b ws tyler manual

B/W Styler Manual

Windows Version 1.01 Mac Version 1.0

Introduction

CompatibilityInstallation

General UsageStep By Step Guide

Key Shortcuts

General Features

Main ModesReset, Undo &Global Presets

Split ViewHisto TabInfo Tab

Prefs TabCloak Mode

Photography Modes

Photography ModeLocal Presets

B/W Films ModeFilm Grain ModeB/W Filters ModeND Filters Mode

Diffusion Filters ModeDevelopment ModeLab Effects Mode

Paper Grade ModeColor Tone Mode

Frames Mode

Effect Modes

Split B/W ModeSelective B/W Mode

Split Color ModeVignette Blur Mode

Dark Mist Mode

Quick & Expert Modes

B/W Quick Mode

Expert Mode

Convert Tab SheetSelective Tab SheetGeneral Tab SheetColorize Tab Sheet

Mask Tab SheetSoften Tab SheetGrain Tab SheetLab Tab Sheet

Copyright &Support

B/W Styler Manual 1

Copyright © 2006−2007 by Harald Heim &The Plugin Site

Customer Support

Contact: Click Here

Web site: http://thepluginsite.com

User Forum: http://www.graphicsgalaxy.com/forums/thepluginsite/viewforum.php?f=26

If You have some suggestions for improving B/W Styler, please contact us.

Credits

Idea, Concept and Programming

by Harald Heim

Plugin Framework:

Filter Meister by Alex Hunter & Harald HeimMac Version by Digital Element

Graphics:

Logo and Artwork by Steve UphamDialog Design by Harald Heim

Many Thanks to the Beta Testers:

Roberto MusciaAndrew Bokelman

Steve UphamPeter Mayer

Robin RowlandsNelia

Shannon CarnevaleSteve Fisher

Barbara

B/W Styler Manual 2

http://www.thepluginsite.com/about/contact.htm

http://thepluginsite.com

http://www.graphicsgalaxy.com/forums/thepluginsite/viewforum.php?f=26

http://www.thepluginsite.com/about/contact.htm

http://www.filtermeister.com/

http://www.digitalelement.com/

http://www.cybia.co.uk/

Suzy QGerd Dollhopf

To see the photos of the beta testers in B/W Styler,move the mouse over the preview and press the B key.

B/W Styler Manual 3

Compatibility

B/W Styler works under Windows 95, 98, NT, ME, 2000, XP, Vista as well as MacOS X. It supports the 8−bit RGB and16−bit RGB color modes.

You need one of the following applications to use the MacOS X versions:

Adobe Photoshop (Version 7 and higher)• Adobe ImageReady (Version 7 and higher)• Adobe Photoshop Elements (Version 2 and higher)• Adobe Illustrator (Version 10 and higher)• ACDSystems Canvas (Version X and higher)• CiEBV Photoline 32 (Version 11.52 and higher)• Corel Painter (Version 9 and higher)• LemkeSoft GraphicConverter (Version 5.7 and higher)• Macromedia Fireworks (Version 7 (MX 2004) and higher)

... and it probably works in several graphics applications that support Photoshop plugins.

•

You need one of the following applications to use the Windows versions:

Adobe Photoshop (Version 3 and higher)• Adobe Photoshop Elements• Adobe PhotoDeluxe• Adobe After Effects (Version 4.1 and higher, but not animatable)• Adobe Illustrator (Version 7 and higher)• Adobe ImageReady (Version 2 and higher)• ACDSystems PhotoCanvas (Version 2 and higher) (It is delivered with some versions of ACDSee)• ACDSystems Canvas• CDH Image Explorer Pro (Version 4 and higher)• CiEBV Photoline 32 (Version 5 and higher)• Corel Draw (Version 6 and higher)• Corel Paint Shop Pro (Version 10 and higher)• Corel PhotoPaint (Version 9 and higher)• Corel Bryce (Version 4 and higher)• Corel/Metacreations Painter (Version 6 and higher)• Deneba Canvas (Version 6 and higher)• Discreet Combustion (Version 2and higher, but not animatable and preview is blueish)• Equilibrium DeBabelizer Pro (Version 5 and higher)• GIMP (Version 1.2.4 and higher, but preview doesn't work correctly, no color selection dialogs)• imageN (Freeware from www.pixoid.com)• IrfanView (Version 3.85 and higher, Freeware from www.irfanview.com)• Jasc Paint Shop Pro (Version 4.12 and higher)• KnowledgeAdventure HyperStudio (Version 4.2 and higher, but no color selection dialogs)• Macromedia Freehand (Version 7 and higher)• Macromedia Fireworks (Version 2 and higher, but transparency isn't correctly displayed in the preview)• Mediachance PhotoBrush (But no color selection dialogs)• Megalux Ultimate Paint (Version 2 and higher)• Megalux Ultimate FX (Freeware from www.ultimatepaint.com/ufx/)• Microfrontier Digital Darkroom (Version 1.2 and higher)• Micrografx Picture Publisher (Version 8 and higher, but the preview zoom won't work)• Microsoft Image Composer (Version 1.5 and higher, but dragging the preview isn't possible)• Microsoft PhotoDraw 2000• Microsoft Picture It! Digital Image Pro (Version 7 and higher, but a 100% zoom may not work correctly andCancel sometimes produces a crash)

•

Newave Chaos Fx: Twilight'76 (Version 1.2 and higher)• Picmaster (Version 1.25 and higher)• Plugin Commander Pro (Version 1.5 and higher)• QFX / QFX LE (Version 7 and higher)•

B/W Styler Manual 4

http://www.pixoid.com/

http://www.irfanview.com/

http://www.ultimatepaint.com/ufx/

Right Hemisphere Deep Paint• Satori PhotoXL (Version 2.29 and higher)• Serif PhotoPlus (Version 6 and higher) (Version 6 is freeware from www.freeserifsoftware.com)• SigmaPi Pixopedia 24 (Version 1.0.5 and higher)• SigmaPi NiGulp (Version 1.5 and higher) (Freeware from http://www.sigmapi−design.com/freeware.htm)• Stoik ImageMan Pro (Version 5 and higher)• ThinkTank Ameri−Imager (Version 2 and higher)• Ulead Gif Animator (Version 4 and higher)• Ulead PhotoImpact (Version 4 and higher)• VCW Vicman's Photo Editor (Version 6.9 and higher, but preview dragging causes crash) (Freeware fromwww.photo−editor.net)

•

WebSuperGoo Achroma• Xara X• XnView (Version 1.70 and higher) (Freeware from www.xnview.com)

It hasn't been tested, but should work with:

Ability PhotoPaint Studio♦ Adobe PageMaker (Version 6 and higher)♦ Adobe LiveMotion♦ BananaSoft TwistedPixel♦ CADlink SignLab (Version 5 and higher)♦ Corel/MetaCreations Painter 5.5♦ Corel/MetaCreations Art Dabbler♦ Corel Photo House (Version 2 and higher)♦ Corel Xara 2♦ DigisoftDirect ImagePro 2K1♦ Equilibrium DeBabelizer Pro (Version 4.5)♦ Fractal Design Detailer♦ Macromedia Director (Version 6 and higher)♦ MGI PhotoSuite (Version 4 or higher)♦ Newtek Lightwave (Version 5.6 or higher)♦ Newtek Inspire 3D♦ Newtek Aura (Version 2 and higher, but probably not animatable)♦ PM Imagic♦ Ulead PhotoExpress (Version 2 and higher)♦

It does not work with:

Adobe ImageStyler (Doesn't support filter plugins)♦ Adobe Premiere (Up to Version 5.1: Renders only black to image)♦ ArcSoft PhotoStudio 2000 (Up to Version 4.1: Does not support PhotoShop plugins)♦ Datatech ImageMan (crashes when dragging preview and crashes when applying effect)♦ FixFoto (Up to Version 2.74: Preview is segmented and final result contains an overlayed thumbnail)♦ discreet 3D Studio MAX (Up to Version 4.2: Background image isn't displayed; Color selection dialogdoesn't work; Renders a distorted red/green pattern)

♦

Macromedia xRes (Crashes on loading plugin)♦ Metacreations Painter 5 (Everything works except final rendering)♦ Microsoft Image Composer 1.0 (Does not recognize the plugin)♦ SPG ColorWorks: Web (Up to Version 4: Everything works except final rendering)♦

•

B/W Styler Manual 5

http://www.freeserifsoftware.com

http://www.sigmapi-design.com/freeware.htm

http://www.photo-editor.net/

http://www.xnview.com/

Installation

Under Windows

Method 1: Using Plugin Installer

In the installation program you will arrive at the "Choose Destination Location" dialog after some time. Here you can enterthe location where the B/W Styler files will be installed. If you want to use the Plugin Installer tool later, you can keep theinstallation path that is suggested by the installer.

