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FocalBlade Changelog

What's new in FocalBlade 2.12

Sep 23, 2021
  • The "Photoshop Dark" skin style is now used by default
  • Bug Fix: Copying settings from one preview tab to another does not requires switching to that preview tab first anymore.
  • Standalone:
  • Support for the following new raw formats: CR3, SRW, MFW, BMQ, CINE, HDR, IA, KC2 and PXN
  • Support for the raw files of 120 new cameras based on MetaRaw 3.10
  • Bug Fix: When minimizing a maximized window two times, the controls previously vanished when displaying the window again.
  • Metaraw.dll does not require vcruntime140.dll to be installed anymore
  • Installation:
  • Installation support for newer versions of Photoshop Elements
  • The installation now deletes the registry keps that keep Photoshop Elements 2020/2021 from loading plugins that crashed 3 times.
  • Demo version:
  • The window of the demo version can now be expanded up to a size of 1680 x 1050 pixels (instead of 1024 x 768).

New in FocalBlade 2.11b (Nov 16, 2018)

  • Affinity Photo:
  • Fixed control repositioning in Affinity Photo 1.6.4 when maximizing the window
  • Color dialogs are now displayed in Affinity Photo.
  • Standalone:
  • Support for the raw files of 35 new cameras based on MetaRaw 3.03.
  • Support for saving grayscale 8-bit images as PSD files
  • No more crash when reading the EXIF data from DNG files taken by the Huawei P20 (Pro).
  • Plugin Installer:
  • Works again under Windows XP
  • Support for the Microsoft Store version of Photoshop Elements 15

New in FocalBlade 2.11 (Apr 23, 2018)

  • All tools can now be used if the preview zoom is 200% or higher
  • Bug Fix: The preview coordinates on the Info tab sheet are displayed correctly if the preview zoom is 200% or higher
  • Plugin:
  • Plugin Installer:
  • Supports the Microsoft Store version of Photoshop Elements 2018
  • Standalone:
  • Support for the raw files of 70 new cameras based on MetaRaw 3.01.
  • Bug Fix: Saving PNG files works again
  • Installation:
  • Bug Fix: The External Editor Installer previously crashed on some systems. This should not happen anymore.

New in FocalBlade 2.10c (Oct 24, 2017)

  • Scrolling the preview with a maximized window on a 4K screen now works fluently. It also works faster on Full HD screens.
  • Plugin:
  • Affinity Photo Fixes: Bug Fix: No more crash when applying the plugin a second time to a 16-bit/channel image.
  • Bug Fix: When opening the maximized plugin window for the second time, the controls do not vanish anymore.
  • Plugin Installer:
  • Support for Paint Shop Pro 2018
  • Support for Corel Draw & Photo-Paint 2017
  • Fixed support for Corel Draw & Photo-Paint X5 and older
  • The Add Folder button now asks if you want to install the 64-bit versions of the plugins in the new folder. Previously the 32-bit plugins were automatically installed in the new folder.
  • Standalone:
  • Support for the raw files of 200 new cameras based on MetaRaw 2.54.
  • Support for the 16-bit PSD files created by ON1 Photo Raw, ON1 Photo 10 and OnOne Perfect PhotoSuite 9. Previously these files were displayed distorted. Now you can pass images from ON1 to the standalone as 16-bit per channel PSD files.
  • Bug Fix: The standalones do not produce TIFF files with empty IPTC meta data anymore, which are not supported by Lightroom.
  • The manual now includes instructions on using it in ACDSee, AfterShot Pro, Capture One, DxO Optics, Exposure, ON1 Photo RAW and Raw Therapee.
  • External Editor Installer: Support for Exposure X3

New in FocalBlade 2.10 (Sep 6, 2017)

  • "The Plugin Site" sub menu does not appear at the top of the Filter menu anymore, because the leading space character was removed.
  • Bug Fix: No more error message or crash when running the plugin on images larger than 2 GB, but it is not possible to process such large images by clicking OK.
  • Standalone/Lightroom Version:
  • Support for the raw files of 38 new cameras based on MetaRaw 2.07.
  • Bug Fix: The automatic image rotation previously produced strange results for 180 degree rotated JPEG, TIFF and PSD images.
  • Bug Fix: The EXIF orientation item was previously not adjusted when saving JPEG files, which resulted in wrong rotation when opening the saved file again.

