It's never simple with software, is it?

I have switched from Chrome browser to Brave. I ditched Chrome because of their habit of disabling addons that were no long on their webstore, or didn't have adware it.  Brave installed, and install all those addons, even the ones they no longer have because the violate their policies (aka no adware, no paid for content etc).

Then came the fun part; having to figure out which one was screwing up page layouts.  Turns out it was Google's 'new' addon replacement for the one they took down.  Disabled the new and improved, installed the 'old and lousy' , and everything's working perfectly.

Hey, I didn't request that

Hey Skype; I didn't ask for, request your Bing chat bot, or Skype chat bot to be attached to my Skype account/window. It's bad enough you turned the desktop program into a mobile phone look-a-like. 

On1 Giveaway, no strings attached.

ON1, for a limited time, is giving away ON1 Effects version 2023.5 for free (license to own, not a subscription).

ON1 Effects can be used as a standalone, or as a plug-in Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, Capture One, Affinity Photo, Apple Photos, and Corel Paint Shop Pro.

To download ON1 Effects 2023.5 for free, anyone can visit https://www.on1.com/effects by January 31st

New and Improved?

Once again, I tried Topaz Labs. They have come out with "New and improved" versions of their AI software. I coughed up the money, and 'renewed' my yearly plan (not going to renew it again, for reasons that will follow.) But I was willing to give it another shot.

I loaded an Olympus ORF file into Topaz DeNoise. It did ok, but left the image kind of dull and flat. So, I closed that, and opened Topaz Sharpen AI, opened the same ORF file. It does have a rudimentary denoise function. But the finished results again were lacking.

To use the Topaz software, you need to open them in another program, adjust exposure, then use one Topaz plugin after another. And although you can get good results, the Sharpen AI takes a long time (6 minutes).   

On1 NoNoise 23: opened the same Olympus ORF file in NoNoise. Not only was I able to remove the noise, but I could also sharpen the image at the same time. And it was finished in about 30 seconds.  If I want to have even more editing, I could open file in On1PhotoRaw, get it all done in about a minute.

On1 for the win, again

If you want true AI noise reduction on your photos

I have used many different noise reduction programs, starting way back when NoiseNinja was all the rage. Noise reduction software has improved immensely. Here are the ones I have used.

Define, by NIK and Google, and finally DxO: The results are good , but I have found it would either smooth things too much, and leave behind artifacts. You can use the brush tool to 'paint' the areas you want noise removed. It is a bit slow to process the image.

On1 NoNoise; Wow. Yes, it removes noise but you also have the options of regaining some detail, or sharpness, or how strong the noise removal has to be. It's not just fast to show you, it is fast. Any changes made you instantly see. I have found that when I use NoNoise, I don't need any sharpening on the image.

Topaz DeNoise: If you started this program without me seeing the splash screen, I would have though it was On1 NoNoise because of the layout and tool arrangement. That's where the resemblance stopped. Topaz DeNoise is Slow. Slow to process any change in the pre-processing window, even if you want to just center the photo. Slow to update changes. Detail recovery is slow, and clumsy. Use of any of the sliders makes the program crawl.

I'm sticking with NoNoise.

Kerhisting hell! Could they have made it more fiddly?

Setting up the MyGov, the MyGovID, and SafeWA apps on my phone.  After 8 different codes, and multiple attempts to import my COVID vax proof... ARGH! 

I would fully understand, that although the information is important, why some people would just say "Screw it!".

That was very sneaky of you, DxO

After using NIK software for so long (close to 20 years, through three different companies, NIK, Google, and DxO) when an actual update to Viveza and Silver EfexPro, I went to the download page, saw this small graphic, eye bending colors with no real cohesion, it meant nothing to me really. More on that later.

I downloaded it, installed it, bought it, as I had no reason not to (again more on that later) and activated it.

Now, I still use Adobe CS6 Extended. It works great, and all the major players plugins (On1, Topaz, Exposure) work with it.

Here's "More On That Later" - I fired up CS6, tried Viveza3, and got "Not enough Ram" error. Whohuhwha?

I started the older than CS6 version of Lightroom, and Viveza3 and SilverEfex Pro worked perfectly.
So, I tried it again in my newer than the Lightroom version CS6 and still got the Not Enough Ram message.

I send off a support request.

