimensions, assuming 58 equal columns and
+85 equal rows. If some edge tiles are cut short, or if margins are
+left, then the calculated tile positions will be offset, and the
+measured colors will be wrong. A small error of 1-2 pixels is
+tolerated, because the outer 20% of each tile is not used to read the
+tile color. After trimming the margins, inspect the chart corners at 2x
+size to be sure none of tiles have been cut off or left with extra
+margins (more than 2 pixels).
+
+
+
+ - Scanners may skew the scanned image into a non-rectangular form. If
+this happens, you will notice it when trying to trim off the margins: the alignment markers will not align
+perfectly to the trim rectangle, even after turning the image for best fit. If this happens,
+use fix perspective to square the image first, then trim the margins. Use the black square markers for the rectangle corners.
+
+- The output color map file can be used only for the paper, inks,
+and printer settings used during the calibration. Any other combination
+needs its own calibration and color map file. You can change the
+default name of the color map file to include more information, e.g.
+colormap-photopaper2.dat.
+
+Results (my Canon printer)
+
+
+
+
+  A color chart was photographed and printed on photo paper. The left
+print
+had no adjustments. The right print was adjusted. The printer did
+a fairly good job by itself, but the adjusted print is slightly better.
+
+
+
+
+ Improved colors:
+(1,0) orange
+(1,1) blue
+(1,3) dark violet
+(1,5) yellow-orange
+(2,2) yellow
+(2,4) green
+(2,5) dark blue
+
+
+ A few colors might be a little worse.
+
+ |
+
+
+
+
+You may be able to find a real ICC color profile
+for your printer and its proprietary inks and photo paper. Using this
+would most likely produce better results. Check the installation CD supplied with
+your printer, and also the manufacturer's web site. There are also
+professional services to generate an ICC color profile. The procedure
+is similar to the one described above: you print a color chart supplied
+by the service, send the printed paper back to them (along with some
+money), and receive an ICC profile, a file which you can install.
+Perform a web search for "icc profile service".
@@ -6702,911 +6856,1014 @@
MB: total allocated memory at this time in megabytes
-
-
-
+
+
+
+ Help Menu
+
+
+ Quick Guide
-
-
-
- Bookmarks
+ This is a 1-page introductory
+ document with Fotoxx essentials.
- 
+
+
+ User
+ Guide (key F1)
-Assign names
- ("bookmarks") to
- chosen gallery locations (directory and image file), keep in a list,
- and use the list to select a name and go instantly to the
- associated gallery position. There are two
- parts: an edit dialog to build the list of bookmarks, and a [GoTo]
- button in the gallery view to show the bookmarks and select a location
- to go to. To assign new bookmarks, press the [GoTo] button and then
- select [Edit Bookmarks] in the dialog that follows. The Edit Bookmarks
- dialog is started. Click on a gallery thumbnail to add this location to
- the bookmark list. The assigned bookmark name will default to the file
- name. This name appears in an edit field where you can assign a
- better name. If you select an existing bookmark with a mouse click, its
- name is shown in the input field. You can change the name or press
- [delete] to remove the bookmark. New bookmarks are inserted at the last
- bookmark location selected. To go to a bookmark, press the [GoTo]
- button. The list of bookmarks is shown. Click on an entry to go there. |
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
+ The user guide (this document)
+ is displayed (created using the WYSIWYG HTML editor Kompozer).
-
+
+
+ User
+ Guide Changes
-Tools Menu (Gallery view)
-
-
-
+ This is a summary of recent
+ changes in the User Guide. The intent is to enable you to survey the
+ changes without reading the whole document.
+
+
+ Edit
+ Functions Summary
+ A one-page "quick reference"
+ summary of the image edit functions is displayed.
- Batch Convert
- Files
+
+
+ README
+
+ Displays the README file
+ distributed with Fotoxx, which may contain new information about
+ installation or dependencies. When you install a new release of Fotoxx,
+ you should look at README and the Change Log to check if there is
+ anything special you need to be aware of.
+
+
+ Change
+ Log
- This function is used to rename,
- convert, resize, upright and move multiple image files at once.
+ Displays the change log file
+ distributed with Fotoxx, containing details about functional changes,
+ additions, or bug fixes for the current and previous releases.
+
+
+ Translations
+ Displays a short text file which
+ explains how to make a new translation or change an existing one.
- 
+
+
+ Home Page
+ Shows the Fotoxx home page from
+ the Internet. Look here for program updates (the page named "recent
+ changes"). This page is published via RSS and you can subscribe to get
+ timely notification of changes.
+
+
+ About
+
+ This displays a short message
+ about the Fotoxx version number, license, credits, and contact address.
+
+
+
+
+
-
-
+
+
+ Sync Gallery
-
-
- Select Files
+Replace the current gallery (recent files, search results ...) with the
+directory of the current image file: the image shown in the File View
+window. Click on any thumbnail in the gallery to set the current image
+from that thumbnail, then select the Sync Gallery menu (button) to set
+the directory and generate a new gallery from that directory.
+
- |
- Select files to convert
- from a gallery window (link).
+
+
+
- |
-
-
- New Name
+
+
+ Albums
+ Menu
- |
- Optional new name with #
- characters to be replaced with
- sequence numbers.
+
- |
-
-
- base, adder
+
+
+
- |
- Starting sequence number
- and adder for each output file.
+ Manage
+ Albums
- |
-
-
- New
- Location
+ An album is an arbitrary
+ sequence of images that is manually assembled from existing images.
+ This is one method to make groups of associated images. An image
+ album is simply a list of the member image files. The image files
+ themselves are not copied or changed. A given image file can be a member of
+ multiple albums, or may be present more than once within an
+ album. Albums can be used to group images with some shared attributes,
+ such as photos from a vacation trip, photos of a given
+ person taken at different times or events, a "best photos" collection,
+ etc. You can add and remove images in an album and rearrange the
+ order of the images. Once an album is made, you can call it up by
+ name and it becomes a gallery. This gallery works like any other: you
+ can scroll through the gallery, step through the images with the
+ [Prev/Next] button, or edit the images. Keep in mind that editing an
+ image in an album will edit the unique image file, so any other way
+ to view this image will show the same image.
