Windows Version 2.11 Mac Version 2 - The Plugin Site · 1.2 Compatibility FocalBlade works under Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP (32-bit & 64-bit) and MacOS X (10.6 and higher).It supports

Windows Version 2.11Mac Version 2.11

Copyright © 2003-2018 by Harald Heim & The Plugin Site

Support

Web site: http://thepluginsite.com

E-mail: http://www.thepluginsite.com/about/contact.htm

User Forum:http://www.thepluginsite.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=28

Credits

Idea and Concept: Harald Heim

Framework Code: Alex Hunter, Harald Heim, Martijn VanDer Lee

Standalone Components: ImgSource (c) by SmallerAnimals, MetaRaw (c) by Harald Heim, Little CMS (c) byMarti Maria Saguer

Windows Development: Harald Heim

Mac Development: Nik Utenkov

Logo and Artwork: Steve Upham

Beta Testers Version 2: Roberto Muscia, Eric A.Helgeson, Mike MacDonald, John Schwaller, Steve Fisher,Robert Terrell, Rohn Stacks, Peter Mayer, RobinRowlands, Jim Calvert, Gerd Dollhopf, Svitlana Dollhopf

Beta Testers Version 1: Sally Beacham, Kohan Ikin,Texas Patches aka Suzy-Q, Steve Upham, Steve Fisher,Mandy, Glenda Meeler, Kathy, MaryLou White, Lori Davis,Barbara Wallis, Shannon Carnevale, Andrew Bokelman,Roberto Muscia, Robert T, Maggie, Nelia, Peter Mayer,Horst Herrmann, Uwe Steinmüller

http://thepluginsite.com

http://www.thepluginsite.com/about/contact.htm

http://www.thepluginsite.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=28

Contents1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................1

1.1 Description.........................................................................................................................11.2 Compatibility......................................................................................................................31.3 Supported Image Formats.................................................................................................61.4 Installation........................................................................................................................11

1.4.1 Installing the Plugin Version under Windows..........................................................111.4.2 Installing the Plugin Version under MacOS X.........................................................121.4.3 Installing the Standalone/Lightroom Version under Windows.................................121.4.4 Installation in Lightroom 1.x under Windows...........................................................13

1.5 Produc Launch.................................................................................................................141.5.1 Running the Plugin..................................................................................................141.5.2 Running the Standalone..........................................................................................141.5.3 Running the Lightroom Version...............................................................................141.5.4 Running the Lightroom Version in ACDSee (Pro / Ultimate)...................................151.5.5 Running the Lightroom Version in AfterShot Pro....................................................151.5.6 Running the Lightroom Version in CaptureOne......................................................151.5.7 Running the Lightroom Version in DxO Optics.......................................................151.5.8 Running the Lightroom Version in Exposure...........................................................151.5.9 Running the Lightroom Version in ON1 Photo Raw................................................161.5.10 Running the Lightroom Version in Raw Therapee................................................16

1.6 General Usage.................................................................................................................171.6.1 The Main Dialog......................................................................................................171.6.2 Differences between the Plugin, Lightroom and Standalone Versions...................20

1.7 Standalone/Lightroom Features.......................................................................................211.7.1 Opening Images.....................................................................................................211.7.2 RAW Settings..........................................................................................................211.7.3 Switching Between Images.....................................................................................221.7.4 Using Different Settings for Each Image.................................................................221.7.5 Closing an Image....................................................................................................231.7.6 Saving an Image.....................................................................................................231.7.7 Batch Processing....................................................................................................241.7.8 Color Management..................................................................................................241.7.9 Metadata and Auto Rotation...................................................................................25

1.8 Step By Step Guide.........................................................................................................261.8.1 One Pass Sharpening.............................................................................................261.8.2 Two Pass Sharpening.............................................................................................291.8.3 Three Pass Sharpening..........................................................................................301.8.4 Sharpening with a Brush.........................................................................................321.8.5 Deblurring Photos...................................................................................................331.8.6 Fixing Oversharpened Photos.................................................................................341.8.7 Creating a Glow Effect............................................................................................341.8.8 Creating a Soft Focus Effect...................................................................................34

1.9 Usage Tips.......................................................................................................................361.9.1 In-Camera Sharpening vs FocalBlade....................................................................361.9.2 Keep the Preview Zoom at 100%............................................................................361.9.3 Backup the Unsharp Versions of your Photos........................................................361.9.4 Non-destructive Sharpening....................................................................................361.9.5 Undoing Sharpening...............................................................................................371.9.6 Reducing Halos.......................................................................................................37

1.10 Frequently Asked Questions..........................................................................................39

2 General Features ..........................................................................................................................432.1 Modes..............................................................................................................................432.2 Sharpening Workflows.....................................................................................................47

2.2.1 Workflows Considerations.......................................................................................47

FocalBlade Manual

Contents2 General Features

2.2.2 How many sharpening passes should I use?..........................................................472.2.3 One-Pass Workflow................................................................................................482.2.4 Two-Pass Workflow................................................................................................482.2.5 Three-Pass Workflow..............................................................................................482.2.6 Other Workflows......................................................................................................49

2.3 Reset, Undo & Presets....................................................................................................502.3.1 The Reset Button....................................................................................................502.3.2 The Arrow-Down Menu at the Top..........................................................................50

2.4 Split Views.......................................................................................................................522.5 The Bottom Tab Sheets...................................................................................................54

2.5.1 Help.........................................................................................................................542.5.2 Navigator.................................................................................................................542.5.3 Info..........................................................................................................................542.5.4 Calibrate..................................................................................................................552.5.5 Prefs........................................................................................................................56

2.6 Batch Processing.............................................................................................................582.6.1 Scripting Or Cloak Mode?.......................................................................................582.6.2 Cloak Mode.............................................................................................................582.6.3 Batch Processing in Photoshop..............................................................................592.6.4 Batch Processing in Paint Shop Pro.......................................................................612.6.5 Batch Processing in Other Applications..................................................................62

2.7 Key Shortcuts (Windows only) ........................................................................................63

3 Main Controls ................................................................................................................................643.1 Auto: One Pass................................................................................................................64

3.1.1 Easy Mode, Classic Mode and One-Pass Classic..................................................643.1.2 One-Pass Pro..........................................................................................................66

3.2 Auto: Two/Three Passes..................................................................................................693.2.1 Capture Sharpening................................................................................................693.2.2 Creative Sharpening...............................................................................................713.2.3 Output Sharpening.................................................................................................71

3.3 Manual.............................................................................................................................743.3.1 Single Radius..........................................................................................................743.3.2 Dual Radius.............................................................................................................753.3.3 Adaptive Radius......................................................................................................76

3.4 Fix....................................................................................................................................783.4.1 Halos.......................................................................................................................783.4.2 Range.....................................................................................................................793.4.3 Color Noise.............................................................................................................79

3.5 Mask................................................................................................................................803.5.1 Color Protection......................................................................................................803.5.2 Edge Mask..............................................................................................................81

3.6 Effects..............................................................................................................................83

FocalBlade Manual

1 Introduction

1.1 Description

FocalBlade effectively sharpens photos for display and print, reduces noise and produces great looking blur, soft focusand special effects. FocalBlade is ideal for sharpening and enhancing all kinds of photo, e.g. snapshots, landscapesphotos, portraits as well as high-ISO shots, because it effectively sharpens and reduces noise at the same time.

FocalBlade is available as a Photoshop-compatible plugin for Windows and MacOS X as well as a standaloneapplication and Lightroom external editor for Windows. The plugin works in dozens of graphics applications,including Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Paint Shop Pro, Photo-Paint, PhotoImpact and IrfanView. All versionssupport batch processing and process RGB images with 8-bit and 16-bit/channel. The B/W Styler standaloneapplication supports JPEG, TIFF, PNG, PSD, Camera Raw and DNG image formats among others.

The Magic of FocalBlade

FocalBlade transforms the most lifeless image into something unbelievably sharp and artifact-free so quickly and withso little effort, that the whole process can seem like magic. In fact the secret lies in its sophisticated and painstakinglyfine-tuned algorithms. These enhance and uncover the smallest details with radius values smaller than 0.1 pixel andsharpening up to 2000% without damaging the image.

Edges and surfaces are sharpened independently, which means a photo can be sharpened overall without destroyingthe softness of areas such as sky, walls, skin and other even surfaces. The Adaptive Radius method even sharpenseach image pixel with a different radius depending on its details level. FocalBlade avoids halos at high radius settingsand even provides sliders for suppressing white and black halos independently. Furthermore, it allows the user toprotect shadows, highlights and certain colors.

FocalBlade produces unmatched sharpening results and offers a tremendous amount of control of the sharpeningprocess. Unlike other tools it features automatic sharpening, does not add visible halos, does not increase noise, retainsa photographic look, respects edges, allows precise adjustments and instantly achieves a great result. FocalBlade isflexible as well as very easy to use. Best of all, FocalBlade saves precious time and is available at an affordable price.

Sophisticated Features

FocalBlade supports one, two and three pass sharpening workflows, incorporates modes for various tasks andexperience levels and offers interactive explanations for each feature. FocalBlade even batch process images with thehelp of actions or scripts.

The Split View and Preview tab sheet features are great for comparing the original and sharpened versions as well asvisually choosing the sharpening strength. Displaying the edge mask and sharpening halos in FocalBlade is a big helpfor manually fine-tuning the effect. Additionally you can apply grain to increase the impression of sharpness inlow-quality images. More than 80 presets are delivered with FocalBlade and saving your own preset files is alsopossible.

During the seven years of its existence FocalBlade has gained an entourage of thousands of photographers worldwideand established itself as probably the most popular sharpening plugin for Photoshop and other compatible applications.

New in Version 2

FocalBlade 2 incorporates dozens of new features and improvements. Based on an extensive survey of more than 1000of its users. FocalBlade 2 received an innovative overhaul and dozens of elaborate new features.

It renders 10 to 120 times faster than Version 1 (depending on the used settings and CPU). It supports multiplesharpening workflows and various output devices. FocalBlade 2 is now fully scripting aware and supports smart filteringin Photoshop CS4 and CS5.

FocalBlade 2 achieves better sharpening effects with less artifacts through improved edge masking and halo reduction.It now allows sharpening radiuses of up to 32 pixels. To further reduce sharpening problems three colors can be chosento be protected from the sharpening effect. The new Softproof feature, which simulates the sharpness of prints onscreen, helps users achieve satisfying sharpening results without test prints.

Lab and CMYK images are processed by FocalBlade 2 without having to switch to RGB mode and back. FocalBladealso reduces color noise, adds grain, zooms the preview up to 3200%, benefits from several UI enhancements,including a Navigator tool for quickly displaying an image area, and contains many other new features.

FocalBlade Manual 2

1.2 Compatibility

FocalBlade works under Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP (32-bit & 64-bit) and MacOS X (10.6 and higher). It supportsthe following image modes: RGB, Grayscale, Lab and CMYK modes with 8-bit and 16-bit per channel.

The Standalone Version runs on its own and does not need other applicatons. For details on its supported imageformats see here.

The Lightroom Version requires the following application to be installed:

Adobe Lightroom• ACDSee (Version 12 or higher)• ACDSee Pro (Version 3 or higher)• ACDSee Ultimate (Version 8 or higher)• Alienskin Exposure (Version X or higher)• Bibble Lite (Version 5 or higher)• Bibble Pro (Version 5 or higher)• Corel AfterShot Pro• CaptureOne (Version 10 and higher)• DxO Optics (Version 10 and higher)• OnOne Perfect PhotoSuite 9• ON1 Photo 10• ON1 Photo Raw (Version 2017 and higher)• Rawtherapee (Version 5 and higher)•

The Plugin Version requires one of the following applications to be installed:

MacOS X:64-bit:

Adobe Photoshop (Version CS5 or higher)◊ Adobe Photoshop Elements (Version 12 or higher)◊ Adobe Illustrator (Version CS6 or higher)◊ AlphaPlugins Launchbox◊ Computerinsel Photoline (Version 16.50 or higher)◊ LemkeSoft GraphicConverter (Version 8.2 or higher)◊ Serif Affinity Photo◊

32-bit:

Adobe Photoshop (Version CS3, CS4, CS5, CS5.5)◊ Adobe Photoshop Elements (Version 6 or higher)◊ Adobe Illustrator (Version CS2 to CS5)◊ Adobe Fireworks (Version CS3 or higher)◊ Computerinsel Photoline (Version 16.50 or higher)◊ LemkeSoft GraphicConverter (Version 8.2 or higher)

Other applications that support Photoshop plugins may also work.

◊

Windows:64-bit:

Adobe Photoshop (Version CS4 or higher)◊

FocalBlade Manual 3

Adobe Photoshop Elements (Version 13 or higher)◊ Adobe Illustrator (Version CS6 or higher)◊ AlphaPlugins Launchbox◊ Computerinsel Photoline 64 (Version 16 or higher)◊ CorelDRAW (Version X6 or higher)◊ Corel Painter (Version 12.1 or higher)◊ Corel Paint Shop Pro (Version X6 or higher)◊ Corel Photo-Paint (Version X6 or higher)◊ Paint.NET (with the PSFilterPdn plugin) (Freeware: www.getpaint.net)◊ Serif PhotoPlus (Version X6 or higher)◊ Serif Affinity Photo◊

32-bit:

Adobe Photoshop (Version 3 or higher, Version CS1 or higher)◊ Adobe Photoshop Elements◊ Adobe PhotoDeluxe◊ Adobe After Effects (Version 4.1, 5.0 and 5.5, but not animatable)◊ Adobe Illustrator (Version 7 or higher)◊ Adobe ImageReady (Version 2 or higher)◊ Adobe PageMaker (Version 6.5 or higher)◊ ACDSystems Photo Canvas (Version 2 or higher)◊ ACDSystems Photo Editor (Version 3 or higher)◊ ACDSystems Canvas (Version X or higher)◊ albelli photo book creator (Freeware: www.albelli.co.uk)◊ Ambient Design ArtRage Studio Pro (Version 3 and higher)◊ Arcadia PhotoPerfect (Version 2.9 or higher)◊ ArcSoft PhotoStudio (Version 5.5 or higher)◊ Artweaver Plus (Version 3 or higher)◊ Aurora Borealis Mandala Painter (Version 3 or higher)◊ CADlink SignLab (Version 5 or higher)◊ CDH Image Explorer Pro (Version 4 or higher)◊ Computerinsel Photoline 32 (Version 5 or higher)◊ CorelDRAW (Version 9 or higher)◊ Corel Paint Shop Pro (Version 10 or higher)◊ Corel Photo-Paint (Version 9 or higher)◊ Corel Bryce (Version 4 or higher)◊ Corel Painter (Version 6 and higher, except Version 10 and 11)◊ Deneba Canvas (Version 6 or higher)◊ DigiFoto (Version 3.5 or higher) (Freeware: www.klausdoege.de)◊ DigiSoft ProMedia (Version 2 or higher)◊ DigiSoft ImagePro 2K1◊ Discreet Combustion (Version 2 or higher, but not animatable and previewis bluish)

◊

Equilibrium DeBabelizer Pro (Version 4.5 or higher)◊ GIMP (Version 1.2.4 or higher with the PSPI plugin) (Preview doesn't workcorrectly and may crash if you scroll it too often)

◊

Helicon Filter (Version 4.2 or higher)◊ Image Analyzer (with the 8bf Interface plugin) (Freeware:meesoft.logicnet.dk)

◊

imageN (Freeware: www.pixoid.com)◊ IrfanView (Version 3.85 or higher, Freeware: www.irfanview.com)◊ Jasc Paint Shop Pro (Version 4.12 or higher)◊ KnowledgeAdventure HyperStudio (Version 4.2 or higher)◊ Logipole Konverter (Version 4 or higher)◊ Macromedia Freehand (Version 7 or higher)◊ Macromedia Fireworks (Version 2 or higher, but transparency isn't correctlydisplayed in the preview)

◊

Magix Xtreme Photo Designer (Version 6 or higher, but applying the pluginto a selection or object causes problems and sometimes random crashesoccur, Freeware: www.magix.com)

◊

Mediachance PhotoBrush◊ Megalux Ultimate Paint (Version 2 or higher)◊ Megalux Ultimate FX (Freeware)◊ Metacreations Painter (Version 6 or higher)◊ Microfrontier Digital Darkroom (Version 1.2 or higher)◊ Micrografx Picture Publisher (Version 8 or higher, but the preview zoomwon't work)

◊

FocalBlade Manual 4

http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/20622-psfilterpdn-2011-07-14/

http://www.getpaint.net/

http://www.albelli.co.uk/

http://www.klausdoege.de/DigiFoto/

http://tml.pp.fi/gimp/pspi.html

http://meesoft.logicnet.dk/

http://www.irfanview.com

http://www.magix.com

Microsoft Image Composer (Version 1.5 or higher, but dragging the previewisn't possible)

◊

Microsoft PhotoDraw 2000◊ Microsoft Picture It! Digital Image Pro (Version 7 or higher, but a 100%zoom may not work correctly and Cancel sometimes produces a crash)

◊

Newave Chaos Fx: Twilight'76 (Version 1.2 or higher)◊ New World Focus PhotoEditor (Version 4 or higher)◊ Paint.NET (with the PSFilterPdn plugin) (Freeware: www.getpaint.net)◊ 19th Parallel Sagelight (Version 3 or higher)◊ Photobie Design Studio (Version 1.8 or higher) (Freeware:www.photobie.com)

◊

Photo Filter Factory (Version 9 and higher)◊ Picmaster (Version 1.25 or higher)◊ Plugin Commander Pro (Version 1.5 or higher)◊ PluginMaster◊ PhotoFiltre Studio (Version 7 or higher)◊ PhotoFiltre (Version 6.5 or higher) (with the 8bf Filters plugin) (Freeware:photofiltre.free.fr)

◊

RealWorld Paint.com (Version 2008.1 or higher) (Freeware:www.rw-designer.com)

◊

QFX / QFX LE (Version 7 or higher)◊ Right Hemisphere Deep Paint◊ Satori PhotoXL (Version 2.29 or higher)◊ Serif PhotoPlus (Version 6 or higher)◊ Serif PhotoPlus Starter Edition (Version 2 or higher) (Freeware:www.serif.com)

◊

SigmaPi Pixopedia 24 (Version 1.0.5 or higher)◊ SigmaPi NiGulp (Version 1.5 or higher) (Freeware:www.sigmapi-design.com)

◊

Stoik PictureMan Pro (Version 5 or higher)◊ ThinkTank Ameri-Imager (Version 2 or higher)◊ Ulead Gif Animator (Version 4 or higher)◊ Ulead PhotoImpact (Version 4 or higher)◊ Ulead PhotoExpress (Version 6 or higher)◊ VCW Vicman's Photo Editor (Version 6.9 or higher, but preview draggingcauses crash) (Freeware: www.photo-editor.net)

◊

WebSuperGoo Achroma◊ Xara X◊ XnView (Version 1.70 or higher) (Freeware: www.xnview.com)◊ Zoner Photo Studio (Version 9 or higher)◊

FocalBlade Manual 5

http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/20622-psfilterpdn-2011-07-14/

http://www.getpaint.net/

http://www.photofiltre-studio.com/plugins/plugins-en.htm

http://photofiltre.free.fr/frames_en.htm

http://www.rw-designer.com/image-editor

http://www.serif.com/free-photo-editing-software/

http://www.sigmapi-design.com/freeware.htm

http://www.photo-editor.net

http://www.xnview.com/

1.3 Supported Image Formats

The Standalone/Lightroom version supports the following image formats:

Saving

JPEG (8-bit/channel only)• TIFF (8-bit and 16-bit/channel)• PNG (8-bit and 16-bit/channel)• PSD (8-bit and 16-bit/channel)•

Opening

BMP (8-bit/channel only)• Camera RAW including DNG (16-bit/channel)• JPEG (8-bit/channel only)• TIFF (8-bit and 16-bit/channel)• PNG (8-bit and 16-bit/channel)• PSD (8-bit and 16-bit/channel)• WMF, EMF, AMF (8-bit/channel only)• PCD (8-bit/channel only)• PCX (8-bit/channel only)• TGA (8-bit/channel only)•

Camera RAW files of the following 1040+ camera types are supported (If your camera is not mentioned here, it may stillbe supported. Please see yourself, e.g. with the demo version, if your raw files are opened):

AgfaPhoto DC-833mAlcatel 5035DAlcatel 5235DApple QuickTake 100Apple QuickTake 150Apple QuickTake 200Apple iPad Pro 9.7" (DNG format)Apple iPhone 6s (DNG format)Apple iPhone 6s Plus (DNG format)Apple iPhone 7 (DNG format)Apple iPhone 7 Plus (DNG format)Apple iPhone SE (DNG format)AVT F-080CAVT F-145CAVT F-201CAVT F-510CAVT F-810CBaumer TXG14Blackmagic Cinema Camera (DNG format)BlackMagic Micro Cinema Camera (DNG format)BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera (DNG format)BlackMagic Production Camera 4k (DNG format)Blackmagic URSA (DNG format)Blackmagic URSA 4K (DNG format)BlackMagic URSA Mini (DNG format)Canon EOS-1DCanon EOS-1D CCanon EOS-1DSCanon EOS-1D XCanon EOS-1D X Mark IICanon EOS-1D Mark IICanon EOS-1D Mark II NCanon EOS-1D Mark IIICanon EOS-1D Mark IVCanon EOS-1Ds Mark IICanon EOS-1Ds Mark IIICanon EOS 5DCanon EOS 5D Mark II