Turns out that small graphic on their sale/download page, if blown up 5 or 6x is legible. Colors are still eye-watering, though. Sneaky SOBs no longer allow CS6 and DxO NIK 4 (a misnomer, as only a few of the plugins have truly been updated)

As for then v3 of Viveza and Silver EfexPro: bloated, clunky, and next to impossible to figure out how to use. In my opinion, it was as if they tried to keep the old workflow and jammed it together with other brands work flow (*coughOn1cough*)

Good thing for me I had the last version of DxO NIK v3 installation file saved. I uninstalled v4, reinstalled v3, and all is well with the world.

Since I stupidly presumed that the 'updated' version would work with my current editing program, I activated it. No refund for me. I hope they have a nice lunch on me.

My opinion: Keep NIK v3x as is, and use other software to get what you need. Hey, since their new version of Viveza and SilverEfex Pro looks a lot like On1, how about just getting On1?

I've been doing some reading on photography forums

And it seems that with the exception of hard core professional photogs that use a lot of tools that come in Photoshop, the main reason people keep subscribing/renting it is because of Adobe Camera Raw, which Adobe makes sure will only work up to a certain version of Photoshop (ie 6.7 with CS5, 9.1 with CS6. IMO, Adobe *could* have but didn't make ACR usable with other versions, and not for the reasons they claimed.)

There are ways around getting stuck with renting Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom, and to keep using your older version of Photoshop.

1: Don't fall for the often misunderstood phrase "No Longer Supported" if you update your computer's OS.  All that means is you will have to make GOOGLE search your friend if you  have a problem using CS5 with Windows 10. Or ask a tech savvy friend. If that tech savvy friend says "Subscribe to Abobe" they aren't as tech savvy as they claim.

2:  Use the Adobe DNG converter. This will take your proprietary raw files and turn them into 'open source' digital negatives. I've done this when I had CS5 and got new camera.  Guess what? Exact same result editing the DNG in CS5 as I got when I edited Canon's proprietary CR2 and Olympus' ORF file in CS6.

3: Find a different program to use as your camera raw editor. Yes, people keep chanting "Adobe is the industry standard", not realizing or caring that it was Adobe company itself that branded itself the industry standard.  There are many other camera raw editors you can use, and then 'punt' the resulting JPG into whatever 'old' version of Photoshop you have. I do suggest, do you due diligence when looking for raw editor.  There are many that are way over priced for what they do.  A few are so slow and clunky.

My PERSONAL experiences are thus so far, in no particular order:

1: CaptureOne - no denying it is a great photo editor, but for the average hobbyist, or learning photographer, it's way over loaded in features. It is also THE most expensive editing program out there.  Their 2020 version runs at $515.00 AUD for a single user license, or $35AUD to 'rent' it.

2: DxO Labs - Their latest version is fantastic. I have nothing negative to say about it. It has the best lens correction catalog, and if your particular camera/lens combo isn't on your hard drive, DxO will search and have it available for download if possible.  It has not only adjustment brushes/gradients, but it also incorporates the U-Point tech of Nik. DxO has solved issues with certain photos for me. Definitely not overpriced for everything you get. Currently, you can get it for $ 189, no subscription.

3:On1PhotoRaw - Camera raw editor on steroids is how I described it to a friend. Not only do you get everything that is in the latest version of Adobe Camera Raw, it comes with tools found in Photoshop, too.  You can use On1 as a standalone editor, not just as RAW editor, or as a plug in for Photoshop (caveat being if you can open the raw image in Photoshop). Pricing varies to $99 to buy it, or an extra $50 to subscribe to On1Plus. On1Plus isn't software, it's priority support, webinars, workshops, and other goodies thrown into the mix. It does have a few shortfalls (they removed Focal Point (creating a focus region bokeh effect), which is what keeps me running Windows 7 on another hdd (dual boot system) because I have their older software on that computer, which does have Focal Point.

4: Exposure X5 (the software previously known as Alienskin Exposure) - This is a great all-in-one camera raw editor.  And if it  had come out with this prior to my deciding to use On1, it would have given On1 a run for my money.  It has many of the same tools, features and functions as On1, but it also has some that are no longer available in On1 (creating a focal point/region focus). I've also found it less of a system resource hog than On1. I have been getting reacquainted with how to use Exposure.  Yeah, it's that good.  Pricing varies (I suggest if you can, get the bundle. Well worth the $149)

There are others, Affinity (great software for it's pricing). I've imported finished JPGs into Affinity to use some of the features and tools they have, that none of the others do.

