Fotoxx Change Log         https://kornelix.net
=================

2018 July 01 v.18.07  - changes from prior release 18.01 (January 2018)
--------------------
Functional Changes
 • Zonal Retinex is around 5x faster for large images and high zone count.
 • A single Blur menu now consolidates all six blur functions: normal blur, 
   radial blur, directed blur, graduated blur, paint blur, background blur.
 • Normal blur is around 3x faster and radius limit was raised from 200 to 999.
 • Radial Blur - new function: Blur is directed outwards from a chosen center.
 • Image Differences - new function: Subtract one image from another. These 
   can be variably offset, magnified, and edited for artistic effects. 
 • Copy Pixels: Image areas can be copied directly from a source to a target
   image via mouse 'painting'. Copy process can be scaled to fit the target.
 • Run Script: Apply a custom script to the current image file with one click.
   Works like an edit function - much faster than setting up a batch script.
 • Keyboard shortcuts can be defined for the common dialog completion buttons.
 • Trim/Rotate: If an image was leveled, a minor sharpen is done automatically.
 • Find Duplicate Images: This runs much faster for a huge image collection.
   Input can be all images or the current gallery (e.g. Search Images output).
 • Smart Erase: power lines or other long thin features can be more easily
   erased by clicking at intervals along the line. 
 • Search Images: 
      Date "null" can be used to find images having no photo date.
      BUSY indicator was added for long searches (non-indexed metadata).
      New option: retrieve all versions for images meeting search criteria.
      Wildcards can be used when searching metadata for matching text.
 • Slide Show: 
      The dialog for specifying image events was simplified.
      Duration for animated transitions and image zooms is specified directly 
      in seconds (instead of fiddling parameters by trial and error).
      New transition type: image 'disintegrates' to reveal new image.
 • Gallery view: more/less metadata is shown with bigger/smaller thumbnail size.
 • List view: now includes image pixel dimensions and file size in megabytes.
 • Paint Edits can now be used with: Color Mode, Shift Colors, Adjust RGB.
 • Batch Convert and Batch RAW: new options for output file type and bit depth.
 • Batch Delete/Trash: Deleted files are automatically purged from all albums.
   (formerly this was not done until the next time an album was opened).
 • Manage Albums: Rename option added (formerly you had to use a file manager).
 • The restriction on sorting albums was removed, but the output is a new
   album instead of replacing the input album. New name is 'oldname-sorted'.
 • New album function: Revert to current album or open last-used album.
 • Change Language: this setting is now preserved across Fotoxx sessions
   (previously reverted to user locale at next Fotoxx startup).
Technical Changes:
 • Menu popup help text: better positioning to avoid covering nearby menu.
 • Fotoxx home can more easily be moved to a new location. User settings and 
   customizations are preserved. Re-indexing of image files is not required.
 • Custom script files were relocated to <fotoxx-home>/custom_scripts.
 • Galleries are now limited to 25K images to avoid window manager lock-up.
   Image searches exceeding this limit are truncated with notification.
 • File size in megabytes added to the image index (effective after re-index).
   This is also shown in gallery view if zoom size is large enough to fit.
 • Many menu names were simplified and shortened for faster visual lookup.
   More commonly used menus were moved toward the top of the list. 
 • Because of the menu renaming, Keyboard shortcuts are reset to the defaults.
   Any custom shortcuts you have made must be redefined.
 • The [+] and [-] keys can no longer be used for rapid increment/decrement of
   a numeric widget setting. Use the up/down arrow keys instead.
Bug Fixes:
 • Show map locations for current gallery images: crashed if empty gallery.
 • Cosmetic flaw in custom [small] spin buttons (e.g. 0.1 showed as 0.100003). 
 • Restore lost keyboard shortcut for menu "File Save as New Version".
 • Video files with embedded quotes (") in file names would not play.
 • Index image files: rare failure to create a thumbnail (self-correcting).
 • Slide Show animated image transitions are smoother (minimum jitter).
 • Search Images: If search-to date is 'yyyy-mm', default correct 'dd' 28-31.
 • Favorites: stop spurious false error message "xxx.png file not found".
 • Batch Photo Date-Time: failed for image files having no EXIF date-time.
 • Preserving the current file/gallery/album across sessions failed if the 
   file/gallery/album file name had embedded blanks. 
 • Edit Metadata: if custom metadata items for image index were missing for
   a file being edited, useless error messages were added to the log file.
 • Crash in preload_thumbs() if galleries are switched 10+ times per second
   (e.g. using the arrow keys to race through months in the timeline report).
 • Crash if Measure Noise is used while the Denoise function is still working.
 • Crash if certain functions are used after starting fotoxx with no index.
 • Some scrollable reports did not scroll when using the KB up/down arrow keys
   to move the currently selected row beyond the top or bottom of the window.
 • The image function "Copy to Desktop" did not work for non-English locales.
 • The User Guide was audited and many errors and omissions were corrected.