HUAWEI P10 Plus (VKY-L09) (DNGformat)Ikonoskop A-Cam dII PanchromaticIkonoskop A-Cam dIIImacon Ixpress 16-megapixelImacon Ixpress 22-megapixelImacon Ixpress 39-megapixelISG 2020x1520Kinefinity KineMINIKinefinity KineRAW MiniKinefinity KineRAW S35Kodak C330Kodak C603Kodak DC20Kodak DC25Kodak DC40Kodak DC50Kodak DC120Kodak DCS200Kodak DCS315CKodak DCS330CKodak DCS420Kodak DCS460Kodak DCS460AKodak DCS460DKodak DCS520CKodak DCS560CKodak DCS620CKodak DCS620XKodak DCS660CKodak DCS660MKodak DCS720XKodak DCS760CKodak DCS760MKodak DCS Pro 14nKodak DCS Pro 14nxKodak DCS Pro SLR/cKodak DCS Pro SLR/n

Panasonic FZ30Panasonic FZ35Panasonic FZ38Panasonic FZ4Panasonic FZ40Panasonic FZ42Panasonic FZ45Panasonic FZ50Panasonic FZ7Panasonic FZ70Panasonic FZ72Panasonic FZ8Panasonic FZ80Panasonic FZ82Panasonic FZ85Panasonic FZ100Panasonic FZ150Panasonic FZ200Panasonic FZ270Panasonic FZ272Panasonic FZ300Panasonic FZ330Panasonic FZ1000Panasonic FZ1000 XPanasonic FZ2000Panasonic FZ2500Panasonic FZH1Panasonic G1Panasonic G2Panasonic G3Panasonic G5Panasonic G6Panasonic G7Panasonic G70Panasonic G8Panasonic G80Panasonic G81Panasonic G85

FocalBlade Manual 6

Canon EOS 5D Mark IIICanon EOS 5D Mark IVCanon EOS 5DSCanon EOS 5DS RCanon EOS 6DCanon EOS 6D Mark IICanon EOS 7DCanon EOS 7D Mark IICanon EOS 10DCanon EOS 20DCanon EOS 20DaCanon EOS 30DCanon EOS 40DCanon EOS 50DCanon EOS 60DCanon EOS 60DaCanon EOS 70DCanon EOS 77DCanon EOS 80DCanon EOS 100D / Digital Rebel SL1 / Kiss Digital X7Canon EOS 200D / Digital Rebel SL2 / Kiss Digital X9Canon EOS 300D / Digital Rebel / Kiss DigitalCanon EOS 350D / Digital Rebel XT / Kiss Digital NCanon EOS 400D / Digital Rebel XTi / Kiss Digital XCanon EOS 450D / Digital Rebel XSi / Kiss Digital X2Canon EOS 500D / Digital Rebel T1i / Kiss Digital X3Canon EOS 550D / Digital Rebel T2i / Kiss Digital X4Canon EOS 600D / Digital Rebel T3i / Kiss Digital X5Canon EOS 650D / Digital Rebel T4i / Kiss Digital X6iCanon EOS 700D / Digital Rebel T5i / Kiss Digital X7iCanon EOS 750D / Digital Rebel T6i / Kiss Digital X8iCanon EOS 760D / Digital Rebel T6S / Kiss Digital 8000DCanon EOS 800D / Digital Rebel T7i / Kiss Digital X9iCanon EOS 1000D / Digital Rebel XS / Kiss Digital FCanon EOS 1100D / Digital Rebel T3 / Kiss Digital X50Canon EOS 1200D / Digital Rebel T5 / Kiss X70Canon EOS 1300D / Digital Rebel T6 / Kiss X80Canon EOS C500Canon EOS D30Canon EOS D60Canon EOS D2000CCanon EOS MCanon EOS M2Canon EOS M3Canon EOS M5Canon EOS M6Canon EOS M10Canon Ixus 160 (CHDK hack)Canon Ixus 900 Ti (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot 600Canon PowerShot A5Canon PowerShot A5 ZoomCanon PowerShot A50Canon PowerShot A410 (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot A460 (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot A470 (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot A530 (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot A540 (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot A550 (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot A570 (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot A590 (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot A610 (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot A620 (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot A630 (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot A640 (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot A650 (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot A710 IS (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot A720 IS (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot A3200 IS (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot A3300 IS (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot D10Canon PowerShot Pro70Canon PowerShot Pro90 ISCanon PowerShot Pro1Canon PowerShot G1Canon PowerShot G1 XCanon PowerShot G1 X Mark IICanon PowerShot G2Canon PowerShot G3Canon PowerShot G3 XCanon PowerShot G5Canon PowerShot G5 X

Kodak EktraKodak EOS DCS1Kodak EOS DCS 3BKodak NC2000FKodak KAI-0340Kodak NC2000FKodak P850Kodak P880Kodak ProBackKodak PB645CKodak PB645HKodak PB645MKodak S-1Kodak Z980Kodak Z981Kodak Z990Kodak Z1015Konica KD-400ZKonica KD-510ZLeaf AFi 5Leaf AFi 6Leaf AFi 7Leaf AFi-II 6Leaf AFi-II 7Leaf AFi-II 10Leaf AFi-II 10RLeaf AFi-II 12Leaf Aptus 17Leaf Aptus 22Leaf Aptus 54SLeaf Aptus 65Leaf Aptus 65SLeaf Aptus 75Leaf Aptus 75SLeaf Aptus-II 5Leaf Aptus-II 6Leaf Aptus-II 7Leaf Aptus-II 8Leaf Aptus-II 10Leaf Aptus-II 10RLeaf Aptus-II 12Leaf Aptus-II 12RLeaf CantareLeaf Cantare XYLeaf CatchLightLeaf CMostLeaf DCB2Leaf Valeo 6Leaf Valeo 11Leaf Valeo 17Leaf Valeo 17wiLeaf Valeo 22Leaf Valeo 22wiLeaf VolareLenovo A820Leica C (Typ 112)Leica Digilux 2Leica Digilux 3Leica D-LUX2Leica D-LUX3Leica D-LUX4Leica D-LUX5Leica D-LUX6Leica D-Lux yLeica D-LUX (Typ 109)Leica Digital-Modul-R (DNG format)Leica M Monochrom (DNG format)Leica M (Typ 240) (DNG format)Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) (DNGformat)Leica M (Typ 262) (DNG format)Leica M8 (DNG format)Leica M8.2 (DNG format)Leica M9 (DNG format)Leica M10 (DNG format)Leica M-D (Typ 262) (DNG format)Leica M-E (DNG format)Leica M-P (DNG format)Leica Q (DNG format)Leica Q (Typ 1) (DNG format)Leica Q (Typ 116) (DNG format)Leica R8 (DNG format)

Panasonic G10Panasonic GF1Panasonic GF2Panasonic GF3Panasonic GF5Panasonic GF6Panasonic GF7Panasonic GF8Panasonic GF9Panasonic GH1Panasonic GH2Panasonic GH3Panasonic GH4Panasonic GH5Panasonic GM1Panasonic GM1sPanasonic GM5Panasonic GX1Panasonic GX7Panasonic GX7 Mark IIPanasonic GX8Panasonic GX80Panasonic GX85Panasonic GX800Panasonic GX850Panasonic L1Panasonic L10Panasonic LC1Panasonic LF1Panasonic LX1Panasonic LX2Panasonic LX3Panasonic LX5Panasonic LX7Panasonic LX9Panasonic LX10Panasonic LX15Panasonic LX100Panasonic TX1Panasonic TZ60Panasonic TZ61Panasonic TZ70Panasonic TZ71Panasonic TZ80Panasonic TZ81Panasonic TZ82Panasonic TZ85Panasonic TZ90Panasonic TZ91Panasonic TZ92Panasonic TZ93Panasonic TZ100Panasonic TZ101Panasonic TZ110Panasonic ZS40Panasonic ZS50Panasonic ZS60Panasonic ZS100Panasonic ZS110PARROT Bebop 2 (DNG format)PARROT Bebop Drone (DNGformat)PARROT Bebop 2 (DNG format)PARROT Bebop Drone (DNGformat)Pentax 645DPentax 645ZPentax *ist DPentax *ist DLPentax *ist DL2Pentax *ist DSPentax *ist DS2Pentax GRPentax K10DPentax K20DPentax K100DPentax K100D SuperPentax K110DPentax K200DPentax K2000/K-mPentax K-01 (DNG format)Pentax K-1 (DNG format)

FocalBlade Manual 7

Canon PowerShot G6Canon PowerShot G7 (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot G7 XCanon PowerShot G7 X Mark IICanon PowerShot G9Canon PowerShot G9 XCanon PowerShot G9 X Mark IICanon PowerShot G10Canon PowerShot G11Canon PowerShot G12Canon PowerShot G15Canon PowerShot G16Canon PowerShot S2 IS (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot S3 IS (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot S5 IS (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot SD300 (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot SD450 (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot SD750 (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot SD950 (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot S30Canon PowerShot S40Canon PowerShot S45Canon PowerShot S50Canon PowerShot S60Canon PowerShot S70Canon PowerShot S90Canon PowerShot S95Canon PowerShot S100Canon PowerShot S110Canon PowerShot S120Canon PowerShot SX1 IS (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot SX10 IS (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot SX20 IS (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot SX30 IS (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot SX50 HS (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot SX100 IS (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot SX110 IS (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot SX120 IS (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot SX130 IS (DNG format)Canon PowerShot SX220 HS (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot SX230 HS (CHDK hack)Canon PowerShot SX510 HS (DNG format)Canon PowerShot SX60 HSCasio EX-F1 (DNG format)Casio EX-FC300S (DNG format)Casio EX-FC400S (DNG format)Casio EX-FH20 (DNG format)Casio EX-FH25 (DNG format)Casio EX-FH100 (DNG format)Casio EX-10 (DNG format)Casio EX-100 (DNG format)Casio EX-100F (DNG format)Casio EX-100PRO (DNG format)Casio EX-ZR700 (DNG format)Casio EX-ZR710 (DNG format)Casio EX-ZR750 (DNG format)Casio EX-ZR800 (DNG format)Casio EX-ZR850 (DNG format)Casio EX-ZR1000 (DNG format)Casio EX-ZR1100 (DNG format)Casio EX-ZR1200 (DNG format)Casio EX-ZR1300 (DNG format)Casio EX-ZR1500 (DNG format)Casio EX-ZR3000 (DNG format)Casio EX-ZR3100 (DNG format)Casio EX-ZR3500 (DNG format)Casio EX-ZR3600 (DNG format)Casio EX-ZR4000 (DNG format)Casio EX-ZR5000 (DNG format)Casio EX-S20Casio EX-S100Casio EX-Z4Casio EX-Z50Casio EX-Z500Casio EX-Z55Casio EX-Z60Casio EX-Z75Casio EX-Z750Casio EX-Z8Casio EX-Z850Casio EX-Z1050Casio EX-Z1080

Leica S (DNG format)Leica S (Typ 007) (DNG format)Leica S2 (DNG format)Leica SL (Typ 601) (DNG format)Leica T (Typ 701) (DNG format)Leica TL (DNG format)Leica TL2 (DNG format)Leica V-LUX1Leica V-LUX2Leica V-LUX3Leica V-LUX4Leica V-LUX (Typ 114)Leica X VARIO (Typ 107) (DNG format)Leica X (Typ 113) (DNG format)Leica X-E (Typ 102) (DNG format)Leica X1Leica X2Leica X-U (Typ 113) (DNG format)LG G3 (LG-D855) (DNG format)LG G4 (DNG format)LG Nexus 5 (DNG format)LG Nexus 5X (DNG format)LG V20 (DNG format)Logitech Fotoman PixturaMamiya ZDMatrix 4608x3288Meizy MX4Micron 2010Microsoft Lumia 950 (DNG format)Minolta RD175Minolta DiMAGE 5Minolta DiMAGE 7Minolta DiMAGE 7iMinolta DiMAGE 7HiMinolta DiMAGE A1Minolta DiMAGE A2Minolta DiMAGE A200Minolta DiMAGE G400Minolta DiMAGE G500Minolta DiMAGE G530Minolta DiMAGE G600Minolta DiMAGE Z2Minolta Alpha/Dynax/Maxxum 5DMinolta Alpha/Dynax/Maxxum 7DMotorola Nexus 6 (DNG format)Motorola PIXLNikon CoolscanNikon Coolpix ANikon Coolpix B700Nikon Coolpix P330Nikon Coolpix P340Nikon Coolpix P6000Nikon Coolpix P7000Nikon Coolpix P7100Nikon Coolpix P7700Nikon Coolpix P7800Nikon Coolpix S6 (DIAG RAW hack)Nikon D1Nikon D1HNikon D1XNikon D2HNikon D2HsNikon D2XNikon D2XsNikon D3Nikon D3sNikon D3XNikon D4Nikon D40Nikon D4sNikon D40XNikon D5Nikon D50Nikon D500Nikon D60Nikon D70Nikon D70sNikon D80Nikon D90Nikon D100Nikon D200Nikon D300

Pentax K-3Pentax K-3 IIPentax K-30 (DNG format)Pentax K-5Pentax K-5 IIPentax K-5 II sPentax K-50 (DNG format)Pentax K-500 (DNG format)Pentax K-7Pentax K-70 (DNG format)Pentax KP (DNG-Format)Pentax K-rPentax K-S1Pentax K-S2Pentax K-xPentax MX-1 (DNG format)Pentax Q (DNG format)Pentax Q7 (DNG format)Pentax Q10 (DNG format)Pentax QS-1 (DNG format)Pentax Optio SPentax Optio S4Pentax Optio 33WRPentax Optio 750ZPhase One AchromaticPhase One Achromatic+Phase One LightPhasePhase One H 10Phase One H 20Phase One H 25Phase One IQ3 50MPPhase One IQ3 60MPPhase One IQ3 80MPPhase One IQ3 100MPPhase One IQ140Phase One IQ150Phase One IQ160Phase One IQ180Phase One IQ180 IRPhase One IQ250Phase One IQ260Phase One IQ280Phase One P 20Phase One P 20+Phase One P 21Phase One P 21 +Phase One P 25Phase One P 25+Phase One P 30Phase One P 30+Phase One P 40+Phase One P 45Phase One P 45+Phase One P 65Phase One P 65+Photron BC2-HDPixelink A782Polaroid x530Ricoh GR (DNG format)Ricoh GR II (DNG format)Ricoh GR Digital (DNG format)Ricoh GR Digital II (DNG format)Ricoh GR Digital III (DNG format)Ricoh GR Digital IV (DNG format)Ricoh GX100 (DNG format)Ricoh GX200 (DNG format)Ricoh GXR, S10 24-72mm F2.5-4.4VC (DNG format)Ricoh GXR, GR A12 50mm F2.5MACRORicoh GXR, GR LENS A12 28mmF2.5Ricoh GXR MOUNT A12Ricoh GXR MOUNT A16 24-85mmF3.5-5Ricoh GXR, GXR P10 (DNG format)Rollei d530flexRoverShot 3320afSamsung EX1Samsung EX2FSamsung Galaxy NX (EK-GN120)Samsung Galaxy S3

FocalBlade Manual 8

Casio EX-ZR100Casio Exlim Pro 505Casio Exlim Pro 600Casio Exlim Pro 700Casio QV-2000UXCasio QV-3000EXCasio QV-3500EXCasio QV-4000Casio QV-5700Casio QV-R41Casio QV-R51Casio QV-R61Contax N DigitalCreative PC-CAM 600Digital Bolex D16Digital Bolex D16MDJI 4384x3288DJI X5 (FC550) (DNG Format)DJI Inspire 2 (M43RAW)DJI Mavi (FC220)DJI Phantom 4 (FC330)DJI Phantom 4 Pro (FC6310)DxO OneEpson R-D1Epson R-D1sEpson R-D1xFoculus 531CFujifilm E505Fujifilm E550Fujifilm E900Fujifilm F505EXRFujifilm F550EXRFujifilm F600EXRFujifilm F605EXRFujifilm F700Fujifilm F710Fujifilm F770EXRFujifilm F775EXRFujifilm F800Fujifilm F800EXRFujifilm F810Fujifilm F900EXRFujifilm FinePix S1Fujifilm GFX 50SFujifilm HS10Fujifilm HS11Fujifilm HS20EXRFujifilm HS22EXRFujifilm HS30EXRFujifilm HS33EXRFujifilm HS35EXRFujifilm HS50EXRFujifilm IS-1Fujifilm S2ProFujifilm S3ProFujifilm S5ProFujifilm S20Fujifilm S20ProFujifilm S205EXRFujifilm S100FSFujifilm S5000Fujifilm S5100Fujifilm S5500Fujifilm S5200Fujifilm S5600Fujifilm S6000fdFujifilm S7000Fujifilm S9000Fujifilm S9100Fujifilm S9500Fujifilm S9600Fujifilm S200EXRFujifilm SL1000Fujifilm X10Fujifilm X20Fujifilm X30Fujifilm X70Fujifilm X100Fujifilm X100FFujifilm X100SFujifilm X100TFujifilm X-A1

Nikon D300sNikon D600Nikon D610Nikon D700Nikon D750Nikon D3000Nikon D3100Nikon D3200Nikon D3300Nikon D3400Nikon D5000Nikon D5100Nikon D5200Nikon D5300Nikon D5500Nikon D5600Nikon D7000Nikon D7100Nikon D7200Nikon D7500Nikon D800Nikon D800ENikon D810Nikon D810ANikon D850Nikon DfNikon 1 AW1Nikon 1 J1Nikon 1 J2Nikon 1 J3Nikon 1 J4Nikon 1 J5Nikon 1 S1Nikon 1 S2Nikon 1 V1Nikon 1 V2Nikon 1 V3Nikon E700 (DIAG RAW hack)Nikon E800 (DIAG RAW hack)Nikon E880 (DIAG RAW hack)Nikon E900 (DIAG RAW hack)Nikon E950 (DIAG RAW hack)Nikon E990 (DIAG RAW hack)Nikon E995 (DIAG RAW hack)Nikon E2100 (DIAG RAW hack)Nikon E2500 (DIAG RAW hack)Nikon E3200 (DIAG RAW hack)Nikon E3700 (DIAG RAW hack)Nikon E4300 (DIAG RAW hack)Nikon E4500 (DIAG RAW hack)Nikon E5000Nikon E5400Nikon E5700Nikon E8400Nikon E8700Nikon E8800Nokia 1200x1600Nokia Lumia 950 XL (DNG Format)Nokia Lumia 1020 (DNG Format)Nokia Lumia 1520 (DNG format)Nokia N9Nokia N95Nokia X2Olympus AIR A01Olympus C3030ZOlympus C5050ZOlympus C5060WZOlympus C5060ZOlympus C7070WZOlympus C70ZOlympus C7000ZOlympus C740UZOlympus C770UZOlympus C8080WZOlympus X200Olympus D560ZOlympus C350ZOlympus E-1Olympus E-3Olympus E-5Olympus E-10Olympus E-20

Samsung Galaxy S7 (DNG format)Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (DNGformat)Samsung Galaxy S8 (DNG format)Samsung Galaxy S8+ (DNG format)Samsung Galaxy NexusSamsung GX-1SSamsung GX-1LSamsung GX10 (DNG format)Samsung GX20 (DNG format)Samsung NX miniSamsung NX USamsung NX1Samsung NX5Samsung NX10Samsung NX11Samsung NX20Samsung NX30Samsung NX100Samsung NX200Samsung NX210Samsung NX300Samsung NX300MSamsung NX500Samsung NX1000Samsung NX1100Samsung NX2000Samsung NX3000Samsung NX3300Samsung Pro 815 (DNG format)Samsung S85 (hacked)Samsung S850 (hacked)Samsung TL350Samsung TL500Samsung WB550Samsung WB2000Sarnoff 4096x5440Seitz Roundshot D3Seitz Roundshot D2XSeitz Roundshot D2XsSinar 3072x2048Sinar 4080x4080Sinar 4080x5440Sinar eMotion 22Sinar eMotion 54Sinar eSpirit 65Sinar eMotion 75Sinar eVolution 75Sinar Sinarback 54SMaL Ultra-Pocket 3SMaL Ultra-Pocket 4SMaL Ultra-Pocket 5Sony A7 (ILCE-7)Sony A7 II (ILCE-7 II)Sony A7R (ILCE-7R)Sony A7R II (ILCE-7R II)Sony A7S (ILCE-7S)Sony A7S II (ILCE-7S II)Sony A9 (ILCE-9)Sony A33 (SLT-A33)Sony A35 (SLT-A35)Sony A37 (SLT-A37)Sony A55V (SLT-A55V)Sony A57 (SLT-A57)Sony A58 (SLT-A58)Sony A65 (SLT-A65)Sony A65V(SLT-A65V)Sony A68 (SLT-A68)Sony A68 (ILCA-68)Sony A77 (SLT-A77)Sony A77 II (ILCA-77M2)Sony A99 (SLT-A99V)Sony A99 II (ILCA-99 II)Sony A100 (DSLR-A100)Sony A200 (DSLR-A200)Sony A230 (DSLR-A230)Sony A290 (DSLR-A290)Sony A300 (DSLR-A300)Sony A330 (DSLR A330)Sony A350 (DSLR-A350)Sony A380 (DSLR-A380)Sony A390 (DSLR-A390)