At the end of the installation the Plugin Installer window will appear and display a list of compatible applications that isinstalled on your computer. The list may not be as long as the one in the screen shot above, but there should be at leastone application mentioned. The application at the top of the list is always activated. If you want to install B/W Styler intoother applications, you should activate them, too. Then please press the Install button to copy the B/W Styler plugin intothe plugin folder of the selected application(s). Finally leave Plugin Installer with the Exit button.

B/W Styler Manual 6

If you install a new application and want to use B/W Styler with it, please run Plugin Installer again from the Start >Program > BW Styler menu and repeat the steps mentioned above.

If your application should not be listed in Plugin Installer or if Plugin Installer terminates telling you that it didn't manage tofind an application, we suggest that you try Method 2 below.

Method 2: Without Plugin Installer

Method 1 is usually the most convenient way of installing B/W Styler. But some people keep their plugins in foldersoutside an application's plugin folder or some people use an application that is not recognized by the Plugin Installer tool.In this case you can choose another folder in the "Choose Destination Location" dialog during installation and ignore thePlugin Installer by closing it with the Exit button.

If you are unsure which folder to choose in the "Choose Destination Location" dialog please see the general installationinstructions below.

Under MacOS X

When installing B/W Styler for MacOS X you need to choose the plugins folder of your graphics application. ForPhotoshop that would be the Plug−Ins sub folder inside the Photoshop folder. If you are unsure which folder tochooseduring installation, please see the general installation instructions below.

General Installation Instructions

The following instructions can be used if there were problems during the B/W Styler installation.

Adobe Photoshop / Photoshop Elements / Illustrator / ImageReady

Make sure you install the plugin into the "Plugins" or "Plug−ins" sub folder inside the Photoshop, Illustrator or ImageReadyfolder. We recommend that you create a sub folder called B/W Styler in that folder and install it there. After restarting theapplication, you will find it in the Filter menu.

Adobe PhotoDeluxe

Make sure you install the plugin into the "Plugins" or "Plug−ins" sub folder inside the PhotoDeluxe folder. We recommendthat you create a sub folder called B/W Styler in that folder and install it there. After restarting the application, you need tomake PhotoDeluxe display all menu items if you haven't already done that. To display all menu items go to thePreferences sub menu of the File menu and choose the last item ("Extend Menu" or something similar) on the sub menuYou will find the plugin in the Effects menu.

Adobe PageMaker

Make sure you installed the plugin into Rsrc/.../Plugins/Effects folder inside the PageMaker folder. We recommend thatyou create a sub folder called B/W Styler in that folder and install it there. After restarting PageMaker, you will find theplugin in the Element> Image> Photoshop Effects menu.

CiEBV Photoline 32

Choose 'File options' or 'Extended' from the Options menu, click on the 'Plug In Path' tab and select the folder where theplugin is to be located. After pressing OK, the plugin will appear at the bottom of the Filter menu.

Corel Photo−Paint

Press <Ctl + J> to display the Options dialog, select Plugins from the list box on the left, press the Add button and choosethe location of the plugin. The plugin will appear in the Effects menu right after the Options dialog disappeared.

B/W Styler Manual 7

Corel Photo House

Select Effects > Plug−in Effects > Add/Remove Plugin Effects. Press the Add button and select the folder where theplugin is located. After pressing OK, the plugin will appear on the Effects > Plugin Effects menu.

Deneba Canvas

Select "Preferences" from the File menu. In the Preferences dialog select the Paint tab. Press the Plug−ins button andselect the folder where the plugin is located. After restarting Canvas, the plugin will appear on the Image > Filter submenu

imageN

Select "Plug−ins" from the Configure menu. When the Plugins dialog appears press the Search button. After imageN hassearched all your drives for plugins (which can take some time), the plugin will appear on the plugin list, too. To apply aplugin, select it from the list and press the Test button.

IrfanView (Version 3.85 and higher)

Make sure that an image is displayed in IrfanView, then select Image > Effects > Adobe 8BF filters. In the appearingdialog press the "Add 8BF filters" button and choose the folder where you installed the plugin. It will now appear in the liston the left. To run the plugin double click on the appropriate item or select it and press the "Start selected filter" button.

Jasc Paintshop Pro 4 − 6

Choose "Preferences" from the File menu, press the Plugin Filters tab and select the folder, where you installed the pluginfrom the Plugin Filters tab of the Preferences dialog. After pressing OK, the plugins will appear on the Plugin Filters submenu of the Image menu.

Jasc Paint Shop Pro 7

Choose Preferences > File Locations from the File menu, press the Plugin Filters tab and select the folder where youinstalled the plugin. After pressing OK, the plugin will appear in the Plugin Filters sub menu of the Effects menu.

Jasc Paint Shop Pro 8 & 9

Choose Preferences > File Locations from the File menu, select Plug−ins from the list box, press the Add button, pressthe Browse button and select the folder where you installed the plugin. After pressing OK twice, the plugin will appear inthe Plugin Filters sub menu of the Effects menu.

Macromedia Freehand

Make sure you install the plugin into the English/Xtras sub folder inside the Freehand folder. We recommend that youcreate a sub folder called B/W Styler in that folder and install it there. After restarting Freehand, you will find the plugin inthe Xtras menu.

Macromedia Fireworks

Choose "Preferences" from the File menu and activate the Photoshop Plug−ins check box in the Folders section of thePreferences dialog. Then select the folder, where you installed the plugin by pressing the "..." or Browse button. Afterrestarting Fireworks the plugins will be displayed at the bottom of the Xtras menu.

Megalux Ultimate Paint

Choose "Preferences" from the Options menu, click on the Plugins tab and select the folder where the plugin is located.After pressing OK, the plugin will appear in the Adobe sub menu of the Image menu.

Metacreations Painter / Fractal Design Detailer

Choose Preferences > Plugins... from the Edit menu and select the folder where the plugin is located. After restartingPainter/Detailer, the plugin will appear on the Effects menu.

Microfrontier Color It!

Make sure you install the plugin into the "Plug−ins" sub folder inside the Color It! folder. We recommend that you create asub folder called B/W Styler in that folder and install it there. After restarting the application, you will find them in the Filter

B/W Styler Manual 8

menu.

Microsoft Photodraw 2000

Select Tools > Options and press the Plugin tab. Press the Browse button and select the folder where the plugin islocated. Finally press OK on the Options dialog. Choose Format > Effects > Plug−ins and select the plugin in the combobox at the top of the Plug−ins dialog.

Micrografx Picture Publisher

Make sure you install the plugin into the "Plugins" sub folder inside the Picture Publisher folder. We recommend that youcreate a sub folder called B/W Styler in that folder and install it there. After restarting Picture Publisher you will find theplugin in the Effects menu.

Right Hemisphere Deep Paint

Select File > Preferences > Directories and press the Browse button next to the Photoshop Plugins text box. In the filedialog, select the folder where the plugin is located and press OK. Then press OK on the Directories dialog. Afterrestarting Deep Paint, you will find the plugin in the Filters menu.

SPG Colorworks: WEB

Choose "Preferences" from the File menu and select the folder where you installed the plugin, at the bottom of thePreferences dialog. After pressing OK the plugin will be accessible from the Plugin Filter Selector dialog which is availablefrom the Effects menu.

Ulead Photo Impact

Choose "Preferences" from the File menu and select the folder where you installed the plugin, in the Plugins tab of thePreferences dialog. After restarting Photo Impact the plugin will be displayed in the Photo Wiz category on the Effectmenu.

Ulead Gif Animator

Choose "Preferences" from the File menu, click on the Plugin Filters tab and select the folder where the plugin is located.After restarting Gif Animator the plugin will appear in the Filters menu.

Ulead PhotoExpress

Choose "Preferences" from the File menu and select the folder, where you installed the plugin, in the Plug−Ins tab of thePreferences dialog. After restarting PhotoExpress the plugin will be displayed in the Photo menu.