Skylum Luminar, Windows version: earlier versions work better than their latest release.  If you have 2018, stick with it. I swear it was as if they released buggy beta versions on the general public. I typically use it only as a plug in for Photoshop because of this.

So, there it is. And remember, this is just my opinion and experiences. Depending on your computer, your experiences may be different.

Well, that's annoying

It seems that after all these years of buying TopazLabs/Topaz software for photoediting, paying a premium price for "Lifetime updates", the owners of the company have decided to go the subscription model. They sent out a smarmy email, with a link to a lackluster blog post from "Eric" as to why they were doing this. I don't care.  Every one of my purchases came with the "Lifetime updates" in the contract. 

This isn't a case like with Slysoft, who just changed their name, and invalidated everyone's current lifetime updates (IMO, it was like if Ford changed their name to Cord, and then told everyone who just bought their extended warranties they were no longer valid, because Ford didn't exist anymore). Topaz and Topaz Labs are still being owned and operated by the same people.  Also, the claim of a better product?  Seriously, for what I paid, I could use On1 PhotoRaw and Photoshop and get the same results without using Topaz. 

So, why do I use Topaz products? The LIFE TIME UPDATES is why.  That is what they contracted with me for, and that is what they're trying to renege on. 

Can anyone say "Class Action Lawsuit"?

It's my computer, is it? Bull$hit!

After weeks of Corel support telling me it was my computer, or my other software that was preventing WinDVD12 to play disc folders, guess who just put out an updated that "Fixes known issues"

My computer, huh?  Yeah, only because Corel had massive bugs in it.

But yes, it's always easier for them to blame the users' hardware, or other software.

I am seriously torn between which photo raw editing program to use, that isn't Adobe.

I love On1 PhotoRaw, but the stand alone has problems that seem to crop up with every iteration since before it was name for years (aka on1 2018, 2019 etc etc) 

With the latest version, On1 PhotoRaw 2020, when using it as a stand alone, my graphics tablet is almost unusable with the local adjustment brushes. At first I thought it was because I was watching a video on 2nd monitor, so I shut that down. And I made sure nothing else was playing/running other than ordinary computer programs.

The second the stylus tip touched the tablet, not only did the cursor move glacially slow, if at all, but the program would have the "Not Responding" in the program window frame. When that vanished, SOMETIMES what I was trying to do succeeds, but more often than not, I end up with some weird brush stroke adjustment somewhere it doesn't belong.

That being typed, if I use On1 PhotoRaw 2020 as a PLUGIN with Photoshop, I don't get those horrible slow downs.  But having to the the Raw adjustments, then punt the JPG into Photoshop, shut down On1, only to launch it as a plugin isn't a very efficient workflow

DxO PhotoLab 3 standalone.  About the same price to buy/upgrade as On1.  And I am sad to say that I can do all the adjustment brushes I want without it turning  my computer into an 8088.  I might not have all my nifty presets and custom brushes in it (yet) but performance-wise, it's much better than On1 2020 Standalone.

It took about 2 hours of trial and error

Because On1 no longer uses the same authentication service, some really great OnOne tools that didn't make their way into the latest versions of On1 PhotoRaw could no longer be installed. 

This really sucks because OnOne Focal Point was the best DOF plugin I had ever tried.  And this is coming form someone who has AlienSkin Bokeh 3!  So, even though I have Windows 10 up and running properly (so far so good) I can't install the OnOne suite that had Focal Point on the Win10 boot drive.  Nor could I install PhotoTools Professional on the Win 10 boot drive.  Good thing for me I have them installed on the Windows 7 boot drive.

But here's the conundrum: One the Windows 7 drive, there is something in the latest On1 plugins that won't let the older plugins work.  If I pulled the On1PhotoRaw plugins out of the Photoshop plugin directory, the older OnOne plugins worked.  So, it became a case of trial and error juggling these four OnOne/On1 products between Adobe CS6E and Adobe CC:

On1 PhotoRaw 2019
Perfect PhotosSuite 5.5.4
Perfect PhotoSuite 9
PhotoTools 2.6 Professional.

This is what I finally got.