FocalBlade Manual 9

Fujifilm X-A2Fujifilm X-A3Fujifilm X-A10Fujifilm X-E1Fujifilm X-E2Fujifilm X-E2SFujifilm X-E3Fujifilm XF1Fujifilm X-M1Fujifilm X-Pro1Fujifilm X-Pro2Fujifilm X-S1Fujifilm X-T1Fujifilm X-T1 IRFujifilm X-T2Fujifilm X-T10Fujifilm X-T20Fujifilm XQ1Fujifilm XQ2Gione E7GITUP GIT2GITUP GIT2PGoogle Pixel XLHasselblad CF-22Hasselblad CF-22MSHasselblad CF-31Hasselblad CF-39Hasselblad CF-39MSHasselblad CF-132Hasselblad CFHHasselblad CFH-22Hasselblad CFH-39Hasselblad CFVHasselblad CFV-2Hasselblad CFV-50Hasselblad CFV-50cHasselblad H2D (DNG format)Hasselblad H2D-22 (DNG format)Hasselblad H2D-39 (DNG format)Hasselblad H3D-22Hasselblad H3D-31Hasselblad H3D-39Hasselblad H3D-50Hasselblad H3DII-22Hasselblad H3DII-31Hasselblad H3DII-39Hasselblad H3DII-39MSHasselblad H3DII-50Hasselblad H3DII-50MSHasselblad H4D-31Hasselblad H4D-40Hasselblad H4D-50Hasselblad H4D-60Hasselblad H5D-40Hasselblad H5D-50Hasselblad H5D-50cHasselblad H5D-50cMSHasselblad H5D-200cMSHasselblad HVHasselblad LussoHasselblad LunarHasselblad True ZoomHasselblad StellarHasselblad Stellar IIHasselblad V96CHasselblad X1DHTC 10 (DNG format)HTC One (A9) (DNG format)HTC One (M9) (DNG format)HTC MyTouch 4G (DNG format)HTC UltraPixel (DNG format)Huawei Mate 9 (DNG format)Huawei P9 (DNG format)

Olympus E-30Olympus E-300Olympus E-330Olympus E-400Olympus E-410Olympus E-420Olympus E-450Olympus E-500Olympus E-510Olympus E-520Olympus E-600Olympus E-620Olympus E-M1Olympus E-M1 Mark IIOlympus E-M10Olympus E-M10 Mark IIOlympus E-M10 Mark IIIOlympus E-M5Olympus E-M5 Mark IIOlympus E-P1Olympus E-P2Olympus E-P3Olympus E-P5Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1sOlympus E-PL2Olympus E-PL3Olympus E-PL5Olympus E-PL6Olympus E-PL7Olympus E-PL8Olympus E-PM1Olympus E-PM2Olympus PEN-FOlympus SH-2Olympus SH-3Olympus SP310Olympus SP320Olympus SP350Olympus SP500UZOlympus SP510UZOlympus SP550UZOlympus SP560UZOlympus SP565UZOlympus SP570UZOlympus Stylus 1Olympus Stylus 1sOlympus TG-4Olympus TG-5Olympus XZ-1Olympus XZ-2Olympus XZ-10OmniVision 4688OmniVision 13860OmniVision OV5647 (Raspberry Pi)OmniVision OV5648OmniVision OV8850OnePlus One A0001 (DNG format)OnePlus 3 (DNG format)Panasonic CM1Panasonic CM10Panasonic FX150Panasonic FZ18Panasonic FZ28

Sony A450 (DSLR-A450)Sony A500 (DSLR-A500)Sony A550 (DSLR-A550)Sony A560 (DSLR-A560)Sony A580 (DSLR-A580)Sony A700 (DSLR-A700)Sony A850 (DSLR-A850)Sony A900 (DSLR-A900)Sony A3000 (ILCE-3000)Sony A3500 (ILCE-3500)Sony A5000 (ILCE-5000)Sony A5100 (ILCE-5100)Sony A6000 (ILCE-6000)Sony A6300 (ILCE-6300)Sony A6500 (ILCE-6500)Sony F828 (DSC-F828)Sony IMX135-mipi 13mpSony IMX135-QCOMSony IMX072-mipiSony IMX214Sony IMX219Sony IMX230Sony IMX298-mipi 16mpSony IMX219-mipi 8mpSony NEX-3Sony NEX-3NSony NEX-5Sony NEX-5NSony NEX-5RSony NEX-5TSony NEX-6Sony NEX-7Sony NEX-C3Sony NEX-F3Sony NEX-VG20Sony NEX-VG30Sony NEX-VG900Sony R1 (DSC-R1)Sony RX1 (DSC-RX1)Sony RX1R (DSC-RX1R)Sony RX1R II (DSC-RX1RM2)Sony RX10 (DSC-RX10)Sony RX10 II (DSC-RX10M2)Sony RX10 III (DSC-RX10M3)Sony RX100 (DSC-RX100)Sony RX100 II (DSC-RX100M2)Sony RX100 III (DSC-RX100M3)Sony RX100 IV (DSC-RX100M4)Sony RX100 V (DSC-RX100M5)Sony QX1 (ILCE-QX1)Sony V3 (DSC-V3)Sony XCD-SX910CRSony Xperia L (DNG Format)STV680 VGAXiaomi MI3 (DNG Format)Xiaomi RedMi Note3 Pro (DNGFormat)Yi Xiaoyi M1 (DNG Format)Yuneec CGO3 (DNG format)Yuneec CGO3P (DNG format)Yuneec CGO4

FocalBlade Manual 10

1.4 Installation

1.4.1 Installing the Plugin Version under Windows

Method 1: Using Plugin Installer

After running the installer and choosing your installation language keep clicking the Next button. At some point duringthe installation process you will arrive at the "Choose Destination Location" dialog. On it you may enter the installationlocation for the FocalBlade plugin. But we recommend that you keep the suggested installation path as you can lateruse the Plugin Installer tool to conveniently install the plugin.

At the end of the installation process the Plugin Installer dialog will be shown with a list of compatible applications, whichare installed on your computer. The application at the top of the list is always activated by default. If you want to installFocalBlade into other applications, you should activate them, too. Then press the Install button to copy the FocalBlade


plugin into the plugin folder of the selected application(s). Finally leave Plugin Installer with the Exit button.

You can run Plugin Installer again at any time from Start > All Programs > The Plugin Site to add FocalBlade to a newor previously installed compatible application.

Note: If your application is not listed in Plugin Installer or if Plugin Installer terminates telling you that it didn't manage tofind an application, we suggest to try Method 2 below.

Method 2: Choosing a different installation folder and ignoring Plugin Installer

Method 1 is usually the most convenient way of installing FocalBlade. If you keep your plugins in a folder outside yourapplication's plugin folder, prefer to enter the installation folder in your application's preferences dialog or use anapplication that is not recognized by Plugin Installer, please do the following: On the "Choose Destination Location"dialog during installation select your preferred plugin folder. When Plugin Installer opens next, ignore it by closing it withthe Exit button.

1.4.2 Installing the Plugin Version under MacOS X

After double clicking the downloaded .dmg file, click the Agree button to confirm the license agreement. To install theplugin(s) to all supported applications on your computer double click the Install icon. This will install the plugin(s) toAffinity Photo, GraphicConverter and PhotoLine as well as all available versions of Photoshop and PhotoshopElements. If you want to install to a certain Photoshop or Photoshop Elements version only, drag and drop the PhotoWizfolder icon onto the appropriate icon on the right inside the .dmg window.

1.4.3 Installing the Standalone/Lightroom Version under Windows

If you have Lightroom (Version 2 or higher) installed, the installer automatically adds a FocalBlade menu item to thePhoto > Edit In menu of all Lightroom installations. If FocalBlade does not appear in Lightroom, please deactivate thefollowing check box: Edit > Preferences > Presets > Store presets with catalog. If this option is activated, Lightroomuses different external editors for each catalog. To support this option the installer would need to search all your harddrives for Lightroom catalogs and install FocalBlade into each catalog, which would be quite time consuming and wouldprobably not work for archived catalogs. If you nevertheless want to keep this option activated, we recommend that youeither add FocalBlade manually as described in the next paragraph or manually copy the FocalBlade .lrtemplate file intothe External Editor Presets sub folder of your catalogs.

The External Editor Installer also installs the Lightroom version of FocalBlade into Exposure X2 (and higher), Bibble 5,After Shot Pro, ACDSee, ACDSee Pro and ACDSee Ultimate if they are available. For using the Lightroom version ofFocalBlade in Capture One, DxO Optics, ON1 and Rawtherapee you have to choose the FocalBladeLR.exe file, whichis located in the installation folder, from the external editor feature of the appropriate application itself. See the ProductLaunch page for more details.


1.4.4 Installation in Lightroom 1.x under Windows

While the installation automatically adds FocalBlade to Version 2 and higher of Lightroom, Version 1 of Lightroomrequires manual installation as described below. Please note that Lightroom 1.x only supports one external editor, whichmeans that you have to repeat the following step every time you want to use another external editor, such as the otherPhotoWiz editors.

In Lightroom 1.x choose Edit > Preferences, then click on the External Editing tab sheet. in the Additional ExternalEditor group set the File Format combo box to "TIFF", Color Space to "sRGB", Bit Depth to "16bits/component" andCompression to "None". Press the Choose button to navigate to the FocalBlade installation folder. Select the fileFocalBladeLR.exe, then press OK. Now you will be able to access FocalBlade from the menu under "Photo > Edit inFocalBladeLR.exe" or by right clicking on an image and selecting "Edit in FocalBladeLR.exe" from the context menu.


1.5 Produc Launch

1.5.1 Running the Plugin

Run your image processing application of choice, e.g. Photoshop, and open an image file. To launch FocalBlade pleaseopen the menu that leads to the plugin filters (e.g. the Filter menu in Photoshop and Elements, the Image -> Plug-ins inPaint Shop Pro or the Effects menu in Photo-Paint) and choose "FocalBlade" from the PhotoWiz sub menu.

If FocalBlade appears grayed out on the menu, then the mode of the opened image is not supported by it. That is thecase if your image has e.g. only 256 colors, 32-bit per channel or is a CMYK image. Then you have to convert it in yourimage application to RGB before you can start working on it with FocalBlade. In Photoshop that is done on the Image >Image Mode menu.

1.5.2 Running the Standalone

To run the standalone of FocalBlade, double click the FocalBlade icon on the desktop or choose it from the Start > AllPrograms > The Plugin Site > FocalBlade Standalone menu. After FocalBlade shows up click the Open button in thebottom right corner to open one or more image files. You can also click arrow-down button in the top left corner todisplay a menu with file options.

1.5.3 Running the Lightroom Version

To run FocalBlade in Lightroom, select one or more images and choose the FocalBlade menu item on the Photo > EditIn menu. Alternatively you can also right click on an image and choose Edit In > FocalBlade from the context menu. Thefollowing dialog will appear:


If you selected RAW files, you will only be able to select the option "Edit a Copy with Lightroom Adjustments". If you edita JPEG or TIFF file, you will also see the other two radio buttons. We recommend that you use the first or second optionin this case. Never use "Edit Original" unless you have a backup copy of the file(s).

We suggest that you keep the Copy File Options settings as they are to avoid reduced image quality or a slower startupof FocalBlade. By using "ProPhoto RGB" for the Color Space option you preserve the as much image colors aspossible. If you use other external editors in Lightroom that do not support color management, changing the option to"sRGB" may be a viable compromise. If you do not use the "16 bits/component" setting, you may get reduced imagequality. If you do not use the "None" compression settings, FocalBlade will need longer to start up. On the other handthe "Stack with original" keeps the original and FocalBlade-processed copy of the image side by side in Lightroom, so itis rather a question of your workflow if you want that or not.

Finally press the Edit button to run FocalBlade. If you if you selected RAW image files, Lightroom now creates TIFFcopies of them, which may take some time. For JPEG and TIFF files FocalBlade appears much faster.

1.5.4 Running the Lightroom Version in ACDSee (Pro / Ultimate)

To run FocalBlade in ACDSee switch to Manage or View mode, select the image you want to edit and choose Tools >External Editors > FocalBlade from the menu.

1.5.5 Running the Lightroom Version in AfterShot Pro

To run FocalBlade in AfterShot Pro, right click on one of the thumbnails in the thumnbail panels and choose the Editwith > FocalBlade from the context menu. Alternatively you can use the Edit > Edit with > FocalBlade menu item fromthe top.

1.5.6 Running the Lightroom Version in CaptureOne

To run FocalBlade in CaptureOne, select an image from the browser, choose File > Edit with… from the main menu (orright click from the browser and select Edit With…). Select TIFF or PSD as the image format from the appearing dialog,choose 16-bit as the bit depth and no compression. Choose Other from the Open With…drop down menu and navigateto the FocalBlade installation folder. Finally click on the Edit button to run FocalBlade. Alternatively the File > Openwith… menu item lets you edit the original image file, which is usually not recommended.

1.5.7 Running the Lightroom Version in DxO Optics

To run FocalBlade in DxO Optics, open an image and go to "File > Export to application" from the main menu or rightclick on a thumbnail and select "Export to application". In the appearing dialog click the Browse button, choose theFocalBlade installation folder from the file dialog, e.g. at C:\Program Files\The Plugin Site\, and double click on theFocalBladeLR.exe file. From the Action combo box select the item "Process as TIFF and export" and under Qualitychoose "16-bit". Finally click the Export button. Click OK on the FocalBlade dialog when you are finished and back inDxO Optics click on the newly created thumbnail to see the result. The next time that you go to File > Export toapplication you can choose FocalBlade from the Export to combo box and do not need to locate it first.

1.5.8 Running the Lightroom Version in Exposure

To run FocalBlade in Exposure X2 or higher, select an images at the bottom, right click on the thumbnails or thedisplayed image and choose the Edit Copy In > FocalBlade from the context menu. Please note if you use the Edit In >FocalBlade menu item, the original file will be overwritten when clicking OK in FocalBlade.


1.5.9 Running the Lightroom Version in ON1 Photo Raw

To run FocalBlade in ON1 Photo Raw, open an images file and choose File > Send to Other Application... from themenu. Now choose the FocalBlade installation folder from the appearing file dialog, e.g. at C:\Program Files\The PluginSite\, and double click on the FocalBladeLR.exe file. On the appearing Edit In dialog choose "Edit a Copy ...", from theFile Format combo box select "Photoshop" and from the Bit Depth combo box select "16-bit". Choose a color space asyou see fit. Finally click the Edit button. ON1 Photo Raw now creates a new image and runs FocalBlade. In FocalBladeclick OK to save the effect.

The next time you do not need to use the File > Send to Other Application menu item, because there will be a dedicatedFile > Send to FocalBlade menu item available, which you can use.

1.5.10 Running the Lightroom Version in Raw Therapee

At first you have to enter the path of FocalBlade under Preferences > General > External Editor > Other command line.The path should usually be e.g. "C:\Program Files\The Plugin Site\FocalBlade\FocalBladeLR.exe" or "C:\ProgramFiles\The Plugin Site\PhotoWiz\FocalBladeLR.exe", but please check yourself in Explorer to be sure.

To run FocalBlade in Raw Therapee click the "Edit Current Image in External Editor" button on the Editor tab or at thebottom-left of the Preview panel.


1.6 General Usage

1.6.1 The Main Dialog

Resizing the Dialog

When you move the mouse cursor to the borders of the FocalBlade window or to the grip in the bottom right corner, itwill turn into an arrow. Hold down the left mouse button and drag to change the size of the window. The preview and allcontrols will be repositioned according to the new size of the window. If you make the window smaller (in the Windowsversion), the OK, Cancel and ? buttons will be moved below the preview to keep them from disappearing. A smallerpreview will speed up the preview rendering. You can also enlarge it to cover the whole screen. To make theFocalBlade window as large as the screen, please click on the maximize icon, which is the first icon at the right end ofthe title bar. To minimize the window to its previous size, please click the icon again. The second icon cancelsFocalBlade.

Preview Tab Control

Above the preview you see three tab buttons called Preview 1, Preview 2 and Preview 3. They lets you quickly switchbetween three different effect settings and compare them. Only the effect of the selected Preview tab button will be


rendered when you press OK. Right clicking on the tab buttons displays a context menu for copying the settings of thecurrently selected tab to one of the other tabs.

Preview and Tool Bar

On the left hand side of the dialog box there is a preview box that shows you how the final effect will looklike. 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 activating the hand tool and dragging the image with it. If one of the other tools is activated,you can also scroll the image by holding down the right mouse button and dragging. The same also works with the leftmouse button together with the Alt key. While being moved, the original image is shown and after you release the rightmouse button the preview is recalculated.

The marquee tool lets you draw a so-called sample area on the preview. Please don't confuse this samplearea with an image selection as it is known from image 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 certainpart of the image. For more information, please read the Auto: One Pass page or the Auto: Two/Three Passes page.

With the eye dropper tool you can click anywhere in the preview to pick a certain color for the color boxes on the Masktab sheet. See the Mask page for more details.

Mode Combo Box and the Arrow-Down Button

FocalBlade offers various modes for various tasks. Easy Mode is meant for first time users or for people who aresatisfied with a few simple options. In Advanced Mode, on the other hand, you can achieve all effects of the othermodes. For more information, please read the Modes page.

Reset

Clicking the Reset button sets all controls to their default values. This is useful if you want to start over with adjusting theeffect. Clicking the arrow down button displays a context menu with various reset options. See the Reset, Undo &Presets page.

The Main Tab Control

The large tab control with tab sheets like Auto, Manual, Fix, Mask and Effect contains the controls for adjusting theeffect of FocalBlade. See the following pages for more explanations: Auto: One Pass, Auto: Two/Three Passes, Manual,Fix, Mask, Effects.

One of the most important type of controls are sliders. They can be used to select a certain value within a specific valuerange. You can drag the slider button with the mouse (or arrow keys or mouse wheel), enter a numerical value in thetext box at the right of the slider bar, click somewhere on the slider bar for large value steps or use the two arrowbuttons for small value steps.

The Bottom Tab Control

The Help tab sheet displays useful information about a control if you move the cursor over it. The Navigator tab sheetlets you quickly display an image area in the preview. The Info tab sheet shows the currently used sharpening settingsand color values of the image pixels. The Calibrate tab sheet offers controls for adjusting the automatic sharpening.Finally, the Prefs tab sheet contains options for changing the general behavior of FocalBlade. Please read further on thefollowing pages: The Bottom Tab Sheets.


Auto Preview and Progress Bar

A deactivated Auto Preview check box does not render the effect and therefore does not display any effect in thepreview. This way you can see before/after versions of the image and adjust a number of controls without provoking arepeated rendering of the effect. When the effect is rendered, you will see a bar running from left to right in the progressbar control. After the rendering is completed and the preview updated, you will see the time that was needed forrendering as well as an approximation of the time that is needed to render the full image.

Split View

FocalBlade offers some split views for comparing the original with the sharpened image and for selecting from varioussharpening settings. If one of the Split Views is activated, you can select one of the split areas by holding down the Shiftkey and clicking on it. For more information, please read the Split View page.

Zoom and Softproof

Below the preview there are + and - buttons 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. There are also two buttons onthe left (Proof and 100%) for quickly activating two important options of the zoomcombo box.

When starting FocalBlade the zoom rate will be automatically set to 100%, becausewith this setting you can best examine the sharpening effect. The Fit zoom option fitsthe image completely into the preview.

The Softproof option simulates the sharpness of a print. This only works if you have aprint method selected on the Auto tab sheet. You can also use Softproof during thecapture or creative pass of a multi-pass sharpening workflow, but it will be less reliablethan for the output pass. By clicking the Proof button, you can quickly activate theSoftproof feature.

If you hold the Shift key when pressing the + zoom button, the zoom factor will be setto 100%. Doing it again will select 3200%. Shift clicking on the - button, will switch to100% and then to "Fit". The same is true when holding down the CTRL key exceptthat 6% zoom will be selected instead of "Fit".

With the Alt and - keys you can decrease the zoom ratio and with the Alt and + keysyou can increase the zoom by one step. Some very old applications (e.g. CorelPhotopaint 7 or Corel Xara 2) don't support preview zooming. In this case the zoomcontrols do not work.

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

OK, Cancel and ?

Clicking on the OK button exits FocalBlade and applies the correction to the image. The current settings are saved andrestored when you use FocalBlade again.