+
+
+
- |
- Optional new directory
- location for the converted files.
+ Image Cache
- |
-
-
- new
- file type
+ This is an intermediate storage
+ area used to hold selected images for later insertion into an
+ album. In general, you select image files from gallery windows and
+ add them to the cache, then you make a new album with images from
+ the cache, or you add the cached images to an existing album at a
+ chosen position within the album.
+
- |
- File type for converted
- images, or "no change".
+
+
+
-
-
+
- max.
- width, height
-
+
+ Manage
+ Albums Dialog
+  New:
+ Start a new album or replace an existing one. The dialog shown
+ immediately below is started.
- |
- Output images will fit
- within these dimensions (ratio is not changed).
+ Choose: Choose an
+ album to view or edit. The gallery window will show its current
+ images. Use the thumbnail popup menu (below) to add or remove images.
+ Images:
+ Add images to the image
+ cache using the standard dialog for selecting images from gallery
+ windows (link). Select image files in any order
+ from any gallery. You can also use Search
+ Images to create a
+ gallery for selecting images, or choose an album gallery. Selected
+ images are added to the image cache. The cached images can now be added
+ to an album using the popup menu (below).
+ Clear:
+ Discard all images in the
+ image cache.
+ Delete:
+ Select an album to
+ delete. Image files are not deleted.
+
+ New Album dialog
- |
+  Specify
+ an album name, or use the [browse] button to select an existing
+ album to be replaced. Select one of the three options. Option 1
+ creates the album with no images. Option 2 fills the album
+ from cached images, if any. Option 3 creates the album from the
+ current gallery. This may be a directory, the output of an image
+ search, or an album.
+ |
-
- delete
- originals
+ |
+
+
+
+
+ Right-click
+ Popup Menu
- |
- Delete the input files
- after successful conversion.
+ 
- |
-
-
- copy metadata
+
+
+
+
+
+ Copy to Image Cache
+ |
+ Add the clicked image to the image cache. |
+
+
+ Cut to Image Cache
+ |
+ Remove the image from the album and add it
+ to the image cache. |
+
+
+ Copy to Clipboard
+ |
+ Copy the image to the clipboard (for other apps to paste).
+ |
+
+
+ Paste Image Cache Here (keep)
+ |
+ Insert all cached images at the clicked position.
+ Click roughly between two thumbnails where the images will be inserted. |
+
+
+ Paste Image Cache Here (clear)
+ |
+ Same as above, but the cache is cleared.
+ |
+
+
+ Paste Current Image File Here
+ |
+ Inserts the current image file at the clicked position. |
+
+
+ Remove from Album
+ |
+ Remove the clicked image from the album |
+
+
+ Popup Image
+ |
+ Pop-up a large resizeable window for the image. Replace previous popup window.
+ |
+
+
+ Popup Image (add)
+ |
+ Same as above, but keep previous popup window and create a new one.
+ |
+
+
+ View Metadata
+ |
+ Metadata short report for clicked image file.
+ |
+
+
+
- |
- Copy all EXIF and IPTC
- metadata to the output files.
+
+
+ Drag and Drop
- |
-
-
- upright
+ You can rearrange images
+ within an album by dragging thumbnails with the mouse. Drag the
+ thumbnail until the mouse cursor changes to a small image of the
+ thumbnail. Continue dragging this image to the position where it should
+ be inserted, and release the mouse button. Position the mouse roughly
+ between the images where the dragged image is to be inserted. If the
+ drag approaches the top or bottom edge of the window, the gallery will
+ scroll to bring more images into view.
- |
- If an image is rotated
- 90\B0/180\B0, upright it (status known from EXIF).
+
+
- |
-
-
- sharpen
+ Summary
- |
- Sharpen output images
- using the two supplied parameters
+
+
+- Make a new album: Use the [New] button and provide a name.
+ - Add images to an existing album: Use the [Choose] button and
+ select an album. Use the [Images] button to select images from any
+ gallery. After closing this dialog, the gallery reverts to the chosen
+ album. Right-click an album thumbnail and select one of the
+ Paste menus to insert the selected images. You can also choose another
+ album and insert the images if you did not clear the cache.
+ - Remove images from an album: Right-click each thumbnail, then
+ select the Remove menu.
- Move images within an album: Use the Cut or Copy menu and the
+ Paste menu to move multiple images. To move one image at a time within
+ a single album, you can use mouse drag and drop.
+
+
- |
-
-
-
-
+
+
+ Slide Show
-
-If New Location is missing or unchanged, delete originals is ignored.
+ With this function you can show
+ a pre-selected sequence of images in full-screen mode.
+ There are three dialogs used to define and customize a slide show.
- If an output file already
- exists, the input file is not converted.
- For an explanation of the sharpen parameters, see the Sharpen
- function.
+ 
-
+ Use
+ the Manage
+ Albums function to assemble
+ the images for
+ a slide show as an album with an assigned name. This allows you to
+ collect images from anywhere in your image database and order them as
+ desired. In the slide show dialog, press [Select] and
+ choose an album
+ from the list provided. Press the Proceed button to start the slide show with
+ the first image (or the current image, if a member of the slide show
+ album). Use the escape key
+ or F11 to exit the slide show
+ and return to the dialog.
- Albums
+
- If image files are renamed or moved using Batch Convert, and if
- deletion of the original image files was also specified, then all
- albums containing any of the input files are updated to reflect
- the new names and locations.
-
+ The spacebar can be
+ used to pause and resume between slides. The B-key can
+ be used to blank the
+ screen and pause the show. Press again to restore the current image, or
+ press the spacebar to resume with the next image. You can use the left
+ and right arrow keys to go
+ back and forth within the sequence of images. You can interrupt the
+ slide show by pressing the ESC
+ key for a gallery view. Click on a thumbnail
+ image, and
+ this will be the next image to show. This allows you to skip around
+ more easily than stopping and starting the show each time. The M-key
+ can be used (whenever the
+ slide show is paused) to start the magnify function to view selected
+ parts of the image at higher size.
