Sagelight Version 4.3 Release Notes

 

Version 4.3 was released in June, followed by version 4.4.

 

The upcoming version 4.5 will be the last Version4 release before version 5 is started.

 

Version 4.4 is an update to version 4.3, consisting of items that were scheduled for version 4.3 but were developed later.  See the release notes for version 4.4 here: Version 4.4

 

Downloading Sagelight

 

You can download the Lastest version of Sagelight editor from http://www.sagelighteditor.com/LatestUpdate.exe

 

The 30-day free trial can be downloaded from http://www.sagelighteditor.com/install_trial.exe

 

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4.3 Release Notes

 

Release Notes Summary

 

 

 

Full Notes

 

 

Sagelight now has a number of Single-Frame HDR functions. These functions are designed to be used for both photographic and artistic/effect-driven purposes.

 

With HDR functions and the associated controls (as well as the Undo Brush here and there), you can bring out fine details in your image, recover highlights, give your image an extra punch, or make it look like a great HDR artistic image from a single frame.

 

Now that cameras today are so far along, with both RAW and JPEG, getting HDR from single frames is very possible. Many of the results with Single-Frame HDR look just as good as multi-frame HDR.

 

 

Features

 

 

More Notes on the HDR Functions

 

HDR Details

 

HDR Details can bring out the fine details in your image, and can create great photographic effects without making the image look artificial, such as the image above.

 

You can also create real HDR-like effects:

 

 

The main difference is in how much HDR power you put into it, and how you blend the image with the easy-to-use blending controls in the HDR functions.

 

HDR Highlights

 

HDR Highlights allows you to work with highlights in your image, to recover them, or to bring out great definition in your overall image. This also includes the “Blend Curve”, giving you some great blending power, which can create great effects in your image.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vivid Photo

 

The Vivid Photo HDR function can bring out great color and definition in your image with subtle HDR controls and effects. The image above, for example, was processed with the Vivid Photo HDR function.

 

The main purpose for this function is to bring out depth and color in your image without losing any realism.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stark HDR

 

Stark HDR is much like the Black and White HDR, but for color images. You can create moody and stark images with this function.

 

 

 

 

Artistic HDR

 

The Artistic HDR function lets you create more artistic HDR images, such as the train station above. With the multiple controls and control over your image, you can create some interesting effects very easily.

 

 

HDR Panel (Pro Function)

 

The HDR Panel is a Pro-level function. This gives you complete and entire control over the HDR process, allowing you to explore your own directions and experiment with the HDR functions. All of the other HDR functions can be created with this panel.

 

 

 

 

Power Details is based on the CLAHE (Contrast-Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization) algorithm, with a lot of Sagelight additives to make it work well for your picture, either to add realistic definition or to create artistic effects.

 

The image above, for example, was created with the Power Details function, with a mixture of artistic effect while keeping an amount of photo-realism (half-and-half).

 

See the next section for a photographic example.

 

Power Details Highlights

 

Power Details Highlights is similar to the HDR highlights, except that it is harsher on purpose, giving you great contrast easily.

 

The above example was made with the default settings and just a little push of the “Blend Curve” slider. This is an example of how the Power Details can add definition to your image while keeping the photorealism.

 

Note the much higher definition in the clouds and overall contrast, adding impact to the image.

 

 

 

Power Details Panel (Pro Function)

 

This gives you even more access to work with the Power Details. The Power Details Panel is a pro-level function, and gives you an amazing array of control over your image.

 

 

 

 

 

One Shot Functions give you a very easy way to instantly create different effects for your image, both photographic and artistic. Consisting of over 35 different presets from the various new HDR functions, the One-Shot HDR functions also give you control over other factors. They’re easy to use, and you can then use the other HDR functions to do even more.

 

 

 

Retinex is a fairly well-known HDR algorithm that generates local contrast. It can be used to brighten up images or to create interesting effects.

 

The above example was created using the Retinex function.

 

Here is a link to the NASA page on Retinex: http://dragon.larc.n...tinex/pao/news/ – this has many examples of what Retinex can do, but is also far from showing all the things you can do with Retinex.

 

 

 

Retinex is also great for removing haze and water obscuring the image. The above example was cleared up using the Retinex function.

 

The main image (the pink flower that introduced this release) was also created with the Retinex function.

 

If you’re seen Retinex before, you might have seen some very grayish, far-from-realistic images. Sagelight’s implementation of Retinex is not only very fast, but provides a number of controls so that you can create even more interesting images, both for effect and for photorealism.

 

 

 

Lanczos resizing is now in Sagelight. Lanczos 2,3 and 5 are supported.

 

Lanczos 2 is the default, as this is the best general overall method.

 

Lanczos 3 is provided since it can sometimes give a nice, sharp resize, both in reducing and enlarging the image. Lanczos 2 is the default, as it avoids artifacts sometimes created by Lanczos 3.

 

Lanczos 5 is provided for enlarging images. Out of all of the resizing provided in Sagelight (Bilinear, Bicubic, Spline, Lanczos 2, and Lanczos 3), Lanczos 5 tends to work the best. When enlarging your images, Lanczos 5 does a great job in keeping sharp detail, even when you are making your image much larger than the original.

 

64-bit per-channel, floating-point resize

 

The Lanczos resize in Sagelight is done in 64-bit per-channel and in floating point (192 bits total). This ensures the best resolution possible with the lowest loss on the conversion possible.

 

In testing, 32-bits per-channel was fine, but there seemed to be a small edge for 64-bits, so the logic was put in to keep it 64-bits throughout the entire process.

 

 

The RAW functionality has been updated to support more cameras. RAF files that were loading with the color planes mixed up is now fixed.

 

 

There were some Plug-In filters that were not working with Sagelight. A number of bug fixes were put in that fixes all known plug-in problems.

 

 

Viveza 2 works with Sagelight, both in 8-bit per-channel and 16-bit per-channel. However, to use the 16-bit version, you must turn on the patch in the Diagnostics window, as the problem with this plug-in does not appear to be a Sagelight issue.

 

 

A Diagnostics Window was added to address some of the unique and lesser-known issues with Sagelight.

 

At the moment, there are two switches.

 

1. Turn off all shadows on Windows. Some XP systems and Linux systems have problems with the shadows on the windows, where white boxes appear over the entire window and obscure it and preventing its use.

 

This will turn off all shadows. You may need to restart Sagelight before it takes effect fully.

 

2. Turn on Nik Software, Viveza 2 plug-in Patch. This will activate the 16-bit per-channel patch to allow Viveza 2 to work with Sagelight. As noted, this particular problem does not seem to be a Sagelight error. It is still being diagnosed, and this patch will allow it to run just fine anyway.