B/W Styler Manual 9

General Usage

Before using B/W Styler you have to start your preferred image editing application and open an image or photo. Pleasenote that B/W Styler only works on images in 8bit or 16bit RGB mode. If your image is grayscaled, has only 256 colors oris a CMYK image, you have to convert it in your image application to RGB before you can start working on it with B/WStyler. If the opened image is not RGB, B/W Styler will appear grayed out on the menu.

It is recommended to switch an 8bit RGB image to 16bit per channel (also called 48bit) before running B/W Styler. If youdo that B/W Styler can use more greyscale values and therefore produce a B/W conversion of a higher quality. Afterwardsyou can still switch back to 8bit per channel while retaining the better results.

To run B/W Styler please open the menu that leads to the plugin filters (usually the "Filter", "Effects" or "Image −>Plug−ins" menu) and choose "B/W Styler" from the "PhotoWiz" sub menu.

Basic Design

B/W Styler features 17 different modes which can be selected from the combo box at the top. Some modes contain up tothree tab sheet controls at the right side of the preview, others offer a column of combo boxes or a group of graphicalbuttons. As a novice you should explore Photography mode first. For more information on the various modes, please readthe Modes page.

B/W Styler Manual 10

The Preview

On the left−hand side of the dialog box is the preview box that shows you what the final effect will look like. Whenexecuting B/W Styler it will always display the full image in the preview. This is also the recommended way to work on animage. If you zoom into the image, only a part of the image is displayed in the preview. The image can then be moved byholding down the right mouse button (or pressing the Alt key and holding down the left mouse button) and moving themouse. While it is moved, the original image is shown, and after you release the left mouse button the preview isrecalculated.

If one of the Split Views is activated, you can move the separation lines in the preview by holding down the ALT key anddragging, or you can select one of the split areas by holding down the Shift key and clicking on it. For more information,please read the Split View page.

Changing the Window Size

You can enlarge the B/W Styler preview window to display the image at a larger size in the preview or a larger portion ofthe image if you zoom in. However, doing that will also increase the time that B/W Styler needs to update the preview. Ifyou use an old and slow computer, it isn't recommended to enlarge the B/W Styler dialog. On the contrary you can alsomake it smaller to make B/W Styler render the preview faster.

To resize the B/W Styler window and make the preview larger under Windows you have to move your cursor to the borderof the B/W Styler dialog. The cursor will then turn into a double arrow. Holding down the left mouse button and draggingthe mouse changes the size of the window. Double clicking the B/W Styler title at the top left corner will maximize thewindow, double clicking it again will restore the old window size. Under MacOS X you need to drag the handle at thebottom right of the B/W Styler dialog.

The Help Text Box

The Help feature makes it easier for new users to get started and makes it possible to use B/W Styler without a glance atthe manual. Other than that it can provide useful hints and assist you in the B/W conversion process. If you move themouse over a certain control, the text box will display some explanations and hints about that control. After you know allabout B/W Styler, you can deactivate these explanations by deactivating the check box in the bottom right corner of theHelp box. We recommend that you keep it nevertheless activated.

The Zoom Buttons and Zoom Check Box

At the right bottom of the preview box you can see a '+' and '−' button with a percentage label in between. These zoombuttons let you adjust the size of the image in the preview box. 100% means that the original size of the image isdisplayed.

By default when starting B/W Styler, the zoom rate will be automatically set to make the image fit into the preview. If youhold the Shift key when pressing one of the zoom buttons, the zoom factor will be set to the highest (100%) or lowestacceptable value (fitted zoom). If you hold the CTRL key when pressing one of the zoom buttons, the zoom factor will beset to the highest (100%) or lowest possible value (6%). Some very old applications (e.g. Corel Photopaint 7 or Corel Xara2) don't support preview zooming. In this case the zoom buttons won't work.

To jump from one preview zoom rate to another you can use the zoom combo box which is located between the twozoom buttons. It also offers the option "Fit" which should be used most of the time.

Auto Preview

If the Auto Preview check box is deactivated, the effect will not be displayed on the preview. Instead you will see theoriginal image. You can also see the original image by right clicking on the preview.


Split View & Multiple

B/W Styler offers various split views for comparing the original with the processed image. For more information, pleaseread the Split View page.

Sliders

Sliders can be used to select a certain value within a specific value range. To do that you can drag the slider knob with themouse (or keyboard), enter a numerical value in the white text box at the right of the slider bar, click somewhere on theslider bar for large value steps or use the two arrow buttons for small value steps. If the Instant Sliders check box on thePrefs tab sheet is not activated, you can hold down the Shift key while dragging the slider knob to make the previewupdate with every movement of the knob. If the Instant Sliders is activated, you don't need to hold down the Shift key forthe same effect.

You can now also use the mouse wheel to change the slider values. You need to give the slider the focus by clicking on itor using the tab key. After that you can scroll the mouse wheel to move the slider knob. After you stopped moving thewheel the preview will automatically update.

OK, Cancel and ?

Clicking on the OK button exits B/W Styler and applies the effect to the image. The current settings are saved andrestored when you use B/W Styler again in case you have the Previous Settings item activated in the On Start Up combobox in Preferences.

The Cancel button simply exits B/W Styler without changing the image. Depending on the application you are using, thecurrent settings will be lost immediately or kept as long as your image application is running. If you hold down the CTRLkey while clicking on Cancel, you will be prompted for Cloak Mode. In Cloak Mode the current settings will be applied tothe image without displaying the B/W Styler dialog. For more information, please read the Cloak Mode page.


Step By Step Guide

Switching to 16bit Mode before running B/W Styler

Photoshop Instructions:

1. In Photoshop choose Image > Mode > 16 Bits/Channel.

2. Run B/W Styler from the Filter > PhotoWiz menu.

Converting back to 8bit Mode after applying B/W Styler

Photoshop Instructions:

1. Apply the B/W Styler effect by pressing the OK button.

2. Choose Image > Mode > 8 Bits/Channel in Photoshop.

Sample Workflow 1 (Novice)

1. Run B/W Styler.

2. Hold down the Shift key and click on the Reset button.

3. Switch to "Photography Mode" with the Mode combo box.

4. Try effect from the various combo boxes.

5. For adjusting one of the effects in greater detail click on the More link to the right of the combo box

6. To get back to Photography Mode again click on the "Photography Mode" link.

Sample Workflow 2 (Intermediate)

1. Run B/W Styler.


3. Switch to "B/W Quick Mode" with the Mode combo box.

4. Adjust the sliders until you are satisfied with the B/W conversion.

5. Depending on which effect you want to apply choose one of the 10 modes in the second or 5 modesin the third section of the Method combo box.

6. Adjust the appropriate effect.

7. Finally switch to "Expert Mode" with the Mode combo box and fine−tune the effects in greater detail ifnecessary.


Sample Workflow 3 (Expert)

1. Run B/W Styler.


3. Switch to "Expert Mode" with the Mode combo box.

4. Start with the Convert tab sheet and try various methods and adjust them with the appropriate sliders.

5. For quick effects you can also choose an item from the context menu that appears when you click onthe arrow button.

6. Continue by moving from tab sheet to tab sheet from left to right and from top to bottom and selectingand adjusting the effects that you need.

7. Check the Histo tab sheet at the bottom and see if the histogram looks fine. Otherwise readjust youreffects.

Colorizing B/W Images

1. Run B/W Styler.


3. Switch to "Color Tone" or "Split Color" mode with the Mode combo box.

4. Click on one of the preset icons.

5. Use the sliders to adjust the effect.

6. For more options switch to "Expert Mode" with the Mode combo box and click on the Colorize tabsheet.

Selective B/W Effects

Color Mask Method

1. Run B/W Styler.


3. Switch to "Selective B/W" mode with the Mode combo box.

4. Click on one of the icons in the second or third row.

5. You can adjust the Limit slider and click on the color box or the preview to change the color.

6. For more options switch to "Expert Mode" with the Mode combo box.

Saturation Mask Method

1. Run B/W Styler.


3. Switch to "Selective B/W " mode with the Mode combo box.


4. Click the first or second icon in the first row.

5. You can adjust the Tone or Limit sliders and click the preview to change the saturation value.


Brightness Mask Method

1. Run B/W Styler.


3. Switch to "Selective B/W " mode with the Mode combo box.

4. Click the third or fourth icon in the first row.

5. You can adjust the Tone or Limit sliders and click on the preview to change the brightness value.


Infra−Red Effect

Method 1: Simple

1. Run B/W Styler.



4. Choose "Infrared" from the Method combo box on the Convert tab sheet.

5. Adjust the effect with the sliders.

Method 2: Advanced

1. Run B/W Styler.


3. Switch to "B/W Films" mode with the Mode combo box.

4. Click on the IR preset icon.

5. Adjust the effect with the top four sliders.

Method 3: Expert

1. Run B/W Styler.



4. Switch to the Selective tab sheet.


5. Click on the arrow button at the left of the Method combo box and choose "Infrared".

6. Adjust the effect with the top four sliders.

7. Select "Expert Mode" from the Method combo box for more options.

Enhancing B/W Images

Please Note:If you apply B/W Styler to an image that is already B/W, the following modes won't work:B/W Films, B/W Filters, ND Filters, Split B/W and Selective B/W. In Photography mode the B/W Films,B/W Filters and ND Filters combo boxes will produce no effect. Additionally in B/W Quick Mode andExpert Mode the controls of the Convert and Selective tab sheets won't have any effect as well as theColor Mask and Saturation Mask methods from the Mask tab sheet.