+
- Upload Photos
- to a Website
+Dialog Controls:
+
+
+ Seconds: The standard time each image is shown.
+This can be
+ modified per image with the Images Preferences dialog.
+
- Most photo websites have the
- ability to upload multiple image files from a single directory, using
- only a web browser. Use the above Fotoxx function to select, resize,
- and export image files to the desktop or any other directory. From
- there, use the photo website's native browser interface to upload the
- image files.
+ Clip Limit: Images are scaled
+ to fit the window. If the image and window aspect ratios are different,
+ this will create black margins above and below or left and right of the
+ image. You can optionally make the images expand to fill these margins
+ and cut off the opposite sides of the image (e.g. if the margins are on
+ the left and right, the image is expanded to fill these margins and cut
+ off the top and bottom equally). You control how much of this is
+ allowed with the Clip Limit, which is the percent difference in aspect
+ ratios above which expansion and clipping will not be done. Zero means
+ no
+ clipping is done, 10% means that images with 10% or less difference in
+ aspect ratio will be expanded and clipped.
+
-
+ Music
+ File: An optional music file or playlist that will start when
+ the slide show is started.
+
+ Full
+ Screen: If checked, images
+ are shown full-screen without menu, title bar, etc.
+
+ Auto-replay: if checked, the
+ slide show will start over after reaching the end.
-
+
- Batch Upright
-
- This function works like Batch Convert Files but only does the
-upright function. It uprights image files rotated 90 degrees. It
-depends on EXIF data to know if a file is rotated. It is much faster
-than Batch Convert Files. You can simply select all candidate files and
-let it find the ones that are rotated. The search speed is about 3000
-image files per minute on a strong PC. There are two options to specify
-the files to search. Select Files leads to a gallery file selection dialog (link). Survey all files will check all image files in your database and upright those that are rotated.
-
-
+ Press
+ [transitions] to start a dialog
+ to select and customize the transitions between images. These include
+ instant replacement, fade-out / fade-in, and many animated methods of
+ image replacement (e.g. the new image expands from the center to
+ replace the old image). Select the transitions to be used and whether
+ they are used randomly or in sequence. The slowdown
+ parameters can be used to
+ slow transitions that may operate too fast on some PCs (some may
+ be too slow on slow PCs, but this cannot be helped). The preference
+ parameters specify a
+ relative preference which will influence how frequently the transition
+ type is used when random sequence is selected. The random method avoids
+ using a transition that was used shortly before, and will only work if
+ 5 or more transitions are selected.
-
-
-
+
-
-
-
+ Press [image
+ files] to start a dialog for image
+ preferences. These are optional. An image is selected for customizing
+ by clicking its thumbnail (press the [gallery] button or G-key to show
+ thumbnails). The dialog is filled-in with default settings or the
+ previous settings for this image. Enter revisions and press [done], or
+ click on the next image to be customized. If Play
+ Tone is selected, a tone is played when
+ the image appears during the slide show. The Show Caption /
+ Show Comments times
+ determine how long the image caption and comments will be shown above
+ the image. After this time they disappear. Captions and comments are
+ edited with Edit Metadata.
+ The Wait times determine how
+ long the
+ image will wait before and after the optional zoom, before moving on
+ to the next image. These are always used, even if there is no zoom. Zoom type selects zoom-in (image approaches) or zoom-out (image recedes). Zoom
+ size controls how much the
+ image will be zoomed and Steps
+ determines how many steps are made during the zoom. 1.0 means no zoom,
+ and 3.0 is the maximum zoom (image is 3x larger). Use at least 300
+ steps for a smooth zoom, and more than this if you want it to zoom
+ more slowly. Zoom location
+ determines the center of the zoom, expressed as a percent of the
+ image width and height (50/50 is the center of the image). These are
+ set by mouse-clicking the thumbnail image at the desired zoom
+ center. Transition is used to select a transition type
+ to be used from this image to the next image. If transition type "next" is selected, then the normal
+ transition sequence is used, as specified in the Transitions dialog.
- Batch Delete/Trash
+
+
-  Select files from a gallery (link).
-Select the option to delete or move to trash.
-[Proceed]
- |
-
-
-
-
+ Sequence of slide show events for
+ each image:
+ +
+ play the tone if specified
-
-
+ + show
+ the
+ caption and comments for the specified times (may be zero)
- Batch RAW
- (DCraw)
+ + wait for the
+ first interval (may be zero)
- Batch RAW (Raw Therapee)
- 
+ + perform
+ the zoom (if the zoom size is > 1)
+ + wait
+ for
+ the 2nd interval (may be zero)
- These functions convert selected
- RAW image files to JPEG, PNG-8, PNG-16, TIFF-8 or TIFF-16 format, using
- the program DCraw or Raw Therapee. The PNG and TIFF formats have either
- 8 or 16 bits per color. RAW files generally have 10-12 bits per color,
- and noise beyond that. Therefore use a 16 bit format to keep all of the
- data available from a RAW file. The difference between 8 and 16 bit
- color is rarely visible, but a higher color depth provides a greater
- margin for retouch functions that can radically shift the brightness
- distribution, causing a problem known as "banding" or "posterization".
-
+ + wait
+ for
+ the standard interval specified in the Slide Show dialog
- Use the [Select Files] button to choose one or more RAW image files
- from a gallery window (link).
- Choose one of the output formats. Choose one of the downsize options if
- wanted, and set the auto sharpen parameters if wanted. See the Sharpen function
- for an
- explanation of these parameters.
+ + do the transition to the next image
+
- The remaining parameter options (white balance etc.) apply only to
- DCraw - they are not shown if Raw Therapee is used, because parameter
- settings for batch operation are not available (defaults are used). The
- default settings for DCraw generally work well and you probably will
- not need to change them. The parameters for DCraw are documented in the man page ($ man dcraw).
