questions: v1 suffix et al

[madhg]

I've been using PWP for years, and I'm trying out 8 Beta. Many time-saving improvements, such as purple fringe removal - superb - and auto proportions in warp.

In PWP7 I normally increase local contrast using unsharp mask with radius 40, threshold 0, max halo limit, and amount usually between 18 and 22, occasionally higher. I haven't yet worked out how to get a similar effect in PWP8, with unsharp mask or bilateral sharpen, but will study the documentation more closely. Meanwhile I process with PWP8 first, and then use PWP7 for the final USM step.

Minor questions:

can I get rid of the automatic addition of v1 to filename? Other than by deleting the _v1 every time I save.

can I get the color curves dialog to default to what is confusingly called "histogram", actually a pair of (initially) mirror-image curves?

Many thanks to Jonathan for his amazing work on 8, and over the years,
David

[jsachs]

Bilateral Sharpen with a large radius will do better local contrast enhancement than unsharp mask as it has much less haloing. Try halo limits around 10%, blur radius 80, blur threshold 4%, sharpen factor 2, sharpen threshold 0 -- as a starting point.

In File Preferences, you can set the Default Curve Options, but it affects all transformations.

Version numbers are added to files because if you save back over the original image you lose all the advantages of non-destructive editing and will no longer be able to apply a script file to the original image to get the final image and you will not be able to re-work the image later.

[madhg]

Thanks Jonathan, that's very helpful.

I see the advantages of version numbering and saving the script; but I'm not serious enough about getting the best possible image to want to keep that information. I process the original file, and when I'm reasonably satisfied, save in a different directory from the originals and go on to the next. If I'm later dissatisfied, I can always start again from the original. So, many of the features of PWP8 are very useful for me, but not all.

best wishes,
David

[Charles2]

With PWP 7 I too used to save when I had a reasonable result, maybe writing myself a note or two of crucial adjustments. The scripts in PWP8 and the stack of images are great. I can re-open with the script, then edit transformations and do a new one at any point in the stack of images.

For what it might be worth, here is another recipe for local contrast.
--Add a side branch.
--Use it to create a high pass filter, which is under Sharpen. I start with radius 3.
--Below the source image, Composite | Soft Light with the High Pass abstracted image as the overlay. Adjust amount to taste.

[madhg]

I've tried out bilateral sharpen and unsharp mask, starting from Jonathan's suggested default settings. Many of my recent photos are landscapes. I find that with these or similar settings, bilateral is good at bringing out contrast in shadow areas, and USM is good in fairly bright areas. It's the brighter areas that I often want to enhance, so I use USM but mask off the sky, including clouds. That reduces the bright halo as well as preventing blowing highlights in cloud.