The Cancel button simply exits FocalBlade without changing the image. Alternatively you can also use the second iconin the title bar. Depending on the application you are using, the current settings will be lost immediately (or kept as longas your image application is running). If you hold down the CTRL key while clicking on Cancel, you will be prompted forCloak Mode. For more information, please read the Batch Processing page.

The ? button displays the HTML version of the manual.

1.6.2 Differences between the Plugin, Lightroom and Standalone Versions

If you only open one image in the Lightroom version of FocalBlade, you see no difference to the Plugin version. If youselect two or more image in Lightroom, the Lightroom version of FocalBlade displays an Images tab control left of thepreview. This Image tab is also displayed in the Standalone version if you open more than one image. It lets you switchbetween the images.

As result of displaying the Images tab control the preview gets smaller. To increase the preview size again pleaseenlarge the FocalBlade window. See below for instructions.

The Standalone version on the other hand offers a few more features than the Lightroom and Plugin versions ofFocalBlade. That is because it does not rely on another program for opening and saving image files. As a result the OKbutton of the Lightroom and Plugin versions is replaced by Open and Save As buttons for opening and saving imagefiles. The Cancel button is called "Exit", which saves the effect settings unlike the Cancel button. Additionally theStandalone versions offers an arrow-down button in the top left area of the window below the title bar. Clicking on itdisplays an menu with various options.

Apart from these small extras and changes, all versions of FocalBlade behave and work the same. For more informationvisit the Standalone/Lightroom Features page.


1.7 Standalone/Lightroom Features

This section discusses the features that are only available in the Standalone and Lightroom versions of FocalBlade.

1.7.1 Opening Images

The Lightroom version of FocalBlade does not let you open any images. You need to select the images in Lightroombefore running FocalBlade.

The Standalone version supports various ways of opening images. There is an Open button at the bottom right of thewindow or an Open menu item displayed when you click on the arrow-down button at the top left corner of the preview.Both displays an file dialog for selecting image files. To select multiple image files please hold down the Ctrl or Shift keyand click on them. Alternatively draw a rectangle around them to select them.

Another way of opening image files is to drag them, e.g. from Explorer, and drop them on the FocalBlade window. It isalso possible to drag and drop files on the FocalBlade icon on the desktop. This runs FocalBlade and immediatelyopens the dropped images. Yet another way to open image files is to run FocalBlade from the command line.

1.7.2 RAW Settings

When opening camera raw files with the Standalone version, the Options dialog shows up by default. If you do not wantthat, please activate the "Don't Display" check box. You can then still change these settings from menu of thearrow-down button at the top left corner of the preview. You can also access this dialog from the Save Options andBatch dialog as discussed below.

The RAW tab sheet of the Options dialog defines how the raw image data will be converted and preprocessed before itshows up in FocalBlade.

The Preview group contains options that are used when opening RAW images for preview display. The Output groupoptions are used when saving or batch processing images. With default settings RAW images are opened at quartersize for preview display, which speeds up the loading. Before applying the effect and saving the image, they arereopened at full size. There is also an option to open the JPEG image that is embedded into the RAW file (that currentlyonly works for CR2 raw files), which is only recommended for the Preview group, unless you want to quickly convertyour RAW files for the web or screen display.


The White Balance combo box controls the automatic white balancing process. The Camera Settings option performsa color correction according to the data stored in the RAW file. The Automatic option white balances the imageaccording to the image data. If you do not want to apply a color correction, simply choose the None option.

The Color Space options let you choose the color space of the image. "sRGB" retains the least color information, butis practical if you want to use the image for the web or screen display or if you want to open the image later in anapplication that does not support color management. If you plan to print the image professionally, you should ratherchoose "Adobe RGB" or "ProPhoto RGB". The ProPhoto RGB color space preserves the most color information.

The Neutral Look check box performs less preprocessing of the RAW file, which makes the image look a bit flat butmay not cut off any shadow or highlight values. So this option is recommended for photos with a lot of information inhighlight and shadow areas. If this check box is deactivated more preprocessing is applied, which will probably be whatyou may want for most images.

The 4-Color-Sensor check box is meant for RAW files that were captured with a camera that uses a 4-color-sensor. Ifraw files have artifacts when displayed, you should try this option.

The Defaults button restores the default settings, which can be seen in the screen shot above.

1.7.3 Switching Between Images

If you open more than one image, a Images tab control appears on the left hand side of the preview. The Images tabsheet contains a list box with the names of the opened image files. By clicking on one of them you can display them inthe preview. You can also switch between the images by using the Images sub menu of the arrow-down button that islocated at the at the top left corner of the preview. This sub menu lists all opened image files.

FocalBlade does not load or keep the images in memory. It loads an image as you select it and removes it from memorywhen selecting another image. So displaying a big image for the first time may take longer, but on the other handopening multiple images is instant or only takes the time of loading one image. Additionally it avoids that imageprocessing operations get slow because of low memory.

1.7.4 Using Different Settings for Each Image

There is an Individual Settings check box located at the bottom of the Images tab sheet. It is activated by default, whichmeans that you can adjust each image differently. When switching from one image to another, the settings of the oldimages are automatically saved and the settings of the new image are restored. If you switch to an image for the firsttime, it takes over the settings of the previous image. When saving or batch processing the images, these individualeffect settings are used for processing each image.


If this check box is deactivated, each image will be processed with the same effect settings. The currently displayedsettings are then applied to all images. You can also deactivate and activate the check box again to delete the storedindividual settings, e.g. in order to start again adjusting the settings for each image.

1.7.5 Closing an Image

Closing an image is only possible with the Standalone version. If you are using the Lightroom version, you need tocancel FocalBlade, return to Lightroom to deselect the image(s) and run FocalBlade again.

Closing an image means that the currently selected image is removed from the Images list box and the next image onthe list is displayed. If you only have one image open, the preview becomes blank when closing that image. You canclose an image by using the Close button at the bottom of the Images tab sheet or by choosing the Close item on menuof the the arrow-down button at the at the top left corner of the preview. The Close All option on the same menu closesall opened images.

1.7.6 Saving an Image

The Lightroom version applies the effect and automatically saves the images when you press the OK button. It does notoffer any special save options.

The Standalone version on the other hand offers various options for saving the displayed image. You can use the SaveAs button at the bottom right or the Save As menu item on the menu of the arrow-down button located at the top left.Both display a file dialog for choosing a folder, editing the file name and choosing an image format. After you pressedthe Save button on the file dialog a Save Options dialog appears. On this dialog you can choose additional file formatoptions.

The Save Options dialog lets you change the image format and adjust additional settings. For the JPEG format you canchoose a quality setting and for the TIFF format you can select a lossless compression type. If at least one of thecurrent images uses 16-bit/channel, you are also able to use a "Reduce to 8-bit/channel" check box for the TIFF, PSDand PNG format. The "Convert to sRGB" option lets you convert the image to the sRGB profile in case it uses anotherprofile. If you do not want to have any meta data added to the saved file, please activate the "Do not save meta data"check box.

A button that displays the RAW Options dialog is also available here. It lets you readjust the settings for camera rawfiles. In this case only the settings on its Output tab sheet have an effect. We do not recommend changing its Look orWhite Balance options, otherwise the end result will differs from what you saw in the preview. See above for moreinformation on the RAW Options.

After you press OK on the Save Options dialog, the effect is applied to the image and the image is saved.


1.7.7 Batch Processing

Whereas the Save As command only lets you save one image, you can also process and save all opened images inone pass with the Batch command of the Standalone version. The Lightroom version does not offer a Batch command,but when you press its OK button, it automatically starts batch processing without showing a dialog.

The Batch feature of in the Standalone version processes all opened images, so if you want to process only some of theopened images, please close the others. You can be access it by pressing the Batch button on the Images tab sheet orwith the Batch menu item of the arrow-down button located at the left top. This brings up the Batch dialog.

On this dialog you can choose the image format and its options (see Save Options above), an output folder and a suffixthat will be appended to the file name. Clicking on the Choose button displays a folder selection dialog which also offersan option for creating new folders. If you only want to convert the image(s) to another image format without applying aneffect, you should activate the Deactivate Effect check box.

The RAW Options button displays a dialog for adjusting the raw file output. In this case only the settings of its Outputgroup have an effect. We do not recommend changing its Look or White Balance options, otherwise the end result willdiffers from what you saw in the preview. See above for more information on the RAW Settings.

After you pressed the Batch button ColorWasher starts processing all opened images. A window with a progress barappears that tells you how many images still have to be processed and how long it will approximately take.

1.7.8 Color Management

Whereas color management support depends on the host application for the plugin version, the Standalone andLightroom versions of FocalBlade fully supports color management. This means that FocalBlade uses profiles that areembedded in JPEG, TIFF and PNG files to correctly display the image colors. Concerning camera raw files FocalBladeautomatically converts the image to a selectable color space (see the RAW Settings section above). Color managementis currently not supported for image formats other than the four mentioned ones. For other image files and for imageswithout a profile FocalBlade automatically assumes that they contain sRGB data.

Embedded profiles are preserved when opening JPEG, TIFF and PNG files and saving them again. If an image filedoes not includes a profile but mentions the sRGB color space in its EXIF data, FocalBlade automatically embeds asRGB profile when saving the image. When saving RAW files as JPEG, TIFF or PNG, a profile is also embedded. Whensaving an image as PSD, no profile is embedded.

You can adjust the color management option by choosing "Options" from the arrow-down menu at the top left corner ofthe preview and then switching to the Color tab sheet.


The Deactivate Color Management check box avoids that the embedded or assigned profile is used for displaying animage. This means that images with a different color space than your monitor will be displayed incorrectly. For example,an Adobe RGB image will be displayed with faded colors on a sRGB monitor. Unless you have a good reason, we donot recommend activating this option.

The Use Monitor Profile check box makes FocalBlade use the profile, which is set at Start > Control Panel > Display >Settings > Advanced > Color Management, as the target profile when displaying images. In most cases it is wise tokeep this check box deactivated. Then FocalBlade assumes that your monitor supports sRGB (which is the case for99.9% of all monitors) and uses the sRGB profile as the target profile. FocalBlade also assumes that your monitor iscalibrated.

There are only two possible reasons for activating this check box:

1. Your monitor supports another color space than sRGB and you have set the appropriate profile at Start > ControlPanel > Display > Settings > Advanced > Color Management. For example, if your monitor is an Adobe RGB monitorand you have set the Adobe RGB profile at the mentioned location. Then activating Use Monitor Profile check boxmakes sure that FocalBlade displays the colors correctly on your non-sRGB monitor. Please notice that your monitoradditionally needs to be calibrated and the calibration applied when Windows starts up, otherwise you will still not seethe image colors correctly.

2. Your monitor was not calibrated and no calibration data is loaded when Windows starts up, but you have a monitorprofile from the manufacturer, which you want to use and which you have added under Start > Control Panel > Display >Settings > Advanced > Color Management. Be aware that only the image in FocalBlade (and other applications thatsupport it) will be displayed with correct colors. The rest of the screen is displayed uncalibrated and with incorrectcolors. This is only an emergency solution. We recommend that you calibrate your monitor instead.

The Conversion group offers two option for defining how FocalBlade converts the colors when displaying an image.The Intent combo box offer four choices that control the method that is used for mapping the colors from the sourcecolor space to the target color space. The activated Black Point Compensation check box changes the black pointduring the conversion to better match the target color space. In many cases changing these settings has only littleinfluence, but we recommend to keep "Relative Colorimetric" and the Black Point Compensation check box activated.For more information please read the web or literature about color management.

1.7.9 Metadata and Auto Rotation

FocalBlade currently preserves the metadata of JPEG files (e.g. EXIF, IPTC) when saving the image again as a JPEG.When opening and saving TIFF images, FocalBlade only preserves the XMP, IPTC and Photoshop tags. When savingan image as a different format, no metadata is currently preserved. This will be fixed in a future update.

In Adobe Lightroom you can copy the original metadata to the FocalBlade-processed images by selecting all images,e.g. with Edit > Select All, and choosing Metadata > Sync Metadata.

Some cameras add EXIF data to JPEG and RAW files if the photo was shot at a 90 degree angle. FocalBlade checksfor this information and automatically rotates the image before displaying it.


1.8 Step By Step Guide

On the following pages are tutorials for the most important image processing tasks in FocalBlade. They help you get anidea how and in which sequence to adjust the controls in FocalBlade. These instructions offer you guidance if you donot know FocalBlade that well. Once you are more experienced you can develop your own style of using FocalBlade.

1.8.1 One Pass Sharpening

Quick Approach

1. Please resize the image to its final size before using FocalBlade.

2. Keep the preview zoom at 100% to see the sharpening effect precisely.

3. Choose "Easy Mode" from the Mode combo box if it isn't already activated.

4. Click the Reset button to set the default values.

5. Click on the Print button if you intend to print the image or the Display button if you want to displaythe image on a monitor, TV or projector.

6. If you are not satisfied, try other settings for the three combo boxes. Click on the arrow-down buttonto display a menu with settings for certain types of photos.

7. Click OK (or Save As) to apply the correction.

Advanced Approach

1. Please resize the photo to its final size before using FocalBlade.

2. Keep the preview zoom at 100% to see the sharpening effect precisely. If the image is larger thanthe preview, activate the hand tool, click on the preview and drag to make the part of the image visiblethat contains the most important object.

3. Choose "Advanced Mode" from the Mode combo box if it hasn't already been activated. Make surethat "One-Pass Classic" is selected in the Workflow combo box.



5. Click on the Print button if you intend to print the image or the Display button if you want to displaythe image on a monitor, TV or projector.

6. Try different settings for the three Auto combo boxes until you are satisfied.

7. For more subtle changes please use the controls of the Manual tab sheet.


Expert Approach



3. Choose "Advanced Mode" from the Mode combo box if it hasn't already been activated. Make surethat "One-Pass Pro" is selected in the Workflow combo box.


5. Select the correct settings for the Source, Output and other combo boxes. Choose the values thatare closest if the exact values are not available.

6. For getting the most important part of the image optimally sharpened you can do the following:Activate the Marquee tool and draw a sample area in the preview that encloses an essential section ofthe image. You can remove the sample area again by right clicking on the Reset button and choosing"Remove Sample Area" from the context menu.


7. Try different settings for the three Auto combo boxes until you are satisfied.

8. To make more subtle changes please use the controls of the Manual tab sheet.

9. For controlling which areas of the photo will be sharpened with the Edges or Surface settings youcan use the Edge Mask sliders on the Mask tab sheet. The N or P option lets you see which areascorrespond with the edges and which are defined as surface.

10. Click OK (or Save As) to apply the effect.

Split View Approach


2. Keep the preview zoom at 100% to see the sharpening effect precisely.

3. Click the Reset Button to set the default values.


4. Choose "Sharpen Vert." or "Sharpen Horiz." from the Split View combo box. Activating the Multicheck box usually lets you better compare the different Split View areas.

5. Make sure the hand tool is activated and drag the preview to center the most important image areain the preview.

6. Try different settings of the combo boxes on the Auto tab sheet and adjust the controls on theManual tab sheet until you are satisfied. With every change the Split View areas are updated andreveal the new setting. The current settings are displayed in the middle area while the other areasdisplay -/+ 50% variations of it.

7. If the middle section is fine, deactivate the Split View mode by choosing "Split View Off". Otherwisehold down the Shift key and click on one of the other Split View areas to select its effect.


1.8.2 Two Pass Sharpening

First Pass

1. Apply noise, lens and perspective corrections if necessary and then run FocalBlade.


3. Choose "Advanced Mode" from the Mode combo box if it hasn't already been activated. Make surethat "Two-Pass: Capture" is selected in the Workflow combo box.



5. Select an item from the Source combo box to let FocalBlade know how the image was captured.

6. Try different settings of the other combo boxes until you are satisfied. Keep in mind that a secondpass will sharpen the image even more, so do not overdo it.

7. For more subtle adjustments please use the controls on the other tab sheets.

8. Click OK to apply the sharpening.

Second Pass

1. Resize your image to the final output size and then run FocalBlade.

2. Choose "Advanced Mode" from the Mode combo box. Make sure that "Two-Pass: Output" isselected in the Workflow combo box.

3. Select the item from the Output combo box that resembles your output process. Then choose theappropriate options from the other combo boxes.


5. Click OK to apply the correction.

1.8.3 Three Pass Sharpening

First Pass

1. Apply noise, lens and perspective corrections if necessary and then run FocalBlade.



3. Choose "Advanced Mode" from the Mode combo box if it hasn't already been activated. Make surethat "Three-Pass: Capture" is selected in the Workflow combo box.


5. Select an item from the Source combo box to let FocalBlade know how the image was captured.

6. Try different settings for the other combo boxes until you are satisfied. Keep in mind that two morepasses will sharpen the image even more..


8. Click OK to apply the sharpening.

Second Pass

1. Have a close look at your image. Is there an area which you would like to sharpen more than therest of the image or which you would like to blur a bit. If there is, create a selection around it and runFocalBlade. Otherwise run FocalBlade on the full image.

2. Choose "Advanced Mode" from the Mode combo box. Make sure that "Three-Pass: Creative" isselected in the Workflow combo box.

3. Select an sharpening or blur effect from the Effect combo box. Then adjust the effect with the othercombo boxes. The Mask combo box can be used to remove the effect in certain image areas in caseyou did not create a selection before running FocalBlade.

4. For more adjustments use the controls on the other tab sheets. Remember that one finalsharpening pass is still coming.


Third Pass

1. Resize your image to the final output size and then run FocalBlade.

2. Choose "Advanced Mode" from the Mode combo box. Make sure that "Three-Pass: Output" isselected in the Workflow combo box.


3. Select the item that resembles your output process from the Output combo box. Then choose theappropriate setting from the other combo boxes.

4. For more adjustments use the controls on the other tab sheets.


1.8.4 Sharpening with a Brush

... in Photoshop

1. Open your image in Photoshop.

2. Choose Layer > Duplicate Layer or alternatively select "Duplicate Layer" from the menu of theLayer panel.

3. Run Filter > PhotoWiz > FocalBlade and apply its effect to the image by pressing the OK button.

4. If you want to remove the sharpening effect from a few image areas, please choose Layer > (Add)Layer Mask > Reveal All. Alternatively, if you want to brush the sharpening effect only on a few imageareas, please select Layer > (Add) Layer Mask > Hide All.

Here you can see that the FocalBlade sharpening effect was applied to a duplicatednew layer (Layer 1) . By using a layer mask the effect was not applied to the sky andground (black mask areas) but to the other areas (white mask areas). The whitemask areas were created by painting with a white brush.

5. Select the brush tool and choose appropriate brush size and options.


6. To remove the sharpness effect from some areas of the image please choose a black color in theforeground color box of Photoshop's tool panel. But if you have chosen Layer > (Add) Layer Mask >Hide All in step 4, please choose a white color in the foreground color box of Photoshop's tool panel.

7. Brush over the image areas where you want the sharpness effect to be removed or revealed.

8. When you are done, you can flatten the image with Layer > Flatten Image.

... in Paint Shop Pro

1. Open your image in Paint Shop Pro.

2. Choose Layers > Duplicate which will add a new layer called "Copy of Background" in the Layerpanel.

3. Run Effects > Plugins > PhotoWiz > FocalBlade and apply its effect to the image by pressing theOK button.

4. If you want to remove the sharpening effect from a few image areas, please choose Layers > NewMask Layer > Show All. Alternatively, if you want to brush the sharpening effect only onto a few imageareas, please select Layers > New Mask Layer > Hide All.

5. Select the brush tool and choose appropriate brush size and options.

6. To remove the sharpness effect from some areas of the image please choose a black color in theforeground color box. But if you have choose Layers > New Mask Layer > Hide All in step 4, pleasechoose a white color in the foreground color box.

7. Brush over the image areas where you want the sharpness effect to be removed or revealed.

8. When you are done, you can flatten the image with Layers > Merge > Merge All (Flatten).

.. in other applications

The procedure works similar in other applications if they have a layer mask feature.

1.8.5 Deblurring Photos


2. Switch to the one of the following modes: Unsharp Mask, Classic Mode or Advanced Mode.

3. Try various settings for the Sharpen and Radius slider(s) on the Manual tab sheet until you aresatisfied. If the image is too blurry, you will only be able to make it somewhat less blurry, but not fullysharp again.


4. Click on OK (or Save As) to apply the correction.

1.8.6 Fixing Oversharpened Photos


2. Choose "Advanced Mode".

3. Set the Sharpen sliders of the Edges and Surface groups on the Manual tab sheet to zero.

4. Increase the value of the Soften slider of the Surface group until you are satisfied. Also try differentRadius values.

5. To soften the edges as well, decrease the value of the Edge Mask > Intensity slider on the Masktab sheet. Try activating the Median check box if you are still not satisfied.


1.8.7 Creating a Glow Effect

1. Switch to Special Effect mode or to Advanced Mode. In Advanced Mode set both Sharpen sliderson the Manual tab sheet to zero if you don't want additional sharpening to be applied.

2. Adjust the Glow slider to your preferred value and change the glow color by clicking on the colorbox located at the left of the Glow slider.