2018 May 01 v.18.01.4
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The German translation was cleaned up by a real native German speaker.
Bugfix: Help > Quick Start showed English version for non-English locales.


2018 Feb 22 v.18.01.3
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Bugfix: Fast image rotate function was inadvertently called in the wrong place,
causing lower quality output image. Revert to high quality rotate function. 

 
2018 Jan 24 v.18.01.2
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The Italian translation was updated.
Bugfix: Removed cosmetic defect in the custom [small] spin buttons.


2018 Jan 02 v.18.01.1
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Bug Fix: Crash in metadata related functions if the default tag category 
'nocatg' had been deleted. 'nocatg' is now replaced automatically.


2018 Jan 01 v.18.01  - changes from prior release 17.08 (August 2017)
-------------------
Technical Changes:
 • The image index format was revised, requiring a new index initialization.
   This runs fast (up to 7000/min.) since new thumbnails are not needed.
 • Image Index initialization: work is now divided among 4 parallel threads. 
   On a computer with 4 processor cores and an SSD disk, indexing is about 
   3x faster (ca. 6000/min). There is no speedup for a spinning disk (1000/min). 
 • The maximum thread count for some functions was increased from 4 to 8, 
   to better utilize the newest processors from Intel and AMD.
 • Use of the shell 'find' command was mostly replaced with calls to glob().
   This is fail-safe against special characters in file names.
 • There is now an option to place the Fotoxx home directory wherever wanted.
   The file "/home/<user>/.fotoxx-home" may be used to set a custom location.
 • Font for gallery windows is 1 point less than the user setting for dialogs. 
 • Retained geocoordinate precision was improved (now within 1 meter).
 • Many GTK widgets were downsized by reducing unnecessary margin padding. 
   This can be revised or undone by editing the file "widgets.css".
 • The custom [small] spin button widget now spins increasingly faster when 
   the +/- key or up/down arrow key is held down more than 1 second. 
Functional Changes:
 • The image index may now include up to 20 user-defined metadata items
   (search speed for indexed metadata is >1000x faster than non-indexed).
 • The restriction on sorting a metadata report was removed.
 • Create > Pattern: GUI improvements and better responsiveness.
 • Updating Albums: GUI improvements to make it easier to update affected 
   albums after an image file is updated or a new version is created.
 • Play video: Keyboard commands revised: 'P' to play/stop/resume, 'Q' to quit.
 • New slide show transition: the next image swells up from the middle and 
   compresses the previous image out to the sides. 
 • Galleries retain both sort and scroll position within and across sessions.
   All galleries can be reset to 'file name ascending' order with one button.
 • Retouch-Combo: GUI improved for setting white balance and black point.
 • Retinex: new edit function to improve color and contrast for images with 
   extreme fog/haze or color cast (e.g. a scan of a 100 year-old photo).
   Retinex can also be used to add flair to most other images. 
 • Batch Photo Date/Time: new function to fix missing or wrong photo date/time,
   or shift the date/time a given amount (e.g. camera in wrong time zone).
 • Batch Geotags: Location and Country can be updated without changing existing 
   geocoordinates (e.g. rationalize chaotic names from the camera GPS).
 • Keyboard navigation: some search and select functions that output a list now 