1. Run B/W Styler.


3. Switch to "Photography Mode" with the Mode combo box.

4. Try effect from the various combo boxes.

5. For adjusting one of the effects in greater detail click on the More link to the right of the combo box.

6. To get back to Photography Mode again click the "Photography Mode" link.

7. For even more options select "Expert Mode " from the Method combo box.


Key Shortcuts

B/W Styler lets you use a few key shortcuts for performing certain tasks. Advanced computer users usually prefer usingkey shortcuts as they help to achieve some tasks much faster. The shortcuts available are indicated by an underlinedletter in the button label. Here is a list of all shortcuts that can be used:

Key Shortcut Explanation

ALT and M (Windows only) Activates or deactivates the Multiple check box

ALT and P(Windows only) Activates or deactivates the Auto Preview checkbox

ALT and R (Windows only) Resets some controls to their default values

ALT and + (Windows only) Increases the preview zoom ratio

ALT and − (Windows only) Decreases the preview zoom ratio

ALT and ? (Windows only) Displays the manual

B(When the mouse is placed over the preview) Displays a pagewith photos of the beta testers.


Main Modes

The 18 Modes of B/W Styler are seperated in four sections: Photography Mode, 10 simple photography modes, 5 simpleeffect modes as well as a quick and expert mode. Photography Mode contains the effects of all 10 simple photographymodes, but they can be used to edit each of the effects more detailed. The four special effect modes are similar to thesimple modes, but not related to Photography Mode. They let you add more general photo effects. The B/W Quick Modeon the other hand offers a lot of sliders for quickly adjusting the B/W conversion. Finally, the Expert Mode offers theeffects of all other modes.

Modes Workflow

The most basic mode is Photography mode, because it only consists of preset options that can't be adjusted further. So itis always a good idea to start in this mode if you want to quickly try out most of the effects that B/W Styler offers. Oftenyou may want to fit the effect to the image, which can be done by switching to one of the ten simple photography modeswith the "More..." link. In these modes you can use various sliders for adapting the effect to your needs. If you need evenmore control, you can step further to Expert Mode with the "Expert Mode −>" link. In Expert Mode you have all thefeatures that are available in B/W Styler and produce effects that were not possible in the other modes. Of course, youcan switch back from Expert Mode to the simple modes if you wish.

Another good starting point for advanced users is the B/W Quick Mode. It lets you fine−tune the B/W conversion with a lotof options. If you want to add additional effects or need more control you can switch to Expert Mode or other modes.

All modes in B/W Styler are connected with each other. So your settings are retained when you switch to another mode,so you can fine−tune your image even further. There are only a few exceptions to this rule. For example choosing aneffect in one of the five simple effect modes or in Expert Mode can alter an effect that was chosen in Photography modeor the simple photography modes. But this is seldom a problem, because the old effect is then replaced with a variation ofit.

For detailed workflow tips see the Step By Step Guide page.

The Asterisk Sign Behind the Mode Names

Sometimes you will see an asterisk sign behind one of the 15 simple modes in the Mode combo box. This sign indicatesthat the appropriate mode is in use and its effects are applied. So if you switch to one of the simple modes, click on one ofthe preset icons or change one of the slider values, then the * sign will show up behind the mode name. This feature helpsyou to quickly identify the simple modes that you already used.

If you press the Reset button in a simple mode, the asterisk will vanish again, because the effect has been deactivated. Ifyou hold down the Shift key and press the Reset button, the asterisks behind all mode names will vanish.

As all modes of B/W Styler are connected, you can also make the * sign appear behind the name of a simple mode if youactivate certain effects in Photography Mode, B/W Quick Mode and Expert Mode. This doesn't mean that you need to usethe simple modes if you prefer e.g. Expert Mode, but it is an alternative. Clicking on the Reset button in the threementioned modes will remove all asterisks from the mode names.


Photography Mode

Photography mode consists only of presets that are sorted into ten combo boxes. For more explanations, please read thePhotography Mode page.

Simple Photography Modes

Each effect of the 10 combo boxes can be edited more detailed in the 10 simple photography modes. Each photographymode offers a range of preset icons, which are identical to the combo box items of Photography mode. Additionally thereare several sliders for adapting the effect to the current image. For more information see the following pages: B/W FilmsMode, Film Grain Mode, B/W Filters Mode, ND Filters Mode, Diffusion Filters Mode, Development Mode, Lab EffectsMode, Paper Grade Mode, Color Tone Mode, Frames Mode.


Simple Effect Modes

The simple effect modes are similar to the simple photography modes, but are not related to Photography Mode. They arefor adding special effects to your B/W image. For more information see the following pages: Split B/W Mode, SelectiveB/W Mode, Split Color Mode, Vignette Blur Mode, Dark Mist Mode.

B/W Quick & Expert Mode

B/W Quick Mode offers sliders for B/W Conversion as well as selective and general adjustments. For more informationsee the B/W Quick Mode page.

On the other hand Expert Mode offers the effects of all other modes and lets you create the most sophisticated B/Weffects. For more information see the Expert Mode page.


Reset &Global Presets

Reset Button

If you want to undo the current settings, you can click on the Reset button. If you use the Reset button in PhotographyMode, B/W Quick Mode and Expert Mode, all settings are set to their default values, which produce a simple B/Wconversion. This feature is especially helpful if you start with a new image. When clicking the Reset button in the simpleand special effects modes only the effect of the current mode is undone. Effects that were chosen in other modes arekept. To reset all controls in these modes you need to hold down the Shift key before you press the Reset button.

The behavior of the Reset button can be changed with the On Reset combo box on the Prefs tab sheet. For moreinformation, please read the Prefs Tab page.

Right clicking (or CTRL−clicking on the Mac) on the Reset button will display a context menu with various options. Thefour options correspond to the options of the On Reset combo box of the Prefs tab: "Default Settings" activates the defaultsetting and removes any adjustments that you made. "Previous Settings" loads the settings that were applied previously."Own Defaults" will automatically open the preset file that you have chosen when selecting the "Own Default" in the Prefstab. "Logged Settings" will open a preset that was automatically saved when you worked with the same image the lasttime, provided that you had the Log Settings check box in the Prefs tab activated.

Top Button Menu

If you click on the small icon at the left of the Mode combo box, a menu will be displayed. This menu includes options foropening and saving presets and a list of all presets from the Preset sub folder of the B/W Styler folder.

Open Presets

Several global presets are already delivered with B/W Styler, which can be useful as a starting point. Additionally you canalso save your own presets in order to easily reapply effects that you often need. These global presets can only bechosen with the help of the button menu next to the Mode combo box and change all settings of B/W Styler. In contrast tothat local presets only influence a few controls and can be chosen from combo boxes, preset icons and button menus invarious locations in B/W Styler.

Save Preset

You can save the current B/W Styler settings as a preset with the help of the Save Preset option. Please save presets intothe Presets sub folder within the B/W Styler folder, because this is the location where B/W Styler looks for them. You canopen a preset later again with the Open Preset menu item.


Preset List

At the bottom of the menu is a list of all B/W Styler presets from the Presets sub folder of B/W Styler. If you choose one ofthem, it is immediately applied and changes all settings.


Split View

The various split views let you compare the original image side by side with the resulting image.