3. To change the look of the glow effect you can use the Edge Mask sliders (on the Mask tab sheet).


1.8.8 Creating a Soft Focus Effect

1. Switch to Soft Blur mode or to Advanced Mode. In Advanced Mode set both Sharpen sliders (or atleast the one in the Surface group) on the Manual tab sheet to zero if you don't want additionalsharpening to be applied.


2. Set the Soften slider to a value between 50 and 75 and set the Radius slider of the Surface group toa value of around 8.0.

3. Try activating the Median check box.

4. You can additionally use the Edge Mask sliders on the Mask tab sheet to selectively soften or keepcertain image areas sharp. Additionally use the Highlights and Shadows sliders to reduce the effect inthe highlights and shadows.

5. In Advanced Mode use the Grain controls on the Effect tab sheet to add a bit of grain. Apply a Gloweffect as described above.



1.9 Usage Tips

Here you will find a few tips for using FocalBlade more effectively.

1.9.1 In-Camera Sharpening vs FocalBlade

Digital cameras usually apply a more or less simple sharpening effect on photos. Sophisticated and time-consumingsharpening algorithms aren't used, because digital cameras manufacturers try to reduce the time between two shots.Side-effects of this simple in-camera sharpening are increased noise and artifacts in the photos, especially inphotographs taken under low light conditions.

If you shoot RAW files with your digital camera, there is no sharpening applied to them. But sharpening is usuallyapplied by RAW conversion tools when converting the RAW files to JPG or TIFF files. Unfortunately many of theseRAW conversion tools apply a similar bad sharpening as digital cameras do.

FocalBlade offers much more sophisticated sharpening methods. So we generally recommend that you deactivatein-camera sharpening or RAW file sharpening or at least set it to the lowest possible value. That way you will achievemuch better results when using FocalBlade later on the photos. Unfortunately many low budget cameras don't allow youto deactivate in-camera sharpening. In such a case you have to live with it or buy a camera that offers such a feature.

Of course if you don't have the time to edit your photos on your computer with FocalBlade, it is sometimes better to usethe bad in-camera sharpening on daylight shots than no sharpening at all. However, you will be more happy with nightshots if you have in-camera sharpening deactivated, even if you don't plan to sharpen your photos on your computer.

1.9.2 Keep the Preview Zoom at 100%

To achieve good results, please always keep the preview zoom at 100%. Only at this setting will you see the sharpeningeffect as it will be applied to the image. Additionally at settings lower than 100% the activated Evaluate check box maynot work perfectly.

1.9.3 Backup the Unsharp Versions of your Photos

It is highly recommended to keep backups of the unsharp versions of your images. So you should save your editedphotos with another file name and not overwrite the original files. Another backup possibility is to sharpen a duplicatelayer and save the untouched as well as sharpened layer as one file. You may need the unsharpened version in futureagain if a new version of FocalBlade with better sharpening becomes available or if you want to apply a differentsharpening effect for printing on a different device.

1.9.4 Non-destructive Sharpening

Although you should always keep a backup of your original photo, it may be useful to store the original image togetherwith the sharpened image in one file. To do that you can duplicate the original image layer in your graphics applicationand only apply FocalBlade to the duplicate layer. This also allows you to blend the sharpened layer with the unsharporiginal to adjust the sharpening intensity.


Additionally you can use a layer mask to selectively remove the sharpening from some image areas. You can also addmore new layers and sharpen them for different output devices or papers, but for different output sizes you should bettersave different files. The disadvantage of this method is that the size of the saved file gets larger with each new layer.

You can also apply FocalBlade as a smart filter in Photoshop CS4/CS5. Before applying FocalBlade you have toconvert the background image or a layer into a smart object by choosing Filter > Convert for Smart Filters. By doing soyou can always change the FocalBlade settings that were applied to the smart object without having to undo and redoother image processing steps.

Another option is to save the FocalBlade settings as preset files. You can create standard presets for different printsizes and devices, so you don't need to create a new preset files for every new image. The advantage of this method isthat you don't need to save big files. You just need to open the original image and apply the same sharpening again byopening the appropriate preset file in FocalBlade. Furthermore, recording actions in Photoshop for different print sizesand devices may be even more convenient.

1.9.5 Undoing Sharpening

Sometimes you may want to undo a too extreme sharpening effect in a photo that you received or that has beensharpened with another tool in the past. This can be done manually by using the Soft Blur mode in FocalBlade. If theedges as well as surfaces in the image were oversharpened, you should try to blur the whole image. But don't overdo itwith a too strong setting and a too large radius. If only the surface areas were oversharpened, you can keep the edgesuntouched and only smooth the surface in Selective Blur mode. To do that set the Sharpen sliders to zero and use theSoften slider on the Manual tab sheet.

1.9.6 Reducing Halos

Although FocalBlade doesn't produce so extreme halos like other sharpening tools, FocalBlade may produce slighthalos if you want to apply a very strong sharpening. Here are some tips on how to remove these halos:

Use the two Halos sliders of the Fix tab sheet to reduce the halo. They also let you reduce the white halo morethan the black halo or vise versa.

1.


If that does not help, please reconsider if you really want to apply such a strong sharpening effect. Decreasingthe value of the Sharpen sliders of the Manual tab sheet or choosing a lower Sharpness setting on the Auto tabsheet often removes the halos.

2.

Setting the Width slider of the Edge Mask to a higher value sometimes makes the halo less visible, but at thesame time it also enlarges the edge area, so this method is not always successful.

3.

Reducing the value of the Intensity slider of the Edge Mask can help. It has a similar effect as reducing thevalue of the Sharpen slider of the Edge tab, but it might be more effective without decreasing the overallsharpness.

4.

Last, but not least, try to to increase the value of the Edges Radius slider on the Manual tab. This may soundparadox, because doing that in other tools amplifies halo, but in FocalBlade it usually reduces halos. A sideeffect is that it emphasizes larger details.

5.

A too strong JPG compression creates artifacts, which are exaggerated by sharpening. So JPG files saved witha high compression are bad for sharpening. Therefor please only produce JPG files with a strong compressionafter you sharpened them.

6.

After all, even if halos aren't desirable, especially if they are too strong or wide, the mechanism that produces them isessential for the sharpening. Sharpening basically means increasing the contrast between pixels in digital images. Sovisible halos occur if the contrast adjustment is too extreme. They are more or less a sign that the sharpening applied byFocalBlade is too strong.


1.10 Frequently Asked Questions

I use the Unsharp Mask filter for sharpening my photos. What advantages does FocalBladehave?

The Unsharp Mask filter, which is available in many image applications, has some disadvantages that Focal Bladedoesn't have. Unsharp Mask amplifies color noise which becomes very obvious if you compare the original andsharpened version at 200% or 300% magnification. FocalBlade does not increase color noise when sharpening. Evenmore, you can reduce it with the Color Noise sliders on the Fix tab sheet.

A second problem of Unsharp Mask is that the Radius slider doesn't only increase the radius, but also dramaticallyincreases the sharpness. So changing the Radius slider also forces you to readjust the Amount slider every time, whichcan be annoying. In FocalBlade if you change the Radius slider, you don't have to readjust the Sharpen slider, becausethe Radius slider doesn't increase sharpness.

Unsharp Mask does not sharpen with high intensity at radius values below 1.0, which FocalBalde does. At a radius of0.1 pixel Unsharp Mask does not even apply a visible sharpening effect anymore whereas FocalBlade can still sharpenat full intensity. FocalBlade even sharpens at a 0.0 pixel radius, which is in fact not an absolute zero radius, but a 0.05value.

Another weak point of the Unsharp Mask tools is its Threshold slider. It can easily produce artifacts if you aren't verycareful with it. These artifacts might not be very visible for the untrained eye, but if you take a closer look you can easilysee them. If the image contains noise, it will be even more obvious. FocalBlade doesn't need a threshold slider becauseit sharpens the edges and the surface differently. So FocalBlade doesn't produce any artifacts like Unsharp Mask andgives you much more control over the sharpening. Additionally, the Threshold slider of Unsharp Mask doesn't apply anysharpening to some parts of the image while other parts are sharpened at full extent. FocalBlade on the other hand letsyou apply different sharpening intensities to different image parts.

Another problem of some Unsharp Mask filters is that they sacrifice quality for speed. They use an algorithm thatrenders faster, but produces a less accurate sharpening result. FocalBlade doesn't use an imprecise algorithm forradius values below 6.1 pixels and therefore provides the best possible sharpening quality without sacrificing speed.

FocalBlade offers much more convenience and control over the sharpening process while avoiding the side effects ofthe Unsharp Mask tool.

What is the difference between FocalBlade and Photoshop's Smart Sharpen filter?

The Smart Sharpen filter in Photoshop is an enhanced version of the Unsharp Mask filter. In addtion to the GaussianBlur option of Unsharp Mask it also offers a Lens and Motion Blur option. The Lens Blur option produces a finersharpening and the Motion option is meant for reducing motion blur. FocalBlade does not offer an option for reducingmotion blur, but on the other hand Smart Sharpen is not as effective for recovering photos with motion shake as manyphotographers would wish.

You can also reduce the sharpening effect in shadows and highlights in Smart Sharpen. Whereas Smart Sharpen offersthree sliders for adjusting the shadows or highlights, FocalBlade offers only one. That is because FocalBlade definesshadows and highlights according to the tonal range whereas Smart Sharpen creates a mask for defining them.Basically you have more control over removing the sharpening effect from shadows and highlights in Smart Sharpen,but on the other hand it is also more complicated, because it is hard to judge the effect of the additional two sliders.Unfortunately there is no shadow/highlight mask display available in Smart Sharpen, which would make it easier to use.

There is one disadvantage of Smart Sharpen compared to Unsharp Mask: it does not render as fast as Unsharp Mask.FocalBlade is also not as fast as Unsharp Mask, because it performs much more sophisticated operations, butFocalBlade is still much faster than Smart Sharpen. When working with very large images, you will learn to appreciateFocalBlade's faster rendering compared to Smart Sharpen.

Smart Sharpen has similar problems as Unsharp Mask: The Amount and Radius sliders are not truely independent ofeach other as in FocalBlade, which also means that with lower radius values you are not able to sharpen as strongly aswith higher radius values. The Lens Blur option is usually the better choice in Smart Sharpen, because it lets you adjustlower radius values stronger. The "More Accurate" check box of Smart Sharpen produces finer and stronger


sharpening, but also amplifies noise even more. All in all, Smart Sharpen is not able to achieve as strong andartifact-free sharpening effects (especially at lower radius values) like FocalBlade.

Smart Sharpen neither offers the following essential feature of FocalBlade: auto sharpening, multi-pass workflows,edge/surface sharpening, multiple radius sharpening, halo suppression, softening surface areas, color noise reduction,color protection, softproofing, split views, preview tab sheet, grain and other special effects.

How does FocalBlade compare to the sharpening options of Adobe Camera Raw?

Camera Raw offers four sharpening sliders called Amount, Radius, Detail and Mask. The Amount slider of Camera Rawoffers a maximum sharpening intensity of 150% whereas FocalBlade can sharpen up to 2000%. 150% is not sufficientfor sharpening for print. The Radius slider of Camera Raw is limited to a range of 0.5 to 3.0 whereas FocalBlade offersradius values between 0.0 and 32.0, which means that it can produce much finer as well as much wider sharpeningeffects.

The Mask slider of Camera RAW allows you to gradually apply the sharpening to the edges only, but you cannot adjustthe edge mask itself. Even worse, the Radius slider does not only influence the sharpening radius, it also makes theedge mask wider at the same time. FocalBlade allows you precisely fine-tune the edge mask with various sliders andalso makes it possible to sharpen the surface areas with a different sharpening intensity and radius.

Lower values of the Details slider of Camera RAW suppress halos, but at the same time also remove the sharpeningfrom surface areas, which makes you ask why this task is not left to the Mask slider in the first place. Too much halosuppression in Camera Raw additionally makes the sharpened edges look aliased and pixelated. FocalBlade on theother hand does not produce a pixelated look when suppressing the halos and also lets you suppress white and blackhalos independently. FocalBlade offers two slider pairs for halo suppression, which allows more precise and effectiveadjustments.

FocalBlade additionally contains several other features that are missing in Camera Raw, e.g. removing the sharpeningeffect in shadows, highlights and certain colored image areas, using multiple radius values and suggesting sharpeningvalues.

Camera Raw can only be applied to image files and not to images opened in Photoshop. As a consequence you cannotapply it to layers, record its settings in actions, use it as a smart filter as it is possible with FocalBlade. So you can onlyuse Camera Raw sharpening at the beginning of your workflow whereas FocalBlade can be used any time in yourworkflow.

How does FocalBlade relate to other special sharpening methods?

FocalBlade uses a sharpening technique that is similar to Unsharp Mask, which is best suited for sharpeningphotographic images. However, FocalBlade's sharpening is much more sophisticated than that of conventional UnsharpMask tools.

Some tools force you to apply sharpening two or three times per image. With FocalBlade you can decide yourself if youwant to sharpen each image once, twice or three times. If you decide to sharpen only once, you can save quite sometime and avoid accidentally oversharpening the image.

Another technique is called Deconvolution and is extensively used in astronomy and microscopy. These deconvolutionmethods aren't very suitable for normal photos and are in fact deblurring and not sharpening methods. They reduceblur, thus increasing the visual information in images, but they don't produce optimum photographic sharpening results.

Other techniques try to reduce the gradients around the edges in photos in order to improve the sharpness. They canbe helpful for a few photos, but they can easily corrupt edge lines and reduce the photographic quality of the photo thusgiving it a painting-like look. FocalBlade on the other hand sharpens photos effectively while keeping the look of thephotos natural.

Is it better to deactivate in-camera sharpening if I know that I will use FocalBlade later?

Digital cameras only have limited processing capabilities. They don't apply sophisticated sharpening methods to avoidblocking the camera for taking another shot. In-camera sharpening can be especially destructive on high-ISO shots thatwere taken in low light conditions, because in-camera sharpening unnecessarily amplifies the ISO noise.


It is generally recommended to switch off in-camera sharpening or at least reduce it to the available minimum.Unfortunately many low-priced digital cameras don't offer any option for influencing the in-camera sharpening. In such acase you have to live with the result or buy a more expensive camera. Switching off internal sharpening also lets youtake more JPG photos with the same memory card, because file sizes of photos without sharpening are much smaller.

Should I use a one, two or three-pass sharpening workflow with FocalBlade?

Whether you choose to sharpen your image once, twice or even three times is mainly a question of taste and yourpersonal requirements. In many cases sharpening your images only once will do just fine and save you time. Multi-passsharpening is not a must, it is an option. You have to decide yourself if multiple sharpening benefits your workflow andthe end result.

Sharpening more than once can make sense under the following conditions:

1. You are working with a RAW file and want to pre-sharpen it to get a better feel for the final result.2. You need to sharpen the same image for different output devices, e.g. web and print or different printer types.3. You want to dramatically resize your image and minimize the softening effects of the process by sharpening theimage before and after resizing.4. You want to apply different sharpness effects to different image areas.

Some people may claim that sharpening an image more than once increases its print quality, but that is a myth. In fact ifyou sharpen an image more than once, the risk of degrading the image increases. FocalBlade offers various featuresfor keeping sharpening artifacts low, so using its two- and three pass workflows is no problem. With two or three passsharpening there is also a higher tendency of oversharpening the result, because you do not see the final result until thelast pass. But you can master this risk with increasing experience.

Basically you can achieve the same sharpening result in FocalBlade whether you use one, two or three sharpeningpass. However, using similar settings with one, two or three passes may still produce slightly different results on thesame image. That is because with a two/three pass sharpening approach you usually apply the sharpening passes todifferent image sizes whereas a one pass sharpening is applied to the final image size only. The image scaling canadditionally amplify or weaken the sharpening a bit and depending on the used image scaling algorithms you get a moreor less sharp scaling results. Additionally the three pass approach involves a creative part which can be quite individual.So you usually get the most consistent results with one pass sharpening and the most individual results with three passsharpening.

I often work with CMYK images. Should I apply FocalBlade in CMYK mode?

It is generally better to do as much image processing as possible in RGB rather than in CMYK mode. CMYK wasdeveloped for printing purposes and is highly dependent on the print profile, whereas RGB is more independent andoffers advantages for image editing. FocalBlade and other image processing tools often achieve higher quality resultson RGB than on CMYK images. Additionally FocalBlade misses two features in CMYK. So better keep your image inRGB as long as possible and only switch to CMYK at the end of your workflow. If it is not possible otherwise, you canalso apply FocalBlade in CMYK mode.

I have some bad quality photos with a lot of noise that I want to sharpen. Can FocalBladehelp in this case?

If you have a noise reduction tool, please try it before using FocalBlade. Also correct the colors, brightness and contrastof these photos before using FocalBlade. Even if you don't do that, FocalBlade can still help, but you have to do somemanual adjustments in FocalBlade to get a better result. One method is to use FocalBlade's Soften slider from theManual tab to suppress noise or at least keep it from getting too visible when sharpening. With the Shadows slider fromthe Fix tab sheet you can avoid sharpening the shadows where most of the noise is located. You can also reduce thevalue of the Surface Sharpen slider on the Manual tab or set the Surface combo box on the Auto tab sheet to a moremoderate setting to keep the noise down.

If your image is too noisy or contains too many artifacts, there is no tool that can help you. Then the only way to improveimage quality is to size it down to e.g. 50% or even 25% of its original size.


I want to sharpen some of my JPG files again with FocalBlade...

There are three problems. If your JPG files are already sharpened by another tool, you may decrease the image qualitywhen sharpening them again. If the images were oversharpened, you can use FocalBlade's Soften slider (while settingthe Sharpen sliders to zero) to decrease the sharpening effect. If they are only weakly sharpened, you neverthelesshave to use a very light sharpening setting in FocalBlade. If halos become too visible, you can use the Halo sliders fromthe Fix tab sheet in FocalBlade to suppress them.

A second problem is that a high JPG compression may produce white halos in images. These halos are usually madeeven more visible by the sharpening process. FocalBlade lets you suppress these white halos with the halo sliders onthe Fix tab sheet. A third problem are the 8-pixel blocks that are produced by JPG compression. They can become quitevisible when sharpening, too. FocalBlade lets you suppress them with the help of the Soften slider.

So it is generally better to use a very low compression or high quality setting for your JPG files if you know that you maywant to sharpen them later.

I want to create a master image for various print sizes and papers. I would therefore like tosave the sharpening on a layer rather than apply it to the image. Is this possible and if so,how does one accomplish this?

You can duplicate the background layer as a new layer and only apply the sharpening to it. You can use a new layer foreach paper type, but for different sizes you should better save different files. The disadvantage of this method is that thefile size is getting larger with each new layer.

Another option is to save the FocalBlade settings as a preset file that has the same file name as the image plus thepaper type as a suffix. For example if the image is called IMG_1001.tif, the print size is A4 and the paper type is photoglossy paper you can save the preset files as IMG_1001_A4_photoglossy.fbp. But it would be better to create standardpresets for different sizes and papers, so you don't need to create a new preset file for every new image. The advantageof this method is that you don't need to save big files. You just need to open the original image and apply thesharpening again by opening the preset file in FocalBlade.

You can also turn a layer into a smart object in Photoshop and apply FocalBlade to it. That way you cannon-destructively change the FocalBlade settings any time you want. The disadvantage is that you will be creating evenbigger files than when using regular layers.


2 General Features

2.1 Modes

When running FocalBlade for the first time, you are asked to start in Easy Mode. If you don't have much knowledgeabout sharpening, you should accept the invitation. But even if you are a pro and are not familiar with FocalBlade, it stillmight be a good idea. If Easy Mode becomes too restricting for you, try Classic Mode. However, FocalBlade's fullpotential is revealed Advanced Mode, which offers all available effects and options.

Easy Mode

In Easy Mode you are presented with the options of the One-Pass Classic workflow on the Auto tab sheet and thecontrols of the Dual Radius method on the Manual tab sheet.

The Auto controls let you quickly produce a sufficient sharpening effect. If you have no idea about sharpening or do notknow which settings are best, please leave the controls at "Medium" setting. The Manual controls are for fine-tuning thesharpening. You can also create a blur effect with them. Use the arrow-down button menu for applying presets to theappropriate tab sheet.

For more detailed explanations, please read the Auto: One Pass page and Manual page.

Unsharp Mask

The Unsharp Mask mode offers controls for manually sharpening your images. Unlike Easy Mode there are noautomatic sharpening options, but the Fix tab sheet gives you more manual control over the sharpening effect. The Fix

tab sheet of this mode misses the Color Noise controls, though.

For more details, please read the Manual page and Fix page.

Soft Blur

Soft Blur mode contains all necessary controls for applying special blur effects. The Manual tab sheet only offers someof the Surface controls. The Mask tab sheet offers the Range group (which is located on the Fix tab sheet in othermodes) and Edge Mask controls.

The Surface controls determine the intensity and quality of the blur effect, the Range sliders remove the blur effect fromshadow/highlight areas and the Edge Mask sliders define the surface areas that are blurred.

