User manual DXO OPTICS PRO V5

[. . . ] DxO Optics Pro v5 User Guide Table of Contents 4 IntroductiontoDxOOpticsProv5 4 Aquicksessionoverview 4 Firstinyourworkflow!Chapter Chapter 6 16 17 How to go further 16 Yourworkflow&onefinalnote Chapter 7 The Main Program Overview & Preferences 5 A typical image enhancement session 5 ThePhotographicWorkflow 6 Ultimateflexibilityandeaseofuse Chapter 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 9 `Select' AddYourPhotosfromVariousSources Addingimages Importplug-ins TheProjectwindow Star-rankingandStacking Thethumbnailsandtheirbuttons Fullyautomaticmode "Prepare" SortandFine-TuneYourImages Anewlookandamorepowerfulworkflow Agradualcomplexity Controlandcorrectionspalettes Adaptingyourworkflow TheCorrectionPalettes `Process' TheWholeBatch The`Process'tab Outputformats Starttheprocess `Review' 17 ThreeBasicConcepts 17 Concept#1: xOOpticsProispartofalargerpost-productionworkflow. D 18 Concept#2: xOOpticsProismadeupofcorrectionmodulesandeach D imageistreatedasauniquefilewithinaproject. 18 Concept#3: hereisno"one"rightworkflow. DonotbeafraidtoexperiT mentandlearn. [. . . ] This is a very powerful, yet"hidden" feature of the program: right clicking gives you quick accessto: · Create a stack. Clickingon`CreateStack'willcreateastackwheretheimagesto · Expand the stackbydouble-clickingontheimage, soyoucancheckallpictures therightofthefirstselectedimagewillcollapsebelowthefirstimage. Anumberbox willbeplacedintherighttopcornerofthethumbnailinformingyouofhowmany imagesarecurrentlyinthestack. insidewithoutunstackingthem. Youcanalsoexpandthestack, displayingallofthe · ShowingthefileselectedinWindowsExplorer · Controllingstackingfunctions · Creatingavirtualcopyoftheimageselected · Rotationcontrols · Imageranking · Imageprocessflagging · Copyingthecorrectionsettingsoftheimage · Pastingcopiedcorrectionsettingsfromanotherimagetothisimage · Applyingchosenpresets, and · Removingtheimagefilefromtheproject Imageprocessflagginghas4sub-menuitems: · Undefined, MarktobecorrectedandDonotcorrectcorrespondtothethreeprocessingbuttonsintheupperlefthandcornerofthethumbnailimage. · Theresetbuttonreturnsthesettingstothepre-selectedcondition. Chapter 10 ThePrepareTab 30 PastcustomersofDxOOpticsProwillnoticethatthe`Organize'and`Enhance'tabsareno longeravailableinversion5. Intheirplaceisasingle, new`Prepare'tabthatcombinesthe functionalityofthetwoprevioustabs, thereforestreamliningyourworkflow. The Preview Window ThePreparetabworkspaceisdividedinto2primarywindows. ThetopwindowisthePreview window, whiletheProjectwindowcontinuestooccupythelowerpartofyourscreen. Toworkonanimage, simplyclickonthethumbnailofanimageintheProjectwindow. When youdothis, thecorrectionanddisplayprocessingforthePreviewwindowwillbestarted. Infact, thefirstimagetoappearwillbethe"before"image(theoriginalimageyouimportedin DxOOpticsPro). Then, afterafewseconds, apreviewofthe"after"imagereplacesit. Remember, DxO Optics Pro reads the EXIF information in the file and analyzes the image contentstocreateauniquesetofdefaultsettingsforyourimage. Thisprocessisautomatic sothesettingsforeachofyourimagesareoptimizedrightaway. Thecorrectedimageisthen displayedintheupperPreviewwindow. TIP:SomecorrectionsmadebyOpticsPro(i. e. lenssoftnesscorrection) canonlybeseenathighzoomsettingsabove75%. Zoom Slider:NotethezoomsliderintheupperrighthandcornerofthePreviewwindow. By movingtheslidertotheleft, youcanreducethemagnificationoftheselectedimageinthe window. Movetheslidertotherightandthemagnificationoftheimageisincreased. Thereis alsoadownarrowtotherightofthesliderthat, whenclicked, willpresentadropdownselectionofpredefinedmagnificationamountsaswellastheabilitytotypeinazoomvalueofyour choosing. Acceptedvaluesrangefrom5%to200%. FormoreinformationaboutZooming, pleaseseetheMove/Zoomtoolpalettesectionbelow. OthericonsabovethePreviewwindowinclude(fromfarlefttoright): Moveviewportbuttontozoomintotheareaoftheimageyouwanttoworkon. When youzoomin, thesameareawillbedisplayedinboththeleftandrightpictures. 