A modern auto-fix?

[Paul Verizzo]

Background:  I've been in digital photography since 2000, decades of film before and since.  I'm certainly familiar with the use of curves to correct bad photos.  But so tedious, and if the photos are snapshots, hard to justify the time.  It appears to me, although I can't prove it, that digital cameras, discrete or within phones, seem to be doing a much better job automatically adjusting curves than my old Minolta A2, for instance.

I recently became aware of a new free Canon program, My Image Garden, that has a much improved Auto-fix than its forerunner.  As an example, a backlit photo processed in MIG will bring up only the shadows while leaving the normal and highlights alone.  It allegedly uses a zone by zone analysis.  It is a terrible program in every other regard, clunky interface, bloated, etc.  But I used it for some recent pics to advantage.

Some of those pictures were originally on my Windows Phone 8, which I had copied to the HD.  Before I deleted them from the phone, I poked around with the options at that point.  I found an auto-fix, pushed the "button," and my jaw dropped.  Literally.  A very dark, underexposed shot made perfect!  This feature is within the Nokia programs!  It is so good, I can see myself transferring photos from other sources into the phone for correction!  And it's fast, even so.

I went back through the digiKam manual and looked on screen, and I see the old standbys there, but nothing like what I've experienced with the above.  Oh, upon lots of research, I found a 2007 $40 program called Photoright that upon test, seems to be doing similar zone adjustments.

Bottom lines:  Are my observations valid?  Do you think DK might get something like this?  Oh, yes, all Windows although MIG is available for Mac.

Thanks, Paul Verizzo

_______________________________________________
Digikam-users mailing list
[hidden email]
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[Gilles Caulier-4]

digiKam has LocalContrast tool which make the same correction to
image. In fact it emulate pseudo HDR rendering.

Gilles Caulier

2014-05-10 18:07 GMT+02:00 Paul Verizzo <[hidden email]>:

> Background:  I've been in digital photography since 2000, decades of film
> before and since.  I'm certainly familiar with the use of curves to correct
> bad photos.  But so tedious, and if the photos are snapshots, hard to
> justify the time.  It appears to me, although I can't prove it, that digital
> cameras, discrete or within phones, seem to be doing a much better job
> automatically adjusting curves than my old Minolta A2, for instance.
>
> I recently became aware of a new free Canon program, My Image Garden, that
> has a much improved Auto-fix than its forerunner.  As an example, a backlit
> photo processed in MIG will bring up only the shadows while leaving the
> normal and highlights alone.  It allegedly uses a zone by zone analysis.  It
> is a terrible program in every other regard, clunky interface, bloated, etc.
> But I used it for some recent pics to advantage.
>
> Some of those pictures were originally on my Windows Phone 8, which I had
> copied to the HD.  Before I deleted them from the phone, I poked around with
> the options at that point.  I found an auto-fix, pushed the "button," and my
> jaw dropped.  Literally.  A very dark, underexposed shot made perfect!  This
> feature is within the Nokia programs!  It is so good, I can see myself
> transferring photos from other sources into the phone for correction!  And
> it's fast, even so.
>
> I went back through the digiKam manual and looked on screen, and I see the
> old standbys there, but nothing like what I've experienced with the above.
> Oh, upon lots of research, I found a 2007 $40 program called Photoright that
> upon test, seems to be doing similar zone adjustments.
>
> Bottom lines:  Are my observations valid?  Do you think DK might get
> something like this?  Oh, yes, all Windows although MIG is available for
> Mac.
>
> Thanks, Paul Verizzo
>
> _______________________________________________
> Digikam-users mailing list
> [hidden email]
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
>

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[Paul Verizzo]

Thanks, I didn't catch that, I'll look into it.

Nevertheless, wouldn't something as I described, a one touch fix, be wonderful?  Not that I can write a damned bit of code, so beggars can't be choosers as we say over here.  (USA)

Paul

On 5/10/2014 12:11 PM, Gilles Caulier wrote:

digiKam has LocalContrast tool which make the same correction to
image. In fact it emulate pseudo HDR rendering.

Gilles Caulier

2014-05-10 18:07 GMT+02:00 Paul Verizzo [hidden email]:

Background:  I've been in digital photography since 2000, decades of film
before and since.  I'm certainly familiar with the use of curves to correct
bad photos.  But so tedious, and if the photos are snapshots, hard to
justify the time.  It appears to me, although I can't prove it, that digital
cameras, discrete or within phones, seem to be doing a much better job
automatically adjusting curves than my old Minolta A2, for instance.

I recently became aware of a new free Canon program, My Image Garden, that
has a much improved Auto-fix than its forerunner.  As an example, a backlit
photo processed in MIG will bring up only the shadows while leaving the
normal and highlights alone.  It allegedly uses a zone by zone analysis.  It
is a terrible program in every other regard, clunky interface, bloated, etc.
But I used it for some recent pics to advantage.

Some of those pictures were originally on my Windows Phone 8, which I had
copied to the HD.  Before I deleted them from the phone, I poked around with
the options at that point.  I found an auto-fix, pushed the "button," and my
jaw dropped.  Literally.  A very dark, underexposed shot made perfect!  This
feature is within the Nokia programs!  It is so good, I can see myself
transferring photos from other sources into the phone for correction!  And
it's fast, even so.

I went back through the digiKam manual and looked on screen, and I see the
old standbys there, but nothing like what I've experienced with the above.
Oh, upon lots of research, I found a 2007 $40 program called Photoright that
upon test, seems to be doing similar zone adjustments.

Bottom lines:  Are my observations valid?  Do you think DK might get
something like this?  Oh, yes, all Windows although MIG is available for
Mac.

Thanks, Paul Verizzo

_______________________________________________
Digikam-users mailing list
[hidden email]
https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users

_______________________________________________
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[hidden email]
https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users

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[carl33914]

Paul
Experiment with the Local Contrast tool a bit - I find that using just Stage 1, Power = 25 and Blur 80 gives a pleasing result, but you may have different preferences.

Note that you can use the Batch Queue Manager to apply the LC tool to several pictures at once.
I frequently find that a group of pictures taken under the same conditions, e.g. a day at the park, are easily improved with Batch - Local Contrast.
I also will frequently run the Sharpen tool as well.

Not quite one-touch, but very powerful and relatively easy to use.

On 05/10/2014 12:46 PM, Paul Verizzo wrote:

Thanks, I didn't catch that, I'll look into it.

Nevertheless, wouldn't something as I described, a one touch fix, be wonderful?  Not that I can write a damned bit of code, so beggars can't be choosers as we say over here.  (USA)

Paul

On 5/10/2014 12:11 PM, Gilles Caulier wrote:

digiKam has LocalContrast tool which make the same correction to
image. In fact it emulate pseudo HDR rendering.

Gilles Caulier

2014-05-10 18:07 GMT+02:00 Paul Verizzo [hidden email]:

Background:  I've been in digital photography since 2000, decades of film
before and since.  I'm certainly familiar with the use of curves to correct
bad photos.  But so tedious, and if the photos are snapshots, hard to
justify the time.  It appears to me, although I can't prove it, that digital
cameras, discrete or within phones, seem to be doing a much better job
automatically adjusting curves than my old Minolta A2, for instance.

I recently became aware of a new free Canon program, My Image Garden, that
has a much improved Auto-fix than its forerunner.  As an example, a backlit
photo processed in MIG will bring up only the shadows while leaving the
normal and highlights alone.  It allegedly uses a zone by zone analysis.  It
is a terrible program in every other regard, clunky interface, bloated, etc.
But I used it for some recent pics to advantage.

Some of those pictures were originally on my Windows Phone 8, which I had
copied to the HD.  Before I deleted them from the phone, I poked around with
the options at that point.  I found an auto-fix, pushed the "button," and my
jaw dropped.  Literally.  A very dark, underexposed shot made perfect!  This
feature is within the Nokia programs!  It is so good, I can see myself
transferring photos from other sources into the phone for correction!  And
it's fast, even so.

