What's Going on with Sagelight Editor?

If you're here on this page, then you noticed that the discussion board is temporarily down.

I want to let you know how soon it will be back up, and to also let you in on what kind of things are going on with the editor, in terms of new technology being developed and an update on version 4.0.


Unfortunately, version 4.0 has been delayed for various reasons.  There have been some issues that have now been solved -- and there is also much new technology and code developed for Sagelight, getting it all in in a way that makes sense has delayed the progress of getting it out!

There should be a version of 4.0 out in the next few weeks.

Until then, below is a discussion on a one of the many segments of new code and technology that has been developed for version 4.0.

The discussion board will be back up in just a couple days.  Until then, I wanted to write about what is going on to let you know.

Please send me any e-mails at rob@sagelighteditor.com



 		Special Offer.

Because we're late with version 4.0, we're currently offering a lifetime license with sales of Sagelight Editor. 

Here is what you get with a current purchase before 4.0 is released.

  • Lifetime license. This means you get upgraded and updated for free, forever, at no charge.
  • Cheaper Price.  The price of Sagelight will raise to at least $79.95 (because of all the new technology).  With a lifetime license, you get it for the current price of $39.95, and never have to pay an upgrade fee.

If you:

Bought Sagelight Editor at the regular price?   You have already been upgraded to a lifetime license.

Bought the Pay What You Want Promotional Version?  Just pay the difference between the current price and your purchase price.  Send an e-mail to rob@sagelighteditor.com with your purchase information.
Super Vibrance in Sagelight

Super Vibrance in Sagelight.

To the left is the original image.
The center is a middle setting of one slider movement.
the right image is a more aggressive setting.
One of the items developed for version 4.0 is not just an implementation on the Vibrance technology in Lightroom, but an advancement on it.  Sagelight has always been about having options.  Otherwise, you get the "Lightroom Look" or the "Sagelight Look", or "Whatever-Editor-you-use Look", because all of the defaults are the same, usually controlled by just one slider.

A General Definition of Vibrance

This definition comes from Adobe:

 Vibrance: Adjusts the saturation so that clipping is minimized as colors approach full saturation. Vibrance also prevents skintones from becoming over saturated.

But, it's not exactly a complete definition, at least the way that Vibrance is usually executed.   Vibrance also tends to deepen the light of the most saturated areas.  In the picture to the left, for example, you can see that not only do the colors themselves get deeper, but so does the light.  The light in the background, for example, is much darker.

This may be an unintended after-effect, since Adobe's defintion of Vibrance suggests it's a clamped form of saturation.  But, saturation by itself will usually increase or lower the brightness in very subtle ways, or leave it alone.


The deepening of the light is a good after-effect, and I include this effect when I use the term Vibrance.  Why?  Two reasons:

1. The depening of the luminance is a great factor in adding more color to an image.  To richly saturate an image without first lowering the brightness is often impossible.  This is a function of the Vibrance effect (as used by Adobe), as opposed to something performed purposely.  This has to due with the color model used by Adobe with the Vibrance algorithm.   This color model (HSB), however, can lead to edge problems with many images.  This can be seen with the Vibrance function, and this is another reason I separate this effect from saturation, in general.

2. One of the advances made with Sagelight is to conform to the exact definition used above:  To increase the saturation of an image without changing the light and without clipping that can cause colors to become flat, such as deep reds, greens, and so-forth.

The purpose here is to demonstrate just one element in the new version of Sagelight coming in a few weeks.  Just keep in mind the lifetime deal going on right now.

Advancements made to the science with Sagelight

True Color Saturation

One of the problems with Saturation is that it can often go towards a general tint in an image.  For example, a sky can often go cyan, or a flower yellow.  This is typically due to the color model used for the saturation.  In general, C*I*E LAB, Hunter LAB, XYZ-based, and HSB color models are used for saturation.  These can cause problems with the directional shift of the colors as the image is being saturated.

Sagelight uses HSL saturation (as well as C*I*E LAB, Hunter Lab, XYZ, HSB, and a new saturation within the RGB model) for one algorithm.  HSL saturation can have the best fidelity in keeping the pure color, but has problems with the luminance, causing the image to become neon-like or filled with edge problems.

We've developed a true-light saturation that uses HSL saturation but keeps the light steady.  Interestingly enough, this fits the original definition of "Vibrance", even though it is not used this way in Lightroom and other editors. 