3 · NEW ICON - Horizon ­providesyouwiththeabilitytodrawaparallellineacross thePreviewwindowallowingyoutoreadjustthehorizonintheimage. Onceyoudraw thelineandreleasetheleftmousebutton, thepicturewillberotatedtoreflectthe newhorizon. · As shot image ­displaysthethumbnailimagechoseninthelowerProjectwindow inthePreviewwindowasyourcamerashotitwithoutanyOpticsProcorrections. To seetheasshotimage, simplyclickandholdtheleftmousebuttondown. Theoriginal `Asshot'imagewillbedisplayed. Whenyoureleasethemousebutton, thecorrected imagewithdefaultprocessingsettingswillbedisplayed. Thisisanexcellentwayto doaquickcheckonopticalcorrectionsautomaticallymadebytheprogramtosee iftheymeetyourneeds. allowsyoutograb(byclickingandholdingdowntheleftmousebutton)andmovea magnifiedimageinthePreviewwindowsoyoucanexamineindividualpartsofthe entireimage. Pleasenotethatwhenyoumovetoadifferentareaofyourimage, that dependingontheimagerenderingspeedofyoursystem, aclear, sharpimagemay takeseveralsecondstoberedisplayed. ofyourimageandclickingwillautomaticallyzoomintothatareaoftheimage. · NEW ICON - Force Parallel (Horizontal) ­seethenextsection · NEW ICON - Force Parallel (Vertical) ­seethenextsection · NEW ICON - Rectangle ­seethenextsection TIP:ToquicklyleavetheForceParallelandRectanglemodes, clickonthe `After'icon. Also, dependingonhowmuchcorrectionyoumakewiththese tools, you will probably need to crop the image to reset clean edges of theimage. · Move viewport ­Whenclicked, ahandiconreplacesthestandardmousearrowand · Multi-Point Color Balance Tool (MPCB) ­ allowsyoutoreadjustthecolorofupto 4colorpointsontheselectedimage. · White balance color picker ­ allowsyouselectwhichpointontheimageinthe Previewwindowshouldbeusedasthewhitereferencepointfortheimage. · After ­displaystheprocessed(corrected)imageinthePreviewwindow. Thisisan accuratedisplayofhowthisimagewilllookwhenyouprocessitlaterduringthe `Process'phaseofyourDxOOpticsProworkflow. Pleaserememberthatsomecorrectionscannotbedisplayedinzoomfactorslessthan75%. · Zoom viewport ­ Whenclicked, youcanmovethemousecursoroveraspecificpart · Crop ­Whenclicked, themousecursorturnsintoacross-haircursorallowingyou · NEW FEATURE - Anti-dust tool ­ allowsyouto"paint"apointoraline(whosethicktocroptheimageinthePreviewwindow. Theboundariesofthecroppedimagewill beshownwithablackdashedline. Ifyouwouldliketoquicklyleavethecropmode, clickononeoftheotherbuttonsonthetoolbar. nesscanbeadjusted)overadustshadoworablemishdetailyouwanttoerase. After youdrawapointoraline, itbecomesselectable(ifyouclickagainonitwiththe anti-dusttool). Youcanthenremoveitbypressingthe`Del'keyonyourkeyboard's numerickeypad. Ofcourse, onceyouerasedustandblemishesononeimage, you canmakeapresetoutofitandreusethissettingonotherimages. Note:Whenyou firstclickonthedusttool, twopictureimageswillbedisplayedinthePreviewwindow. Thelefthandimageisthebeforeimage(whereyouwillmakeyourcorrection)and therighthandpictureistheafterimage. Youwillneedtousethezoomsliderand · Before / After ­ThisisoneofthemoreusefulfeaturesofthePreparetab. Whenyou clickonthisicon, twoimageswillbedisplayedinthePreviewwindow. Theleftimage willbetheunprocessed, `Asshot'image. TherightimagewillbetheDxOOpticsPro processedimage. Thiswillgiveyouaside-by-side, lighttableviewofbothimages. Youcanevenzoomintothesameareaofbothpicturestocompareresults. Force parallel (horizontal) Force parallel (vertical) Force rectangle ThefirsttwokeystoningcorrectionoptionsForceparallel(horizontal)/ForceParallel(vertical) actinsimilarways, exceptthatinthesecasesyouareaskedtodefineapairofverticalor horizontallinesthatyouwishtobeparallel. Whenclicked, youwillbeaskedtodrawtwoparallellinesontheleftimagethatshouldbeparallel. Youcanmovetheendpointsofbothdrawn linestosetyourparallellineswithintheimage. Itdoesn'tmatterifyouresetthelinesinthe sameorreverseway, theendresultdoesnotchange. Onlytherelativeanglesofthelinescount, theirlengthsaddnothingtothecorrection. Ifyouchangeapairofhorizontallinestovertical