Adobe CS6E: I can use Focal Point 2, PhotoTools 2.6, and just On1 PhotoRaw 2019 Develop plugins.  Doesn't matter I don't have the On1 Portrait or Effects plugin, because when you launch the Develop one, you can just click on over to Effects, Portrait, or Local adjustments.  But I can't use any of the Resizing plugins.  That's ok, I can use AlienSkin BlowUp.

Adobe CC:  I can use Focal Point 2, PhotoTools 2.6, On1 PhotoRaw Develop and Effects plugins.  BUT I can also use all the Perfect PhotoSuite 9 plugins, including Perfect Resize.  Yay, go me.

Now, this is if I am using Adobe Bridge and Adobe Camera Raw. Yes, even though On1PhotoRaw is wonderful, I import the finished image into Photoshop, and there are plugins/tools I have there that On1PhotoRaw just doesn't have.

Part of me wants to upgrade my Win 7 boot drive to Windows 10 just to see if those plugins will still work, but, I am going to err on the side of caution (even though I have a clone of the Win 7 drive as a back up) and since it ain't broken, I'm not going to fix it.  If I have to stay with Windows 7 to do photo editing, so be it. 

Nerdz Ruul!

Wow, I remember when having a 10mb hdd was a lot of room.

Today, I got my fully functioning Windows 1903 (build 18362.239) that was on a small 500gb drive, onto a 2tb drive.  All is working. The only issue I had was RoboForm AI whining about it not being activated.  Seeing as Windows 10 is the only place I have this version of Robo AI on it, I just reactivated it, disregarding the "this will deactivate from the other machine!"

Cloning your HDD to a larger HDD or even to an SSD shouldn't be so fekking fiddly. But it was. After two days of trial and error (making sure to NOT do anything that would endanger the 500gb drive) it's done! 

Wow, I remember when having a 10mb hdd was a lot of room. 

"NEW AND IMPROVED" not always a good thing

Too often, I see people getting caught up in what I call the iPhile loop. Regardless of what the item is, they have the get the NEWEST version, even if the one they have is perfectly serviceable and works. Even to the point of camping out to be FIRST!

This goes for phones, cameras, computers, cars. Are some of the newer phones better/packed with more features? Sure, but will I USE those new features? Probably not. I wouldn't have gotten a new phone, just a new phone plan, if Alan's phone wasn't dying. He inherited my S7, I got an S9.

Cameras. Same thing, do some of the newer ones have better features? *SOMETIMES*. I have found that different abilities/features aren't necessarily better, or of any use.

Computers? Doesn't matter what you get/build. It will be 'obsolete' in 3 to 6 months.

Cars? Given regular maintenance, they can last well over a decade. So what it doesn't have the latest GPS or bluetooth.

Software? Sometimes the old adage of "IF it ain't broken, don't fix it" applies. I have on many occasions rolled back to earlier version of certain programs because the older versions work better. (One example, Luminar 3. It was a complete disaster. IMO, they released a beta test, and then when the complaints about it crashing, hardlocking the computer, failing, they blamed the person's computer. Regardless how kick ass of a machine they had).

I have my cameras. They work and I like them. I know most of their workings inside and out. I don't see the need to get the newest version. If anything, I'm thinking of trading in something to get an OLDER camera that will suit my needs.

EaseUS.. you suck

I had a HDD go RAW due to a power flicker. I started running EaseUS Partition Master to recover it.  Wanting to make sure I was doing the right thing, I started a support chat with EaseUS tech support.

The agent, Warren, told me that none of my programs would work. EaseUS Partition Master, nor M3 RAW Drive recovery.  He told me to cancel the Partition recovery I was doing.

He then put some program on my computer called WinHex, and did something for about 90 minutes, saying he recovered this but it would cost me a couple hundred dollars for a full recovery service.  He kept pressuring me, and using scare tactics saying the files would deteriorate if they weren't recovered right away.

I paid, and started running the program he set up... then it crashed.  I emailed support about it, got nothing but an autoreply, so I went back to using M3 RAW drive recovery, which recovered EVERYTHING.

Yes, Warren, you LIED to me.  I will be contacting my bank to have the charge reversed.

So, if you need to recover a RAW Drive, do NOT use EaseUS products. Use M3 RAW Drive Recovery.  It not only fixed the partition, I was able to shift the files from that drive to another after, clearing it off, as I had planned to do this weekend.