I went back through the digiKam manual and looked on screen, and I see the
old standbys there, but nothing like what I've experienced with the above.
Oh, upon lots of research, I found a 2007 $40 program called Photoright that
upon test, seems to be doing similar zone adjustments.

Bottom lines:  Are my observations valid?  Do you think DK might get
something like this?  Oh, yes, all Windows although MIG is available for
Mac.

Thanks, Paul Verizzo

_______________________________________________
Digikam-users mailing list
[hidden email]
https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users

_______________________________________________
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[hidden email]
https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users

_______________________________________________
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[hidden email]
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[Gilles Caulier-4]

2014-05-10 19:26 GMT+02:00 Carl McGrath <[hidden email]>:

> Paul
> Experiment with the Local Contrast tool a bit - I find that using just Stage
> 1, Power = 25 and Blur 80 gives a pleasing result, but you may have
> different preferences.
>
> Note that you can use the Batch Queue Manager to apply the LC tool to
> several pictures at once.
> I frequently find that a group of pictures taken under the same conditions,
> e.g. a day at the park, are easily improved with Batch - Local Contrast.
> I also will frequently run the Sharpen tool as well.
>
> Not quite one-touch, but very powerful and relatively easy to use.

Note : With next 4.0.0, LocalContrast and Sharpen tools support
multi-core CPU. This divide computation time a lots.

See all my patches in this bugzilla entry :
https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=289204

Best

Gilles Caulier
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[Steiner, Erich (KGOU 121)]

Hi Paul

 

Give it a try. I just stumbled over that Local-Contrast thing because Gilles wrote about it, that it will be multi-threaded in the future.

And it is really *amazing*, like digikam overall!

 

Gilles, keep on the great work.

 

Regards

Eru a big fan of DK

 

Erich Steiner

Decentral Systems Zürich

[phone] (*414 7634)

 

From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Paul Verizzo
Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2014 6:46 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Digikam-users] A modern auto-fix?

 

Thanks, I didn't catch that, I'll look into it.

Nevertheless, wouldn't something as I described, a one touch fix, be wonderful?  Not that I can write a damned bit of code, so beggars can't be choosers as we say over here.  (USA)

Paul

On 5/10/2014 12:11 PM, Gilles Caulier wrote:

digiKam has LocalContrast tool which make the same correction to

image. In fact it emulate pseudo HDR rendering.

Gilles Caulier

2014-05-10 18:07 GMT+02:00 Paul Verizzo [hidden email]:

Background:  I've been in digital photography since 2000, decades of film

before and since.  I'm certainly familiar with the use of curves to correct

bad photos.  But so tedious, and if the photos are snapshots, hard to

justify the time.  It appears to me, although I can't prove it, that digital

cameras, discrete or within phones, seem to be doing a much better job

automatically adjusting curves than my old Minolta A2, for instance.

I recently became aware of a new free Canon program, My Image Garden, that

has a much improved Auto-fix than its forerunner.  As an example, a backlit

photo processed in MIG will bring up only the shadows while leaving the

normal and highlights alone.  It allegedly uses a zone by zone analysis.  It

is a terrible program in every other regard, clunky interface, bloated, etc.

But I used it for some recent pics to advantage.

Some of those pictures were originally on my Windows Phone 8, which I had

copied to the HD.  Before I deleted them from the phone, I poked around with

the options at that point.  I found an auto-fix, pushed the "button," and my

jaw dropped.  Literally.  A very dark, underexposed shot made perfect!  This

feature is within the Nokia programs!  It is so good, I can see myself

transferring photos from other sources into the phone for correction!  And

it's fast, even so.

I went back through the digiKam manual and looked on screen, and I see the

old standbys there, but nothing like what I've experienced with the above.

Oh, upon lots of research, I found a 2007 $40 program called Photoright that

upon test, seems to be doing similar zone adjustments.

Bottom lines:  Are my observations valid?  Do you think DK might get

something like this?  Oh, yes, all Windows although MIG is available for

Mac.

Thanks, Paul Verizzo

_______________________________________________

Digikam-users mailing list

[hidden email]

https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users

_______________________________________________

Digikam-users mailing list

[hidden email]

https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users

 

_______________________________________________
Digikam-users mailing list
[hidden email]
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[carl33914]

Gilles
I am running 4.0.0-rc on openSUSE, LC does seem faster.
In System Monitor, when running LC,  I see Digikam using up to 30% of
CPU, which on a quad-core means a bit more than one full core.

Is there any config that needs to be done/enabled, or does Digikam just
take what it can get?

Super!

On 05/10/2014 02:31 PM, Gilles Caulier wrote:

> 2014-05-10 19:26 GMT+02:00 Carl McGrath <[hidden email]>:
>> Paul
>> Experiment with the Local Contrast tool a bit - I find that using just Stage
>> 1, Power = 25 and Blur 80 gives a pleasing result, but you may have
>> different preferences.
>>
>> Note that you can use the Batch Queue Manager to apply the LC tool to
>> several pictures at once.
>> I frequently find that a group of pictures taken under the same conditions,
>> e.g. a day at the park, are easily improved with Batch - Local Contrast.
>> I also will frequently run the Sharpen tool as well.
>>
>> Not quite one-touch, but very powerful and relatively easy to use.
> Note : With next 4.0.0, LocalContrast and Sharpen tools support
> multi-core CPU. This divide computation time a lots.
>
> See all my patches in this bugzilla entry :
> https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=289204
>
> Best
>
> Gilles Caulier
> _______________________________________________
> Digikam-users mailing list
> [hidden email]
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
>

_______________________________________________
Digikam-users mailing list
[hidden email]
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[Gilles Caulier-4]

2014-05-10 22:22 GMT+02:00 Carl McGrath <[hidden email]>:
> Gilles
> I am running 4.0.0-rc on openSUSE, LC does seem faster.
> In System Monitor, when running LC,  I see Digikam using up to 30% of CPU,
> which on a quad-core means a bit more than one full core.
>
> Is there any config that needs to be done/enabled, or does Digikam just take
> what it can get?

no. Your implementation (4.0.0-RC) use just single separated thread.

On current implementation, this scan all cores available on the system
(here i7 CPU = 8 cores) and divide all operations parallelizable. Each
core will run a parallelized part.

Gain depend of complexity of computation to process : between 40% to
60% of time is saved.

Gilles Caulier
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[carl33914]

OK, so I read your referenced bug report - you have been busy!

Will all these enhanced tools be multi-thread operation with 4.0.0, or a
future 4.x.y?
I guess I would expect only minor fixes between 4.0.0-rc and 4.0.0

Anyway, thanks for your continued efforts - digikam is a great toolset.


On 05/10/2014 04:52 PM, Gilles Caulier wrote:

> 2014-05-10 22:22 GMT+02:00 Carl McGrath <[hidden email]>:
>> Gilles
>> I am running 4.0.0-rc on openSUSE, LC does seem faster.
>> In System Monitor, when running LC,  I see Digikam using up to 30% of CPU,
>> which on a quad-core means a bit more than one full core.
>>
>> Is there any config that needs to be done/enabled, or does Digikam just take
>> what it can get?
> no. Your implementation (4.0.0-RC) use just single separated thread.
>
> On current implementation, this scan all cores available on the system
> (here i7 CPU = 8 cores) and divide all operations parallelizable. Each
> core will run a parallelized part.
>
> Gain depend of complexity of computation to process : between 40% to
> 60% of time is saved.
>
> Gilles Caulier
> _______________________________________________
> Digikam-users mailing list
> [hidden email]
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
>

_______________________________________________
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[Gilles Caulier-4]

4.0.0 has a lots of tool ported (not all).