Example:


Original Image
Saturated Image (Lightroom)
Saturated Image (Sagelight)

In the above set of images, the non-Sagelight saturated image starts to go into the yellows.  The Sagelight Image with the HSL-based/corrected saturation runs more torwards the primaries.  So, the Greens are greener and the brown fur is a deeper brown.

Sagelight offers multiple saturation methods that give different results, depending on what you're looking for.  Sagelight offers HSL, HSB, C*I*E Lab, Hunter Lab, RGB-based, and other forms of saturation, depending on the needs of your image

Vibrance Applied to the Same Image

As we apply the concept of "Vibrance" to the image, you can see that the Sagelight RGB Vibrance image moves more to the deeper browns and reds, making the coat look much deeper.

The traditional vibrance method causes all of the colors in the image to run into a yellow cast, which reduces depth in the image.
Traditional Vibrance (Lightroom/Sagelight)
Sagelight RGB Vibrance Method


More Examples.

Below are more examples of images enhanced with Sagelight's new saturation algorithms or Vibrance methods.

Example 2.

Original Image
Sagelight HSL/corrected saturation
Traditional Vibrance (Lightroom/Sagelight)

Example 3.


Original Image
Sagelight RGB-based Vibrance
Traditional Vibrance

Example 4.


Original Image
Sagelight LHC-based Color Adjust
Vibrance (Lightroom)

Example 5.

Sagelight Adaptive True-Color Vibrance
Getting things done with just one function

With the raw pictures from cameras coming out better and better these days, this also gives us more to work with.

Color has become a very powerful part of editing photographs.  Just a few years ago, adding a lot of color would cause edges and color cast problems.  Digital cameras are much better now, so we can do more with them without causing problems.

Adaptive Vibrance

To the right is an example of Sagelight's Adaptive vibrance. Typically, Vibrance deepens the colors and the light (which is typically a desired effect).  With Adaptive Vibrance, the Sagelight algorithm adjusts how the gray value is interpreted, so that shadow areas become slightly brighter, while deepening the colors of the brighter areas.

In this example, this means that the 'after' image was done with just one click!

There is a Sagelight video tutorial that uses this example with the mix colors.  The result is about the same (though this picture can use  touch of contrast to finish it off).


Original Image


Image Adjusted with One Click (Sagelight Adaptive RGB-Based Vibrance)

Example 6

High Saturation and Color
When you just want to go for it

The image to the right is clearly very highly saturated.  You don't want to do this with all picture, but sometimes it is a nice thing to have.

This image was also created with Sagelight's Adaptive Vibrance function.  The, just a little contrast was added.  The result is an extremely color-rich picture that starts to look more like artwork than anything else.

Until recently, the idea of getting this type of saturation out of an image with just two slider movements (the Vibrance and then Contrast adjust) was not too realistic.

The Saturation of Saturation

This page has a lot of color in it, and all of the images are image-wide changes.  Many times you don't want a lot of color in your entire image.  For example, the image to the right is purposely highly saturated like the pictures you find on the placement in a roadside diner.

So, what's the point?

First, this page is only about color, so it probably seems like a bit much.
Second, Sagelight is about having powerful controls, so the idea is that you can create entire images full of color (like the woman above), but you can also selectively keep or remove the color you want.

You can mix-and-match.

With the butterfly picture (above), for example.  I like the deep golden/brown color and purple flower that I got with the Vibrance control.  But, I might want to use the Undo Brush and then the Dodge and Burn brush on the green.  Just keeping part of the vibrance result and then using the Dodge and Burn brush would make the butterful and flower stand out even more. 

So, sometimes having all of this color over the entire image can be overwhelming, and, even though the capability is here to do it easily, sometimes you just want to back off in certain areas while keeping others.  For me, that's always been the point of editing -- highlighting some features and de-emphasizing others.  The new Vibrance and Saturation controls in Sagelight give more power along those lines.


Conclusion

This web-page is just one example of the many features available in the upcoming Sagelight 4.0.  It is being worked on fairly aggressively right now and will be released as soon as possible.

Current sales of Sagelight come with a lifetime license, so not only don't you have to worry about getting upgraded to versions 4,5,6, and on (at no charge), but you also get Sagelight cheaper, since the price will raise with 4.0.

The discussion board will be back up in just a couple more days.
Original Image
Sagelight RGB-based Vibrance