correction(orvice-versa), yourimagewillberotatedtoreflectthelinesyouhavedrawn. Ifyourpicturecontainsbothverticalandhorizontalkeystoning, youwillneedtousethethird option, Forcerectangle. Thisletsyoudrawaparallelboxonthelefthandimageanddefine four points that form corners of a quadrilateral that you wish to correct to be rectangular. Notehoweverthatthisismorepowerfulthanasimplemanualcombinationofbothvertical andhorizontalkeystonecorrection, sinceitcanalsointroduceanelementof`skew'intothe correction. Example:Whatifyouhaveapicturethatcontainsbothkeystoningandahorizonthatisnot level?Sincethefourcorrections(Horizon, ForceParallel(Horizontal), ForceParallel(Vertical), and Rectangle)aremutuallyexclusive, ifyourimagecontainsbothkeystoningandahorizonthat isn'tlevel, youwillhavetofirstperformoneofthecorrectionsusingthetopleft-handbuttons andthentheothercorrectionintheGeometrypalette. SincetheLevelhorizoncommandonlyworkswithahorizontalline, iftheproblemwithyour pictureisinfactaleaningvertical, itwillmakesensetocorrectanykeystoningfirst, andonly thengoandcorrecttheleaningverticalintheright-handGeometrypalette. Alternatively, you can"cheat"byusingtheForcerectangletool, thoughthistypeofcorrectioncanprovetobe verydifficulttomaster. In the center of the upper portion of thePreviewwindowyouwillfindthenameoftheimagefileyouareviewing, andtotheright and left of the filename are buttons similar to what you will find on aVCR or DVD player. ThesebuttonsareusefulincaseyouselectmanydifferentthumbnaislintheProjectwindow (multiselection). Ifyouclickthefarleftbuttonthathasaleftfacingarrowheadandverticalline, OpticsPro will take you to the first image file in your multiselection. The button with just a left facing arrowheadwilltakeyoutothepreviousimage, unlessyouarealreadyatthefirstimage. In thiscase, bothofthelefthandbuttonswillbegreyedout. Thebuttonsontherightsideofthe filenamehaveasimilarfunction;onlytheywilltakeyouaheadtoimagesthatarefurtherinto themultiselection. Onthefarright-handsideofthebarabovethePreviewwindow, totheleftofthezoomslider arethreeicons. Theiconsfromleft-to-rightare: 3 · Proof this ­ allowsyoutoimmediatelyprocesstheimagecurrentlychoseninthe · Toggle Grid overlay ­ superimposes and removes a grid over the image in the Previewwindowtoassistyouwithcorrectinghorizonsandimagedistortions. theselectedimage. ThisinformationwillappearinthePreviewwindow. Projectwindowtoquicklyverifyifthesettingsyouhavemadefortheimagemeets yourneedsorifadditionalcorrectionandadjustmentsarenecessary. · Toggle Image information overlay ­ displaysandhidesprograminformationfor The Correction Palettes IntheupperrighthandcornerofthePrepareworkspacescreen, youwillseeiconsforeachof theavailablecorrectionpalettes. Ifyouhoverovertheseiconswithyourmousepointer, atool tipwiththenameofthepalettewillbedisplayedforyou. Fromlefttoright, theiconsare: · Move/Zoom · Histogram · EditEXIF · PresetEditor · Lights · Geometry · Colors · Details · MyPalette Ifyouclickonanicon, thecorrespondingcorrectionpaletteinitiallylocatedontherightside ofyourscreenwillbehiddenfromview, thusfreeingupvaluablemonitorspaceforworking onyourimages. Inthisway, youonlydisplaythosecorrectionpalettesyouneed. Returning thepalettetobeviewedagainisjustaseasyashidingit. Simplyclickontheiconandthe correctionpalettereturns. Asnotedearlier, thetoolsfoundinpreviousversionsofOpticsProhavenowbeenreorganized into more logical correction palettes. [. . . ] Filenamesuffix-selectafilenamesuffix. (Thisisusefulifyouaregoingtoplacethe outputfilesintothesourcefolder. ) 5. Size-selecttheoutputimagedimensionsizefrompre-determinedselectionsincludingtheabilitytospecifyacustomoutputsize. Resolution-selecttheresolutionindots-per-inch[dpi](includingtheabilitytoselect acustomdpi. Ifyouselectthe`Custom'option, thenextcomboboxisactivated, which letsyouspecifyanimagesizeindpi. ) TIP: Use an output dpi that is compatible with the target output. For instance, ifyouaregoingtoprintyououtputfilestoahighqualityprinter thatsupports300dpi, use300dpiasyouroutputresolution. [. . . ]