Using Left, Right, Bottom and Top View

There are two types of split views available in B/W Styler: Color and B/W. The Color split views show the original colorversion of the image on one side and the effect of B/W Styler on the other. The B/W split views on the other hand let youcompare a standard B/W version of the image (the one you get when you shift click the Reset button) with the current B/WStyler effect settings. To move the separation line between the two versions, hold down the ALT key and drag on thepreview.

Please Note: If the Split View option is called "Right View" it always means that the effect that is produced by B/W Stylercan be seen on the right side of the preview. The same is true for the other split view options.

Multiple

The Multiple check box only works in combination with the Split View options. If it is activated you will see the same imagecontent in each split view area. You can click somewhere to display a different part of the image in both split areas. Youcan alternatively hold down the Alt key and drag over the preview to make it move.


Histo Tab

B/W Styler offers various types of histograms. If an image is B/W and only contains grey tones ranging from black andwhite, most of these histogram types will look the same. They will display only brightness information, because a B/Wimage only consists of brightness values and contains no color information. Nevertheless we decided to include all ofthese histogram types. They can be useful if you apply one of the colorize effects of B/W Styler or selectively restore colorto some image areas.

Basically histograms don't show anything you can't see in the image itself if you know where to look and look reallyclosely. But histograms have the advantage that they are more structured than the image itself, so they let you recognizeimage problems easier.

A histogram is a statistical display of an image parameter, e.g. brightness, hues or saturation. It shows the distribution ofcertain pixel values in an image. These values usually range from 0 to 255 in a 8bit image. The range of these values isdisplayed from left to right in the histogram, so the value 0 is displayed at the outer left and the value 255 is displayed onthe outer right side. The amount of each value is displayed from bottom to top, so the height of the curve represents thenumber of pixels that have a certain value. If more pixels have a certain value, the histogram curve will be higher at thatpoint.

In B/W Styler the histogram curve is separated into three areas: the shadows on the left side (with values from 0 to 85),the midtones in the middle (with values from 86 to 170) and the highlights on the right side (with values from 171 to 255).B/W Styler displays all three areas equally wide, although some people may argue that the midtones are twice as wide asthe shadows and the highlights. But usually it is more useful to define the three areas equally wide.

Peak, Mean, Shadows, Midtones and Highlights labels

The Peak figure lets you know which brightness, color or other value occurs most often in the image. The histogram curveusually has its peak at that value. The Mean figure tells you the average brightness, color or other value. If this value isbelow 128, the image contains e.g. more dark than bright areas.

The Shadows percentage lets you know how much of the image is in the lower value range (e.g. is quite dark), theMidtones figure tells you how much of the image is in the middle range (e.g. is moderately bright) and the Highlightspercentage shows you how much of the image is in the upper range (e.g. is bright). For example if the Shadowspercentage in the RGB or Intensity histogram is very high, it can mean that the photo is underexposed.

RGB Histogram


You can use the RGB histogram to see if there are blown highlights or cutoff shadows in an image. Blown highlights canbe identified by a high spike on the right side whereas cutoff shadows are represented by a high spike on the left side.The higher and wider the spike is, the more information was cut off.

If there is a large slope on the left or right side and not just a thin spike, then the photo is already quite damaged. Anotherbad sign is if the middle part of the curve is quite flat or extremely ducked to the ground. If such histograms are producedby an adjustment you made in B/W Styler, you should correct the setting.

The RGB histogram also shows the darkest value (the end point of the curve at the left) and brightest value (the end pointof the curve at the right) in an image. Both are also called black point and white point. The range between both points iscalled dynamic or tonal range and determines the contrast of the image. The optimal contrast is achieved if the curvestarts at the outer left and ends at the outer right. If this isn't the case, the image may not have a good contrast. If thecurve starts more towards the middle, it also means that the image is too bright. If it ends more in the middle, then theimage is too dark.

Nevertheless there are always exceptions from the rule. For example, a photo with a snow landscape will produce asimilar histogram as an overexposed photo, but the snow photo is fine while the overexposed photo needs to be fixed. Onthe other hand a photo with a black sky and stars or the moon looks on the histogram as if it is underexposed, althoughthis isn't the case. Another example is a photo that was taken on a foggy day. If you correct its low contrast too much, theresult will look terrible and don't give the viewer the impression of fog anymore. So a good rule is to always investigate thecontents of the image, too, and not to trust the histogram completely.

Small gaps tend do show up in the RGB Histogram more often than in other histogram types. They are only a sign that animage was processed and are usually nothing to worry about.

Intensity, Luminosity and Lightness Histograms

The Intensity, Luminosity and Lightness histograms are very similar for many images. They often let you better judge thebrightness distribution in an image, but they are not suitable to judge blown highlights or cutoff shadows. If the imagecontains more shadows, the hill is more on the left side. If it contains more highlights, the hill is located on the right side. Ifit is well balanced, the hill or hills are usually in the middle of the histogram.

If there are two peaks, one on the outer left side in the shadows and one on the outer right side in the highlights, it canmean that the photo was taken under extreme light conditions and contains too dark as well as too bright areas. If thereare peaks on both the outer left and right side, the image contrast is usually too extreme.


Red, Green, Blue, Cyan, Magenta and Yellow Histograms

These histograms can be used to recognize color casts or other color problems. For example if the Blue Histogramcontains a curve that is only located in the shadows, it means that there are as good as no light blue areas in the image.This can mean that the color blue was suppressed in the image and that the image has a yellow color cast.

Hue Histogram

The Hue histogram lets you see if some hues are missing. If some hues are dominant in the image, it can mean − but notnecessarily − that there is a color cast. A close−up photo for example is usually missing some hues even if it doesn't havea color cast.

Saturation Histogram

The Saturation histogram lets you see if there is a problem with the saturation in the image. For example if there isnothing in the left part, the image may be oversaturated or if there is nothing on the right side, the image is probablyundersaturated. However, images with a lot of white and dark areas may appear undersaturated according to thehistogram, but as pure white and black have no saturation, that may not be true.

Colors Histogram

The Colors histogram is similar to the RGB histogram, so it also lets you see if there are blown or cutoff areas.Additionally it shows which hues are dominant in the shadows, midtones and highlights.

Black and White Histograms


The left part of Black histogram and the right part of the White histogram are similar to the RGB histogram. Bothhistograms should fill the whole value range from left to right. The above Black histogram indicates that the image is too"black" and too much "white" at the right end of the histogram is missing. The above White histogram also has a small gapat right end, which means that the white values aren't fully used.

If there is a large gap at the right or left end of the histogram, it means hat the contrast of the image is bad. Spikes at theouter left or right indicate cutoff shadows and blown highlights.

Styles

B/W Styler lets you display the histograms in four different styles. "Filled" creates the standard histogram type that isknown from many graphics applications. The "Gradient" option draws a color gradient from left to right. The colors of thisgradient are different from histogram to histogram. The "Line" option draws a line and leaves the area underneath empty."Dot" plots the histogram values as dots, which may make some histogram values less readable, but lets you easierrecognize a general trend.


Info Tab

The Info tab shows information that is not essential but which may be helpful in certain circumstances.

Show Blown Highlights

If the Show Blown Highlights option is checked, highlight areas that were cutoff by B/W Styler will be displayed as a linepattern in the image. Additionally activating this check box shows a percent value in the check box label which indicatedthe percentage of blown highlights. This feature doesn't show and count blown highlights that were already present in theimage before you executed B/W Styler.

Color Box

When moving the mouse over the preview the color under the cursor is displayed in the color box of the Info tab sheet.Additionally the color is shown as RGB and HSL values. The x and y values represent the image coordinates.


Prefs Tab

The Prefs tab contains some options for defining the behavior of B/W Styler.

On Start Up

The default On Start Up control is "Previous Settings". This option will load the settings that were previously applied to animage with B/W Styler. The "Default Settings" option will set all controls back to default values, which deactivates alleffects but still applies a basic B/W conversion. The "Logged Settings" option will automatically open the settings thatwere applied the last time to the same image. It only works if you previously had the Log Settings check box activated andif you use Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro (see below for more information).

On Reset

The behavior of the Reset button can be defined by the On Reset combo box. If it is set to "Default Settings" and you clickthe Reset button, most controls will be deactivated.

If On Reset is set to "Previous Settings", clicking Reset will load the settings that were used for correcting the previousimage. If you select "Own Defaults", you will be prompted to select an existing preset file. So, if you want the Reset buttonto revert all controls back to your preferred settings, you must first save these settings to a preset file. See below thefollowing page for more information about saving preset files.