New in FocalBlade 2.09 (May 18, 2016)

  • Support for HiDPI
  • The Standalone/Lightroom versions do not show a scaled up UI by default anymore.
  • The UI-Scaling-Preview-Cutoff problem in Photoshop CC 2014/2015 and Photoshop Elements 13/14 was fixed. However, the Soft Proof effect is not visible in the preview anymore if UI Scaling is active. The problem also persists for images in Lab and CMYK mode.
  • The positions of some control were readjusted for high dpi settings.
  • Larger cursors and program icon
  • Standalone Bug Fix: When saving to a path, which contained a dot character, and the entered file name contained no extension, the file was previously saved to the wrong folder with a wrong file name.
  • Double clicking the hand tool activates Fit zoom.
  • Improved installation:
  • Three less clicks are necessary, because the language, start menu and ready pages are not displayed anymore.
  • There are no separate Start menu folders and desktop icons added for different versions anymore. So better uninstall previous and demo versions before installing new/full versions.
  • Under Windows 8 & 10 there are even less icons with better names installed on the All Apps section of the Start menu to avoid clutter.
  • Please uninstall from the Control Panel as the uninstall icon is not added to the Start menu anymore.
  • Plugin Installer supports HiDPI

New in FocalBlade 2.01 (Oct 1, 2010)

  • Standalone and Lightroom versions of FocalBlade are now available. Both can open multiple images and support images with 8-bit and 16-bit/channel.
  • The Lightroom version can be used as an external editor in Adobe Lightroom 1, 2 and 3.
  • The Standalone version is a program that runs on its own. It offers a batch processing feature and opens the following image formats: Camera RAW (including DNG), JPEG, TIFF, PSD, PNG, BMP, TGA, PCD, PCX, WMF. It can save JPEG, TIFF, PSD and PNG files.
  • The sample area is drawn faster.
  • To unify the UI of all PhotoWiz plugins the following changes were made:
  • New Instant Preview check box that makes the sliders react instantly. It is activated by default. No cursor flicker anymore when moving sliders with Instant Preview activated.
  • New key shortcuts: H/Space for the hand tool, M for the sample area tool, I for the eyedropper, + and - for zooming, R for reset. If the input focus is on an edit or combo box, you need to additionally hold down the Alt key to make the shortcut work.
  • The "Auto Preview" check box was renamed to "Preview".
  • "Deactivate Multiprocessor Support" was renamed to "Multi-CPU Off".
  • Saved presets are now displayed at the top on the main arrow-down menu.
  • The included preset files are now accessed from the installation folder. They are not installed in the Application Data folder anymore.
  • If you change something on the Calibrate and Prefs tab sheet and press Cancel, all settings are saved. Previously you needed to press OK to save changes on the Prefs tab sheet, which meant that you would need to apply the effect to the image even if you did not want that.
  • Bug Fix: The Add Grain slider produced too strong grain for 16-bit images.
  • Bug Fix: Deinstalling the demo version after the full version was already installed, causes no problems for the full version anymore.
  • Bug Fix: Log files are now always saved in the appdata folder and not the installation folder.
  • Bug Fix: The top arrow-down menu is displayed even if memory is low.
  • Bug Fix: H and S values on Info tab displayed 16-bit values for 16-bit images while the other values were 8-bit.
  • Bug Fix: The final rendering time is now displayed correctly in the progress bar.
  • Bug Fix: Clicking Display or Print when Details is set to "off" produced strange Surface Radius slider values.
  • Bug Fix: Deactivating multi-CPU support unnecessarily doubled the rendering time prviously.
  • Bug Fix: Presets do not deactivate the Help check box anymore.
  • Bug Fix: When switching between Preview tabs the Navigator image turned black.
  • Bug Fix: Transparent areas are mirrored when the first four split view options are activated together with the Multi check box
  • Bug Fix: Changing the zoom combo box setting with the cursor keys or mouse wheel caused a lock up between 200% and 300%.
  • Bug Fix: Fixed messed up controls in demo version when the full version window was larger than 1024x768.
  • Bug Fix: The navigator image vanished after opening a preset changing the mode.
  • All files are now installed in the "The Plugin Site" sub folder of the Program Files folder by default. Additionally "The Plugin Site" sub menu of the Start menu is now used for installation items.
  • Support for silent installation: If you run the installer with the /silent or /verysilent command line parameter, the installation will run automatically and require no click. Plugin Installer will then automatically install the plugin in every supported application that it can find.
  • Plugin Installer supports more applications, e.g. Sagelight and Fireworks CS2 to CS5, and displays less options during installation.