Gilles Caulier

2014-05-11 13:20 GMT+02:00 Carl McGrath <[hidden email]>:

> OK, so I read your referenced bug report - you have been busy!
>
> Will all these enhanced tools be multi-thread operation with 4.0.0, or a
> future 4.x.y?
> I guess I would expect only minor fixes between 4.0.0-rc and 4.0.0
>
> Anyway, thanks for your continued efforts - digikam is a great toolset.
>
>
>
> On 05/10/2014 04:52 PM, Gilles Caulier wrote:
>>
>> 2014-05-10 22:22 GMT+02:00 Carl McGrath <[hidden email]>:
>>>
>>> Gilles
>>> I am running 4.0.0-rc on openSUSE, LC does seem faster.
>>> In System Monitor, when running LC,  I see Digikam using up to 30% of
>>> CPU,
>>> which on a quad-core means a bit more than one full core.
>>>
>>> Is there any config that needs to be done/enabled, or does Digikam just
>>> take
>>> what it can get?
>>
>> no. Your implementation (4.0.0-RC) use just single separated thread.
>>
>> On current implementation, this scan all cores available on the system
>> (here i7 CPU = 8 cores) and divide all operations parallelizable. Each
>> core will run a parallelized part.
>>
>> Gain depend of complexity of computation to process : between 40% to
>> 60% of time is saved.
>>
>> Gilles Caulier
>> _______________________________________________
>> Digikam-users mailing list
>> [hidden email]
>> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Digikam-users mailing list
> [hidden email]
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users

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[Paul Verizzo]

Wow, that's it! 

I finally had time to locate some of the lousy original photos I had successfully improved with a couple of other programs, including, oddly, that Nokia (Windows Phone) Fix. 

Putzed with dK Local Contrast, works beautifully.  Just what I was after. 

I tried to find information and help in the dK PDF, but could not.  Searching online, "local contrast" brings up a lot of Photoslop entries, but they necessitate using layers and unsharp mask.  So much for the expensive program.  If I add "digikam" to the search, I just keep getting repeats from a blog posting.

I'd like to learn how to manually control adjustments for best results.

Any further help to be found?

Oh, yes.  Kind of slow, but if I factor in the need to open another program, rename, shuffle files, Local Contrast is another dK winner!

Thanks, Giles (and all others!)

Paul

On 5/10/2014 12:11 PM, Gilles Caulier wrote:

digiKam has LocalContrast tool which make the same correction to
image. In fact it emulate pseudo HDR rendering.

Gilles Caulier

2014-05-10 18:07 GMT+02:00 Paul Verizzo [hidden email]:

Background:  I've been in digital photography since 2000, decades of film
before and since.  I'm certainly familiar with the use of curves to correct
bad photos.  But so tedious, and if the photos are snapshots, hard to
justify the time.  It appears to me, although I can't prove it, that digital
cameras, discrete or within phones, seem to be doing a much better job
automatically adjusting curves than my old Minolta A2, for instance.

I recently became aware of a new free Canon program, My Image Garden, that
has a much improved Auto-fix than its forerunner.  As an example, a backlit
photo processed in MIG will bring up only the shadows while leaving the
normal and highlights alone.  It allegedly uses a zone by zone analysis.  It
is a terrible program in every other regard, clunky interface, bloated, etc.
But I used it for some recent pics to advantage.

Some of those pictures were originally on my Windows Phone 8, which I had
copied to the HD.  Before I deleted them from the phone, I poked around with
the options at that point.  I found an auto-fix, pushed the "button," and my
jaw dropped.  Literally.  A very dark, underexposed shot made perfect!  This
feature is within the Nokia programs!  It is so good, I can see myself
transferring photos from other sources into the phone for correction!  And
it's fast, even so.

I went back through the digiKam manual and looked on screen, and I see the
old standbys there, but nothing like what I've experienced with the above.
Oh, upon lots of research, I found a 2007 $40 program called Photoright that
upon test, seems to be doing similar zone adjustments.

Bottom lines:  Are my observations valid?  Do you think DK might get
something like this?  Oh, yes, all Windows although MIG is available for
Mac.

Thanks, Paul Verizzo

_______________________________________________
Digikam-users mailing list
[hidden email]
https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users

_______________________________________________
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[hidden email]
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[carl33914]

Paul
I scanned quickly for what OS you are running but did not find it; I run openSUSE 13.1
dK 4.0.0 arrived a few days ago, with all the fixes Gilles reported that enable multicore.

Local Contrast and Sharpness tools now blazing fast(by comparison)

On 05/17/2014 07:58 AM, Paul Verizzo wrote:

Wow, that's it! 

I finally had time to locate some of the lousy original photos I had successfully improved with a couple of other programs, including, oddly, that Nokia (Windows Phone) Fix. 

Putzed with dK Local Contrast, works beautifully.  Just what I was after. 

I tried to find information and help in the dK PDF, but could not.  Searching online, "local contrast" brings up a lot of Photoslop entries, but they necessitate using layers and unsharp mask.  So much for the expensive program.  If I add "digikam" to the search, I just keep getting repeats from a blog posting.

I'd like to learn how to manually control adjustments for best results.

Any further help to be found?

Oh, yes.  Kind of slow, but if I factor in the need to open another program, rename, shuffle files, Local Contrast is another dK winner!

Thanks, Giles (and all others!)

Paul

On 5/10/2014 12:11 PM, Gilles Caulier wrote:

digiKam has LocalContrast tool which make the same correction to
image. In fact it emulate pseudo HDR rendering.

Gilles Caulier

2014-05-10 18:07 GMT+02:00 Paul Verizzo [hidden email]:

Background:  I've been in digital photography since 2000, decades of film
before and since.  I'm certainly familiar with the use of curves to correct
bad photos.  But so tedious, and if the photos are snapshots, hard to
justify the time.  It appears to me, although I can't prove it, that digital
cameras, discrete or within phones, seem to be doing a much better job
automatically adjusting curves than my old Minolta A2, for instance.

I recently became aware of a new free Canon program, My Image Garden, that
has a much improved Auto-fix than its forerunner.  As an example, a backlit
photo processed in MIG will bring up only the shadows while leaving the
normal and highlights alone.  It allegedly uses a zone by zone analysis.  It
is a terrible program in every other regard, clunky interface, bloated, etc.
But I used it for some recent pics to advantage.

Some of those pictures were originally on my Windows Phone 8, which I had
copied to the HD.  Before I deleted them from the phone, I poked around with
the options at that point.  I found an auto-fix, pushed the "button," and my
jaw dropped.  Literally.  A very dark, underexposed shot made perfect!  This
feature is within the Nokia programs!  It is so good, I can see myself
transferring photos from other sources into the phone for correction!  And
it's fast, even so.

I went back through the digiKam manual and looked on screen, and I see the
old standbys there, but nothing like what I've experienced with the above.
Oh, upon lots of research, I found a 2007 $40 program called Photoright that
upon test, seems to be doing similar zone adjustments.

Bottom lines:  Are my observations valid?  Do you think DK might get
something like this?  Oh, yes, all Windows although MIG is available for
Mac.

Thanks, Paul Verizzo

_______________________________________________
Digikam-users mailing list
[hidden email]
https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users

_______________________________________________
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[Paul Verizzo]

It's Windows, Carl, and the processor is a P.O.S. dual core that was meant for a laptop, but it's in my desktop.  My comment on speed was relative to the Canon program, and even the Windows Phone one.  But it's fine, it is what it is, I'm just grateful for the discovery.

On the topic, and further internet research, that the use of "Local Contrast" in dK might be a bit of a misnomer.  As mentioned, in PS, the plug-in does work with local contrast, not overall tones.  In fact, I'm seeing "Tone mapping" being used for what dK calls "Local Contrast."  Seems to be more accurate, grammatically.

Paul Verizzo

On 5/17/2014 8:22 AM, Carl McGrath wrote:

Paul
I scanned quickly for what OS you are running but did not find it; I run openSUSE 13.1
dK 4.0.0 arrived a few days ago, with all the fixes Gilles reported that enable multicore.

Local Contrast and Sharpness tools now blazing fast(by comparison)

On 05/17/2014 07:58 AM, Paul Verizzo wrote:

Wow, that's it! 

I finally had time to locate some of the lousy original photos I had successfully improved with a couple of other programs, including, oddly, that Nokia (Windows Phone) Fix. 

Putzed with dK Local Contrast, works beautifully.  Just what I was after. 