   allow navigation of the list using the arrow, page and home/end keys. You can 
   also enter text to make the list scroll to the next entry with matching text.
 • KB shortcuts: most can be customized, most are now available in gallery view.
   The menu functions that can have shortcuts were expanded from 27 to 94.
 • Menu font and background colors can be set to match a 'theme' or personal
   taste (these are generated graphics and do not follow themes automatically).
 • Two batch RAW conversion functions were consolidated into one, with options.
 • Search Images: search by file mod date added (in addition to photo date).
 • View360 function: View a 360° panorama image (e.g. Google photosphere).
   Viewpoint can turn through 360° and wrap-around by dragging the mouse.
 • Manage Tags: stop auto-delete of unused tags. User must delete if unwanted.
 • Mosaic: made much faster by using parallel threads. Blend is now instant. 
 • KB shortcuts: make '+' key work as 'zoom-in' for any keyboard layout. 
 • Zonal Flatten: allow zone count = 1 (i.e. use the entire image distribtion).
 • Adjust HSL: use a sample spot of 3x3 pixels instead of one pixel.
 • Gallery view: use arrow keys to index current file and jump across galleries.
 • Revised menu names: Zonal Flatten > Flatten, Tone Mapping > Gradients,
   Flip Image > Mirror Image, Write Text > Add Text, Write Line > Add Line,
   Brightness Gradient > Brightness Ramp, Local Color > Zonal Colors.
Bug Fixes:
 • Panorama: PNG images with alpha channels were sometimes made invisible.
 • Possible lockup after a long image indexing process. Exiftool memory leak.
 • Brightness Ramp: direction line sometimes persisted after function exit.
 • Albums: stop removal of videos from album if 'ffmpeg' or 'totem' is missing.
 • All directories tree: possible crash if navigating via keyboard arrow keys.
 • Search Images metadata report: missing data for the first image in the list.
 • Search Images with metadata selection criteria: minor memory leak plugged.
 • Vertical Panorama: fine alignment via mouse caused image to partly disappear.
 • Favorites menu: stop crash if assigned menu name is a 'top' menu.
 • Favorites menu: stop movement of menu position if 'user settings' selected.
 • The interface to Raw Thereapee was updated for changes in Raw Therapee. 
 • Some keyboard shortcut keys were not working for non-English locales.
 • Spurious "kill active dialog" message if image-index [x] button is used.
 • Crash "max. dialogs exceeded" after 15 "Edit Brightness" done in a script.
 • Stop spurious log file diagnostic from thumbnail clicks: "f_open re-entry".
 • Batch Utilities: stop flashing of title bar with each file opened.
 • Crash "no thumbnail directory" needed a better diagnostic.
 • Image Index: RAW files were being omitted (auto updated when referenced).
 • Make all date/time input formats the same.
User Guide:
  The user guide was audited to fix many minor errors and omissions. 
  The images were all updated and some were enlarged for better visibility. 
  A clickable table of contents and a clickable topic index were added.
Wayland Note:
  Fotoxx works OK with Wayland/Xwayland with one exception: when an image is
  zoomed-in by clicking on a spot, the pointer no longer follows the spot but
  stays fixed. This is a known bug or omission (only user can move pointer).


Bug Fix releases for Fotoxx 17.08
---------------------------------
17.08.3
 • User settings for video file types were not being saved.
 • Add missing popup diagnostic for libraw (RAW file) errors.
 • Check for 'hugin' instead of 'hugin-executor'.
17.08.2
 • Crash if invalid thumbnail parameter is inherited from a prior release.
17.08.1
 • Crash in gallery list view for directory outside the indexed directories.