Even though OLW 0.6.3 or 0.6.2 doesn't display the right WP Template

They are the only ones that will post to one of my blogs.  It's kind of a pain.  Turns out I should have kept Office 2007 instead of upgrading to 2010 a while back, because you can't connect or post to certain blogs with Word 2010, but can with 2007.  But Microsoft won't allow two installation Office. I can edit Typepad entries with Semagic, but I can't POST to Typepad with Semagic.

Why can't programmers get together and cooperate?  Hell no, that is too much to ask for.

Ok, but some will have no need to bother.

Skylum has come out with Luminar Flex, which as far as I can tell, is Luminar 3 but without the system crashing 'cataloging' feature.

It claims to support Lightroom (classic) and Photoshop, but the plugin didn't install in Photoshop CS6, even though there was nothing about what VERSION of Photoshop as in it had to be "Creative Cloud" (aka Rent me Forever)  As I have typed before, I have an older version of CC on my computer, and it just sits there for issues like this. I installed Luminar Flex, then went into Programs\Common Files\Adobe\PhotoshopCC\ and copied it over to the Photoshop CS6 (and CS5)directory, and it works without a problem.

Skylum claimed it was a freebie for those who purchased that disaterous Luminar 3, but I had to use one of my Luminar 3 license activations to use it (I will be emailing them regarding that).  As for Flex's functionality, it's much better than Luminar 3. As I am old school, and make my own catalogs of photos, and events, the cataloging feature was of no use to me, so having Flex as a straight up plugin works much better for my work flow.  I still use On1PhotoRaw for developing and the majority of the 'heavy lifting', but sometimes, I have to add a little something from other photo processing programs that On1 lacks.  (Sorry, On1, you know I'm a big fan, but even well known On1 photographers use Lightroom for other tweaks).

If your system can handle Luminar 3 (mine is no slouch, but even with this beast, Luminar 3 would grind things to a glacial crawl) there's no real need for Flex.  But for me, personally, Flex is a much better fit than Luminar 3 in my Photoshop workflow.

Back in the day I didn’t have a RAW processor

Nor did I know how to use it, I shot all my photos as high res JPGs. Now, everyone knows that now there are raw editors, and I alos know how to use them now, but what to do with the old JPGs? Are they to be relegated to the "Meh" category? Enter Topaz Labs to the rescue with Topaz JPEG to RAW AI. Now this doesn't just convert the image to a DNG, but carefully, with what AI they use, convert it into a RAW editable image.

I chose one image, applied the same edits, with the exception of lens corrections which is not available in JPG editing.

Here is the jpg, edited with camera raw.

 

Here’s the same one, but pre-processed with Topaz JPEG to RAW AI:

 

The difference in the full sized images are amazing.   Now, I have a lot more work to get done, going through older images, that I liked, but just could not get them edited the way they should be.

Quick fix for everyone with Win10 explorer not showing Camera Raw thumbnails

I present to you!

Fast Picture Viewer Codecs

For the HUGE currently on sale sum of $9.99 for a single user license, you can once again be able to view your camera raw files in Win10 Windows Explorer, and in programs that rely on Window Explorer to select and view CR2, ORF, NEF  etc etc etc… 

I had purchased Fast Picture Viewer and the codec pack years ago to use on my computer years ago to be able to view Camera Raw files because Adobe Bridge CS6 was glacially slow in showing the images. 

Luminar 3

Proof that the previous version is more versatile for me. Now I know so many people whined about Luminar having no Digital Asset Management, but that was never an issue with me.  I would always make folders on the day, by category etc etc. 

Don't get me wrong, Luminar 3 is a powerful editing tool, but I find it's layout, slow and clunky. The DAM slows the program down to a crawl.  I guess you could point where your images are to an empty directory so there’s no gallery to build, navigate to the photos you want to edit,  THEN do your edits.  I'd rather know where my raw file is, and open it that way, than wait to slog through Luminar 3, or wait 5 minutes for it to be re-indexing the gallery! 

However,  using Luminar 3 as a plugin in either Photoshop or Lightroom is a a lot quicker than trying to use Luminar 3 FROM Luminar three, but it seems to take an unduly long time for the splash screen to go away.

I haven't seen any real difference between Luminar 2018 and Luminar 3 when being used as a plugin, so if you're happy with Luminar 2018, stay with it, because the cobbled together DAM built into Luminar 3 is more a pain in ass, than as asset.