+
+
+ Set Desktop Image
-
- The image files are converted one at a time and displayed in the main
- window. Depending on the number of files, this can take a long time (a
- strong PC does about 40 files per minute for most RAW file types and
- TIFF-16 output). PNG-16 produces much smaller files than TIFF-16
- because the files are compressed (with no data loss). This also needs
- more time to do the compression work.
+ The desktop background image is set from the current Fotoxx
+ image file. No inputs are required. Note:
+ this function works only for
+ the Gnome window manager (including Ubuntu Unity).
+ Other window managers will not work.
-
+
+
+
+
+
+ Cycle Desktop Image
+
+
-
-
+
-
+ | The desktop
+ background image is changed at regular intervals, using a Fotoxx album
+ as the list of images to show. Fotoxx runs in the background without
+ a window or GUI interface. It has no effect on normal interactive use of Fotoxx.
+
+ How to cycle the desktop image:
+ - Create an alternative name for the fotoxx executable (e.g.
+ fotoxx-dt):
+ $
+ sudo link
+ /usr/bin/fotoxx /usr/bin/fotoxx-dt (needs to be done only once)
+ - Start fotoxx-dt, passing the album name and the time
+ interval in seconds:
+ $
+ nohup fotoxx-dt
+ -cycledesktop albumName seconds >/dev/null &
- Find Duplicate Images
+ - To stop the background process: $
+ pkill
+ fotoxx-dt
+ Seconds must be at least 10 and there is no upper limit. The nohup
+ command runs the command
+ detached from the terminal, so that the terminal can be closed without
+ killing the process. The character &
+is
+ added after a command to make it run in the background without
+ blocking the terminal or shell script from which it was started.
+
+ To make a permanent process that persists after a reboot or new
+ logon, put the
+ following command into your startup list: fotoxx-dt
+-cycledesktop
+albumName
+ 3600 &
+This example changes the desktop background image every hour. To change
+the desktop only for each new login, use a time value >1 day: 86400.
-  This
-function is used to find duplicated image files anywhere within your
-image database. A duplicate image file can be an image file that
-exactly duplicates another image file, or an image file that "almost"
-duplicates another. For the sake of speed, thumbnail images are
-compared in memory. Hence it is possible that identical thumbnails are
-found for which the main images have some minor (likely invisible)
-differences that do not show up in the thumbnails. An image copy that
-was reduced to 1/2 size is likely be classified as a duplicate. The
-thumbnail size can be set from 32 to 256 pixels (max. width or height).
-A larger size reduces the probability of false positives. The thumbnail
-size greatly affects the amount of main memory required - e.g. for 100K
-images, size 32 needs 220 MB, whereas size 64 needs 880 MB. The memory
-required is roughly size x size x 0.75 x 3 x (image count). Two
-parameters are used to set the sensitivity for detection of identical
-or nearly identical images: pixel difference is the RGB value
-difference below which pixels are considered equal. Set to 1 to detect
-any pixel difference. pixel count is the number of different pixels
-below which two images are classified as duplicates. Example: if pixel
-difference = 3 and pixel count = 100, then images are classified as
-duplicates if fewer than 100 pixels are different by less than 3. The
-output is a gallery view, showing each set of duplicate images.
-Screening 8K images needs about 16 seconds on a strong PC. |
+
+
+ Note:
+ this function works only for
+ the Gnome window manager (including Ubuntu Unity).
+
+
-
-
-
+
+
+
-
+
+
+
+ Bookmarks
+
- Burn
- Images to CD / DVD
+Assign names
+ ("bookmarks") to
+ chosen gallery locations (directory and image file), keep in a list,
+ and use the list to select a name and go instantly to the
+ associated gallery position. There are two
+ parts: an edit dialog to build the list of bookmarks, and a [GoTo]
+ button in the gallery view to show the bookmarks and select a location
+ to go to. To assign new bookmarks, press the [GoTo] button and then
+ select [Edit Bookmarks] in the dialog that follows. The Edit Bookmarks
+ dialog is started. Click on a gallery thumbnail to add this location to
+ the bookmark list. The assigned bookmark name will default to the file
+ name. This name appears in an edit field where you can assign a
+ better name. If you select an existing bookmark with a mouse click, its
+ name is shown in the input field. You can change the name or press
+ [delete] to remove the bookmark. New bookmarks are inserted at the last
+ bookmark location selected. To go to a bookmark, press the [GoTo]
+ button. The list of bookmarks is shown. Click on an entry to go there. |
+
+
+
+
+
- This function enables you to
- choose image files and burn them into a CD or DVD or BlueRay disc. When
- the function starts, an image gallery window is displayed from which
- you can select the image files to burn (link).
-When done, the list of image files is sent to Brasero to burn the disc.
-Note that the CD/DVD/BlueRay disc must be unformatted, and Brasero
-supports only one burn session on a disc. Leftover space on the disc
-cannot be used later to add more images.
+
+
+
+
+
+Sort Gallery
+Sort the gallery thumbnails in an alternative sequence. You can sort by
+file name (default), Photo date/time (from EXIF data), or file
+modification date/time (file creation or last modification date/time).
+The sequence may be ascending or descending.
+
+
+
-
-
-
- Help Menu
-
- Quick Guide
- This is a 1-page introductory
- document with Fotoxx essentials.
-
- User
- Guide (key F1)
- The user guide (this document)
- is displayed (created using the WYSIWYG HTML editor Kompozer).
-
- User
- Guide Changes
- This is a summary of recent
- changes in the User Guide. The intent is to enable you to survey the
- changes without reading the whole document.
-
- Edit
- Functions Summary
- A one-page "quick reference"
- summary of the image edit functions is displayed.
-
- README
-
- Displays the README file
- distributed with Fotoxx, which may contain new information about
- installation or dependencies. When you install a new release of Fotoxx,
- you should look at README and the Change Log to check if there is
- anything special you need to be aware of.