I tried to find information and help in the dK PDF, but could not.  Searching online, "local contrast" brings up a lot of Photoslop entries, but they necessitate using layers and unsharp mask.  So much for the expensive program.  If I add "digikam" to the search, I just keep getting repeats from a blog posting.

I'd like to learn how to manually control adjustments for best results.

Any further help to be found?

Oh, yes.  Kind of slow, but if I factor in the need to open another program, rename, shuffle files, Local Contrast is another dK winner!

Thanks, Giles (and all others!)

Paul

On 5/10/2014 12:11 PM, Gilles Caulier wrote:

digiKam has LocalContrast tool which make the same correction to
image. In fact it emulate pseudo HDR rendering.

Gilles Caulier

2014-05-10 18:07 GMT+02:00 Paul Verizzo [hidden email]:

Background:  I've been in digital photography since 2000, decades of film
before and since.  I'm certainly familiar with the use of curves to correct
bad photos.  But so tedious, and if the photos are snapshots, hard to
justify the time.  It appears to me, although I can't prove it, that digital
cameras, discrete or within phones, seem to be doing a much better job
automatically adjusting curves than my old Minolta A2, for instance.

I recently became aware of a new free Canon program, My Image Garden, that
has a much improved Auto-fix than its forerunner.  As an example, a backlit
photo processed in MIG will bring up only the shadows while leaving the
normal and highlights alone.  It allegedly uses a zone by zone analysis.  It
is a terrible program in every other regard, clunky interface, bloated, etc.
But I used it for some recent pics to advantage.

Some of those pictures were originally on my Windows Phone 8, which I had
copied to the HD.  Before I deleted them from the phone, I poked around with
the options at that point.  I found an auto-fix, pushed the "button," and my
jaw dropped.  Literally.  A very dark, underexposed shot made perfect!  This
feature is within the Nokia programs!  It is so good, I can see myself
transferring photos from other sources into the phone for correction!  And
it's fast, even so.

I went back through the digiKam manual and looked on screen, and I see the
old standbys there, but nothing like what I've experienced with the above.
Oh, upon lots of research, I found a 2007 $40 program called Photoright that
upon test, seems to be doing similar zone adjustments.

Bottom lines:  Are my observations valid?  Do you think DK might get
something like this?  Oh, yes, all Windows although MIG is available for
Mac.

Thanks, Paul Verizzo

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[Gilles Caulier-4]

Look in digiKam source code where all info can be found :

 * This file is a part of digiKam project
 * http://www.digikam.org
 *
 * Date        : 2009-08-09
 * Description : Enhance image with local contrasts (as human eye does).
 *               LDR ToneMapper
<http://zynaddsubfx.sourceforge.net/other/tonemapping>

Documentation is at this Url. When i ported this tool to digiKam, i
fixed memory leak, optimized code (now multicore), and add 16 bits
color depth support...

This is my prefered photo fix tool. I use it everyday, esepcially with JPEG.

Gilles Caulier


2014-05-17 14:30 GMT+02:00 Paul Verizzo <[hidden email]>:

> It's Windows, Carl, and the processor is a P.O.S. dual core that was meant
> for a laptop, but it's in my desktop.  My comment on speed was relative to
> the Canon program, and even the Windows Phone one.  But it's fine, it is
> what it is, I'm just grateful for the discovery.
>
> On the topic, and further internet research, that the use of "Local
> Contrast" in dK might be a bit of a misnomer.  As mentioned, in PS, the
> plug-in does work with local contrast, not overall tones.  In fact, I'm
> seeing "Tone mapping" being used for what dK calls "Local Contrast."  Seems
> to be more accurate, grammatically.
>
> Paul Verizzo
>
> On 5/17/2014 8:22 AM, Carl McGrath wrote:
>
> Paul
> I scanned quickly for what OS you are running but did not find it; I run
> openSUSE 13.1
> dK 4.0.0 arrived a few days ago, with all the fixes Gilles reported that
> enable multicore.
>
> Local Contrast and Sharpness tools now blazing fast(by comparison)
>
> On 05/17/2014 07:58 AM, Paul Verizzo wrote:
>
> Wow, that's it!
>
> I finally had time to locate some of the lousy original photos I had
> successfully improved with a couple of other programs, including, oddly,
> that Nokia (Windows Phone) Fix.
>
> Putzed with dK Local Contrast, works beautifully.  Just what I was after.
>
> I tried to find information and help in the dK PDF, but could not.
> Searching online, "local contrast" brings up a lot of Photoslop entries, but
> they necessitate using layers and unsharp mask.  So much for the expensive
> program.  If I add "digikam" to the search, I just keep getting repeats from
> a blog posting.
>
> I'd like to learn how to manually control adjustments for best results.
>
> Any further help to be found?
>
> Oh, yes.  Kind of slow, but if I factor in the need to open another program,
> rename, shuffle files, Local Contrast is another dK winner!
>
> Thanks, Giles (and all others!)
>
> Paul
> On 5/10/2014 12:11 PM, Gilles Caulier wrote:
>
> digiKam has LocalContrast tool which make the same correction to
> image. In fact it emulate pseudo HDR rendering.
>
> Gilles Caulier
>
> 2014-05-10 18:07 GMT+02:00 Paul Verizzo <[hidden email]>:
>
> Background:  I've been in digital photography since 2000, decades of film
> before and since.  I'm certainly familiar with the use of curves to correct
> bad photos.  But so tedious, and if the photos are snapshots, hard to
> justify the time.  It appears to me, although I can't prove it, that digital
> cameras, discrete or within phones, seem to be doing a much better job
> automatically adjusting curves than my old Minolta A2, for instance.
>
> I recently became aware of a new free Canon program, My Image Garden, that
> has a much improved Auto-fix than its forerunner.  As an example, a backlit
> photo processed in MIG will bring up only the shadows while leaving the
> normal and highlights alone.  It allegedly uses a zone by zone analysis.  It
> is a terrible program in every other regard, clunky interface, bloated, etc.
> But I used it for some recent pics to advantage.
>
> Some of those pictures were originally on my Windows Phone 8, which I had
> copied to the HD.  Before I deleted them from the phone, I poked around with
> the options at that point.  I found an auto-fix, pushed the "button," and my
> jaw dropped.  Literally.  A very dark, underexposed shot made perfect!  This
> feature is within the Nokia programs!  It is so good, I can see myself
> transferring photos from other sources into the phone for correction!  And
> it's fast, even so.
>
> I went back through the digiKam manual and looked on screen, and I see the
> old standbys there, but nothing like what I've experienced with the above.
> Oh, upon lots of research, I found a 2007 $40 program called Photoright that
> upon test, seems to be doing similar zone adjustments.
>
> Bottom lines:  Are my observations valid?  Do you think DK might get
> something like this?  Oh, yes, all Windows although MIG is available for
> Mac.
>
> Thanks, Paul Verizzo
>
> _______________________________________________
> Digikam-users mailing list
> [hidden email]
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
>
> _______________________________________________
> Digikam-users mailing list
> [hidden email]
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Digikam-users mailing list
> [hidden email]
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Digikam-users mailing list
> [hidden email]
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Digikam-users mailing list
> [hidden email]
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
>

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[Gilles Caulier-4]

The digiKam documention is pretty old now...

Documentation must/can be a non developer task for an open source
project as digiKam.

Typically, about Local Contrast tool, a documentation section can be
written using original LDR ToneMapper notice.

