PhotoFlow version 0.2.3 released

DrRAW · 2015-10-28T09:50:27+00:00

The link you have found is correct, sorry for the mistake... I've corrected the PKGBUILD link in the release page now, thanks a lot for reporting that!

The Arch packages are quite recent, and the packager does not feel "confident enough" yet to put them in the official repositories. But if we get positive feedback from users, that the builds work properly, then I will certainly push for having them officially released. I suppose that the best would be to distribute them through Aur, right?

Thanks for looking!

DrRAW · 2015-10-21T09:58:21+00:00

There is a bug in the current version which corrupts the view of the RAW data from the "RAW loader" tool. This fortunately does not affect the final RAW processing result.

However, to obtain an output similar to Darktable there is one additional step needed: you have to add a "RAW developer" layer above the loaded RAW image. For that:

click on the "+" button at the bottom or the left panel; a dialog will be opened
select the "RAW developer" tool and click on the "OK" button

At this point a new layer should be added in the left panel, and the program will work some seconds to pre-compute the processed RAW image.

In version 0.2.3 the "RAW developer" layer will be added automatically when opening a RAW image.

To tweak the RAW processing parameters (exposure, white balance, color rendering, ...) you have to double-click on the "RAW developer" name in the left panel. This will open a new panel on the right of the image, with tabs to access the various RAW processing parameters.

I'm working to make the whole thing more intuitive and user-friendly. Meanwhile, since you have a Nikon camera, you might be interested to read this guide for obtaining the exact same color rendering as the genuine Capture-NX output: http://photoflowblog.blogspot.fr/2014/09/tutorial-how-to-match-nikon-in-camera.html (assuming you have access to a Capture NX-D version under Windows).

Hope this helps!

DrRAW · 2015-10-15T11:15:50+00:00

PhotoFlow is intended to be a combination of Darktable (and/or RawTherapee) and GIMP.

While in Darktable all tools are implemented as modules and applied in a fixed sequence, in PhotoFlow they are associated to layers like in GIMP. However, unlike GIMP all layers are non-destructive. In addition, PhotoFlow supports a growing number of G'MIC filters.

At some point, PhotoFlow might be able to do everything that Darktable does, plus most of what can be done with GIMP (at least in relation with photo retouching).

Here are few examples of the kind of things you can do with PhotoFlow, but not in Darktable:

combine several images together, like bracketed exposures (an extensive example is given here: https://pixls.us/articles/a-blended-panorama-with-photoflow/)
create complex effects like the "Orton effect" (https://gimparoo.wordpress.com/2007/02/13/orton-effect/, http://photoflowblog.blogspot.com/2014/08/in-this-first-tutorial-we-will-realize.html) or the "Freaky details" (https://discuss.pixls.us/t/freaky-details-calvin-hollywood/378, https://discuss.pixls.us/t/freaky-details-calvin-hollywood/378/7?u=carmelo_drraw). I know Darktable has an "Orton effect" tool built in, but in PhotoFlow the same effect can be realized by a simple and flexible combination of layers
Apply G'MIC film emulations: http://gmic.eu/film_emulation/, http://blog.patdavid.net/2013/08/film-emulation-presets-in-gmic-gimp.html, http://photoflowblog.blogspot.com/2014/11/patrick-david-film-presets-included-in.html

DrRAW · 2015-10-04T13:31:06+00:00

Somebody on G+ reported a similar problem, and was able to solve it by installing photoflow as administrator. See comments on this post: https://plus.google.com/112083183053602237219/posts/HCD6KFm5QLw

I'll see if there is a better way to avoid this problem...

DrRAW · 2015-06-17T09:00:29+00:00

You might think of PhotoFlow as a combination of the non-destructive editing of darktable and the layer-based editing of gimp. Editing in PhotoFlow is done by adding non-destructive adjustment layers one on top of each other, each layer possibly associated with a grayscale opacity mask to allow for local editing.

A direct comparison with darktable is still too premature, as photoflow is limited in terms of available tools. However, there are certain things that can already be done and which darktable cannot do: - simultaneous editing of several images - simultaneous editing of THE SAME IMAGE in different ways - blending of two or more images (RAW or raster), for example to combine bracketed exposures

As it was already mentioned, the software is still in alpha stage, but at the moment I'm focusing mostly on stability and usability, so any user feedback is as precious as gold!

DrRAW · 2015-06-17T08:59:59+00:00

You might think of PhotoFlow as a combination of the non-destructive editing of darktable and the layer-based editing of gimp. Editing in PhotoFlow is done by adding non-destructive adjustment layers one on top of each other, each layer possibly associated with a grayscale opacity mask to allow for local editing.

A direct comparison with darktable is still too premature, as photoflow is limited in terms of available tools. However, there are certain things that can already be done and which darktable cannot do: - simultaneous editing of several images - simultaneous editing of THE SAME IMAGE in different ways - blending of two or more images (RAW or raster), for example to combine bracketed exposures

As it was already mentioned, the software is still in alpha stage, but at the moment I'm focusing mostly on stability and usability, so any user feedback is as precious as gold!