-
- Change
- Log
- Displays the change log file
- distributed with Fotoxx, containing details about functional changes,
- additions, or bug fixes for the current and previous releases.
-
- Translations
- Displays a short text file which
- explains how to make a new translation or change an existing one.
-
- Home Page
- Shows the Fotoxx home page from
- the Internet. Look here for program updates (the page named "recent
- changes"). This page is published via RSS and you can subscribe to get
- timely notification of changes.
-
- About
-
- This displays a short message
- about the Fotoxx version number, license, credits, and contact address.
-
-
-
-
-
-
+
-
+
Batch Menu
+
+
+
- Sync Gallery
-Replace the current gallery (recent files, search results ...) with the
-directory of the current image file: the image shown in the File View
-window. Click on any thumbnail in the gallery to set the current image
-from that thumbnail, then select the Sync Gallery menu (button) to set
-the directory and generate a new gallery from that directory.
-
-
-
-
-
+ Batch Convert
+ Files
-
- Albums
- Menu
-
+ This function is used to rename,
+ convert, resize, upright and move multiple image files at once.
-
-
- Manage
- Albums
- An album is an arbitrary
- sequence of images that is manually assembled from existing images.
- This is one method to make groups of associated images. An image
- album is simply a list of the member image files. The image files
- themselves are not copied or changed. A given image file can be a member of
- multiple albums, or may be present more than once within an
- album. Albums can be used to group images with some shared attributes,
- such as photos from a vacation trip, photos of a given
- person taken at different times or events, a "best photos" collection,
- etc. You can add and remove images in an album and rearrange the
- order of the images. Once an album is made, you can call it up by
- name and it becomes a gallery. This gallery works like any other: you
- can scroll through the gallery, step through the images with the
- [Prev/Next] button, or edit the images. Keep in mind that editing an
- image in an album will edit the unique image file, so any other way
- to view this image will show the same image.
+
-
- Image Cache
- This is an intermediate storage
- area used to hold selected images for later insertion into an
- album. In general, you select image files from gallery windows and
- add them to the cache, then you make a new album with images from
- the cache, or you add the cached images to an existing album at a
- chosen position within the album.
+
+
+
-
-
+
+
+
-
- Manage
- Albums Dialog
- New:
- Start a new album or replace an existing one. The dialog shown
- immediately below is started.
+ | Select Files
- Choose: Choose an
- album to view or edit. The gallery window will show its current
- images. Use the thumbnail popup menu (below) to add or remove images.
- Images:
- Add images to the image
- cache using the standard dialog for selecting images from gallery
- windows (link). Select image files in any order
- from any gallery. You can also use Search
- Images to create a
- gallery for selecting images, or choose an album gallery. Selected
- images are added to the image cache. The cached images can now be added
- to an album using the popup menu (below).
- Clear:
- Discard all images in the
- image cache.
- Delete:
- Select an album to
- delete. Image files are not deleted.
-
- New Album dialog
+ |
+ Select files to convert
+ from a gallery window (link).
- Specify
- an album name, or use the [browse] button to select an existing
- album to be replaced. Select one of the three options. Option 1
- creates the album with no images. Option 2 fills the album
- from cached images, if any. Option 3 creates the album from the
- current gallery. This may be a directory, the output of an image
- search, or an album.
- |
+
+
+
+
+ New Name
+
+
+ |
+ Optional new name with #
+ characters to be replaced with
+ sequence numbers.
+
+
+ |
+
+
+ base, adder
+
+
+ |
+ Starting sequence number
+ and adder for each output file.
+
+
+ |
+
+
+ New
+ Location
+
+
+ |
+ Optional new directory
+ location for the converted files.
+
+
+ |
+
+
+ new
+ file type
+
+
+ |
+ File type for converted
+ images, or "no change".
+
+
+ |
+
+
+ max.
+ width, height
+
+
+ |
+ Output images will fit
+ within these dimensions (ratio is not changed).
+
+
+ |
+
+
+ delete
+ originals
+
+
+ |
+ Delete the input files
+ after successful conversion.
+
+
+ |
+
+
+ copy metadata
+
+
+ |
+ Copy all EXIF and IPTC
+ metadata to the output files.
+
+
+ |
+
+
+ upright
+
+
+ |
+ If an image is rotated
+ 90\B0/180\B0, upright it (status known from EXIF).
+
+
+ |
+
+
+ sharpen
+
+
+ |
+ Sharpen output images
+ using the two supplied parameters
+
+
+ |
-
-
- Right-click
- Popup Menu
+
+
+
+
+
+If New Location is missing or unchanged, delete originals is ignored.
+
+
+
+ If an output file already
+ exists, the input file is not converted.
+
+ For an explanation of the sharpen parameters, see the Sharpen
+ function.
+
+
+
+
+
+ Albums
+
+ If image files are renamed or moved using Batch Convert, and if
+ deletion of the original image files was also specified, then all
+ albums containing any of the input files are updated to reflect
+ the new names and locations.
+
+
+
+
+
+ Upload Photos
+ to a Website
+
+
+
+ Most photo websites have the
+ ability to upload multiple image files from a single directory, using
+ only a web browser. Use the above Fotoxx function to select, resize,
+ and export image files to the desktop or any other directory. From
+ there, use the photo website's native browser interface to upload the
+ image files.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Batch Upright
+
+ This function works like Batch Convert Files but only does the
+upright function. It uprights image files rotated 90 degrees. It
+depends on EXIF data to know if a file is rotated. It is much faster
+than Batch Convert Files. You can simply select all candidate files and
+let it find the ones that are rotated. The search speed is about 3000
+image files per minute on a strong PC. There are two options to specify
+the files to search. Select Files leads to a gallery file selection dialog (link). Survey all files will check all image files in your database and upright those that are rotated.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
-
-
-
- Copy to Image Cache
- |
- Add the clicked image to the image cache. |
-
-
- Cut to Image Cache
- |
- Remove the image from the album and add it
- to the image cache. |
-
-
- Copy to Clipboard
- |
- Copy the image to the clipboard (for other apps to paste).