If some people who write well in english is interrested to help the
project in this way, i can give some guidances here. Writting handbook
using Docbook format is not too diffciult after all (a lot lesser than
writting code (:=)))

Gilles Caulier

2014-05-17 14:52 GMT+02:00 Gilles Caulier <[hidden email]>:

> Look in digiKam source code where all info can be found :
>
>  * This file is a part of digiKam project
>  * http://www.digikam.org
>  *
>  * Date        : 2009-08-09
>  * Description : Enhance image with local contrasts (as human eye does).
>  *               LDR ToneMapper
> <http://zynaddsubfx.sourceforge.net/other/tonemapping>
>
> Documentation is at this Url. When i ported this tool to digiKam, i
> fixed memory leak, optimized code (now multicore), and add 16 bits
> color depth support...
>
> This is my prefered photo fix tool. I use it everyday, esepcially with JPEG.
>
> Gilles Caulier
>
>
> 2014-05-17 14:30 GMT+02:00 Paul Verizzo <[hidden email]>:
>> It's Windows, Carl, and the processor is a P.O.S. dual core that was meant
>> for a laptop, but it's in my desktop.  My comment on speed was relative to
>> the Canon program, and even the Windows Phone one.  But it's fine, it is
>> what it is, I'm just grateful for the discovery.
>>
>> On the topic, and further internet research, that the use of "Local
>> Contrast" in dK might be a bit of a misnomer.  As mentioned, in PS, the
>> plug-in does work with local contrast, not overall tones.  In fact, I'm
>> seeing "Tone mapping" being used for what dK calls "Local Contrast."  Seems
>> to be more accurate, grammatically.
>>
>> Paul Verizzo
>>
>> On 5/17/2014 8:22 AM, Carl McGrath wrote:
>>
>> Paul
>> I scanned quickly for what OS you are running but did not find it; I run
>> openSUSE 13.1
>> dK 4.0.0 arrived a few days ago, with all the fixes Gilles reported that
>> enable multicore.
>>
>> Local Contrast and Sharpness tools now blazing fast(by comparison)
>>
>> On 05/17/2014 07:58 AM, Paul Verizzo wrote:
>>
>> Wow, that's it!
>>
>> I finally had time to locate some of the lousy original photos I had
>> successfully improved with a couple of other programs, including, oddly,
>> that Nokia (Windows Phone) Fix.
>>
>> Putzed with dK Local Contrast, works beautifully.  Just what I was after.
>>
>> I tried to find information and help in the dK PDF, but could not.
>> Searching online, "local contrast" brings up a lot of Photoslop entries, but
>> they necessitate using layers and unsharp mask.  So much for the expensive
>> program.  If I add "digikam" to the search, I just keep getting repeats from
>> a blog posting.
>>
>> I'd like to learn how to manually control adjustments for best results.
>>
>> Any further help to be found?
>>
>> Oh, yes.  Kind of slow, but if I factor in the need to open another program,
>> rename, shuffle files, Local Contrast is another dK winner!
>>
>> Thanks, Giles (and all others!)
>>
>> Paul
>> On 5/10/2014 12:11 PM, Gilles Caulier wrote:
>>
>> digiKam has LocalContrast tool which make the same correction to
>> image. In fact it emulate pseudo HDR rendering.
>>
>> Gilles Caulier
>>
>> 2014-05-10 18:07 GMT+02:00 Paul Verizzo <[hidden email]>:
>>
>> Background:  I've been in digital photography since 2000, decades of film
>> before and since.  I'm certainly familiar with the use of curves to correct
>> bad photos.  But so tedious, and if the photos are snapshots, hard to
>> justify the time.  It appears to me, although I can't prove it, that digital
>> cameras, discrete or within phones, seem to be doing a much better job
>> automatically adjusting curves than my old Minolta A2, for instance.
>>
>> I recently became aware of a new free Canon program, My Image Garden, that
>> has a much improved Auto-fix than its forerunner.  As an example, a backlit
>> photo processed in MIG will bring up only the shadows while leaving the
>> normal and highlights alone.  It allegedly uses a zone by zone analysis.  It
>> is a terrible program in every other regard, clunky interface, bloated, etc.
>> But I used it for some recent pics to advantage.
>>
>> Some of those pictures were originally on my Windows Phone 8, which I had
>> copied to the HD.  Before I deleted them from the phone, I poked around with
>> the options at that point.  I found an auto-fix, pushed the "button," and my
>> jaw dropped.  Literally.  A very dark, underexposed shot made perfect!  This
>> feature is within the Nokia programs!  It is so good, I can see myself
>> transferring photos from other sources into the phone for correction!  And
>> it's fast, even so.
>>
>> I went back through the digiKam manual and looked on screen, and I see the
>> old standbys there, but nothing like what I've experienced with the above.
>> Oh, upon lots of research, I found a 2007 $40 program called Photoright that
>> upon test, seems to be doing similar zone adjustments.
>>
>> Bottom lines:  Are my observations valid?  Do you think DK might get
>> something like this?  Oh, yes, all Windows although MIG is available for
>> Mac.
>>
>> Thanks, Paul Verizzo
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Digikam-users mailing list
>> [hidden email]
>> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Digikam-users mailing list
>> [hidden email]
>> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Digikam-users mailing list
>> [hidden email]
>> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Digikam-users mailing list
>> [hidden email]
>> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Digikam-users mailing list
>> [hidden email]
>> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
>>

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[Paulux]

"Local contrast" is adjust and optimize contrast inside local zones of a picture in order to approach human eyes perception. That's exactly what the local contrast tool in DK does.

 

The tone mapping process consists in matching repartition of colors from a 32 bits picture in a 8 bits one (for instance). That's totally different, even if some tone mapping algorythms have deep influence of local contrast.

 

Best regards

 

Paulux

Le samedi 17 mai 2014, 08:30:20 Paul Verizzo a écrit :

It's Windows, Carl, and the processor is a P.O.S. dual core that was meant for a laptop, but it's in my desktop.  My comment on speed was relative to the Canon program, and even the Windows Phone one.  But it's fine, it is what it is, I'm just grateful for the discovery.

On the topic, and further internet research, that the use of "Local Contrast" in dK might be a bit of a misnomer.  As mentioned, in PS, the plug-in does work with local contrast, not overall tones.  In fact, I'm seeing "Tone mapping" being used for what dK calls "Local Contrast."  Seems to be more accurate, grammatically.

Paul Verizzo

On 5/17/2014 8:22 AM, Carl McGrath wrote:

Paul
I scanned quickly for what OS you are running but did not find it; I run openSUSE 13.1
dK 4.0.0 arrived a few days ago, with all the fixes Gilles reported that enable multicore.

Local Contrast and Sharpness tools now blazing fast(by comparison)

On 05/17/2014 07:58 AM, Paul Verizzo wrote:

Wow, that's it! 

I finally had time to locate some of the lousy original photos I had successfully improved with a couple of other programs, including, oddly, that Nokia (Windows Phone) Fix. 

Putzed with dK Local Contrast, works beautifully.  Just what I was after. 

I tried to find information and help in the dK PDF, but could not.  Searching online, "local contrast" brings up a lot of Photoslop entries, but they necessitate using layers and unsharp mask.  So much for the expensive program.  If I add "digikam" to the search, I just keep getting repeats from a blog posting.

I'd like to learn how to manually control adjustments for best results.

Any further help to be found?

Oh, yes.  Kind of slow, but if I factor in the need to open another program, rename, shuffle files, Local Contrast is another dK winner!

Thanks, Giles (and all others!)

Paul

On 5/10/2014 12:11 PM, Gilles Caulier wrote:

digiKam has LocalContrast tool which make the same correction to

image. In fact it emulate pseudo HDR rendering.

Gilles Caulier

2014-05-10 18:07 GMT+02:00 Paul Verizzo [hidden email]: 

Background:  I've been in digital photography since 2000, decades of film

before and since.  I'm certainly familiar with the use of curves to correct

bad photos.  But so tedious, and if the photos are snapshots, hard to

justify the time.  It appears to me, although I can't prove it, that digital

cameras, discrete or within phones, seem to be doing a much better job

automatically adjusting curves than my old Minolta A2, for instance.

I recently became aware of a new free Canon program, My Image Garden, that

has a much improved Auto-fix than its forerunner.  As an example, a backlit

photo processed in MIG will bring up only the shadows while leaving the

normal and highlights alone.  It allegedly uses a zone by zone analysis.  It

is a terrible program in every other regard, clunky interface, bloated, etc.

But I used it for some recent pics to advantage.