New in FocalBlade 2.0 (Oct 1, 2010)

  • General Improvements:
  • FocalBlade 2 renders 10 to 14 times faster than Version 1 if only one processor or core is used. (For certain settings FocalBlade 2 renders even up to 20 times faster).
  • Support for hyperthreading, dual core, quad core and multiple processors. With one of these CPUs FocalBlade 2 again renders 1.5 to 4 times faster than with a single core processor. So with an Intel i7 processor FocalBlade 2 renders 60 to 85 times faster than FocalBlade 1.
  • A 64-bit version of FocalBlade 2 is available with no additional cost.
  • Scripting and smart filter support. FocalBlade 2 now saves its parameters to actions/scripts and smart objects.
  • Sharpening Improvements:
  • Auto Sharpening:
  • FocalBlade 2 offers various sharpening workflows with one pass, two passes and three sharpening passes. The old FocalBlade 1 workflow is now called "One-Pass Classic".
  • Improved auto sharpening including four output options. Instead of only two output options as in Version 1 you can now choose between five display types as well as inkjet, continuous tone and halftone printing. Additionally you can specify image source, paper type and print resolution.
  • Two options for noise reduction are now available in the Surface combo box on the Auto tab sheet.
  • The Details combo box on the Auto tab sheet now provides useful radius values even for larger prints. In FocalBlade 1 the suggested radius was usually too high for large images.
  • New Evaluate check box that evaluates the preview for calculating the sharpening amount. It is deactivated by default. In FocalBlade 1.0 it was not possible to deactivate the preview evaluation with auto sharpening activated.
  • The Calibrate tab sheet lets you adjust the strength of the auto sharpening and softproof options independently for the display, inkjet, contone and halftone output. That way you can calibrate the sharpening and softproofing according to your taste and special conditions.
  • Manual Sharpening:
  • FocalBlade 2 provides stronger sharpening with less artifacts and halos than FocalBlade 1.
  • FocalBlade 2 now offers three sharpening methodsinstead of one. The new Adaptive Radius method sharpens each pixel with a different radius depending on the image details. There is also a Single Radius method, an improved version of the popular Unsharp Mask filter with a Surface slider. The old sharpening method of FocalBlade 1 is now called "Dual Radius".
  • The maximum sharpening radius is 32 pixel instead of 16.
  • New White and Black Peak sliders for removing black and white halos even more effectively. They remove extreme halos that are not fixed by the White/Black Halo sliders.
  • All FocalBlade modes support sharpening up to 2000%. In FocalBlade 1 it was only possible in the DeBlur modes.
  • Bug Fix: FocalBlade 1 applied a weaker edge sharpening when running it with the Last Filter command in Photoshop. This does not occur anymore.
  • Masking:
  • Color Protection options: Up to three colors can be selected to protect image areas with these colors from the sharpening effect.
  • Improved edge mask options:
  • New Equalize slider for amplifying weaker edge details.
  • New Contrast slider for adjusting the contrast of the edge mask.
  • The old Smoothness slider was renamed to "Width".
  • The Expand slider was renamed to Lightness. The negative range of the Intensity slider was moved over to the Lightness slider.
  • The new Intensity check box automatically adjusts the edge mask intensity depending on what is displayed in the preview. The value of the Intensity slider can also be deactivated and set manually. This new check box makes edge sharpening slightly stronger and more effective than in FocalBlade 1.
  • Other New Features
  • A Softproof option (located on the zoom combo box) that simulates the look of the print. It displays the image on the monitor at the same physical size as the print and imitates the softness of the print. The Softproof preview is updated in real-time, so you can use it while adjusting the settings in FocalBlade.
  • Up to 3200% preview zoom