- |
-
-
- Paste Image Cache Here (keep)
- |
- Insert all cached images at the clicked position.
- Click roughly between two thumbnails where the images will be inserted. |
-
-
- Paste Image Cache Here (clear)
- |
- Same as above, but the cache is cleared.
- |
-
-
- Paste Current Image File Here
- |
- Inserts the current image file at the clicked position. |
-
-
- Remove from Album
- |
- Remove the clicked image from the album |
-
-
- Popup Image
- |
- Pop-up a large resizeable window for the image. Replace previous popup window.
- |
-
-
- Popup Image (add)
- |
- Same as above, but keep previous popup window and create a new one.
- |
-
-
- View Metadata
- |
- Metadata short report for clicked image file.
- |
-
-
-
-
+
- Drag and Drop
- You can rearrange images
- within an album by dragging thumbnails with the mouse. Drag the
- thumbnail until the mouse cursor changes to a small image of the
- thumbnail. Continue dragging this image to the position where it should
- be inserted, and release the mouse button. Position the mouse roughly
- between the images where the dragged image is to be inserted. If the
- drag approaches the top or bottom edge of the window, the gallery will
- scroll to bring more images into view.
-
+ Batch Delete/Trash
- Summary
+ Select files from a gallery (link).
+Select the option to delete or move to trash.
+[Proceed]
+ |
+
+
+
-
-
-- Make a new album: Use the [New] button and provide a name.
- - Add images to an existing album: Use the [Choose] button and
- select an album. Use the [Images] button to select images from any
- gallery. After closing this dialog, the gallery reverts to the chosen
- album. Right-click an album thumbnail and select one of the
- Paste menus to insert the selected images. You can also choose another
- album and insert the images if you did not clear the cache.
- - Remove images from an album: Right-click each thumbnail, then
- select the Remove menu.
- Move images within an album: Use the Cut or Copy menu and the
- Paste menu to move multiple images. To move one image at a time within
- a single album, you can use mouse drag and drop.
-
+
-
- Slide Show
- With this function you can show
- a pre-selected sequence of images in full-screen mode.
+
+
- There are three dialogs used to define and customize a slide show.
-
- Use
- the Manage
- Albums function to assemble
- the images for
- a slide show as an album with an assigned name. This allows you to
- collect images from anywhere in your image database and order them as
- desired. In the slide show dialog, press [Select] and
- choose an album
- from the list provided. Press the Proceed button to start the slide show with
- the first image (or the current image, if a member of the slide show
- album). Use the escape key
- or F11 to exit the slide show
- and return to the dialog.
+ Batch RAW
+ (DCraw)
-
+ Batch RAW (Raw Therapee)
- The spacebar can be
- used to pause and resume between slides. The B-key can
- be used to blank the
- screen and pause the show. Press again to restore the current image, or
- press the spacebar to resume with the next image. You can use the left
- and right arrow keys to go
- back and forth within the sequence of images. You can interrupt the
- slide show by pressing the ESC
- key for a gallery view. Click on a thumbnail
- image, and
- this will be the next image to show. This allows you to skip around
- more easily than stopping and starting the show each time. The M-key
- can be used (whenever the
- slide show is paused) to start the magnify function to view selected
- parts of the image at higher size.
+
-
-Dialog Controls:
-
- Seconds: The standard time each image is shown.
-This can be
- modified per image with the Images Preferences dialog.
- Clip Limit: Images are scaled
- to fit the window. If the image and window aspect ratios are different,
- this will create black margins above and below or left and right of the
- image. You can optionally make the images expand to fill these margins
- and cut off the opposite sides of the image (e.g. if the margins are on
- the left and right, the image is expanded to fill these margins and cut
- off the top and bottom equally). You control how much of this is
- allowed with the Clip Limit, which is the percent difference in aspect
- ratios above which expansion and clipping will not be done. Zero means
- no
- clipping is done, 10% means that images with 10% or less difference in
- aspect ratio will be expanded and clipped.
+ These functions convert selected
+ RAW image files to JPEG, PNG-8, PNG-16, TIFF-8 or TIFF-16 format, using
+ the program DCraw or Raw Therapee. The PNG and TIFF formats have either
+ 8 or 16 bits per color. RAW files generally have 10-12 bits per color,
+ and noise beyond that. Therefore use a 16 bit format to keep all of the
+ data available from a RAW file. The difference between 8 and 16 bit
+ color is rarely visible, but a higher color depth provides a greater
+ margin for retouch functions that can radically shift the brightness
+ distribution, causing a problem known as "banding" or "posterization".
- Music
- File: An optional music file or playlist that will start when
- the slide show is started.
+
- Full
- Screen: If checked, images
- are shown full-screen without menu, title bar, etc.
+ Use the [Select Files] button to choose one or more RAW image files
+ from a gallery window (link).
+ Choose one of the output formats. Choose one of the downsize options if
+ wanted, and set the auto sharpen parameters if wanted. See the Sharpen function
+ for an
+ explanation of these parameters.
- Auto-replay: if checked, the
- slide show will start over after reaching the end.
-
- Press
- [transitions] to start a dialog
- to select and customize the transitions between images. These include
- instant replacement, fade-out / fade-in, and many animated methods of
- image replacement (e.g. the new image expands from the center to
- replace the old image). Select the transitions to be used and whether
- they are used randomly or in sequence. The slowdown
- parameters can be used to
- slow transitions that may operate too fast on some PCs (some may
- be too slow on slow PCs, but this cannot be helped). The preference
- parameters specify a
- relative preference which will influence how frequently the transition
- type is used when random sequence is selected. The random method avoids
- using a transition that was used shortly before, and will only work if
- 5 or more transitions are selected.
+
-
+ The remaining parameter options (white balance etc.) apply only to
+ DCraw - they are not shown if Raw Therapee is used, because parameter
+ settings for batch operation are not available (defaults are used). The
+ default settings for DCraw generally work well and you probably will
+ not need to change them. The parameters for DCraw are documented in the man page ($ man dcraw).
