Version History


 

MacOS X Version 1.0 (April 2, 2007)

  • Mac-Intel Version for Photoshop CS3 is now available

 

Windows Version 1.04b (File Date: March 13, 2007)

  • Bug Fix: Previous versions of FocalBlade crashed under Windows Vista on some computers if there was 2 GB or more RAM available.

  • The HTML and PDF manual were slightly updated

  • The Plugin Installer was slightly updated

 

MacOS X Version 1.0 (January 13, 2006)

  • First MacOS X release of FocalBlade
    • It is based on the Windows Version 1.03. However, some features and bug fixes from the Windows Version 1.04 are already available, e.g. visible selections in the preview. The remaining features of the Windows Version 1.04, e.g. interrupted rendering, will be included in the next free update.

 

Windows Version 1.04 (File Date: May 31, 2005)

  • New Features:
    • Selections from your graphics application can now be seen in the FocalBlade preview. The effect is only applied to the selection area in FocalBlade. This feature currently only works in Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Paint Shop Pro 4 - 7, Photo-Paint, Canvas, FotoCanvas and Ultimate Paint.
    • FocalBlade now immediately reacts to user actions. You don't have to wait anymore until the preview is rendered before you can readjust a setting or drag the preview. The current rendering will be stopped immediately and rendering will start again.
    • Right clicking on the Open Preset button will display all presets from the Preset sub folder in a context menu and lets you choose one.
    • Dragging the window is now only possible with the title bar. Previously you were able to click anywhere on the background to drag the window. That made some people who missed the sliders drag the dialog instead of the slider.
    • You can now use the mouse wheel to change slider values. You need to click the slider at first though.
    • Two new preset for doing noise reduction in FocalBlade.
    • A tool called Plugin Installer is installed with FocalBlade and also executed during setup. It lets you copy the FocalBlade plugin to the plugin folder of various applications and also uninstall it later again. It can detect the plugin folder of 25 graphics applications.

  • Improvements:
    • If necessary FocalBlade will now look for the html manual and presets in the original installation folder. That means, if you only copy the FocalBlade.8bf file into a plugin folder, the mentioned features will work nevertheless.
    • Bug Fix: No artifacts occur anymore in Photoline on 16bit images.
    • Bug Fix: Transparent areas are now correctly displayed with a chessboard pattern when applying FocalBlade to a 16bit layer in Photoshop.
    • Bug Fix: The Expand slider works correctly now in X-Ray Negative mode on 16bit images.
    • Bug Fix: Sample area marquee was displayed transparent when working with 16bit images.
    • Bug Fix: All split view options were available in all modes, although they didn't work in some modes.
    • Bug Fix: Previously the sample area feature also worked in modes where it had no effect.
    • Bug Fix: Zoom combo box sometimes displayed the zoom value wrongly when running FocalBlade a second time.
    • Bug Fix: Using the mouse wheel to scroll through the combo boxes works now.
    • Bug Fix: Zoom combo box was deselected on 6%
    • Bug Fix: Beta screen problems
    • The Demo version now applies a slightly less visible watermark

 

Windows Version 1.03 (File Date: July 11, 2004)

  • Context menu with settings for landscape, portrait and night photos appears if you right click on the Auto combo boxes or Screen and Print buttons.
  • Context menu that pops up if you right click the window background.
  • Double clicking the FocalBlade letters in the title bar will maximize the window, double clicking them again will restore the old window size.
  • Nonlinear behavior was added to the Radius sliders, the White/Black Halo sliders, the Smoothness slider, the Remove slider and the Glow slider. This makes it easier to select important slider values.
  • The Manual was extended with a "Sharpening with a Brush" instructions on the Step by Step page and information about "Non-destructive Sharpening" and "Sharpening Tips for for Landscape, Portrait, Night photos" on the Tips page.
  • The slider edit boxes were made smaller and the sliders were made a bit longer.
  • Bug Fix: The three Auto options sometimes didn't work with 16-bit images and deactivated sharpening. It is fixed now.
  • Bug Fix: The setting of the Auto Preview check box isn't changed anymore when opening a preset.
  • Bug Fix: The preview isn't recalculated if the whole image is displayed and you try to the preview image drag with right mouse button.
  • Bug Fix: Unsteadiness of progress bar was fixed.
  • Bug Fix: Small inaccuracy in Cloak Mode was fixed.
  • Bug Fix: The setting of the Auto Preview check box is restored across sessions
  • Demo Version: A white watermark is now applied instead of a red one.