Some of those pictures were originally on my Windows Phone 8, which I had

copied to the HD.  Before I deleted them from the phone, I poked around with

the options at that point.  I found an auto-fix, pushed the "button," and my

jaw dropped.  Literally.  A very dark, underexposed shot made perfect!  This

feature is within the Nokia programs!  It is so good, I can see myself

transferring photos from other sources into the phone for correction!  And

it's fast, even so.

I went back through the digiKam manual and looked on screen, and I see the

old standbys there, but nothing like what I've experienced with the above.

Oh, upon lots of research, I found a 2007 $40 program called Photoright that

upon test, seems to be doing similar zone adjustments.

Bottom lines:  Are my observations valid?  Do you think DK might get

something like this?  Oh, yes, all Windows although MIG is available for

Mac.

Thanks, Paul Verizzo

_______________________________________________

Digikam-users mailing list

[hidden email]

https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users

_______________________________________________

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[hidden email]

https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users

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[hidden email]

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[Paul Verizzo]

Well, just as I start to think it's a matter of semantics, now I'm really confused. 

I agree that the human eye has no problem, let's say, seeing good detail in shadows.  But the camera can't capture that dynamic range, so it shuts the shadows down in favor of mid and high tones.  But the data is still there in the shadows, just like with slide film.

So, yes, the dK Local Contrast tool does certainly look at the (lack of) shadow contrast and, um, locally, increases it in the low dynamic range areas, and leaves the mid and high tones alone.  Not that dK needs to mimic Photoslop terminology, but they are the big boys out there, and Local Contrast means what we used to call in film developing characteristics, "Micro contrast."  (A chemical Unsharp Mask using border effects!) Best as I can see, anyway.

As to what you say, Paulux,  "The tone mapping process......", I guess it's the old "If it walks like a duck....." thing.  Even the page Giles suggested, which I had found earlier, http://zynaddsubfx.sourceforge.net/other/tonemapping/ calls the function "Tone Mapping" and says that "Local Contrast" is a function within it.

Regardless, I'm very glad it's there.  As always, so grateful to the dK team!

Paul

On 5/17/2014 8:57 AM, Paulux wrote:

"Local contrast" is adjust and optimize contrast inside local zones of a picture in order to approach human eyes perception. That's exactly what the local contrast tool in DK does.

 

The tone mapping process consists in matching repartition of colors from a 32 bits picture in a 8 bits one (for instance). That's totally different, even if some tone mapping algorythms have deep influence of local contrast.

 

Best regards

 

Paulux

Le samedi 17 mai 2014, 08:30:20 Paul Verizzo a écrit :

It's Windows, Carl, and the processor is a P.O.S. dual core that was meant for a laptop, but it's in my desktop.  My comment on speed was relative to the Canon program, and even the Windows Phone one.  But it's fine, it is what it is, I'm just grateful for the discovery.

On the topic, and further internet research, that the use of "Local Contrast" in dK might be a bit of a misnomer.  As mentioned, in PS, the plug-in does work with local contrast, not overall tones.  In fact, I'm seeing "Tone mapping" being used for what dK calls "Local Contrast."  Seems to be more accurate, grammatically.

Paul Verizzo

On 5/17/2014 8:22 AM, Carl McGrath wrote:

Paul
I scanned quickly for what OS you are running but did not find it; I run openSUSE 13.1
dK 4.0.0 arrived a few days ago, with all the fixes Gilles reported that enable multicore.

Local Contrast and Sharpness tools now blazing fast(by comparison)

On 05/17/2014 07:58 AM, Paul Verizzo wrote:

Wow, that's it! 

I finally had time to locate some of the lousy original photos I had successfully improved with a couple of other programs, including, oddly, that Nokia (Windows Phone) Fix. 

Putzed with dK Local Contrast, works beautifully.  Just what I was after. 

I tried to find information and help in the dK PDF, but could not.  Searching online, "local contrast" brings up a lot of Photoslop entries, but they necessitate using layers and unsharp mask.  So much for the expensive program.  If I add "digikam" to the search, I just keep getting repeats from a blog posting.

I'd like to learn how to manually control adjustments for best results.

Any further help to be found?

Oh, yes.  Kind of slow, but if I factor in the need to open another program, rename, shuffle files, Local Contrast is another dK winner!

Thanks, Giles (and all others!)

Paul

On 5/10/2014 12:11 PM, Gilles Caulier wrote:

digiKam has LocalContrast tool which make the same correction to

image. In fact it emulate pseudo HDR rendering.

Gilles Caulier

2014-05-10 18:07 GMT+02:00 Paul Verizzo [hidden email]: 

Background:  I've been in digital photography since 2000, decades of film

before and since.  I'm certainly familiar with the use of curves to correct

bad photos.  But so tedious, and if the photos are snapshots, hard to

justify the time.  It appears to me, although I can't prove it, that digital

cameras, discrete or within phones, seem to be doing a much better job

automatically adjusting curves than my old Minolta A2, for instance.

I recently became aware of a new free Canon program, My Image Garden, that

has a much improved Auto-fix than its forerunner.  As an example, a backlit

photo processed in MIG will bring up only the shadows while leaving the

normal and highlights alone.  It allegedly uses a zone by zone analysis.  It

is a terrible program in every other regard, clunky interface, bloated, etc.

But I used it for some recent pics to advantage.

Some of those pictures were originally on my Windows Phone 8, which I had

copied to the HD.  Before I deleted them from the phone, I poked around with

the options at that point.  I found an auto-fix, pushed the "button," and my

jaw dropped.  Literally.  A very dark, underexposed shot made perfect!  This

feature is within the Nokia programs!  It is so good, I can see myself

transferring photos from other sources into the phone for correction!  And

it's fast, even so.

I went back through the digiKam manual and looked on screen, and I see the

old standbys there, but nothing like what I've experienced with the above.

Oh, upon lots of research, I found a 2007 $40 program called Photoright that

upon test, seems to be doing similar zone adjustments.

Bottom lines:  Are my observations valid?  Do you think DK might get

something like this?  Oh, yes, all Windows although MIG is available for

Mac.

Thanks, Paul Verizzo

_______________________________________________

Digikam-users mailing list

[hidden email]

https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users

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[Paulux]

Dear Paul,

 

You're right about the behavior of camera within the light. But you're wrong for ohter items.

 

Firtly, DK local contrast tool doesn't remain mid and hight tones, their local contrast is modified too, as far as I've experienced (but I admit that I've tried differents adjustments and I use 2 parallel lines of adjustments)

 

Secondly, the page suggested by Gilles is interesting, but the expression "tone mapping" is an abuse. Tone mapping is strictly the process to transform an HDR picture in a LDR one. The doc linked by Gilles is about an emulation of the rendering of some tone mapping algorythms, but not a real tone mapping one.

 

Nevertheless, I really love the local contrast dK tool, which is a faboulus tool. Thank you Gilles ;-)

 

Paulux

Le samedi 17 mai 2014, 09:56:02 Paul Verizzo a écrit :

Well, just as I start to think it's a matter of semantics, now I'm really confused. 

I agree that the human eye has no problem, let's say, seeing good detail in shadows.  But the camera can't capture that dynamic range, so it shuts the shadows down in favor of mid and high tones.  But the data is still there in the shadows, just like with slide film.

So, yes, the dK Local Contrast tool does certainly look at the (lack of) shadow contrast and, um, locally, increases it in the low dynamic range areas, and leaves the mid and high tones alone.  Not that dK needs to mimic Photoslop terminology, but they are the big boys out there, and Local Contrast means what we used to call in film developing characteristics, "Micro contrast."  (A chemical Unsharp Mask using border effects!) Best as I can see, anyway.

As to what you say, Paulux,  "The tone mapping process......", I guess it's the old "If it walks like a duck....." thing.  Even the page Giles suggested, which I had found earlier, http://zynaddsubfx.sourceforge.net/other/tonemapping/ calls the function "Tone Mapping" and says that "Local Contrast" is a function within it.

Regardless, I'm very glad it's there.  As always, so grateful to the dK team!

Paul

On 5/17/2014 8:57 AM, Paulux wrote:

"Local contrast" is adjust and optimize contrast inside local zones of a picture in order to approach human eyes perception. That's exactly what the local contrast tool in DK does.

