General Usage

Before using FocalBlade you have to start your preferred image editing application and open an image or photo. Please note that FocalBlade presently only works with RGB and Grayscale images (8bit and 16bit). If your image has 256 colors or less, is a CMYK image or is in any other image mode, you have to convert it in your image application to RGB 8 bit (24 bit) or RGB 16 bit (48 bit) or "16 million colors" before you can work on it with FocalBlade.

To run FocalBlade please open the menu that leads to the plugin filters (usually the "Filter", "Effects" or "Image -> Plug-ins" menu) and choose "FocalBlade" from the " PhotoWiz" sub menu.

Resizing the Dialog

When you move the mouse pointer to one the borders of the FocalBlade window, it will turn into an arrow. Hold down the left mouse button and drag to change the size of the window. The preview and all controls will be repositioned according to the new size of the window. If you make the window smaller (in the Windows version), the OK, Cancel and ? buttons will be moved below the preview to keep them from disappearing. A smaller preview will speed up the preview rednering. You can also enlarge it to cover the whole screen. To make the FocalBlade window as large as the screen (in the Windows version), please double click the "FocalBlade" letters in the title bar. To minimize the window to its previous size, please repeat that action.

The Help Tab Sheet

There is a text sheet located on the right bottom of the FocalBlade window. This feature was built in to make it easier for beginners to get started and makes it possible to use FocalBlade without a glance at the manual. If you move the mouse over a certain control, the text box will display some explanations and hints about the control.

After you know all about FocalBlade, you can deactivate these explanations by deactivating the check box at the right bottom of the help sheet. But we recommend that you keep it nevertheless activated. It may remind you of something that you already forgot or missed reading.

The Preview

On the left hand side of the dialog box there is a preview box that shows you how the final effect will look like. If the image isn't fully displayed in the preview and you want to display another part of the image, you can move the image by right clicking on the preview and dragging. Alternatively if you can hold down the ALT key and drag the image with the left mouse button. While being moved, the original image is shown and after you release the right mouse button the preview is recalculated.

FocalBlade lets you draw a so-called sample area on the preview when you hold down the left mouse button and move the mouse. Please don't confuse this sample area with an image selection as it is known from graphics applications. The sample area marquee may look like a selection marquee, but it is used to measure the sharpness of the area it surrounds and not for selecting a certain part of the image. For more information, please read the Auto Features page.

If one of the Split Views is activated, you can select one of the split areas by holding down the Shift key and clicking on it. For more information, please read the Split View page.

The Zoom Buttons and Zoom Check Box

At the right bottom of the preview box you can see a '+' and '-' button with a percentage label in between. These zoom buttons let you adjust the size of the image in the preview box. 100% means that the original size of the image is displayed.

By default when starting FocalBlade, the zoom rate will be automatically set to 100%, because at that setting you can best preview the sharpening effect. The Fitted zoom option fits the image completely into the preview. The Optimal zoom option on the other hand fills the preview almost completely while probably hiding a small part of the image.

If you hold the Shift key when pressing one of zoom buttons, the zoom factor will be set to the highest (100%) or lowest acceptable value (fitted zoom). If you hold the CTRL key when pressing one of the zoom buttons, the zoom factor will be set to the highest (100%) or lowest possible value (6%). With the Alt and - keys you can decrease the zoom ratio and with the Alt and + keys you can increase the zoom by one step. Some very old applications (e.g. Corel Photopaint 7 or Corel Xara 2) don't support preview zooming. In this case the + and - buttons are grayed out.

To jump from one preview zoom rate to another you can use the zoom combo box which is located between the two zoom buttons.

Modes

FocalBlade offers various modes for special tasks. The Novice Mode should be used when using FocalBlade for the first time or if you are not in need for very precise sharpening effects. In Expert Mode, on the other hand, you can achieve almost all effects of the various modes. For more information, please read the Modes page.

Split View

FocalBlade offers some split views for comparing the original with the sharpened image and for comparing and selecting various sharpening settings. For more information, please read the Split View page.

The B/W Button

The B/W button displays the image in the preview grayscaled. This can be somewhat helpful to see the sharpening effect more clearly. If you want the B/W effect to be applied to the image, you have to hold down ther Ctrl key when clicking on the OK button.

Sliders

Sliders can be used to select a certain value within a specific value range. To do that you can drag the slider knob with the mouse (or arrow keys), enter a numerical value in the white text box at the right of the slider bar, click somewhere on the slider bar for large value steps or use the two arrow buttons for small value steps.

OK, Cancel and ?

Clicking on the OK button exits FocalBlade and applies the correction to the image. The current settings are saved and restored when you use FocalBlade again. CTRL clicking the OK button will render the visual clues (sample area, split view, B/W etc.) to the image.

"Cancel" simply exits FocalBlade without changing the image. Depending on the application you are using, the current settings will be lost immediately or kept as long as your image application is running. If you hold down the CTRL key while clicking on Cancel, you will be prompted for Cloak Mode. In Cloak Mode the current settings will be applied to the image without displaying the FocalBlade dialog. For more information, please read the Cloak Mode page.