For more details, please read the Manual page, Fix page and Mask page.

Noise Reduction

Noise Reduction mode offers controls for reducing noise. The Manual tab sheet only offers some of the Surface controlsand the Color Noise group (which is available on the Fix tab sheet in Advanced Mode). The Mask tab sheet offers theRange group (which is located on the Fix tab sheet in other modes) and Edge Mask controls.

The Surface controls fight luma noise and the Color Noise sliders for remove color noise. The Highlights and Shadowssliders reduce the effect from the shadows and highlights. The Edge Mask options adjust the image edges in order tokeep them from being blurred too much.

For more details, please read the Manual page and Mask page.


Special Effects

The Special Effects mode consists of the Effects tab sheet of Advanced Mode. So if you are mainly interested increating a special effect, this mode is for you. If you want to fine-tune the effect even more, we recommend that youswitch to Advanced Mode and also experiment with the other controls there.

For more details, please read the Effects page.

Classic Mode

Classic Mode simulates the Expert Mode of FocalBlade 1 as closely as possible. You will probably even like it betterthan Expert Mode in FocalBlade 1, because its controls are better organized. The Edges as well as Surface controls areon one tab sheet, so you do not need to switch tab sheets for them like in FocalBlade 1.

The frame with the three combo boxes at the top are similar to the Auto tab sheet in other modes. Here they wereplaced at the top in order to have access to the automatic as well as manual controls at the same time. Then there arethe Manual, Fix and Mask tab sheets.

For more details, see the following pages: Auto: One Pass, Manual, Fix and Mask.


Advanced Mode

Advanced Mode offers all controls that are available in FocalBlade. So it is the most complete mode. With its five tabsheets it may be a bit too complex for novices, but advanced users will like it best.

For more details, see the following pages: Auto: One Pass, Auto: Two Passes, Auto: Three Passes, Manual, Fix, Maskand Effects.


2.2 Sharpening Workflows

2.2.1 Workflows Considerations

Most of the considerations on this page apply to the FocalBlade plugin. It is a bit uncomfortable to use two or three passworkflows with the FocalBlade standalone, because it requires you to save the image in order to apply the sharpening.But is is still a plausible option if you process multiple images at once and use the Batch feature. Multi-pass workflowsare a bit more comfortable with the Lightroom version as it handles the opening and saving automatically, but you stillhave to select the images and launch FocalBlade from Lightroom.

So we recommend using a one-pass sharpening workflow with the standalone and maximally a two-pass workflow withthe Lightroom version in order to save time and avoid inconvenience. On the other hand you can run the FocalBladeplugin multiple times from a recorded action or script, so that multi-pass workflows only require one click in Photoshopor Paint Shop Pro.

2.2.2 How many sharpening passes should I use?

In the old century few people would have thought of sharpening a photo more than one time. During the last decade theidea of sharpening images two or three times became popular. Sharpening more than once can make sense under thefollowing conditions:

1. You are working with a RAW file and want to pre-sharpen it to get a better feel for the final result.2. You need to sharpen the same image for different output devices, e.g. web and print or different printer types.3. You want to dramatically resize your image and minimize the softening effects of the scaling process by sharpeningthe image before and after resizing.4. You want to apply different sharpness effects to different image areas.

Whether you choose to sharpen your image once, twice or even three times is mainly a question of taste and yourpersonal workflow. In many cases sharpening your images only once will do just fine and save you time. Multi-passsharpening is not a must, it is an option. You have to decide yourself if multiple sharpening benefits your workflow andthe end result.

Some people may claim that sharpening an image more than once increases its print quality, but that is a myth. In fact ifyou sharpen an image more than once, the risk of degrading the image increases. FocalBlade offers various featuresfor keeping sharpening artifacts low, so using its two- and three pass workflows is no problem. With two or three passsharpening there is also a higher tendency of oversharpening, because you do not see the final result until the last pass.But you can master this risk with increasing experience.

Basically you can achieve the same sharpening result in FocalBlade whether you use one, two or three sharpeningpass. However, using similar settings with one, two or three passes may still produce slightly different results on thesame image. That is because with a two/three pass sharpening approach you usually apply the sharpening passes todifferent image sizes whereas a one pass sharpening is applied to the final image size only. The image scaling canadditionally amplify or weaken the sharpening a bit and depending on the used image scaling algorithms you get a moreor less sharp scaling result. Additionally the three pass approach involves a creative part which can be quite individual.So you usually get the most consistent results with one pass sharpening and the most individual results with three passsharpening.

FocalBlade's Advanced Mode offers various workflow options for one pass, two passes or three passes on the Auto tabsheet. Easy Mode and Classic Mode on the other hand only offer a one-pass workflow, which is identical to the"One-Pass Classic" option in Advanced Mode. When using these workflow options FocalBlade automatically calculatesthe sharpening values depending on the settings that you selected.

Beyond that you can also ignore the automatic functions of FocalBlade and create your own workflow by using themanual sharpening controls.


2.2.3 One-Pass Workflow

If you decided to sharpen an image only once, please do that as the last step of your image adjustments. For someimages it can help to adjust saturation or do some manual retouching after sharpening. It is not recommended tosharpen before reducing noise, because that will bring out even more noise and make it harder for the noise reductionsoftware.

It is a good idea to use FocalBlade AFTER the following steps:

Noise Correction• Color Correction• Contrast Correction• Brightness Correction• Highlights/Shadows Correction• Lens and Perspective Corrections•

If the photo doesn't need a very strong color, contrast and brightness correction, you could also apply FocalBlade beforethese steps if there is no other way. But strong color, contrast and brightness corrections can increase or decrease thesharpening which is probably not what you want.

For more explanations see the Auto: One Pass page.

2.2.4 Two-Pass Workflow

A two-pass workflow consists of two steps: capture sharpening and output sharpening. Capture sharpeningcompensates for the loss of sharpness during the capture process of the digital photo caused by the anti-aliasing filter ofthe camera's sensor and the Bayer grid interpolation of the RAW conversion. Output sharpening on the other handcompensates for the sharpness reduction that occurs during the printing process or when displaying the image on ascreen.

The capture sharpening step is applied at the beginning of your image processing workflow before resizing the imageto the output size. If your image needs dramatic brightness or contrast adjustments, it is better to apply capturesharpening after them. This avoids that capture sharpening is exaggerated. Also better apply it after noise, lens andperspective corrections. If you need to greatly enlarge your image for print output, you can also apply a strongersharpening in the first pass to additionally compensate for the blurring that is caused during the resizing.

The output sharpening pass should be done at the end of your workflow after resizing the image to the final size. Ifyour image was already sharpened in-camera or by a RAW converter, you can omit the first pass and only apply thesecond output sharpening pass.

For more details see the Auto: Two/Three Passes page.

2.2.5 Three-Pass Workflow

Just like the two-pass workflow the first pass of a three-pass sharpening workflow consists of capture sharpening andthe third pass is output sharpening. Both are a bit less intense because of an additional second step. The second passis called creative sharpening and as its name says should be dictated by your creativity.

The creative sharpening pass is done before the image is resized to its output size. It usually involves selectivelyapplying sharpening to a certain image area. Applying creative sharpening more than once is viable if the affected areasdo not overlap. This second pass can also be used to compensate for the blurring that is caused by resizing the imageto the final output size. In this case it is applied to the whole image. During creative sharpening always keep in mind thatthere is still a third output sharpening step, so be cautious and do not overdo the sharpening.

For more explanations see the Auto: Two/Three Passes page.


2.2.6 Other Workflows

The mentioned sharpening workflows automatically generate sharpening settings depending on the options that youchose on the Auto tab sheet. If the automatic sharpening of FocalBlade does not fit your taste or needs, you can alsoignore it and create your own sharpening workflow by using the controls on the Manual, Fix and Mask tab sheets. Thesemanual settings can be saved as presets or in actions when you need them later for other images.

For more information see the Manual Sharpening page as well as the Reset, Undo & Presets page.


2.3 Reset, Undo & Presets

2.3.1 The Reset Button

If you want to restart with the default settings or just started processing on a new image, it is a good idea to click on theReset button. The Reset button performs the action that was last chosen on its menu. This menu appears when youclick on the arrow button to the right of the Reset button. The Reset button makes the sample area marquee disappear,which means that the whole preview area is sampled again.

Clicking the small arrow button to the right of the Reset button displays a menu with various reset options. "DefaultSettings" deactivates a lot of other controls, but activates the default setting for the Auto Contrast and Exposure Fixoptions."Original Image" deactivates all corrections and displays the uncorrected image. "Preview Settings" loads thesettings that were used for correcting the previous image. "Own Defaults" opens the preset file that was either alreadyspecified, or if this is not the case, will prompt you for one. "Logged Settings" will try to open a preset that wasautomatically saved when you corrected the same image the last time. The "Remove Sample Area" option removes thesample area that was created with the Marquee tool in the preview.

2.3.2 The Arrow-Down Menu at the Top

If you click on the small arrow-down icon at the left of the Mode combo box, a menu will be displayed. This menuincludes options for opening and saving presets, an Undo command and a list of all presets from the Preset sub folderof the FocalBlade folder. A preset is file that stores the effect settings of FocalBlade. It can be used to restore oftenneeded settings.

Open Preset

Several presets are already delivered with FocalBlade. They are located in the Presets sub folder of the installationfolder.


When you choose the Open Preset menu item, a file dialog displaying the files of the Presets sub folder appears and letyou select a preset file. The folder of the last opened preset is displayed by default in the file dialog.

Save Preset

You can save the current FocalBlade settings as a preset with the help of the Save Preset menu item. Please savepresets into the Presets sub folder at

Windows 2000/XP: c:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\ThePluginSite\FocalBlade\Windows Vista/7: c:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\ThePluginSite\FocalBlade\

otherwise they will not appear at the bottom of the menu.

You can open a saved preset again with the Open Preset menu item or by selecting them on the same menu.

Undo

Undo restores the previous control settings in case you didn't like your latest adjustment. Undo only works one stepbackwards and doesn't restore the preview zoom setting. If Instant Preview is activated on the Prefs tab sheet and youmove a slider, the Undo function will not work properly, because of the quick preview updates.

Preset Items

At the bottom of the menu is a list of FocalBlade presets. In case you already saved presets in the application datafolder (see "Save Preset" above), they are displayed first followed by a separation line. Then the included presets, whichare located in the Presets sub folder of the installation folder, are shown.

If you choose a preset from this menu, it is immediately applied and changes all settings. Choosing a preset directlyfrom the menu, is faster than hunting it with the Open Preset command.


2.4 Split Views

The various Split View options let you compare various sharpness settings and apply them. The Split View options splitup the preview into two or five stripes that show the original and corrected version or various sharpening intensities.

The Multi Check Box

If the Multi check box is activated, each split view stripe displays the same image section. This makes it very easy tocompare the different settings. To make another image section visible right click on the preview and drag. If the Multicheck box is deactivated, different effects will be applied to different image sections and the image will be fully displayedin the preview.

Left, Right, Bottom and Top View

These four split views let you compare the original image with the modified version side by side. The corrected imagewill be displayed on the left, right, top or bottom in the preview as the names indicate. Unlike the other split views, youcan't select anything by Shift clicking.

Split View "Sharpen Vert." with deactivated Multiple check box


Split View "Sharpen Vert." with activated Multiple check box

The Sharpen, Edges and Surface Views

The other split views let you compare five different sharpening settings as well as apply the settings of one of them. Theeffect of the five settings is displayed as vertical or horizontal stripes on the image. The middle stripe displays thecurrent setting while the other ones display variations of the current setting in -/+ 50% steps. The outer left or top stripedisplays the original image. The outer right or bottom stripe displays a sharpening effect that is double as strong as thecurrently used one.

These six split view options consists of three pairs. The Sharpen options sharpen show variations of both edge andsurface sharpening. The Edges options offer variations of edge sharpening and the Surface options vary the surfacesharpening.

To choose the sharpening values of one of the stripes, hold down the Shift key and click on it. Then Split View will beswitched off and the chosen settings applied. It makes no sense to shift click the middle split view stripe, because ituses the same settings that are already used.


2.5 The Bottom Tab Sheets

2.5.1 Help

The Help sheet is located on the right bottom of the FocalBlade window. This feature was built in to make it easier forbeginners to get started and makes it possible to use FocalBlade without a glance at the manual. If you move themouse 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 rightbottom of the help sheet. But we recommend that you keep it nevertheless activated. It may remind you of somethingthat you already forgot or missed reading.

2.5.2 Navigator

The Navigator tab works just like the Navigator panel in Photoshop. It displays an thumbnail of the image with a redrectangle that indicates which part of the image is displayed in the preview. You can use the Navigator to display acertain image area in the preview by clicking on it in the thumbnail. To quickly scroll around in the preview clicksomewhere on the thumbnail, hold down the mouse button and move the mouse.

2.5.3 Info

The Info tab shows information that is not essential but which may be helpful under certain circumstances.

The Show Halos (High Pass) check box displays the sharpening halos as black and white and unsharpened imageareas as middle gray. This view is similar to the effect of Photoshop's High Pass filter. You can use this view for judgingthe effect of certain sliders on the sharpening halos. When using a blur effect, you also see the "blur halos".


You can also use FocalBlade for high pass sharpening by running FocalBlade on a duplicated layer, activating theShow Halos (High Pass) check box, pressing OK and selecting Overlay as the blending mode for the layer. Theresulting sharpening effect is similar to what FocalBlade produces without the Show Halos (High Pass) check boxactivated. But there are a few subtle difference: The sharpening is slightly stronger and the shadows and highlights willbe sharpened a bit weaker.

The B/W check box converts the image to black and white, which can be helpful for examining the sharpening effect.

When moving the mouse over the preview, the color under the cursor is shown in the color box of the Info tab sheet.Additionally the color is shown as RGB and HSL values. The xand y values represent the image coordinates of the pixelwhose color is shown. For images with 16-bit/channel the color values are shown as 8-bit values as in Photoshop.

The two lines at the left bottom of the Info tab sheet show the image size in pixel and the channel bit depth. Thesecond line only appears in the Standalone/Lightroom version and names the color space of the image or shows "NoProfile" if no profile was embedded in the image file.

The two lines at the right bottom of the Info tab sheet display the sharpening values that are currently used. The firstline contains the values for the edges and the second one the values for the surface areas. The first value is thesharpening intensity and the second one is the radius value.

2.5.4 Calibrate

The Calibrate tab sheet can be used to adjust the intensity of the automatic sharpening and Softproof feature.Additionally you can chnage the default values of the sliders in the Halo group on the Fix tab sheet. Depending on whichWorkflow option you have selected, some options will not be visible on the Calibrate tab sheet.

Sharpness

If the automatic sharpening of FocalBlade is too strong or weak for your taste, you can adjust it on the Calibrate tabsheet. The four Sharpness combo boxes allow the adjustment of the intensity of the sharpening that is set with theSharpness combo box on the Auto tab sheet. You can fine-tune it separately for the four output options: Display,Contone, Halftone and Inkjet. If you are in Easy Mode, Classic Mode or have the One Pass Classic workflow selected inAdvanced Mode, you will only see a Display and Print combo box.

You can decrease the sharpening down to half of its intensity (-50%) or increase it up to twice as much (+100%).

Softproof

When you select the "Softproof" option in the zoom combo box below the preview, you will get a sharpness simulation ofthe print. If you print a sharpened photos and compare it to the softproof look, you may see a difference. With theSoftproof combo box on the Calibrate tab you can match the print to the softproof display.

In Easy Mode, Classic Mode or with the One Pass Classic workflow selected in Advanced Mode, you will only see aDisplay and Print combo box on The Calibrate tab sheet. Otherwise you will get additional combo boxes for contone,halftone and inkjet output.


Fix Halos

When running FocalBlade for the first time or when pressing the Reset button, the sliders of the Halo group on the Fixtab sheet receive certain default values. These values make sure that obtrusive halos are suppressed. To change thesedefault settings you can use the four Fix Halos combo boxes. The first combo box sets the value for the White Haloslider, the second one for the Black Halo slider, the third one for the White Peak slider and the fourth one for the BlackPeak slider.

Settings these combo boxes to zero recreates the default values of FocalBlade 1, which did not apply any halosuppression by default. We recommend that you keep the "Default" setting for all combo boxes or only increase ordecrease the values slightly.

2.5.5 Prefs

The Prefs tab sheet contains some options for defining the behavior of FocalBlade.

On Start Up

The On Start Up combo box defines which settings are used when FocalBlade is started. The "Default Settings"option ofthe On Start Up control sets all controls back to their default values. "Version 1 Defaults" applies the default values ofFocalBlade 1. The "Previous Settings" will load the settings that were used to correct the previous image when runningFocalBlade. "Own Defaults" asks you for a preset file which will be loaded when FocalBlade is executed. "LoggedSettings" automatically opens the settings that were previously applied to the same image. It only works if youpreviously had the Log Settings check box activated, if you are using Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro (see below for moreinformation) and if you already processed the same image.

Language

The Language combo box switches between localizations of the FocalBlade dialog. You can only choose betweenEnglish and German so far. When running FocalBlade for the first time, it will automatically be set to the language ofyour Windows installation.

Skin

The Skin combo box features various skin options. Skinning means that the user interface receives a new look. Thereare different options for imitating the user interface of Lightroom, Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, PaintShop Pro andAffinity Photo. There is also a dark version of Aero (the default UI style of Windows Vista/7), a special PhotoWiz skinstyle as well as an option to only skin the sliders. You can use a different skin for the plugin, standalone and Lightroomversions. The None option of the Skin combo box recreates the standard controls and deactivates skinning, whichrequires restarting the plugin or standalone.

Multi-CPU Off

If you encounter any problems, you can deactivate the support for multiple processors and hyperthreading pipes withthis check box. If you only have a non-hyperthreading, single-core processor, this check box will be disabled by default.


Instant Preview

If the Instant Preview check box is activated, the preview is updated while you drag a slider. Instant Preview may worktoo slowly on computers with an older processor. You can also get the same effect if you hold down the Shift key whiledragging a slider.

Suppress Scripting

Actions, scripts and smart objects record the FocalBlade settings. When FocalBlade is executed by an action, script oras a smart filter, these recorded settings are passed back to FocalBlade and FocalBlade uses them. If you activate theSuppress Scripting check box, FocalBlade ignores the settings passed by actions, scripts and smart objects and insteadloads the settings that are defined by the On Start Up combo box (so usually the previous settings). However, if theFocalBlade dialog is not displayed, this check box does not work and FocalBlade uses the recorded settingsnevertheless. So it only works if the FocalBlade dialog is displayed when it is executed by an action, script or as a smartfilter.

Interactive Menus

If the Interactive Menus check box is active, you get an instant preview when you move the mouse over a menu item ofone of the arrow-down button menus. This feature works e.g. the presets on the top arrow-down button menu and theitems of the menus on the various tab sheets. This way you already see the effect of a menu item before you select it. Ifyou do not select a menu item, e.g. by clicking somewhere else, the old settings are restored.

Log Settings

With activated Log Settings check box FocalBlade automatically saves preset files in the logfiles sub folder atC:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\ThePluginSite\FocalBlade2\after you press the OK button. In Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro the file name of the image is used as the preset filename. In other applications a random number is used, because these applications don't supply the file name of theimage to FocalBlade. If you apply FocalBlade a second time to the same image and have Log Settings activated, theprevious preset file in the logfiles folder will be overwritten.

At least with Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro this feature allows you to easily find the settings that you applied to acertain image by looking into the logfiles sub folder. For other applications you can only look at the file date and guesswhich preset files was used for which image.

In connection with the Logged Settings option of the On Start Up combo box (see above), you can use the Log Settingscheck box to automatically make FocalBlade start up with the settings that were applied the last time to the sameimage. So if you need to correct the same image again, you will automatically be presented with the same settings thatyou used the last time. In case you don't want to start up FocalBlade with the logged settings or forgot to activate thatoption, you can also open the logged settings by right clicking on the Reset button and choosing "Logged Settings" fromthe context menu.


2.6 Batch Processing

2.6.1 Scripting Or Cloak Mode?

The Plugin version of FocalBlade 2 now offers scripting support in Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro and Debabelizer. Thismeans that you can record the effect settings in actions/scripts in these applications. The recorded action or script canthen be used for batch processing. FocalBlade will automatically suppress the dialog and immediately render the effectto the image. You need to record a new action or script for every FocalBlade effect that you want to apply during batchprocessing.

If you are using another application under Windows (e.g. Fireworks), the FocalBlade dialog is not automaticallysuppressed during batch processing. So you need to use Cloak Mode, which suppresses the dialog when activated.Corel Photo-Paint on the other hand automatically suppresses the FocalBlade dialog when called from a script, so youdo not need to activate Cloak Mode for it. In all of these cases you only need to record a single action or script withFocalBlade and can always use it during batch processing, because there are no effect settings recorded in the actionor script.

Even if you are using FocalBlade in Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro and Debabelizer, you can still decide to use CloakMode. If Cloak Mode is activated, FocalBlade will ignore the scripting values and apply the last used setting. UsingCloak Mode has the advantage that you do not need to record a new action or script for every new FocalBlade effectthat you want to apply, but you also always need to set a new effect in FocalBlade before you can start with batchprocessing.