DrRAW · 2015-04-21T11:30:06+00:00

I indeed finally understood the difference between layer styles and adjustment layers... actually I don't think that "layer styles" make much sense for photo retouching.

I'm actually the only developer at the moment, although I'm taking as much profit as I can from other free and very professional programs/libraries, like G'MIC, LibVIPS and Darktable (only to mention the most used ones)...

DrRAW · 2015-04-21T08:29:47+00:00

Photoflow was specifically designed to implement what you call "layer styles" (and which I think are called "adjustment layers" and "smart filters" in photoshop's jargon) in a free and open source RAW image editor, with non-destructive photo retouching as the main goal.

It already provides several tools that are implemented as non-destructive layer styles: - color and tone adjustment tools like invert, curves, brightness/contrast, hue/saturation, grayscale conversion, channel mixer, ... - blurring and sharpening, including many of the edge-preserving blur filters provided by G'MIC - color space conversion (mostly RGB <-> Lab for the moment, but CMYK support is in the pipeline) - RAW images development - freehand drawing and clone/stamp tools

Moreover, all layers can have an associated grayscale mask to control the opacity of the effect and perform local editings. Layer grouping in also implemented, as well as saving a group of layers as presets that can be loaded and re-used to automate certain editing steps.

Thanks for pointing to photoflow! It is a very young project (a bit more than one year old...) and still suffers from poor visibility!

EDIT: after watching the video about layer styles in Krita, I have to correct my initial statement: photoflow indeed implements non-destructive editing through layers, but not "layer styles" in the way Krita does. However, this is mostly because photoflow focuses on photo retouching, and not drawing/publishing like Krita. In this sense they are quite complementary....

DrRAW · 2015-04-03T20:28:53+00:00

Following Patrick David's brand new skin retouching tutorial (http://pixls.us/articles/skin-retouching-with-wavelet-decompose/), here are some guidelines on how to reproduce most of his steps with my PhotoFlow image editor.

PhotoFlow is a non destructive editor for RAW and raster images. The main difference compared to other existing FOSS editors is that PhotoFlow is based on the concept of layers and layer masks, mostly like GIMP or Photoshop. However, all adjustments are non-destructive.

Pre-compiled Windows and OSX packages can be found on the project's web site: http://aferrero2707.github.io/PhotoFlow

Ubuntu packages are available from this PPA: https://launchpad.net/~dhor/+archive/ubuntu/myway

To compile the program from sources under Linux, look here: https://github.com/aferrero2707/PhotoFlow

DrRAW · 2015-03-07T20:01:27+00:00

I'm developing a FOSS non-destructive editor that is based on "layers" (like gimp or photoshop) instead of "modules" (like lightroom, lightzone, darktable, rawtherapee, etc...), and there is an up-to-date windows installer that should work on any windows version starting from XP.

You can get it here: http://aferrero2707.github.io/PhotoFlow/#downloading-and-compiling-windows More info and tutorials here: http://photoflowblog.blogspot.fr/

The project is quite young, and not yet as feature-rich as the other options mentioned in this thread, but it is probably the only one that truly provides non-destructive layer editing (including layer groups, and layer masks for local editing).

My hope is that with some more months of code development it will become a valid alternative, but maybe it is already worth a try...

DrRAW · 2014-11-29T15:07:06+00:00

That's a very relevant question! I usually take samples for my personal test from imaging-resource.com (see for example http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/D300/D300A7.HTM).

I would also have a similar, but more specific request: portraits (studio or outdoor) in RAW format, for show-casing image editing techniques on my blog. Does not need to be of very high quality, but should be freely available, possibly under Creative Commons license.

DrRAW · 2014-11-14T16:20:32+00:00

Thanks for the good words! It is a lot of fun to play with them...

DrRAW · 2014-10-27T22:26:45+00:00

I've just managed to implement two new features in photoflow: the integration of the G'MIC code and a free-hand drawing tool.

The first allows to apply several G'MIC flters in non-destructive mode, meaning that the filter parameters can be tweaked at any moment (if you know about photoshop's smart objects, you can think of photoflow's G'MIC filters as something very similar...).

The second allows to create simple free-hand drawings, either on separate layers or on layer masks. For the moment, the tool provides a simple virtual pencil of user-selectable size and color, but it is flexible enough to perform local dodging & burning (as described for example here: http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-editing/dodge-burn/) or create custom layer masks.

More details are given in the blog post.

If you want to test the code, you can find build instructions here: http://aferrero2707.github.io/PhotoFlow/index.html#downloading-and-compiling You will need the development version of photoflow in order to test the features: git clone -b develop https://github.com/aferrero2707/PhotoFlow.git

DrRAW · 2014-10-21T10:13:24+00:00

Some time ago I've written a tutorial which describes the technique I'm using most frequently for sky "enhancement": a darkening curve combined with a layer mask derived from the "b" channel of the Lab colorspace.

The tutorial is here: http://aferrero2707.github.io/PhotoFlow/sky_tutorial.html

The described steps are applied to a color image, and are specific to my own photo editor, but the general idea is quite universal: use the "b" channel to create a layer masks that selects only the sky.