The tone mapping process consists in matching repartition of colors from a 32 bits picture in a 8 bits one (for instance). That's totally different, even if some tone mapping algorythms have deep influence of local contrast.

Best regards

Paulux

Le samedi 17 mai 2014, 08:30:20 Paul Verizzo a écrit :

It's Windows, Carl, and the processor is a P.O.S. dual core that was meant for a laptop, but it's in my desktop.  My comment on speed was relative to the Canon program, and even the Windows Phone one.  But it's fine, it is what it is, I'm just grateful for the discovery.

On the topic, and further internet research, that the use of "Local Contrast" in dK might be a bit of a misnomer.  As mentioned, in PS, the plug-in does work with local contrast, not overall tones.  In fact, I'm seeing "Tone mapping" being used for what dK calls "Local Contrast."  Seems to be more accurate, grammatically.

Paul Verizzo

On 5/17/2014 8:22 AM, Carl McGrath wrote:

Paul
I scanned quickly for what OS you are running but did not find it; I run openSUSE 13.1
dK 4.0.0 arrived a few days ago, with all the fixes Gilles reported that enable multicore.

Local Contrast and Sharpness tools now blazing fast(by comparison)

On 05/17/2014 07:58 AM, Paul Verizzo wrote:

Wow, that's it! 

I finally had time to locate some of the lousy original photos I had successfully improved with a couple of other programs, including, oddly, that Nokia (Windows Phone) Fix. 

Putzed with dK Local Contrast, works beautifully.  Just what I was after. 

I tried to find information and help in the dK PDF, but could not.  Searching online, "local contrast" brings up a lot of Photoslop entries, but they necessitate using layers and unsharp mask.  So much for the expensive program.  If I add "digikam" to the search, I just keep getting repeats from a blog posting.

I'd like to learn how to manually control adjustments for best results.

Any further help to be found?

Oh, yes.  Kind of slow, but if I factor in the need to open another program, rename, shuffle files, Local Contrast is another dK winner!

Thanks, Giles (and all others!)

Paul

On 5/10/2014 12:11 PM, Gilles Caulier wrote:

digiKam has LocalContrast tool which make the same correction to

image. In fact it emulate pseudo HDR rendering.

Gilles Caulier

2014-05-10 18:07 GMT+02:00 Paul Verizzo [hidden email]:

Background: I've been in digital photography since 2000, decades of film

before and since. I'm certainly familiar with the use of curves to correct

bad photos. But so tedious, and if the photos are snapshots, hard to

justify the time. It appears to me, although I can't prove it, that digital

cameras, discrete or within phones, seem to be doing a much better job

automatically adjusting curves than my old Minolta A2, for instance.

I recently became aware of a new free Canon program, My Image Garden, that

has a much improved Auto-fix than its forerunner. As an example, a backlit

photo processed in MIG will bring up only the shadows while leaving the

normal and highlights alone. It allegedly uses a zone by zone analysis. It

is a terrible program in every other regard, clunky interface, bloated, etc.

But I used it for some recent pics to advantage.

Some of those pictures were originally on my Windows Phone 8, which I had

copied to the HD. Before I deleted them from the phone, I poked around with

the options at that point. I found an auto-fix, pushed the "button," and my

jaw dropped. Literally. A very dark, underexposed shot made perfect! This

feature is within the Nokia programs! It is so good, I can see myself

transferring photos from other sources into the phone for correction! And

it's fast, even so.

I went back through the digiKam manual and looked on screen, and I see the

old standbys there, but nothing like what I've experienced with the above.

Oh, upon lots of research, I found a 2007 $40 program called Photoright that

upon test, seems to be doing similar zone adjustments.

Bottom lines: Are my observations valid? Do you think DK might get

something like this? Oh, yes, all Windows although MIG is available for

Mac.

Thanks, Paul Verizzo

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[Milan Knížek-2]

Hi Gilles,

in addition to the Local Contrast tool, it would be nice to have an
equivalent of "Shadows and Highlights" tool which darktable has:

http://www.darktable.org/2012/02/shadow-recovery-revisited/

I can use darktable also with non-raw images, but I find digikam's Image
Editor naturally better integrated with the digital photo management
tool of my choice ;-)

cheers!
Milan
--
http://milan-knizek.net/
About linux and photography (Czech only)
O linuxu a fotografování


Gilles Caulier píše v So 17. 05. 2014 v 14:52 +0200:

> Look in digiKam source code where all info can be found :
>
>  * This file is a part of digiKam project
>  * http://www.digikam.org
>  *
>  * Date        : 2009-08-09
>  * Description : Enhance image with local contrasts (as human eye does).
>  *               LDR ToneMapper
> <http://zynaddsubfx.sourceforge.net/other/tonemapping>
>
> Documentation is at this Url. When i ported this tool to digiKam, i
> fixed memory leak, optimized code (now multicore), and add 16 bits
> color depth support...
>
> This is my prefered photo fix tool. I use it everyday, esepcially with JPEG.
>
> Gilles Caulier
>
>
> 2014-05-17 14:30 GMT+02:00 Paul Verizzo <[hidden email]>:
> > It's Windows, Carl, and the processor is a P.O.S. dual core that was meant
> > for a laptop, but it's in my desktop.  My comment on speed was relative to
> > the Canon program, and even the Windows Phone one.  But it's fine, it is
> > what it is, I'm just grateful for the discovery.
> >
> > On the topic, and further internet research, that the use of "Local
> > Contrast" in dK might be a bit of a misnomer.  As mentioned, in PS, the
> > plug-in does work with local contrast, not overall tones.  In fact, I'm
> > seeing "Tone mapping" being used for what dK calls "Local Contrast."  Seems
> > to be more accurate, grammatically.
> >
> > Paul Verizzo
> >
> > On 5/17/2014 8:22 AM, Carl McGrath wrote:
> >
> > Paul
> > I scanned quickly for what OS you are running but did not find it; I run
> > openSUSE 13.1
> > dK 4.0.0 arrived a few days ago, with all the fixes Gilles reported that
> > enable multicore.
> >
> > Local Contrast and Sharpness tools now blazing fast(by comparison)
> >
> > On 05/17/2014 07:58 AM, Paul Verizzo wrote:
> >
> > Wow, that's it!
> >
> > I finally had time to locate some of the lousy original photos I had
> > successfully improved with a couple of other programs, including, oddly,
> > that Nokia (Windows Phone) Fix.
> >
> > Putzed with dK Local Contrast, works beautifully.  Just what I was after.
> >
> > I tried to find information and help in the dK PDF, but could not.
> > Searching online, "local contrast" brings up a lot of Photoslop entries, but
> > they necessitate using layers and unsharp mask.  So much for the expensive
> > program.  If I add "digikam" to the search, I just keep getting repeats from
> > a blog posting.
> >
> > I'd like to learn how to manually control adjustments for best results.
> >
> > Any further help to be found?
> >
> > Oh, yes.  Kind of slow, but if I factor in the need to open another program,
> > rename, shuffle files, Local Contrast is another dK winner!
> >
> > Thanks, Giles (and all others!)
> >
> > Paul
> > On 5/10/2014 12:11 PM, Gilles Caulier wrote:
> >
> > digiKam has LocalContrast tool which make the same correction to
> > image. In fact it emulate pseudo HDR rendering.
> >
> > Gilles Caulier
> >
> > 2014-05-10 18:07 GMT+02:00 Paul Verizzo <[hidden email]>:
> >
> > Background:  I've been in digital photography since 2000, decades of film
> > before and since.  I'm certainly familiar with the use of curves to correct
> > bad photos.  But so tedious, and if the photos are snapshots, hard to
> > justify the time.  It appears to me, although I can't prove it, that digital
> > cameras, discrete or within phones, seem to be doing a much better job
> > automatically adjusting curves than my old Minolta A2, for instance.
> >
> > I recently became aware of a new free Canon program, My Image Garden, that
> > has a much improved Auto-fix than its forerunner.  As an example, a backlit
> > photo processed in MIG will bring up only the shadows while leaving the
> > normal and highlights alone.  It allegedly uses a zone by zone analysis.  It
> > is a terrible program in every other regard, clunky interface, bloated, etc.
> > But I used it for some recent pics to advantage.
> >
> > Some of those pictures were originally on my Windows Phone 8, which I had
> > copied to the HD.  Before I deleted them from the phone, I poked around with
> > the options at that point.  I found an auto-fix, pushed the "button," and my
> > jaw dropped.  Literally.  A very dark, underexposed shot made perfect!  This
> > feature is within the Nokia programs!  It is so good, I can see myself
> > transferring photos from other sources into the phone for correction!  And
> > it's fast, even so.
> >
> > I went back through the digiKam manual and looked on screen, and I see the
> > old standbys there, but nothing like what I've experienced with the above.
> > Oh, upon lots of research, I found a 2007 $40 program called Photoright that
> > upon test, seems to be doing similar zone adjustments.
> >
> > Bottom lines:  Are my observations valid?  Do you think DK might get
> > something like this?  Oh, yes, all Windows although MIG is available for
> > Mac.
> >
> > Thanks, Paul Verizzo
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Digikam-users mailing list
> > [hidden email]
> > https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Digikam-users mailing list
> > [hidden email]
> > https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Digikam-users mailing list
> > [hidden email]
> > https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Digikam-users mailing list
> > [hidden email]
> > https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Digikam-users mailing list
> > [hidden email]
> > https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
> >
> _______________________________________________
> Digikam-users mailing list
> [hidden email]
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users