If you press the Reset button after setting On Reset to "Logged Settings", B/W Styler will look in the logfiles sub folderinside the B/W Styler folder to see if a preset with the name of the current image has been saved there. This preset mayhave been automatically saved by B/W Styler, because the Log settings check box was activated and you already applieda correction to this image (or an image with the same file name). If B/W Styler can find a preset file, it will immediatelyopen it. If B/W Styler doesn't find one, nothing will happen.

Language

Here you can choose the interface language. The help texts will also be displayed in the chosen language.

Deactivate Multiprocessor Support (x CPUs)

If you encounter any problems, you can deactivate the support for multiple processors and hyperthreading processorswith this check box. The multiprocessor feature currently only extends to the following effects: (Film) Grain, Paper Grade /Multigrade, Diffusion / Soften, Vignette Blur and Dark Mist. If one of these effects is chosen in B/W Styler, the renderingwill be 7% faster (hyperthreading), 20% faster (dual core) or 30% faster (quadcore).

The number in brackets displays how many processors were detected by B/W Styler. For example, for a hyperthreadingor dualcore processor you will see "2 CPUs" displayed. If you only have a non−hyperthreading, singlecore processor, this


check box will disabled by default.

Instant Sliders

If the Instant Sliders check box is activated, the preview is updated while you drag a slider. Additionally the dragging of thesplit view separation line is done interactively. Instant Slider may also work too slowly on computers with an olderprocessor. You can also get the same effect if you hold down the Shift key while dragging a slider.

Vertical Sliders (Windows only)

The Vertical Sliders check box will rotate the seven sliders of the B/W Films mode (as well as the same sliders on theSelective tab sheet in B/W Quick Mode and Expert Mode) by 90 degrees and orientate them vertically.

Histo Zoom

Activating the Histo Zoom check box in the Prefs tab cuts off peaks for some images when displaying a histogram in theHisto tab sheet. This avoids a flat histogram display where only a few high spikes are visible. That's also how Photoshopdisplays histograms. This option is activated by default.

Log Settings

With the Log Settings check box activated B/W Styler automatically saves preset files in the logfiles sub folder of the B/WStyler folder when you press the OK button to apply a correction to an image. In Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro thepresets are named with the file name of the image. In other applications a random number is used, because theseapplications don't supply the file name of the image to plugins like B/W Styler. If you apply B/W Styler a second time to thesame image and have Log Settings activated, the previous preset file will be overwritten.

At least with Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro this feature allows you to easily find the settings that you applied to certainimages by looking into the logfiles sub folder. For other applications you can only look at the file date and guess whichpreset file was used for which image.

In connection with the Logged Settings option of the On Start Up combo box (see above), you can use the Log Settingscheck box to automatically make B/W Styler start up with the settings that were applied the last time to the same image.So if you need to correct the same image again, you will automatically be presented with the same settings that you usedthe last time.

In case you don't want to start up B/W Styler with the logged settings or forgot to activate that option, you can also openthe logged settings by right clicking on the Reset button and choosing "Logged Settings" from the context menu.


Cloak Mode

In Cloak Mode B/W Styler doesn't display its dialog and immediately starts rendering a predefined setting to the image.Cloak mode is useful if you want to quickly apply the same settings to a series of photos.

Activating Cloak Mode

To activate Cloak Mode please hold down the CTRL key when you click on the Cancel button. The information boxpictured above will appear. After pressing YES, the current settings will be saved and B/W Styler will be exited withoutrendering any effects to the image.

When you run B/W Styler again by choosing it from the Filter menu of your image application, the dialog of B/W Stylerwon't show up and the previous settings will be rendered immediately to the image. So if you have the On Start Up combobox on the Prefs tab sheet set to "Default Settings", this setting is ignored in Cloak Mode and the previous settings areapplied. However, if you have On Start Up set to "Logged Settings", B/W Styler will search for automatically loggedsettings for each image and apply them if they are available.

Leaving Cloak Mode

After you have processed your series of photos in Cloak Mode you can uncloak B/W Styler again. To do that, hold downthe Shift key when selecting B/W Styler from the filter menu in your image application. This will display the B/W Stylerdialog again and exit Cloak Mode.

Alternatively you can also delete the file BWCloak.ini in the B/W Styler folder. But this is just an emergency strategy.

Batch Processing using Cloak Mode in Photoshop

Photoshop offers a Batch feature on its File > Automate menu. This feature lets you batch process a series of images withthe help of a Photoshop Action. So if you want to batch process images in Photoshop you only need to record an actionthat contains B/W Styler.


To record an action with B/W Styler do the following:

1. Open an image in Photoshop.

2. Switch to the Actions palette on the right and create a new action by using the New Action button or the pop−up palettemenu.

3. Choose B/W Styler from the Filter menu and press OK. You don't need to adjust any setting or enter Cloak mode yet.

4. Press the Stop button on the Action palette. Now you have your B/W Styler action that you can use with File >Automate > Batch.

To batch process a series of images with B/W Styler please do the following:

1. Open one of the images from the image series.

2. Run B/W Styler and adjust its settings.


3. Enter Cloak Mode by holding the CTRL key and clicking on the Cancel button.

4. Select File > Automate > Batch.

5. In the Batch dialog make sure that your B/W Styler action is selected.

6. Set the other batch options and click on OK to run it.

If you want to batch process another series of images with other B/W Styler settings, please uncloak B/W Styler asmentioned above, adjust the settings and return to Cloak Mode again. You don't need to create another action for thatpurpose as you would need to do for other plugins.

If you want to apply individual B/W Styler settings to each image during batch processing, run the action without activatingCloak mode. In this case the B/W Styler dialog will pop up for adjusting the settings for each image. To apply them justclick on OK.

Batch Processing in Cloak Mode in Paint Shop Pro 8 and higher

Paint Shop Pro 8 (and higher) offers a Process feature on the File >Batch menu for batch processing a series of imageswith the help of a PSP script. Recording such a script is quite easy.

To record a PSP script with B/W Styler, please do the following:

1. Open an image in PSP.

2. Select File > Script > Start Recording.

3. Choose B/W Styler from the Filter menu and press OK. You don't need to adjust any setting or enter Cloak mode yet.

4. Select File > Script > Stop Recording and save the script. Now you have a B/W Styler action that you can use with File> Batch > Process.


To batch process a series of images with B/W Styler please do the following:

1. Open one of the images from the image series.

2. Run B/W Styler and adjust its settings.

3. Enter Cloak Mode by holding the CTRL key and clicking on the Cancel button.

4. Select File > Batch > Process.

5. In the Batch Process dialog choose your B/W Styler script with the Browse button from the Script frame.

6. Set the other batch options and click on the Start button to run it.

If you want to batch process another series of images with other B/W Styler settings, please uncloak B/W Styler asmentioned above, adjust the settings and return to Cloak Mode again. You don't need to create another script for thatpurpose as you would need to do for other plugins. If you want to apply individual B/W Styler settings to each imageduring batch processing, don't activate Cloak mode and run the script nevertheless. Then for each image the B/W Stylerdialog will pop up for adjusting the settings. To apply them just click on OK.

Batch Processing using Cloak Mode in other image editors

There are some other applications that support batch processing with the help of plugins. For example, EquilibriumDeBabilizer supports it and some other applications may support it in future. Basically batch processing in otherapplications works the same as in Photoshop. You have to activate Cloak Mode in B/W Styler and select the B/W Stylerplugin for batch processing in the batch feature of these applications.


Photography Mode

Photography mode is more or less a collection of presets that can be chosen from ten different combo boxes.

Combo Box Options

Each of the ten combo boxes offers up to two dozens of items for adding a predefined effect, a so called preset, to theimage. This means that you can add up to 10 effects at the same time to an image. These presets let you recreate thelook of traditional photography effects. The same presets are also available in the ten photography modes as presetbutton and in B/W Quick and Expert Mode from the button menus. For more details about the available presets pleasesee the Local Presets page.

More...

On the right side of each combo box is a More link. Clicking on one of it will take you to another mode for adjusting theeffect in more detail.