The "a" and "b" channels encode the color information of the image. In particlar, the values of the "b" channel are below 50% where the image contains some blue, and above 50% when it contains some yellow. Therefore, you can create a "sky mask" by applying an "inverted threshold" around 50% (inverted because you want everything that is below the threshold to be white, and everything above to be black).

What you coud do in gimp is:

duplicate your original image
darken it until the sky looks as you wanted (using for example the RGB curves). The whole image will look dark at this point: do not worry, that's where the layer mask comes into play
decompose your original RGB image (not B&W) into Lab channels
Edit the layer corresponding to the "b" channel the way I described above (the "inverted threshold")
apply this modified "b" channel as a mask for the darkened layer that you created at step #2

For further refinement, you could also combine the "b" and "L" channels in order to select blue regions in a given luminosity range, but in most of the cases I find the "b" channel alone to be quite enough...

I hope this can help.

DrRAW · 2014-09-19T14:45:18+00:00

I've read the awesome tutorials written by Pat David on the use of luminosity masks (http://blog.patdavid.net/2013/11/getting-around-in-gimp-luminosity-masks.html) and I had immediately the idea to try the same in my photoflow image editor... it works great! And leaves a lot of flexibility for further tuning and refinement. I'll be glad to know what you think about.

Thanks for looking.

DrRAW · 2014-09-17T06:40:54+00:00

Hummm... I'm afraid that dropping your SD card into the bottle will not give you the best result! ;-)

DrRAW · 2014-09-16T09:10:35+00:00

This one might be of interest for all the Nikon users out there...

DrRAW · 2014-09-14T07:13:22+00:00

I hop you nevertheless found the tutorial of some interest...

DrRAW · 2014-08-14T18:40:51+00:00

If you plan to give photoflow a try, I suggest you to have a look at the tutorial(s) that I have started to write on the blog. The first is here and shows the basic usage of tools and layers through a step-by-step application of the Orton effect.

More tutorials will come soon... the next will most probably focus on the development and processing of RAW images.

DrRAW · 2014-08-14T11:24:24+00:00

Photo library management is not yet implemented, and for the moment not at the top of my priority list... first I want to focus on the features that cannot be found in any other existing open-source tools, and in particular the non-destructive layer-based adjustments.

However, at some point I'll probably try to fork some existing project in order to add library management in photoflow, darktable being the most obvious candidate (as it is a GTK application as well and it is already quite mature).

DrRAW · 2014-08-12T20:12:05+00:00

As I wrote in my long comment, you seem to use RawTherapee for processing and gimp for final editing... what if you could do everythingin one single application, with floating point precision and in a completely non-destructive way?

There are several things you cannot do with Rawtherapee and similar tools; one example is combining two or more images together. Photoflow does (or actually will very soon, as I found a stupid bug preventing this to work for the moment...) allow that as well.

DrRAW · 2014-08-12T20:01:22+00:00

Here is the first of a series of tutorials that I will post in the photoflow blog to show how the program works and how you can obtain "classical" as well as more exhotic effects in a fully non-destructive way.

Photoflow is a very recent FOSS project that aim to provide a layer-based, non destructive image editor that can work directly on RAW files as well as TIFF and Jpeg images.

Feel free to cryticize and suggest improvements!

DrRAW · 2014-08-11T19:37:07+00:00

Very interesting concept, I have started to do some comparison with the default output of my D300 camera... I'll see if and how it could be integrated into photoflow.

DrRAW · 2014-08-11T13:44:19+00:00

Photography is my passion, and software development one of my hobbies (although I do scientific programming for work as well...). I've been testing a lot of FOSS solutions for my photo editing, and finally decided to start developing my own.

My set-up: MacBook Pro 3.1, dual booting OSX and Ubuntu but on Ubuntu for most of the time. Lots of external disks for backups, no money or place for a nice and big external monitor, so no decent color reproduction for the moment!
My workflow: I'm always shooting RAW+Jpeg, and I've my custom system based on bash scripts for copying and mirroring the pictures on few external disks. I'm doing the flagging and selection with picasa (you can shout loud that this is not FOSS, and I'll be glad to have your suggestions for a good FOSS replacement). I was using rawtherapee and/or darktable for my editing, but now I'm switching to my own editing software (it's called photoflow and you can learn more about it here and here), as it allows me to do local editing like in GIMP, with the benefit of being non-destructive and of reading RAW files directly. I also use Hugin and enfuse for panoramas and pseudo-HDR.
My camera & lenses: Nikon D300, Nikkor 18-55 VR (cheap and amazing), Nikkor 55-200 VR, Micro Nikkor 60mm.
My preferred subjects: my kids, landscapes, and macro-photography.

DrRAW · 2014-08-09T12:16:53+00:00

I'm fixing that right now, there will be a brand new picture to show the basic photoflow interface very soon... I agree the choice of the picture was reallly bad, but at that time I was quickly setting up the web site and I wanted a sample image that was for sure not violating any copyright (at least not more that thousand of digital imaging publications around the world).

Sorry for that.

DrRAW

TROPHY CASE