2017 Aug 01  v.17.08
--------------------
Technical Changes:
 • Thumbnails were enlarged to 512 pixels for faster galleries when using large
   thumbnails. To implement, delete your thumbnails directory and re-index. 
 • Use of shell "cp filename" was replaced with a copyfile() function, which
   makes batch functions fail-safe against special characters in file names.
 • New widget types were implemented to make some dialogs smaller, covering less
   of the image being viewed. Number values can be indexed up or down using the 
   mouse wheel, keyboard up/down arrow keys, or the [+] [-] keys. The shift key 
   can be held down to increase the step size and speed by 10x. 
Functional Changes:
 • Video files display as both images (initial frame) and gallery thumbnails. 
   Click to play. Also editable metadata, albums, search, and slide show play.
 • Maps: save and recall user-named map locations (map position and scale).
 • Panorama: the flatten function was made variable and reversible.
 • Retouch Combo: the curve edit user interface was improved.
 • Galleries remember and restore their last scroll position with each view.
 • Select Hairy: improved algorithm, faster and better user interface. 
 • Select Area > Find Gap: fatter lines are drawn for better visibility.
 • Custom Kernel: added functionality. Ten more pre-installed filters.
 • Paint Image: added an HSL color chooser as an additional color method.
 • Slide Show: 2 new transition types. 5 others made faster on slow computers.
 • Color Profile: EXIF "ICCProfileName" is updated and embedded profile deleted.
 • Export Image Files: added metadata relevant for photo web services.
 • Search Images: match 'all' or 'any' logic was implemented for location.
 • Gallery List View expanded: show small thumbnails + most relevant metadata.
Bug Fixes:
 • Slide Show: workaround for GDK pixbuf scaling bug.
 • Flickr Upload stopped working and was removed. Flickr and other photo web 
   services can do this directly. The User Guide describes a simple procedure.
 • A startup album name (if any) was getting replaced with blanks.
 • Retouch Combo: failed if directory for saved settings is missing (create it).
 • Index Image Files: failed if recent files file is missing (create it).
 • Possible crash if Trim/Rotate [level] button is used (EXIF tilt angle).

2017 Jul 01  v.17.04.3
----------------------
Bug Fixes:
 • Manage Albums, Choose Album: [cancel] left all album menus disabled.
 • Slide Show, zoom image function: fix memory leak.
 • Select Area, Find Gap: crash if gap search killed before complete.
 • EXIF data update: possible crash if input keyword data is null.
 • Color Profile: liblcms2 can produce RGB values < 0. Replace these with 0.
 • File index process sometimes omitted a few files. This was self-repairing.
 • Metadata Report: leafpad fails to display report file - replaced it.

2017 May 02  v.17.04.2
----------------------
Bug Fixes:
 • Workaround for GTK draw event loop in Paint Image palette selection.
 • Retouch Combo: failed to update distribution graph with dialog edits.
 
2017 Apr 11  v.17.04.1
----------------------
Bug Fixes:
 • Crash in thumbnail gallery of RAW files if thumbnail size is large.
 • Sharpen Image: add error message if [apply] and no method was chosen.
 • Retouch Combo: [reset] omitted reset of "amplify" slider.
 • Popup menus: offset from mouse position to make menu cancel easier. 