 

Windows Version 1.02b (File Date: January 31 , 2004)

  • More precise sharpening. The brightness isn't increased unnecessarily anymore when sharpening 8-bit images. This will also produce a better overall saturation in some cases.
  • Bug Fix: Applying FocalBlade on a selection doesn't cause a memory error anymore when the preview is updated.
  • Bug Fix: Applying a blur effect to an image doesn't cause black borders or colored streaks at the vertical image border anymore.
  • Bug Fix: In Cloak Mode a slightly weaker sharpening effect was applied sometimes. FocalBlade does more pre-processing in Cloak Mode now, to produce accurate results.
  • Bug Fix: Sometimes the controls were not correctly positioned when running FocalBlade. This has been fixed.
  • Bug Fix: The Sharpen sliders in the deblur modes aren't cut off at 1000 anymore when their values are restored.
  • Bug Fix: The Focalblade setup will now display the previous installation folder by default.

 

Windows Version 1.02 (File Date: December 31, 2003)

  • Stronger sharpening possible . The range of the Sharpen sliders has been increased from 400% to 1000%. In the Deblur Modes even to 2000%.
  • Resizable window and preview. Minimum screen resolution is now 640x480 pixel at Small Font setting and not 800x600 pixel as before.
  • New Antialias feature for reducing artifacts and grain thus allowing a stronger sharpening effects to be applied.
  • A 100% preview for images of any size can now be displayed, because no additional RAM is now needed to generate it.
  • 15 new preset files for creating artistic effects.
  • Cloak Mode was greatly improved:
    • FocalBlade now calculates the auto sharpening values more precisely during Cloak Mode. That means that there may be some delay because of precaluclations before FocalBlade starts processing an image in Cloak Mode. If you don't need any auto sharpening in Cloak Mode, you can avoid that by setting Auto Sharpen to "Off" before entering Cloak Mode.
    • In Cloak Mode the image is now processed in tiles and not as a whole as in previous versions.
    • The FocalBlade.ini file is now read every time FocalBlade is applied in Cloak Mode. This lets you use Cloak Mode with graphics applications that don't save plugin settings across invocations and it doesn't force you to enter Cloak Mode again when restarting your graphics application.
    • Leaving the Cloak Mode by holding down the Shift key is possible again.
  • Bug Fix: Auto features work in Sharpen Edges mode again .
  • Bug Fix: The color of the color box left of the Glow slider is saved now during invocations.

 

Windows Version 1.01b (File Date: November 17, 2003)

  • Memory-Error-Bug fixed. This bug occured when the Precise check box was activated. It also occured when processing a greyscale image in Paint Shop Pro.
  • The setup overwrites all files and not only the older ones. This makes sure that the demo version is always overwritten by the full version.
  • Some small fixes in the Manual

 

Windows Version 1.01 (File Date: October 31, 2003)

  • FocalBlade processes images in tiles now. FocalBlade can now process huge images with very little RAM and renders up to 10% faster at low RAM. There is no limit to the size of images that FocalBlade can process.
  • Better Sharpening: The saturation and brightness are less increased when sharpening.
  • New Highlights/Shadows sliders on the Fix tab sheet in the Expert and BeBlur Pro modes for reducing the sharpening in the highlight and shadow areas. The same sliders can also be used in the Expert and Selective Blur Pro modes for reducing the blurring in the highlight and shadow areas.
  • The White/Black Halo sliders previously only affected the edges, now they also affect the surface area. They also work more precise.
  • Support for grayscale images (8 bit and 16 bit). In this image mode FocalBlade will render a bit faster. A few features, e.g. the B/W button and the color box, won't have any effect.
  • Enhanced compatibility with Photoshop CS: The preview works now when applying FocalBlade on a layer in 16bit mode.
  • When holding down the Alt key, you can use the left mouse button (instead of the right mouse button) for scrolling the image in the preview.
  • The default setting for Auto Details has been changed from "Medium" to "Fine" as this usually produces better results.
  • The Undo button now also removes or restores the sample area.
  • After drawing the sample area the preview was sometimes updated twice, which interfered with the Undo feature. That was fixed.
  • The demo version now applies a watermark instead of a large grid.
  • The Manual was updated, especially the Tips section.
  • Several smaller bug fixes

 

Windows Version 1.0 (File Date: July 25, 2003)

  • First Release

 

 

 

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