Local Presets

All modes of B/W Styler offer many different local presets for adding certain effects to the image. Local means that thesepresets will only provide predefined values for certain B/W Styler controls and won't change all controls of B/W Styler likeglobal presets do. In Photography Mode these local presets can be chosen from combo boxes, in the simple modes theycan be selected with the help of preset icons and in B/W Quick and Expert Mode the presets can be chosen from buttonmenus. The presets themselves are identical throughout all modes, only the way they are presented varies.

B/W Films

Ortho(chromatic), Orthopan(chromatic), Pan(chromatic), Superpan(chromatic), Infra−Red

These five presets try to reproduce the look of different types of B/W films. Orthochromatic films are only sensitive to coldcolors like blue and cyan, so warm colors like orange and yellow appear quite dark in the B/W image. Superpanchromaticfilms on the other hand are also sensitive to colors and produce a more balanced B/W result. Finally, infra−red films aresensitive for IR radiation from living organisms. As this kind of information is not present in a digital photo, B/W Styler triesto recreate such an IR look by brightening the red, orange and green areas in the image, which are the colors of skin andplants in most photos.

Agfa APX, Agfa Scala, Fuji Neopan( Acros), Fuji Neopan, Illford Delta, Illford FP4 Plus, Illford HP5 Plus, IllfordOrtho Plus, Illford PAN F Plus, Illford XP2 S(uper), Kodak BW CN, Kodak PLUS−X, Kodak TMAX, Kodak TRI−X,Rollei R3

These presets create the look of well−known B/W film brands. Every film has its special spectral sensitivity which issimulated by B/W Styler.

Adox CHS 50, Adox CHS 100, Adox CHS 100 PL, Adox CMS 20, Classicpan, Fomapan Classic, Fomapan,Fortepan, Kodak Tech Pan, Kodak PORTRA, Kodak Copy Film, Maco Cube, Maco PO, Polaroid 54, Polaroid 55,Rollei Ortho, Rollei Retro

These presets create the look of less known B/W film brands.

Ilford SFX, Kodak HIE, Konica IR, Maco IR, Rollei IR

These presets create the look of Infra−Red B/W film brands. Please notice that these presets are less accurate than theother film presets, because usually there is no IR−data captured in digital images.

Film Grain

ISO 100 − 3200

The ISO presets simulate the look of B/W films of different sensitivity. The ISO 100 preset adds a fine grain effect that isbarely visible whereas the ISO 3200 preset produces a rough grain effect that is quite dominant.

B/W Filters

Red, Orange, Yellow, Yellow−Green, Green, Emerald, Cyan, Skyblue, Blue, Violet, Magenta, Red−Violet


For traditional B/W photography it was common to place a colored glass filter in front of the lens to create different B/Wlooks. For example the orange filter makes skin appear bright and a red filter makes the sky dark.

ND Filters

ND2, ND4, ND8

The ND filters basically darken the image. Image areas with intense colors in the original color image are darkened morethan gray image areas. The ND8 preset makes the image most dark.

ND Grad, ND2 (Grad) L, ND4 (Grad) M, ND8 (Grad), ND8 (Grad) S, ND8 (Grad) F

These presets apply the ND effect on a linear gradient. The gradient varies from preset to preset.

Pol(arizer) L(ight), Pol(arizer) M(edium), Pol(arizer) S(trong)

The Polarizer presets darken image areas that were blue in the original color image and brighten image areas that wereyellow.

Diffusion Filters

Diff(usor) L(ight), Diff(usor) 1, Diff(usor) 2, Diff(usor) 3, Diff(usor) 4

The Diffusor presets add a diffusion effect to the image, which blurs the image a bit.

Pastel 1, Pastel 2, Pastel 3, Pastel 4

The Pastel presets are similar to the Diffusion presets, but the blur effect is more faded and grayish.

Mist 1, Mist 2, Mist 3, Mist 4

The Mist presets add a bright highlight to bright image areas giving them a nice glow.

Development

Extra Short, Short, Long, Extra Long

These presets try to simulate an effect from traditional film developments. A film has to be placed in developer liquid for acertain time. If you shorten or prolong this time, you can influence the brightness and contrast of the resulting photo.

Flat Contrast, Low Contrast, High Contrast, Hard Contrast

These presets create low and high contrast effects.

Dark Shad(ow)s, Bright Hight(light)s, Darken, Brighten

These presets darken or brighten the image or only parts of the image.

Hard Dark(ness), Hard Bright(ness), Low Key, High Key

These presets reproduce special B/W looks by manipulating brightness and contrast.


Lab Effects

Lith−Film (Strong), Lith(−Film) Light, Mono(chrome Strong), Mono(chrome) Light, Posterized (Strong),Poster(ized) Light, Solarization, Double Sol(arization)

The Lab presets reproduce different special effects that were created in the traditional darkroom or photo lab with varioustechniques.

Paper Grade

(Grade 0− ) Extra Soft, (Grade 1− ) Soft, (Grade 2− ) Normal), (Grade 3 − ) Special, (Grade 4 − ) Hard, (Grade 5 − )Extra Hard

The Paper Grade presets simulate the look of different multigraded photo papers. You can use them to add a soft or hardlook to the B/W image.

Color Tone

Bromoil, Collodion, Copper, Chrysotype, Cyanotype, Daguerreotype, Gold, Iron, Kallitype, Lead, Palladium,Platinum, Selenium, Sepia, Sepia Yellow, Sepia Red, Sienna, Silver, Silver Gel(atin), Uranium

Traditionally B/W photos were colored by using different toning liquids. Additionally some non−standard film developmentprocesses also produce colored B/W photos. The following presets simulate the effect of different toners and developmentprocesses.

Frame

Rect − White Simple, Rect − White Line, Rect − White Border, Rect − White Transparent, Rect − White Thin, Rect −White Double

Rect − Black Simple, Rect − Black Line, Rect − Black Border, Rect − Black Transparent, Rect − Black Thin, Rect −Black Double,

Oval − White Hard, Oval − White Medium, Oval − White Soft, Oval − Black Hard, Oval − Black Medium, Oval −Black Soft

Circular − White Vignette, Circular − Black Vignette

These presets add various rectangular frames and elliptical/circular vignettes to the image. You can choose betweenwhite or black frames and vignettes.

Selective B/W

Saturation Mask 1, Saturation Mask 2, Brightness Mask 1, Brightness Mask 2

Red Mask, Orange Mask, Yellow Mask, Green Mask, Cyan Mask, Blue Mask, Magenta Mask, gray Mask

The Selective B/W presets add color back to certain image areas depending on their saturation, brightness or color.


Split Color

Partial Red, Partial Copper, Partial Sepia, Partial Gold, Partial Green, Partial Cyan, Partial Blue, Partial Magenta

Sepia Mix, Yellow−Red, Yellow−Blue, Red−Blue, Yellow−Green, Brown−Magenta, Orange−Green, Magenta−Blue

The Partial presets colorize image areas that were highly saturated in the original image and keep gray image areas asthey are. The other Split Color presets colorize the shadow areas of the image with one color and the highlight areas withanother color.

Vignette Blur

Diffusor Small, Diffusor Medium, Diffusor Large, Soft Small, Soft Medium, Soft Large, Fog Small, Fog Medium,Fog Large

The Vignette Blur adds a soft blur effect to the outer image areas while keeping the inner center area as it is. The presetsvary in blur intensity and vignette softness.

Dark Mist

Small Deep, Small Normal, Small Flat, Medium Deep, Medium Normal, Medium Flat, Large Deep, Large Normal,Large Flat

The Dark Mist presets darken the dark areas of the image even more resulting in stronger shadows.

Convert Tab Sheet

The Convert tab sheet offers the local presets mentioned under B/W Filters above plus the following ones:

Luminosity, Average, Desaturated

The Luminosity presets perform a widely accepted B/W conversion whereas the Average presets do a fairly simpleconversion, which is fine for some images, but may not look that good for others. The Desaturation preset creates yetanother B/W result.

Infra−Red Green Filter, Infra−Red Yellow Filter, Infra−Red Red Filter

The IR presets try to imitate the look of IR photos that were taken with different lens filters.

Selective Tab Sheet

The Selective tab sheet offers the local presets mentioned under B/W Films above plus the following ones:

Impact −> All to ...

The Impact presets set all Impact sliders of the Expert method to a certain value.


Bright Sky, Bright Trees, Bright Skin, Dark Sky, Dark Trees, Dark Skin

These presets darken or brighten image areas that had a certain color in the original color image. For example the BrightSkin preset brightens orange image areas whereas the Dark Sky preset darkens blue image areas.