_______________________________________________
Digikam-users mailing list
[hidden email]
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[Gilles Caulier-4]

Interresting. thanks for the link. I will plan to give this job later
to a new student...

Gilles Caulier

2014-05-27 16:52 GMT+02:00 Milan Knížek <[hidden email]>:

> Hi Gilles,
>
> in addition to the Local Contrast tool, it would be nice to have an
> equivalent of "Shadows and Highlights" tool which darktable has:
>
> http://www.darktable.org/2012/02/shadow-recovery-revisited/
>
> I can use darktable also with non-raw images, but I find digikam's Image
> Editor naturally better integrated with the digital photo management
> tool of my choice ;-)
>
> cheers!
> Milan
> --
> http://milan-knizek.net/
> About linux and photography (Czech only)
> O linuxu a fotografování
>
>
> Gilles Caulier píše v So 17. 05. 2014 v 14:52 +0200:
>> Look in digiKam source code where all info can be found :
>>
>>  * This file is a part of digiKam project
>>  * http://www.digikam.org
>>  *
>>  * Date        : 2009-08-09
>>  * Description : Enhance image with local contrasts (as human eye does).
>>  *               LDR ToneMapper
>> <http://zynaddsubfx.sourceforge.net/other/tonemapping>
>>
>> Documentation is at this Url. When i ported this tool to digiKam, i
>> fixed memory leak, optimized code (now multicore), and add 16 bits
>> color depth support...
>>
>> This is my prefered photo fix tool. I use it everyday, esepcially with JPEG.
>>
>> Gilles Caulier
>>
>>
>> 2014-05-17 14:30 GMT+02:00 Paul Verizzo <[hidden email]>:
>> > It's Windows, Carl, and the processor is a P.O.S. dual core that was meant
>> > for a laptop, but it's in my desktop.  My comment on speed was relative to
>> > the Canon program, and even the Windows Phone one.  But it's fine, it is
>> > what it is, I'm just grateful for the discovery.
>> >
>> > On the topic, and further internet research, that the use of "Local
>> > Contrast" in dK might be a bit of a misnomer.  As mentioned, in PS, the
>> > plug-in does work with local contrast, not overall tones.  In fact, I'm
>> > seeing "Tone mapping" being used for what dK calls "Local Contrast."  Seems
>> > to be more accurate, grammatically.
>> >
>> > Paul Verizzo
>> >
>> > On 5/17/2014 8:22 AM, Carl McGrath wrote:
>> >
>> > Paul
>> > I scanned quickly for what OS you are running but did not find it; I run
>> > openSUSE 13.1
>> > dK 4.0.0 arrived a few days ago, with all the fixes Gilles reported that
>> > enable multicore.
>> >
>> > Local Contrast and Sharpness tools now blazing fast(by comparison)
>> >
>> > On 05/17/2014 07:58 AM, Paul Verizzo wrote:
>> >
>> > Wow, that's it!
>> >
>> > I finally had time to locate some of the lousy original photos I had
>> > successfully improved with a couple of other programs, including, oddly,
>> > that Nokia (Windows Phone) Fix.
>> >
>> > Putzed with dK Local Contrast, works beautifully.  Just what I was after.
>> >
>> > I tried to find information and help in the dK PDF, but could not.
>> > Searching online, "local contrast" brings up a lot of Photoslop entries, but
>> > they necessitate using layers and unsharp mask.  So much for the expensive
>> > program.  If I add "digikam" to the search, I just keep getting repeats from
>> > a blog posting.
>> >
>> > I'd like to learn how to manually control adjustments for best results.
>> >
>> > Any further help to be found?
>> >
>> > Oh, yes.  Kind of slow, but if I factor in the need to open another program,
>> > rename, shuffle files, Local Contrast is another dK winner!
>> >
>> > Thanks, Giles (and all others!)
>> >
>> > Paul
>> > On 5/10/2014 12:11 PM, Gilles Caulier wrote:
>> >
>> > digiKam has LocalContrast tool which make the same correction to
>> > image. In fact it emulate pseudo HDR rendering.
>> >
>> > Gilles Caulier
>> >
>> > 2014-05-10 18:07 GMT+02:00 Paul Verizzo <[hidden email]>:
>> >
>> > Background:  I've been in digital photography since 2000, decades of film
>> > before and since.  I'm certainly familiar with the use of curves to correct
>> > bad photos.  But so tedious, and if the photos are snapshots, hard to
>> > justify the time.  It appears to me, although I can't prove it, that digital
>> > cameras, discrete or within phones, seem to be doing a much better job
>> > automatically adjusting curves than my old Minolta A2, for instance.
>> >
>> > I recently became aware of a new free Canon program, My Image Garden, that
>> > has a much improved Auto-fix than its forerunner.  As an example, a backlit
>> > photo processed in MIG will bring up only the shadows while leaving the
>> > normal and highlights alone.  It allegedly uses a zone by zone analysis.  It
>> > is a terrible program in every other regard, clunky interface, bloated, etc.
>> > But I used it for some recent pics to advantage.
>> >
>> > Some of those pictures were originally on my Windows Phone 8, which I had
>> > copied to the HD.  Before I deleted them from the phone, I poked around with
>> > the options at that point.  I found an auto-fix, pushed the "button," and my
>> > jaw dropped.  Literally.  A very dark, underexposed shot made perfect!  This
>> > feature is within the Nokia programs!  It is so good, I can see myself
>> > transferring photos from other sources into the phone for correction!  And
>> > it's fast, even so.
>> >
>> > I went back through the digiKam manual and looked on screen, and I see the
>> > old standbys there, but nothing like what I've experienced with the above.
>> > Oh, upon lots of research, I found a 2007 $40 program called Photoright that
>> > upon test, seems to be doing similar zone adjustments.
>> >
>> > Bottom lines:  Are my observations valid?  Do you think DK might get
>> > something like this?  Oh, yes, all Windows although MIG is available for
>> > Mac.
>> >
>> > Thanks, Paul Verizzo
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Digikam-users mailing list
>> > [hidden email]
>> > https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Digikam-users mailing list
>> > [hidden email]
>> > https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Digikam-users mailing list
>> > [hidden email]
>> > https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Digikam-users mailing list
>> > [hidden email]
>> > https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Digikam-users mailing list
>> > [hidden email]
>> > https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
>> >
>> _______________________________________________
>> Digikam-users mailing list
>> [hidden email]
>> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
>
> _______________________________________________
> Digikam-users mailing list
> [hidden email]
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users

_______________________________________________
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