2017 Apr 01  v.17.04
--------------------
Technical:
 • Source code revisions for GTK API changes (Ubuntu 17.04, Fedora 25).
 • Implementation of AppImage, a distro-agnostic packaging format.
 • Smoother gallery scrolling via thread to pre-fetch thumbnail images.
Functionality:
 • Image Montage: join selected images together into a compact table format.
   Images included in the table can be clicked to show a full-size image.
 • Paint Image: modified to make it easier to use with a Wacom tablet. 
 • Paint Image: use any image as a custom color palette - click to select color.
 • Edited images get an automatic tag, allowing "edited" as a search criteria.
 • Alien Colors effect: repaint an image or area with random strange colors.
 • Stack/Paint: Transient forground objects can be removed automatically, and a
   moving subject can be shown in multiple positions against the background.
 • Twist effect: twist or swirl an image around a mouse-selected central point.
 • Script Files: most of the 'create' menu functions are now scriptable.
 • Denoise - measure noise: the noise is more completely characterized.
 • The desktop wallpaper functions were removed because they stopped working.
User Interface:
 • Paint Image and Clone Image were split into separate functions.
 • Trim/Rotate: margin sides can be dragged in addition to the corners.
 • Rename, Copy/Move, Delete/Trash: options were added to keep these dialogs 
   open or not (keep open is easier/faster if processing multiple files).
 • Albums can now be sorted like any other gallery, but cannot be edited when
   in an out-of-sequence condition. To edit, re-open the album. 
 • User Settings: an album name can be specified as the startup gallery.
Bug Fixes:
 • Startup with file parameter: now works for absolute or relative file name.
 • Correctly handle file and directory names containing '$' characters.
 • Voodoo functions can now be assigned to shortcut keys like any other.
 • Disallow re-sorting of a metadata report, which loses the link between 
   images and their metadata. Sort the gallery before generating the report.
 • Copy to Desktop or Clipboard: an edited but unsaved file copies correctly.
 • Trim/Rotate: stop sporadic motion of zoomed image when margins are dragged.
Next release: planned for Oct. 2017 if there is significant new stuff.

2017 Feb 28  v.17.01.2
----------------------
Bug Fixes:
 • Read TIFF file with alpha channel: alpha data was being ignored.
 • Panorama: crash if images have too little overlap.

2017 Jan 21  v.17.01.1
----------------------
The Spanish and Catalan translations were updated. No version change.

2017 Jan 12  v.17.01.1
----------------------
Bug Fixes:
 • Rare crash at startup after new image files are found and indexed.
   (This was self-repairing at the next startup).
 • Crash if the de-noise dialog was quit with the measure-noise dialog open.

2017 Jan 01  v.17.01
--------------------
New Functionality:
 • Show the entire image directory hierarchy with [+] and [-] buttons to expand 
   or contract subdirectories at each level. Click any entry for a gallery view.
 • Blend Image: Paint with the mouse to blend pixels within the mouse circle.
 • Replace Album File: Make it easier to update albums whenever member images
   are added or updated. Replace a given old image with a given new image, in 
   selected (or all) albums, or add the new image after the old.
 • Maps: An option was added to show markers only for images in the current 
   gallery (e.g. search results or album). The default is to show all images.
 • Color Mode: A new option was added to "rotate" the colors (RGB -> BRG), and
   each function operates on prior results instead of the original image.
 • Three new slide show transitions: turn-cube, windmill, pixelize.
 • Adjust HSL: both source and target colors can be selected with mouse clicks.
 • Slide Show - button to use current gallery (no album selection).
Efficiency Improvements:
 • Image indexing is 1.9x faster for 5400 rpm disk (slight speedup for SSD).
 • Thumbnail caching is more efficient, gallery scrolling a little smoother.
User Interface Improvements:
 • Edit Metadata: added [prev] button to recall previous geotag data.
 • Batch Rename Tags: A GUI replaced the text file for old/new tag names.
 • Brightness/Color Gradient: Set direction of gradient with a mouse drag.
 • Favorites menu: Alignment of icons or text to unseen grid was made easier.
 • Bookmarks Edit and GoTo dialogs now scroll to allow larger entry counts.
 • Slide Show: transitions dialog is scrollable for use with small monitors.
Bug Fixes:
 • Report by location and date-groups: If only a country is selected, the 
   output gallery did not include all locations within that country.
 • Metadata report: Failed if no prior reported items list was found.
 • Sort gallery by file or photo date: Avoid sorting subdirectories
   (leave them at the top of the list and in alphabetic order)