  • New Navigator tool for quickly displaying a certain image section in the preview.
  • Color Noise Removal option for suppressing color noise. There is also a Resaturate slider for adding back saturation that was removed by strong sharpening or color noise removal.
  • Support for Lab and CMYK image modes. Limitations: The Color Mask feature does not work and the Glow feature is not colored. In CMYK mode additionally the Color Noise feature does not work.
  • Grain feature for adding subtle grain of three types to the image. This can make the image appear sharper or make soft looking areas look natural again.
  • Three Preview tab buttons above the preview for working with three different filter settings at the same time.
  • The new Show Halos (High Pass) check box on the Info tab sheet visually shows you how strong each pixel is sharpened. It is helpful for fine-tuning the halos.
  • A new Fade slider for reducing the intensity of the overall effect.
  • Preset files of FocalBlade 1 are still supported.
  • Please move your self-saved presets to the Presets sub folder at the following location to make them appear on the arrow-down menu:
  • 2000/XP:
  • c:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\ThePluginSite\FocalBlade\
  • Vista/7:
  • c:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\ThePluginSite\FocalBlade\
  • To avoids write permission conflicts the .ini, preset and log files are now saved in this folder.
  • Many more and new key shortcuts
  • The PDF manual was greatly enhanced and contains 74 pages (26 pages more)
  • Bug Fix: With activated B/W option the final result was not black and white in FocalBlade 1.0.
  • Bug Fix: The Soften slider works correctly in Grayscale mode
  • Dialog Changes
  • FocalBlade 2 is easier to use with a more organized UI and one central tab control.
  • FocalBlade 2 offers 6 modes: Easy Mode, Unsharp Mask, Soft Blur, Noise Reduction, Special Effect and Advanced Mode.
  • A total of 80 presets on various arrow-down button menus. The FocalBlade 1 presets are now available from the arrow-down menu on the Effect tab sheet.
  • If the Interactive Menus check box is activated on the Prefs tab, then placing the mouse over a preset item on a menu automatically displays its effect in the preview.
  • A new tool bar above the preview for choosing between three tools: hand, sample area and eyedropper tool.
  • New maximize button on the title bar for enlarging the windows. The task bar is now respected and no controls vanish under it.
  • Double clicking the label of a slider or combo box resets it to its default value.
  • "Remove Sample Area" command was added to the context menu of the Reset button
  • The old Mask Display combo box was turned into six small buttons available on the Adjust and Effect tab sheets.
  • The following options were removed, because they did not make a significant difference: Precise check box, Antialias check box, Compensate check boxes, Method combo box. The second Method combo box was replaced with a Median check box.
  • The German localization was improved by using image processing terms found in the German localization of Photoshop.
  • Bug Fix: Some cosmetic problems under Vista/7 were fixed.
  • Plugin Installer now supports Fireworks CS2 to CS5 and displays less options during installation.

New in FocalBlade 1.07 (Jan 29, 2010)

  • Bug Fix: No error message when applying FocalBlade to an adjustment layer or from the top of the Filter menu.
  • Bug Fix: Images that are larger than the available RAM are supported again and do not display an preview zoom error message.
  • Bug Fix: Error message in cloak mode when running in Photoshop CS4 64-bit under Windows 7 was fixed.
  • Bug Fix: Opening a preset from the menu list disabled the Open Preset and Save Preset options.
  • Bug Fix: After leaving cloak mode the title bar and auto preview check box are not moved anymore.
  • Bug Fix: No error message when switching between the Prefs and Help tab sheets and then clicking on the Print button.
  • Bug Fix: Problem with the Reset button causing zero sharpening values solved.