- Press [image
- files] to start a dialog for image
- preferences. These are optional. An image is selected for customizing
- by clicking its thumbnail (press the [gallery] button or G-key to show
- thumbnails). The dialog is filled-in with default settings or the
- previous settings for this image. Enter revisions and press [done], or
- click on the next image to be customized. If Play
- Tone is selected, a tone is played when
- the image appears during the slide show. The Show Caption /
- Show Comments times
- determine how long the image caption and comments will be shown above
- the image. After this time they disappear. Captions and comments are
- edited with Edit Metadata.
- The Wait times determine how
- long the
- image will wait before and after the optional zoom, before moving on
- to the next image. These are always used, even if there is no zoom. Zoom type selects zoom-in (image approaches) or zoom-out (image recedes). Zoom
- size controls how much the
- image will be zoomed and Steps
- determines how many steps are made during the zoom. 1.0 means no zoom,
- and 3.0 is the maximum zoom (image is 3x larger). Use at least 300
- steps for a smooth zoom, and more than this if you want it to zoom
- more slowly. Zoom location
- determines the center of the zoom, expressed as a percent of the
- image width and height (50/50 is the center of the image). These are
- set by mouse-clicking the thumbnail image at the desired zoom
- center. Transition is used to select a transition type
- to be used from this image to the next image. If transition type "next" is selected, then the normal
- transition sequence is used, as specified in the Transitions dialog.
-
-
- Sequence of slide show events for
- each image:
+
- +
- play the tone if specified
+ The image files are converted one at a time and displayed in the main
+ window. Depending on the number of files, this can take a long time (a
+ strong PC does about 40 files per minute for most RAW file types and
+ TIFF-16 output). PNG-16 produces much smaller files than TIFF-16
+ because the files are compressed (with no data loss). This also needs
+ more time to do the compression work.
- + show
- the
- caption and comments for the specified times (may be zero)
- + wait for the
- first interval (may be zero)
+
+
- + perform
- the zoom (if the zoom size is > 1)
- + wait
- for
- the 2nd interval (may be zero)
- + wait
- for
- the standard interval specified in the Slide Show dialog
- + do the transition to the next image
+
+
-
-
-
- Set Desktop Image
+ Burn
+ Images to CD / DVD
- The desktop background image is set from the current Fotoxx
- image file. No inputs are required. Note:
- this function works only for
- the Gnome window manager (including Ubuntu Unity).
- Other window managers will not work.
-
-
-
- Cycle Desktop Image
+ This function enables you to
+ choose image files and burn them into a CD or DVD or BlueRay disc. When
+ the function starts, an image gallery window is displayed from which
+ you can select the image files to burn (link).
+When done, the list of image files is sent to Brasero to burn the disc.
+Note that the CD/DVD/BlueRay disc must be unformatted, and Brasero
+supports only one burn session on a disc. Leftover space on the disc
+cannot be used later to add more images.
+
-
+
-
-
- The desktop
- background image is changed at regular intervals, using a Fotoxx album
- as the list of images to show. Fotoxx runs in the background without
- a window or GUI interface. It has no effect on normal interactive use of Fotoxx.
-
- How to cycle the desktop image:
- - Create an alternative name for the fotoxx executable (e.g.
- fotoxx-dt):
- $
- sudo link
- /usr/bin/fotoxx /usr/bin/fotoxx-dt (needs to be done only once)
- - Start fotoxx-dt, passing the album name and the time
- interval in seconds:
- $
- nohup fotoxx-dt
- -cycledesktop albumName seconds >/dev/null &
- - To stop the background process: $
- pkill
- fotoxx-dt
- Seconds must be at least 10 and there is no upper limit. The nohup
- command runs the command
- detached from the terminal, so that the terminal can be closed without
- killing the process. The character &
-is
- added after a command to make it run in the background without
- blocking the terminal or shell script from which it was started.
-
- To make a permanent process that persists after a reboot or new
- logon, put the
- following command into your startup list: fotoxx-dt
--cycledesktop
-albumName
- 3600 &
-This example changes the desktop background image every hour. To change
-the desktop only for each new login, use a time value >1 day: 86400.
-
+
+
+
- Note:
- this function works only for
- the Gnome window manager (including Ubuntu Unity).
+ Find Duplicate Images
- |
+ This
+function is used to find duplicated image files anywhere within your
+image database. A duplicate image file can be an image file that
+exactly duplicates another image file, or an image file that "almost"
+duplicates another. For the sake of speed, thumbnail images are
+compared in memory. Hence it is possible that identical thumbnails are
+found for which the main images have some minor (likely invisible)
+differences that do not show up in the thumbnails. An image copy that
+was reduced to 1/2 size is likely be classified as a duplicate. The
+thumbnail size can be set from 32 to 256 pixels (max. width or height).
+A larger size reduces the probability of false positives. The thumbnail
+size greatly affects the amount of main memory required - e.g. for 100K
+images, size 32 needs 220 MB, whereas size 64 needs 880 MB. The memory
+required is roughly size x size x 0.75 x 3 x (image count). Two
+parameters are used to set the sensitivity for detection of identical
+or nearly identical images: pixel difference is the RGB value
+difference below which pixels are considered equal. Set to 1 to detect
+any pixel difference. pixel count is the number of different pixels
+below which two images are classified as duplicates. Example: if pixel
+difference = 3 and pixel count = 100, then images are classified as
+duplicates if fewer than 100 pixels are different by less than 3. The
+output is a gallery view, showing each set of duplicate images.
+Screening 8K images needs about 16 seconds on a strong PC.
|
-
-
-
-
-
-Sort Gallery
-Sort the gallery thumbnails in an alternative sequence. You can sort by
-file name (default), Photo date/time (from EXIF data), or file
-modification date/time (file creation or last modification date/time).
-The sequence may be ascending or descending.