If you want to use FocalBlade as a smart filter in Photoshop CS3, CS4 and CS5, please deactivate Cloak Modebefore batch processing, otherwise FocalBlade will not work properly as a smart filter.

2.6.2 Cloak Mode

If you decided to use Cloak Mode, you can activate it by holding down the CTRL key and clicking on the Cancel button.The message box displayed below will appear. After pressing YES, the current settings will be saved and FocalBladewill be exited without rendering the effect to the image.

When you run FocalBlade again by choosing it from the Filter menu of your image application, the dialog of FocalBladewon't show up and the previous settings will be rendered immediately to the image. So if you have the On Start Upcombo box on the Prefs tab sheet set to "Default Settings", this setting is ignored in Cloak Mode and the previoussettings are applied. However, if you have On Start Up set to "Logged Settings", FocalBlade will search for automaticallylogged settings for each image and apply them if they are available.

After you have processed your series of photos in Cloak Mode you can uncloak FocalBlade again. To do that, keep thethe Shift key pressed down when selecting FocalBlade from the filter menu in your image application. This will displaythe FocalBlade dialog again and exit Cloak Mode.

Alternatively you can also delete the file cloakfb.ini in the FocalBlade folder. But this is just an emergency strategy.


2.6.3 Batch Processing in Photoshop

Photoshop offers a Batch feature on its File > Automate menu. This feature lets you batch process a series of imageswith the help of a Photoshop action. So if you want to batch process images in Photoshop you only need to record anaction that contains FocalBlade.

Recording an action with FocalBlade:

1. Open an image in Photoshop.

2. Switch to the Actions panel on the right and create a new action by using the New Action button or the pop-up panelmenu.

3. Choose FocalBlade from the Filter menu.

4. Now adjust the effect settings in FocalBlade, so that they are recorded in the action.

5. Press OK on the FocalBlade dialog.

6. Press the Stop button on the Action panel. Now you have your FocalBlade action that you can use with File >Automate > Batch.


Batch processing a series of images with FocalBlade:

1. Open one of the images from the image series.

2. Select File > Automate > Batch.

3. In the Batch dialog make sure that your FocalBlade action is selected.

4. Set the other batch options and click on OK to run it.

You can record a new action for each sharpening task that requires a different FocalBlade effect. On the other hand ifyou do not want to create a collection of different actions, you can also change the FocalBlade settings that arerecorded in the action by clicking on the FocalBlade item in the Actions panel, changing the settings in the appearingFocalBlade dialog and pressing OK. If you want to apply individual FocalBlade settings to each image during batchprocessing, please activate the small dialog icon next to the FocalBlade entry in the Action panel. This will make theFocalBlade dialog appear for every new image.

On the other hand if you want to use FocalBlade in Cloak Mode for batch processing a series of images, you only canuse any action that runs FocalBlade. First run FocalBlade, adjust the settings and activate Cloak Mode by holding downthe Ctrl key when clicking on the Cancel key. Then continue as mentioned above with Photoshop's Batch tool. Touncloak FocalBlade again afterwards please hold down the Shift key while running FocalBlade from the menu.


2.6.4 Batch Processing in Paint Shop Pro

Paint Shop Pro (Version 8 and higher) offers a Process feature on the File > Batch menu for batch processing a seriesof images with the help of a PSP script. Recording such a script is quite easy.

Recording a PSP script with FocalBlade:

1. Open an image in PSP.

2. Select File > Script > Start Recording.

3. Choose FocalBlade from the Effects > Plugins menu.

4. Now need to adjust the effect settings in FocalBlade, so that they are recorded in the script.

5. Press OK on the FocalBlade dialog.

6. Select File > Script > Stop Recording and save the script. Now you have a FocalBlade action that you can use withFile > Batch > Process.

Batch processing a series of images with FocalBlade:

1. Open one of the images from the image series.

2. Select File > Batch > Process or File > Batch Process.

3. In the Batch Process dialog choose your FocalBlade script with the Browse button from the Script frame.

4. Set the other batch options and click on the Start button to run it.


You need to record a new script for every FocalBlade effect that you want to apply during batch processing. You cancreate a collection of scripts with various FocalBlade effect and use these scripts as you need. If you want to applyindividual FocalBlade settings to each image during batch processing, please deactivate the "Run script in silent mode"check box in the Batch Process dialog. This will make the FocalBlade dialog appear for every new image.

On the other hand if you want to use FocalBlade in Cloak Mode for batch processing a series of images, you only canuse any script that runs FocalBlade. First run FocalBlade, adjust the settings and activate Cloak Mode by holding downthe Ctrl key when clicking on the Cancel key. Then continue as mentioned above with PSP's Batch Process tool. Touncloak FocalBlade again afterwards please hold down the Shift key while running FocalBlade from the menu.

2.6.5 Batch Processing in Other Applications

There are some other applications that support batch processing with the help of plugins, e.g. Fireworks, Debabelizerand Photo-Paint. Basically batch processing in other applications works the same as in Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro. InFireworks you need to record a script and use Cloak Mode for batch processing. In Photo-Paint you need to record anscript, but do not need to use Cloak Mode, because it already automatically suppresses the FocalBlade dialog. If youuse FocalBlade 2 in Debabelizer, you also do not need to activate Cloak Mode.


2.7 Key Shortcuts (Windows only)

FocalBlade lets you use a few key shortcuts for performing certain tasks. Some users usually prefer using key shortcutsas they help to achieve some tasks much faster.

Please notice: If the input focus is resting on a combo box or edit box, please additionally hold down the ALT key,otherwise the key shortcut will not work.

Here is a list of all shortcuts that can be used:

Ctrl and + Increases the preview zoom ratio

Ctrl and - Decreases the preview zoom ratio

Ctrl and 0 Set the preview zoom to Fit

Ctrl and 1 Set the preview zoom to 100%

Ctrl and Z Triggers the Undo function

R Resets some controls to their default values

P(Windows only) Activates or deactivates the Auto Preview checkbox

H Activates the hand tool

Space Activates the hand tool (Only if the mouse cursor is located overthe preview)

M Activates the sample area tool

I Activates the eyedropper tool

? Displays the manual


3 Main Controls

The large tab control in the top right corner of the FocalBlade window contains the controls for adjusting the FocalBladeeffects. Depending on which mode you use, it will contain between one and five tab sheets. You can now readexplanations for the controls of these tab sheets. The controls are described here as they appear in Advanced Mode.Other modes do not offer all of these controls Please refer to the Modes page concerning which controls are offered bywhich modes.

3.1 Auto: One Pass

FocalBlade's automatic sharpening feature provides settings that work with most images. Whereas Easy Mode andClassic Mode only offer one-pass sharpening options, Advanced Mode also supports two and three pass sharpening.There are two different one-pass sharpening workflow options in Advanced Mode: One is called "One-Pass Classic" andoffers only a few controls, which are meant for people who like it easy and simple. The "One-Pass Pro" workflow (onlyavailable in Advanced Mode) adjusts the sharpening according to important variables of the input and output process. Itis meant for more demanding users.

3.1.1 Easy Mode, Classic Mode and One-Pass Classic

Easy Mode, Classic Mode and the One-Pass Classic workflow of Advanced Mode basically offer six options forcontrolling the auto sharpening of FocalBlade. There are three combo boxes with sharpening parameters (Sharpness,Surface and Details) and two buttons (Display and Print) for selecting the purpose of sharpening. An Evaluate checkbox is available for making FocalBlade analyze the sharpness of the preview image and assign the sharpeningaccordingly. Finally there is an arrow-down button menu for selecting typical settings for the three combo boxes.

Sharpness

The Sharpness combo box offers five settings from "Very Low" to "Very High". The "Medium" setting is sufficient formost images that haven't been sharpened already. If you apply FocalBlade to an image that was sharpened already, butnot sufficiently, you should try the "Light" setting. The "Very High" settings is usually only recommended in connectionwith an activated Print button for the purpose of printing photos that are viewed at a larger distance. Highly blurredphotos may also benefit from it.

The Sharpness setting determines the value of the Sharpen slider (of the Edges group) on the Manual tab sheet.

Surface

The Surface combo box increases or decreases the sharpening of the surface areas. For photos with a lot of sky, skinand walls you had better choose a "Very Light" or "Light" setting which doesn't sharpen the surfaces at all or onlyslightly. Regular photos need a "Medium" setting and photos with a lot of texture details (and no noise and artifacts) lookbetter with a "Strong" or "Very Strong" setting.

Another factor that you should take into account when adjusting the Surface setting is image quality. The better theimage quality, the higher the setting you can choose. You should use a "Very Light" or "Light" setting for portrait photosor image with soft surface areas. For photos with severe noise and artifacts better use the "Soft" and "Very Soft"options. These options also help reducing skin problems.

If the Dual Radius method is selected on the Manual tab sheet, the Surface setting sets the value of the Sharpen sliderof the Surface group in relation to the value of the Sharpen slider of the Edges group on the same tab sheet. If theSingle Radius or Adaptive Radius method is activated, the Surface setting sets the values of the Surface slider on theManual tab sheet.

Details

Details lets you define the size of image details that will be sharpened. For most photos that show people or objects at alarger distance you should use the "Very Fine" or "Fine" setting. Photos, in which people occupy a large part of theimage, you usually need a "Fine" or "Medium" setting. For close-up photos and portraits a "Rough" setting willsometimes be sufficient. For noisy images a "Rough" or "Very Rough" setting sometimes yields a better result.

You should also take into account the scaling factor that was used when sizing the image to its final output size. Forexample if you scaled up the image to a size that is two, three or more times larger than the original image, you usuallyget a more effective sharpening by using a "Rough" or "Very Rough" setting for the Details combo box. If you scaleddown the image, you should consider choosing a "Very Fine" or "Fine" setting.

To select the best setting use a preview zoom of 100% or higher and look at the most important image details. Tryvarious settings and see which one emphasizes the details best.

The Details setting determines the values of the Radius sliders on the Manual tab sheet.

The Display and Print Buttons

Images that are intended to be printed require a much stronger sharpening than images viewed on displays. During theprinting process the image is softened again, so the image needs to be sharper from the beginning. That's whyFocalBlade sharpens an image much more and with a larger radius value if you have the Print button activated. Thefinal printed result will look somewhat softer than what you see on your screen. So do not worry if the sharpened imagelooks coarse or rough-edges on your display. With the Display button activated FocalBlade will apply a much weakerlower-radius sharpening effect suitable for monitors and other screens.

The Auto options of FocalBlade sharpen for a regular viewing distance. For other viewing distances please increase ordecrease the sharpening accordingly. If you have the Print button activated, you can set the zoom combo box below thepreview to "Softproof" to see an approximation of the sharpness of the final print.

The Arrow-down Button Menu

By clicking the arrow-down button on the Auto tab sheet you get a menu with several options. Each of these optionssets the Surface and Details settings to a special value that is suitable for the selected type of photos. The Default


option sets the default values, which suit a large number of images.

The Evaluate Check Box and the Sample Area

If the Evaluate check box is deactivated, FocalBlade uses the same sharpening for every image (provided you use thesame Auto settings). If you activate the Evaluate check box, FocalBlade additionally takes the image section that isdisplayed in the preview into account. It tries to analyzes the sharpness of the image adjust the sharpening accordingly.So with activated preview evaluation it is best to have the most important image area shown in the preview. Scrollingthe preview will also change the sharpening values.

You can also make the auto features analyze a much smaller image area by drawing a sample area in the preview. Todraw a sample area activate the Marquee icon, which is the second icon above the preview. Then hold down the leftmouse button and drag the mouse over the preview to draw the sample area. It should be drawn around the mostimportant part of the image, e.g. a face, a whole person or another important object. By doing so FocalBlade will applythe optimum sharpness for that area.

To remove the sample area either hit the Reset button or right click on the Reset button and choose "Remove SampleArea" from the context menu. Don't just click on the preview to remove the marquee, because that creates a one pixellarge sample area which can produce unpredictable results.

If the sample area technique still doesn't produce a satisfying result, you can also create a selection of that object inyour image application and use FocalBlade to sharpen it with a different setting than the rest of the image.

The v1 Logic Check Box

If this check box is activated, then the auto sharpening algorithm of version 1 of FocalBlade will be used. As a resultdifferent sharpening values will be calculated and applied to the control of the Manual tab sheet. Especially the radiusvalues increase with the size of the image, which may produce too coarse sharpening. Even if you do not have theEvaluate check box activated, it works as if it would be activate.

This feature is only available in Easy Mode, Classic Mode and if the One-Pass Pro workflow option is chosen inAdvanced mode.

3.1.2 One-Pass Pro

In addition to the Sharpness, Surface, Details and Evaluate controls (as described above) the One-Pass Pro option ofAdvanced Mode offer a few more options. They are meant to replace the Print and Display buttons with more detailedcontrols for defining the input and output devices. They influence the intensity and radius values of the sharpeningeffect.


Source

The Source combo box is for selecting the device that was used to digitize the image that you are currently working on.You can choose between four types of digital cameras and four types of film. This settings influences the intensity aswell as radius of the sharpening effect.

Output

The Output option offers a display option and various print methods. If you select "Display", you can still enter thedisplay type by using appearing Type combo box. Three print methods are supported: Contone, halftone and inkjet.Generally speaking, if you send your photos to a photo printing service or print them with a dye-sublimation printer, youshould choose the "Contone" option. If you want to print your images or documents at an offset print shop or with a laserprinter, you should choose the "Halftone" option. Then there is a general inkjet and four inkjet brands to choose from.Each output options makes up to three new combo boxes visible for letting FocalBlade know more details about theprint or display process.

If you have one of the print methods selected, you set the zoom combo box below the preview to "Softproof" to see anapproximation of the sharpness of the final print.

Type or Paper

If you selected "Display" from the Output combo box, you will get a new Type combo box with five options: Projector,TV, CRT, Plasma and LCD. With "Projector" any type of projector is meant, but this options has especially videoprojectors in mind. "TV" refers to old fashioned television sets with a cathode ray tube. "CRT" stands for computermonitor using the old CRT technology. "Plasma" means TVs with a plasma display panel. "LCD" can be computermonitors as well as TVs that use the LCD technology.

If you selected halftone or inkjet output, you will be prompted to select the paper type for printing. Also if you use a veryspecial paper type that is not selectable, please chose the option that compares best to your paper. For contone printingyou cannot select a paper type.

Print Resolution

If you selected one of the print output options, you are prompted to enter the print resolution as well as image resolution.If your print resolution lies between the given values please choose the value that comes closest.

Many inkjet drivers do not show a dpi value anymore. Instead they offer descriptions like "Fast", "Standard" or "High".These terms are also displayed in the Print Resolution combo box if you choose the Canon, Epson, HP or LexmarkInkjet output options.

Image Resolution

The image resolution determines at which size the image will be printed. Depending on the selected image resolutionyou see a different print size mentioned in the text line below the Image Resolution combo box. The Auto option of theImage Resolution combo box uses the image resolution that was either assigned when the image was captured orentered when the size of the image was changed. If the Auto option does not show the desired image resolution (so thata wrong print size is shown), you do not need to leave FocalBlade and set another ppi value in your image application.Instead you can choose one of the other available values from the Image Resolution combo box. If your imageresolution lies between the given values please choose the value that comes closest.


In Photoshop's Image Size dialog we entered an image resolution of 300 pixels/inch (ppi) and a print size of 12 x 8 inch.These settings will resize the image to 3600 x 2400 pixel after pressing OK.

For inkjet printing you should resize your image to 300 ppi at your desired print size. If you use an Epson printer you canalso use 360 ppi. Larger ppi values only produce better print quality in special cases. Smaller ppi value can be used forprinting documents or lower quality images.

For continuos tone printing it is best to use the same dpi and ppi value, which means that the image resolution valueshould be identical to the print resolution value.

For halftone output you can either choose the Auto option of the Image Resolution combo box or choose between twoother options. The "lpi * 2" option assumes an image resolution that is twice as large as the print resolution and the "lpi *1.5" option selects a one and a half as large image resolution. For example if you plan to print at 133 lpi, you shouldresize your image in your image application by entering the desired print size and an resolution of 266 ppi. If the printquality is not so crucial, you can also use a factor of 1.5 and 200 ppi.

If this talk of resolution means nothing to you or confuses you, we recommend that you better use Easy Mode, ClassicMode or choose the "One Pass: Classic" workflow option in Advanced mode.

Print Size

The text line at the bottom of the Auto tab sheet display the print size that is reached for the selected image resolution. Itis displayed in inches as well as centimeter. If you did not already have a certain image resolution in mind when sizingthe image to the final output size, you can try different values for the Image Resolution combo box and see which one isthe closest to your desired print size.


3.2 Auto: Two/Three Passes

Two and three pass sharpening workflows are only supported in Advanced Mode. If use Easy Mode, Unsharp Maskmode or Classic mode for applying sharpening in two passes, you need to enter your own sharpening values. InAdvanced Mode the appropriate pass can selected from the Workflow combo box, which makes FocalBladeautomatically provide the appropriate sharpening settings.

3.2.1 Capture Sharpening

The first pass in a two or three pass sharpening workflow is called creative sharpening. It tries to compensate theanti-aliasing of the digital image that is caused by the capturing process.

For this propose there are four combo boxes that influence the sharpening (Sharpness, Surface, Details and Source)and an Evaluate check box is available for making FocalBlade analyze the sharpness of the preview image and assignthe sharpening accordingly. Finally there is an arrow-down button menu for selecting typical settings for the threecombo boxes.

Sharpness

The Sharpness combo box offers five settings from "Very Low" to "Very High". The "Medium" setting is sufficient formost images that haven't been sharpened already. If you apply FocalBlade to an image that was sharpened already, butnot sufficiently, you should try the "Light" setting. The "Very High" settings is usually only recommended in connectionwith an activated Print button for the purpose of printing photos that have to be viewed at a larger distance. Highlyblurred photos may also benefit from it.

The Sharpness setting determines the value of the Sharpen slider (of the Edges group) on the Manual tab sheet.

Surface

The Surface combo box controls the balance between edges and the surface. For photos with a lot of sky, skin andwalls you had better choose a "Very Light" or "Light" setting which doesn't sharpen them at all or only slightly. Regularphotos need a "Medium" setting and photos with a lot of texture details (and no noise and artifacts) look better with a"Strong" or "Very Strong" setting.

Another factor that you should take into account when adjusting the Surface setting is image quality. The better theimage quality, the higher the setting you can choose. You should use a "Very Light" or "Light" setting for portrait photosor image with soft surface areas. For photos with severe noise and artifacts better use the "Soft" and "Very Soft"options. These options also help reducing skin problems.

If the Dual Radius method is selected on the Manual tab sheet, the Surface setting sets the value of the Sharpen sliderof the Surface group in relation to the value of the Sharpen slider of the Edges group on the same tab sheet. If theSingle Radius or Adaptive Radius method is activated, the Surface setting sets the values of the Surface slider on theManual tab sheet.


Details

Details lets you define the size of image details that will be sharpened. For most photos that show people or objects at alarger distance you should use the "Very Fine" or "Fine" setting. Photos, in which people occupy a large part of theimage, you usually need a "Fine" or "Medium" setting. For close-up photos and portraits a "Rough" setting willsometimes be sufficient. For noisy images a "Rough" or "Very Rough" setting sometimes yields a better result.

To select the best setting use a preview zoom of 100% or higher and look at the most important image details. Tryvarious settings and see which one emphasizes the details best.

The Details setting determines the values of the Radius sliders on the Manual tab sheet.

Source

The Source combo box is for selecting the device that was used to digitize the image that you are currently working on.You can choose between four types of digital cameras and four types of film. This settings influences the intensity aswell as radius of the sharpening effect.

The Arrow-down Button Menu

By clicking the arrow-down button on the Auto tab sheet you get a menu with several options. Each of these optionssets the Surface and Details settings to a special value that is suitable for the selected type of photos. The Defaultoption sets the default values, which suit a large number of images.

The Evaluate Check Box and the Sample Area

If the Evaluate check box is deactivated, FocalBlade uses the same sharpening for every image (provided you use thesame Auto settings). If you activate the Evaluate check box, FocalBlade additionally takes the image section that isdisplayed in the preview into account. It tries to analyzes the sharpness of the image adjust the sharpening accordingly.So with activated preview evaluation it is best to have the most important image area shown in the preview. Scrollingthe preview will also change the sharpening values.

You can also make the auto features analyze a much smaller image area by drawing a sample area in the preview. Todraw a sample area activate the Marquee icon, which is the second icon above the preview. Then hold down the leftmouse button and drag the mouse over the preview to draw the sample area. It should be drawn around the mostimportant part of the image, e.g. a face, a whole person or another important object. By doing so FocalBlade will applythe optimum sharpness for that area.

To remove the sample area either hit the Reset button or right click on the Reset button and choose "Remove SampleArea" from the context menu. Don't just click on the preview to remove the marquee, because that creates a one pixellarge sample area which can produce unpredictable results.