-
-
-
+
+
+Batch and search functions in the Metadata menu are duplicated here in the Batch menu.
+
+
+
+
@@ -7749,15 +8006,15 @@
Images for Efficient Searching
The goal is to find all images
- for a given set of criteria, e.g. photos of a given person in a given
- place and time frame, or all photos of a given person at any time, or
- photos from specified locations, etc. There are several ways to
+ for a given set of criteria, e.g. photos of a given person at a given
+ place and time range, or all photos of a given person, or
+ photos from a specified location or event, etc. There are several ways to
organize an image collection to accomplish this, with advantages and
disadvantages you need to understand. These methods may be used in any
combination (I use all of them). Keep in mind that if you want to user
other programs for searching images, you need to pay attention to which
methods are compatible. Fotoxx is standards-compliant to avoid lock-in,
- but some other applications use unique methods.
+ but some other applications use proprietary methods (e.g. for storing metadata).
Fotoxx can search using the
following image attributes: photo date, rating (0-5 stars), tags
@@ -7767,10 +8024,10 @@
Metadata, Edit Geotags, and Search Images topics. In
addition, any metadata
can be searched, although not nearly as fast as the previously listed
- items, which are kept in a special index file for fast
+ items, which are duplicated in a special index file for fast
searching. The Index Image
Files function establishes this index and
- updates it when new image files are added or their locations are
+ updates it when new image files are added or their file locations are
changed from outside Fotoxx.
The following is an attempt to
@@ -7778,16 +8035,16 @@
Physical
Organization
- Directory and file names can be
- used as a basic organization that will enable you to find images even
- if more elaborate organizations (tags, albums, captions) are not
- used. The highest physical organization should be by time. This will
- also naturally group photos together that were made for an event,
- vacation, etc. I suggest using one subdirectory per year
- named 2001, 2002, etc. This will also prevent any one subdirectory from
- getting too big. The image files may further be organized in time
- sequence by using MM.DD as the start of the file name. The rest of the
- name can be a topic or event, and a sequence number.
+Directory and file names can be used as a basic organization that will
+enable you to find images even if more elaborate organizations (tags,
+albums, captions) are not used. The highest physical organization
+should be by time. This will also naturally group photos together that
+were made for an event, travel location, etc. I suggest using one
+subdirectory per year named 2001, 2002, etc. This will also prevent any
+one subdirectory from getting too big. Optionally, image files may be
+further organized in time sequence by using MM.DD as the start of the
+file name. The rest of the name can be a topic or event, and a sequence
+number.
Example:
/images/2011/08.20 Spitzbergen 23
This very basic organization
@@ -7795,7 +8052,7 @@
example, a search for "spitzbergen" or even "spitz" will produce all
the images of Spitzbergen. The function Tools > Batch Convert lets
you rename a whole batch of photos taken on one day at one location or
- event by selecting the files (link) and specifying a template name like "08.20
+ event by selecting the files (link) and then specifying a template name like "08.20
Spitzbergen ##". The sequence numbers are automatic, replacing ##.
Captions and
@@ -7827,11 +8084,10 @@
comments, location, others). Tagging is generally fast, needing a few
seconds per image. Fotoxx has two methods of adding tags, a "managed"
system and a "random" system. In the managed system, you define tag
-category names and the tags or types of tags that will be created
-within each category. When adding tags to images, you can point and
+category names and the tags to be defined within each category. When adding tags to images, you can point and
click from a list of tags organized by category and alphabetically
-within category. This list should be small enough to be practical for
-visually locating tags (<500 tags). In the random system, you simply
+within category. This list should be small enough (<500?) to be practical for
+visually locating tags to click on. In the random system, you simply
create tags as needed while you tag your images, following no
particular system and without categories. After you have entered the
first few characers of a tag, existing tags that match these characters
@@ -7843,7 +8099,7 @@
process. There is also a batch function for adding the same tags to
many images that you select by clicking thumbnails (link). Note that images downloaded from
the Internet may have many tags adhering to no system. You will
- need to clean these out or redo them.
+ need to clean these out or redo them (if not, these tags are added to your list of defined tags).
Geotags
Use geotags to assign a city (or
@@ -8128,19 +8384,19 @@
are not needed by Fotoxx. The translation source files (.po) are read
directly by fotoxx, and changes made to a .po file are effective the
next time Fotoxx is started. Step 3 is useful to find errors (e.g.
-missing or non-matching format codes).
+missing or non-matching format codes, quote marks, etc.).
Whenever fotoxx is started from a terminal, missing translations are listed in the terminal window.
Problems with long translations
English can be terse compared to other languages (e.g. "undo" is
-"Rückgängig machen" in German), and this can cause ugliness in the GUI
+"Rückgängig machen" in German), and this can cause a confusing appearance in the GUI
layouts. Therefore try to make dialog labels and buttons short, and
look closely at the resulting GUI layout.
User Guide translation
-The user guide is normally found here:
- /usr/share/fotoxx/data/userguide-xx.html (or -xx_XX.html)
+The English user guide is normally found here:
+ /usr/share/fotoxx/data/userguide-en.html
The file is a text HTML file, which may be edited with any HTML editor.
This is a large document, so expect a week or more of work to translate
it. If you make a new or revised translation, please send it to kornelix@posteo.de so it can be included in future releases.
@@ -8155,16 +8411,30 @@
This section is provided to help
you quickly review the changes without reading the whole manual.
- Fotoxx version numbers correspond to year and month of release.
+ Fotoxx version numbers correspond to year and month of release.
+
+v.15.09 (this release)
+
+
+ - Area Copy and Paste: this function
+was restored after being removed in 15.08. Save Area File and Open Area
+File can be used to do the same thing, but this method is faster and
+easier in the common case where an area is copied and pasted and does not need to be saved in a file for later usage.
+
+ - User Options: the font and size used in menus and dialogs can be set by the user.
+ - Calibrate Printer: new tool to improve the color accuracy of printed images.
+
+
-
-v.15.08 (this release)
+
+
+v.15.08
|