If the sample area technique still doesn't produce a satisfying result, you can also create a selection of that object inyour image application and use FocalBlade to sharpen it with a different setting than the rest of the image.


3.2.2 Creative Sharpening

Creative sharpening is the second pass of a three pass workflow. When using a two pass workflow please ignore thisstep. You can apply the available effects to the whole image or selectively apply it to a certain image area that needsspecial attention. If you did not create a selection before running FocalBlade, you can still use the Mask combo box forthis purpose. Feel free to fine-tune the effect on the other tab sheets.

Effect

The Effect combo box offers five sharpening and five blur effects.

Intensity

Choose between five intensity levels from this combo box.

Details

Choose the size of the details that will be emphasized or softened. This combo box controls the radius values that isused. There are five choices from "Very Fine" to "Very Rough".

Mask

The Mask combo box lets you selectively remove the effect from shadows, highlights, skin-colored, blue sky or greentree areas of the image.

3.2.3 Output Sharpening

In the last output sharpening step of a two or three pass workflow we oversharpen the image to compensate for thesharpness loss that will occur later during the display or printing process.


Sharpness

The Sharpness combo box offers five settings from "Very Low" to "Very High". With the Display button activated the"Very Low" setting doesn't sharpen the edges, only the surfaces. The "Medium" setting is sufficient for most images thathaven't been sharpened already. If you apply FocalBlade to an image that was sharpened already, but not sufficiently,you should try the "Low" setting. The "High" and "Very High" settings are usually only recommended in connection withan activated Print button for the purpose of printing photos that have to be viewed at a larger distance. Highly blurredphotos may also benefit from it.

The Sharpness setting determines the value of the Sharpen sliders on the Manual tab sheet.

Output

The Output option offers a display option and various print methods. If you select "Display", you can still enter thedisplay type by using appearing Type combo box. Three print methods are supported: Contone, halftone and inkjet.Generally speaking, if you send your photos to a photo printing service or print them with a dye-sublimation printer, youshould choose the "Contone" option. If you want to print your images or documents at an offset print shop or with a laserprinter, you should choose the "Halftone" option. Then there is a general inkjet and four inkjet brands to choose from.Each output options makes up to three new combo boxes visible for letting FocalBlade know more details about theprint or display process.

If you have one of the print methods selected, you set the zoom combo box below the preview to "Softproof" to see anapproximation of the sharpness of the final print.

Type or Paper

If you selected "Display" from the Output combo box, you will get a new Type combo box with five options: Projector,TV, CRT, Plasma and LCD. With "Projector" any type of projector is meant, but this options has especially videoprojectors in mind. "TV" refers to old fashioned television sets with a cathode ray tube. "CRT" stands for computermonitor using the old CRT technology. "Plasma" means TVs with a plasma display panel. "LCD" can be computermonitors as well as TVs that use the LCD technology.

If you selected halftone or inkjet output, you will be prompted to select the paper type for printing. Also if you use a veryspecial paper type that is not selectable, please chose the option that compares best to your paper. For contone printingyou cannot select a paper type.

Print Resolution

If you selected one of the print output options, you are prompted to enter the print resolution as well as image resolution.If your print resolution lies between the given values please choose the value that comes closest.

Many inkjet drivers do not show a dpi value anymore. Instead they offer descriptions like "Fast", "Standard" or "High".These terms are also displayed in the Print Resolution combo box if you choose the Canon, Epson, HP or LexmarkInkjet output options.

Image Resolution

The image resolution determines at which size the image will be printed. Depending on the selected image resolutionyou see a different print size mentioned in the text line below the Image Resolution combo box. The Auto option of theImage Resolution combo box uses the image resolution that was either assigned when the image was captured orentered when the size of the image was changed. If the Auto option does not show the desired image resolution (so thata wrong print size is shown), you do not need to leave FocalBlade and set another ppi value in your image application.Instead you can choose one of the other available values from the Image Resolution combo box. If your imageresolution lies between the given values please choose the value that comes closest.


In Photoshop's Image Size dialog we entered an image resolution of 300 pixels/inch (ppi) and a print size of 12 x 8 inch.These settings will resize the image to 3600 x 2400 pixel after pressing OK.

For inkjet printing you should resize your image to 300 ppi at your desired print size. If you use an Epson printer you canalso use 360 ppi. Larger ppi values only produce better print quality in special cases. Smaller ppi value can be used forprinting documents or lower quality images.

For continuos tone printing it is best to use the same dpi and ppi value, which means that the image resolution valueshould be identical to the print resolution value.

For halftone output you can either choose the Auto option of the Image Resolution combo box or choose between twoother options. The "lpi * 2" option assumes an image resolution that is twice as large as the print resolution and the "lpi *1.5" option selects a one and a half as large image resolution. For example if you plan to print at 133 lpi, you shouldresize your image in your image application by entering the desired print size and an resolution of 266 ppi. If the printquality is not so crucial, you can also use a factor of 1.5 and 200 ppi.

If this talk of resolution means nothing to you or confuses you, we recommend that you better use Easy Mode, ClassicMode or choose the "One Pass: Classic" workflow option in Advanced mode.

Print Size

The text line at the bottom of the Auto tab sheet display the print size that is reached for the selected image resolution. Itis displayed in inches as well as centimeter. If you did not already have a certain image resolution in mind when sizingthe image to the final output size, you can try different values for the Image Resolution combo box and see which one isthe closest to your desired print size.


3.3 Manual

In Easy Mode, Classic Mode and Advanced Mode the control values on the Manual tab sheets are automatically set bythe options on the Auto tab sheet. For finer control over the sharpening you can additionally use the manual controls.Changing the values of these controls will automatically deactivate the appropriate Auto feature(s) to avoid that themanual controls are reset.

The Manual tab sheet offers there methods: Single Radius, Dual Radius and Adaptive Radius. Although their effect issimilar, Dual Radius offers more possibilities than Single Radius. The Adaptive Radius method offers more options thanthan Dual Radius when it comes to sharpening, but misses a softening/blurring feature. Some settings of the Auto tabsheet require two radius values or softening, so the Method combo box is then automatically switched from SingleRadius or Adaptive Radius to Dual Radius.

The arrow-down button left of the Method combo box displays a menu with several options that are known from Effectcombo box of the Creative pass on the Auto tab sheet. The first five options produce sharpening effects and the otherfive apply blur effects. The blur effects automatically switch the Method combo box to "Dual Radius".

3.3.1 Single Radius

The Single Radius sharpening method is only available in Unsharp Mask mode and Advanced Mode. It is very similar tothe good old Unsharp Mask with the exception that there is no Threshold slider, but a Surface slider. It is probably theeasiest to learn of the three methods, because it only offer three sliders.

The Sharpen slider increases the total intensity of the sharpness effect. A value of zero produces no sharpening at all..


In the right image the pure black areas are the surface areas. The sharpness of these areas is influenced by theSurface slider.

The Surface sliders controls the amount of sharpening applied to the surface areas of the image. A value of zero onlysharpens the edges, a value of 50 applies half as much sharpening to the surfaces than to the edge areas and a valueof 100 sharpens the edges and surfaces with the same intensity. So the Surface controls the percentage of surfacesharpening in relation to the edge sharpening. If the Sharpen slider is set to 200 and the Surface slider to 50, it meansthat the edges are sharpened with 200% (the value of the Sharpen slider) and the surfaces are sharpend with at 50% of200, which is half as much and 100%. Good values for the surface slider lie between 25 and 50.

The Radius slider sets the size of the sharpening kernel. Small values emphasize small image details and large valuesmake larger details more visible.

3.3.2 Dual Radius

The Dual Radius method can assign a different radius for edge and surface areas. It also lets you blur the surface areaswith two different blur effects.

Edges

The controls of the Edges group sharpen the image edges. You can imagine edges as lines between two image areasof different brightness and color. If you imagine a photo as a pencil drawing, the black lines represent the edges.

The Sharpen slider determines the intensity of the sharpness effect that is applied to the edges. The Radius slider onthe other hand lets you choose the size of the details that are emphasized in the edge areas. If you multiply the Radiusvalue by 2 you get the pixel size of the affected details. Details that are smaller than the radius multiplied by 2 will besharpened to a smaller extent.


In the right image the pure black areas are the surface areas whereas the pure white areas are the edges. Everythingthat is mid grey is a mixture of edges and surface areas and influenced by both the Edges and Surface at a varyingdegree.

Surface

The controls of the Surface tab sheet are very similar to those of the Edges tab sheet. However, they only apply aneffect to the surface areas in the image. The surface consists of the uniform areas in an image which have a very similarcolor and brightness. If you imagine a photo as a pencil drawing, the white background and gray filling stands for thesurface.

The Sharpen slider determines the intensity of the sharpness effect that is applied to the surface of objects. TheRadius slider lets you choose the size of the details that are emphasized in the surface areas. If you multiply theRadius value by 2 you get the pixel size of the affected details. Details that are smaller or larger than the Radius * 2 willless emphasized.

The Soften slider which isn't available in the Edges tab lets you smooth the surface areas. This can help to reducenoise in these areas, to weaken a sharpening effect or to give the image a softer look. If both the Sharpen and Softensliders have a value larger than zero, each will weaken the effect of the other. Nevertheless the effect of the slider withthe larger value will prevail.

If the Median check box is not activated the Soften slider uses a regular blur effect. If you activate the Median checkbox, a median blur effect will be used instead. The median effect does not blur image edges as much as the regularblur. It avoids halos around image edge, but needs a longer rendering time. It is only recommended to have the Mediancheck box activated for softening, because its sharpening effect is much coarser. So better deactivate it if you want todo surface sharpening. Median sharpening is only useful for artistic purposes.

3.3.3 Adaptive Radius

The Adaptive Radius method uses a so-called detail map for sharpening each pixel with a different radius value. Theuser can control the minimum and maximum radius values to achieve the desired sharpening effect.

Adaptive

The Sharpen slider increases the intensity of the sharpness effect. A value of zero produces no sharpening at all.


The Surface sliders controls the amount of sharpening applied to the surface areas of the image. A value of zero onlysharpens the edges, a value of 50 applies half as much sharpening to the surfaces than to the edge areas and a valueof 100 sharpens the edges and surfaces with the same intensity. So the Surface controls the percentage of surfacesharpening in relation to the edge sharpening. If the Sharpen slider is set to 200 and the Surface slider to 50, it meansthat the edges are sharpened with 200% (the value of the Sharpen slider) and the surfaces are sharpend with at 50% of200, which is half as much and 100%. Good values for the surface slider lie between 25 and 50.

The Min Radius and Max Radius sliders define the minimum and maximum radius values that are used whenassigning a radius to a pixel according to the detail map. For the best results Min Radius should usually be below 1.0and Max Radius above 2.0. Good values are e.g. 0.5 and 4.0, but even values of 0.0 and 16.0 can create greatsharpening effects.

Usually the Min Radius value should be smaller than the Max Radius value. If you use larger value for Min Radius thanfor Max Radius you will get a less natural appearing sharpening effect.

Detail Map

The detail map tells FocalBlade which areas of an image have smaller details and which have larger ones. Image areasthat have smaller details are sharpened with smaller radius values and larger details in the image are sharpened withlarger radius values.

The Min <-> Max slider lets you shift the balance toward the Min Radius value or towards the Max Radius values.Slider values below 50 assign radius values that are closer to the Min Radius value and slider values above 50 favor theMax Radius value more. This slider can be used to fine-tune the size of details that are emphasized by the sharpening.If you have an image with a lot of fine details, the sharpening can be improved by moving the slider knob to the left. Foran image with many larger details it can help to use values higher than 50.

The Resolution slider controls the fineness of the details map. Higher values create a detail map of higher resolution.This result in more image areas being sharpened with a radius value close to Min Radius.


3.4 Fix

The Fix tab sheet contains controls for suppressing halos, weakening the effect and for removing color noise.

3.4.1 Halos

Halos are the white and black outlines around the edges in the image. They can also appear as grain in surface areas.Halos produce what is perceived as sharpness by the human eye and brain. Without halos there is no sharpeningeffect, but too extreme halos, especially white ones, usually do not look visually attractive. With the four sliders of theHalo group you can produce a very strong sharpening effect while reducing exaggerated halos.

Left Image: No halo reduction was used. Right Image: The default halo reduction settings were used.

The White Halo and Black Halo sliders let you reduce the intensity of the halos that are produced by the sharpeningprocess. You can influence the white and black part of the halos independently with each slider. Usually white halos aremore visible than black ones. Using very high values for both sliders can also reduce the sharpness of the image. In afew cases choosing very different values for both sliders may add an unnatural look.

In some cases it is not possible to remove all halos with the White Halo and Black Halo sliders without weakening thesharpening effect. That is when the White Peak and Black Peak sliders come into play. They use another method forhalo removal that is a bit more aggressive but complement the first method. If the White Halo and Black Halo slidershave a value of zero, the White Peak and Black Peak sliders have no effect. This avoid that artifacts occur. So youshould only use White Peak and Black Peak if White Halo and Black Halo are not sufficient.

The arrow-down button displays a menu with five options. "Default" sets four Halos sliders to the default valuesdefined on the Calibrate tab sheet. "No Halo Reduction" sets all four sliders to zero. The remaining options assign slider


values for light, average and strong halo reduction.

For more tips about halo reduction, please read the Tips page.

3.4.2 Range

The Highlights and Shadows sliders lets you reduce the sharpening or blurring in the highlights and shadows. TheHighlights slider makes sure that the bright areas of the image aren't sharpened or sharpened less. With the Shadowsslider you avoid e.g. noise being sharpening in the shadows and made even more visible. When applying a blur effect,you have more control over the blurring with the help of these two sliders. Setting both sliders to their maximum valuesdoesn't completely remove the sharpening or blur effect. The midtones are still affected.

The Fade slider weakens the overall effect of FocalBlade. At zero the effect is left untouched and at 100 there is noteffect applied. At a value of 50 the effect is only half as strong as before.

3.4.3 Color Noise

The color noise options let you reduce color noise in the image. It does not work with grayscale and CMYK images.

The Remove slider determines the intensity of the color noise removal. A value of 100 is good in most cases.

The Noise Size slider defines the maximum size of the noise to be removed. Higher values remove more noise but canalso have adverse effects on the image. A value around 3.0 is usually sufficient. Please use a higher value if somenoise is still left.

The Resaturate slider increases the saturation of the image to compensate for the desaturation that may occur by thecolor removal. Sometimes a very strong sharpening can also produce a slight desaturation. So you can also use thisslider for compensating that.


3.5 Mask

The Mask tab sheet let you remove the effect from image areas of a certain color as well as adjust the edge mask whichis used to balance the sharpening or blur effect.

3.5.1 Color Protection

The Color Protection group lets you protect up to three colors from being sharpened. This feature does not work withgrayscale, CMYK and Lab images.

In the right image the blue areas were protected from sharpening .

There are three control pairs consisting of a color box and slider. The color box defines a color. The sharpeningeffect can be removed from image areas of that color by using the slider. Clicking on the appropriate color box activatesthe color picker tool and lets you click on the preview to select a color. Clicking on the color picker tool above thepreview automatically displays the Mask tab sheet. Double click the color box to display a color dialog.

The higher the value of the slider, the more the effect is removed from the image area of the defined color. Highervalues also increase the image area from which the effect is removed. For example if you select a yellow color and usea slider value of 80, image areas of a orange or yellow-green color can be affected. So use a low as possible but highenough slider value to get the best effect.


By default the first color box offers a brown color which represents skin tone, the second color box contains a blue colorfor sky areas and the third color box lets you remove the effect from tree/plant areas. You can set these colors again ifyou click on the arrow-down button and select the first three menu items. The forth and fifth items set the first colorbox to a brighter or darker skin color.

3.5.2 Edge Mask

The edge mask is basically a greyscale image that defines the edge and surface areas of the image. It is generated bycalculating the difference between each pixel value and its neighboring pixels. Strong differences are edge areas andweak differences represent surfaces. The edge mask is used to apply different sharpening or blur effects to edges orsurfaces thus creating a more balanced result.

When using the Dual Radius method on the Manual tab sheet the edges are affected by the controls of the Edges groupand the surface areas are controlled by the Surface group of the Manual tab sheet. For the other two methods thesharpening intensity of the surface areas is controls by the Surface slider.

The right image shows the edge mask that was made visible with the N button.

The N and P buttons let you view the edges and surface areas as a greyscale image. N stands for negative and P forpositive. Activating the N button displays the edges as white and the surfaces as black. With the P button it is viseversa. Both options let you visually adjust the edge mask that is used for sharpening or blurring. Don't forget to switchoff the N or P button by clicking on it again, otherwise will produce a special effect after clicking OK. There are similarbuttons called C1, C2, O1 and O2 on the Effects tab sheets. These produce similar effects, but these overlay the imagewith the edges.

Clicking the arrow-down button displays a menu with various options. The "Default" menu item restores the defaultedge mask settings. The "Stronger" and "Weaker" option make the edge mask stronger or weaker. "Version 1 Defaults"reproduces the edge mask setting of FocalBlade 1. "Full Surface" makes the edge mask completely black, which meansthat the surface settings on the Manual tab sheet are applied to the whole image. The "Plain Edges" recreates theoriginal edge mask without any processing.

The Intensity slider lets you increase the intensity of the edges. High values also increase their size. At a value of 255most of the surface areas have vanished from the edge mask whereas low values only weaken the intensity of theedges. At a value of 0 the whole image will be considered as "surface" by FocalBlade, so the settings of the Surface tabwill be applied to the whole image and the settings of the Edges tab won't be used at all.


Activating the check box at the left hand-side of the Intensity slider automatically assigns a value for the Intensity slider,which amplifies the edges without diminishing the surface areas.

The Width slider lets you increase the size of the edges by blurring them. This avoids that the edge mask is too hardthus omitting hard transitions between the edges and surface when sharpening the image. It is best not to choose a toosmall or too large value for this slider. Best keep it at the default value if yo have no reason to choose a different value.

To filter out this noise from the edge mask, you can use the Remove slider. It will help you to remove edges that arethe result of low luma noise. Please be careful to not assign a too high value to this slider, otherwise you may also clipessential edges and thereby prevent them from being sharpened. For images without noise you can use the Removeslider to shrink the edge areas.

The Equalize slider amplifies the weak areas of the edge mask, so that some surface areas are turned into edges. At avalue of -100 many image areas are not sharpened that much, because the usually weaker surface sharpening isapplied. This was the default in Version 1 of FocalBlade. With FocalBlade 2 the default value is zero which makes surethat weaker details are sharpened stronger.

Values below zero of the Contrast slider decrease the contrast of the edge mask. So the difference between edgesand surface areas is reduced. Positive value on the other hand increase the contrast, which makes edges as well assurface areas more defined.

The Lightness slider basically darkens or brightens the edge mask. At a value of 100 the whole image will beconsidered as edges, which means that the Edge settings on the Manual tab sheet will be applied to the whole image. Avalue of -100 will result in surface areas only, so the Surface settings will only be applied to the image. This slider canalso be used to balance the edge and surface settings.


3.6 Effects

The Effects tab sheet is meant for producing special effects. You can apply more than 40 effect settings, create a gloweffect, four edge overlay effects and add grain to the image.

Arrow-down Menu

When you click on the arrow-down button a menu with four sub menu appears. The sub menus are named Art, Blur,Glow and Sharp. Each contains 10 or more effect presets. They do not only change the settings on the Effect tab sheet,they influence all controls of FocalBlade. In FocalBlade 1 they are available as preset files, now they are built intoFocalBlade.

C1, C2, O1 and O2 Buttons

These four buttons overlay the image with the image edges known from the edge mask. Whereas the N and P buttonson the Mask tan sheet are meant for adjusting the edges mask, these options are as a means of achieving specialeffects. While one of them is activated, you can use the Glow slider to colorize the effect. The Edge Mask features onthe Mask tab sheet can be used to adjust the effect in more detail.

Glow

The glow feature emphasizes the outlines of the image objects. Clicking the color box at the left of the Glow slideropens up a color dialog for selecting a color for the glow effect. The default color is white, because that allowscolor-neutral glow effects. Moving the knob of the Glow slider to the right creates a glow effect whereas movements inthe opposite direction apply a black outline effect. If you select another color, e.g. red, negative values will use a cyancolor, which is the opposite color of red in the color wheel.

Additionally the Edge Mask sliders on the Mask tab sheet can be used to adjust the glow effect: For example theIntensity slider intensifies the glow effect, the Width slider widens it, the Remove slider shrinks it and the Lightnessslider brightens it a bit.

Grain

The grain options let you add a grain to the image. This can increase the perceived sharpness of the image or make ablur effect look more natural.

The Distribution combo box gives you the choice between three types of grain: Uniform, Gaussian and Laplacian.Uniform noise looks a bit flat and even, because it distributes itself equally over the image. Gaussian noise has a wilddistribution pattern and laplacian noise additionally contains pure white and black dots. So gaussian and laplacian noiseappear more like film grain whereas uniform noise looks more "digital". The Intensity slider controls the intensity of thenoise. Use a lower value for it if you do not want the viewer to notice the noise at first sight.


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