Colorize Tab Sheet

The Colorize tab sheet offers the local presets mentioned under Color Toners and Split Color above.

Adjust Tab Sheet

The Adjust tab sheet offers the local presets mentioned under Development and Paper Grade above.

Mask Tab Sheet

The Mask tab sheet offers the local presets mentioned under Frame, ND Filters and Selective B/W above.

Soften Tab Sheet

The Soften tab sheet offers the local presets mentioned under Diffusion Filters, Dark Mist and Vignette Blur above.

Grain Tab Sheet

The Grain tab sheet offers the local presets mentioned under Film Grain above.

Lab Tab Sheet

The Lab tab sheet offers the local presets mentioned under Lab Effects above.


B/W Films

The B/W Films mode emulates the color sensitivity of various types of B/W films.

Preset Icons

Clicking one of the preset icons will activate the appropriate effect by setting the sliders to certain values. The samepresets can also be found in Photography Mode, B/W Quick Mode and Expert Mode. For more information about thepresets, please read the Local Presets page.

Arrow Button Menu

If you click on the arrow button at the left, a menu will be displayed, which contains even more B/W film presets.

Sliders

There are seven sliders with the name of seven colors ranging from Red to Magenta. Slider values above zeroincrease the brightness of the image areas that had the appropriate color in the original image. Values below zero reducethe brightness.

Please note: If you activate the IR preset icon, then the sliders will produce stronger brightness changes than with allother presets.

Hyper Links

The two hyper links on the bottom let you switch to Photograph Mode or to Expert Mode. Alternatively you can also usethe Mode combo box at the top for doing that.


Film Grain

The Film Grain mode simulates the film grain of low and high−ISO films.

Preset Icons

Clicking one of the preset icons will activate the appropriate effect by setting the sliders to certain values. The samepresets can also be found in Photography Mode, B/W Quick Mode and Expert Mode. For more information about thepresets, please read the Local Presets page.

Sliders

The Intensity slider controls the intensity of the grain. Low values will make the grain vanish and higher values will floodthe image with grain.

The Size slider defines the size of the grain particles. The value represents the radius of the grain particle. A Size valueof 1 means that the particle is 1 pixel big. A value of 1.0 creates grain particles that can be up to 3 pixel wide.

Hyper Links



B/W Filters

The B/W Filters mode recreates the effect of colored glass filters that are placed in front of the lens to influence the look ofB/W photos.

Preset Icons

Clicking one of the preset icons will activate the appropriate effect by setting the sliders below to certain values. The samepresets can also be found in Photography Mode, B/W Quick Mode and Expert Mode. For more information about thepresets, please read the Local Presets page.

Sliders

The Hue slider lets you choose a color for the B/W conversion. For example, if you choose a red color with the Hueslider, the red areas of the color image will get bright in the B/W image. As Cyan is the complimentary color of red thecyan image areas will get dark. All other areas will have grey tones that are in between.

The Contrast and Brightness sliders don't work like normal brightness and contrast sliders. They influence the B/Wconversion itself and are based on color differences in the original color image. Slider values above zero usually producebrighter results whereas values below zero result in a darker image. Both sliders allow quite extreme adjustments, so becareful not to overdo it.

Hyper Links



ND Filters

The ND Filters mode simulates glass filters that are placed in front of a camera lens. You can choose between three typesof filters: ND Filters, which darken the whole image, ND Grad Filters, which gradually darken one half of the image, andPolarizers, which darken blue areas and brighten yellow areas.

Preset Icons


Sliders

The Brightness slider adjusts the brightness of the whole image or parts of it. If you have activated one of the ND or Polpreset icons, then the whole image will be affected. If you chose one of the ND Grad presets, then only one half of theimage will be affected. The Color Contrast slider controls the Polarizer effect. So you can add a Polarizer effect to an NDeffect if you use the Color Contrast slider after clicking on one of the ND preset icons.

If you activate one of the ND Grad preset icons (the fourth up to ninth icon), three more sliders will appear. These sliderscan be used to modify the gradient of the ND Grad effects. The Offset slider positions the gradient, the Density sliderexpands or shrinks the gradient and the Rotation slider rotates the gradient by 360 degree.

Hyper Links



Diffusion Filters

The Diffusion Filters mode offers soft focus and glow effects of various strength and qualities.

Preset Icons


Sliders

The Intensity slider controls the strength of the effect and the Radius slider controls its smoothness.

Clicking one of preset icons from the bottom row displays additional sliders for adjusting the mist effect: The Thresholdsliders lets you expand the mist effect to other image areas and the Color Filter slider influences the location of theseimage areas.

Hyper Links



Development

The Development mode provides effects that were applied in the darkroom when developing the film.

Preset Icons


Sliders

The Brighten slider lets you increase or decrease the brightness of the image in EV steps from −5.0 to +5.0. For manyimages you will only need adjustments between −1.0 and +1.0 though. It doesn't work like the brightness or gammasliders that are known from many graphics applications. It doesn't cut off shadows or highlights and also doesn't changethe contrast.

The Contrast slider does what its name suggests: It adjusts the contrast of the image. Values below zero can makesome details more visible, but can create a more grayish look. Values above zero increase contrast and give the imagemore punch, but may make some shadow details less visible. If you deactivate the check box at the left, the Contrastslider is split up into two sliders, called S−Contrast and H−Contrast, for adjusting the contrast in the shadow andhighlight areas independently. If both sliders have the same value, the effect is the same as that of the single Contrastslider.

The Amplify slider is meant to be used in addition to the Brightness and Contrast sliders. It offers further precision forbrightness and contrast adjustments for difficult images. It performs a white point adjustment for positive values and ablack point adjustment for negative values. Please use with care, because it can easily blow highlights or suppressshadows.

Hyper Links

The two hyper links at the bottom let you switch to Photograph Mode or to Expert Mode. Alternatively you can also usethe Mode combo box at the top for doing that.


Lab Effects

The Lab Effects mode contains effects that were achieved in the photo lab or traditional darkroom.

Preset Icons


Sliders

Depending on which preset icon you click, you will see different sliders appear. That's because the preset icons switchbetween different effects. For detailed descriptions of the sliders, please read the Lab Tab Sheet page.

Hyper Links



Paper Grade

The Paper Grade mode reproduces the effect of multigraded photo papers that were used in traditional B/W photography.

Preset Icons


Sliders

The Multigrade slider ranges from −2.0 to +3.0. A value of zero will have no effect on the image, values below zero willmake the image appear softer and values above zero will increase the edge contrast.

The Paper Density slider controls the roughness of the effect. Higher values will make the effect rougher whereas lowvalues will produce an effect with finer details.

Hyper Links



Color Tone

The Color Tone mode reproduces the effect of color toners that were used in traditional B/W photography for colorizingB/W prints.

Preset Icons


Sliders

The Hue slider lets you choose a color tone and the Saturation slider fades the color to grey or intensifies it.

Hyper Links



Frames

The Frames mode offers a range of predefined frame effects. The frames are added inside the image, so a part of theimage is hidden by them.

Preset Icons


Hyper Links



Split B/W

The Split B/W mode creates special B/W conversions by using different color filters for the shadows and highlight areas.

Preset Icons


Sliders

The preset icons in the top row work fine with portrait photos whereas the second row produces more extreme effects thatare more suitable for landscape photos.

The Shadow−Hue and Highlight−Hue sliders let you select individual color filters for the shadows and highlight areasduring the B/W conversion. The Treshold slider lets you shift the borders between the shadows and highlights. A middlevalue of 128 defines shadow and highlight areas of equal width whereas a value of zero suppresses the shadow hue anda value of 255 suppresses the highlight hue. The Transition slider adjusts the smoothness between the shadow andhighlight areas. A slider value of zero usually creates ugly aliased edges in the image, so it is best to use a higher valuefor a smooth transition. A value of 255 on the other hand blends the shadow/highlight borders too much and produces anB/W conversion that is very similar to that of the Color Filter method.

Hyper Links



Selective B/W

The Selective B/W Mode lets you create B/W images with a few colored areas.

Preset Icons


Sliders

Depending on the preset icon that you select different controls will be displayed. If you select one of the presets from thefirst row, you will see a Tone and Limit slider. The Tone slider lets you select the tonal value around which the mask iscreated. In the case of the two Sat Mask presets, the Tone slider represents the saturation value. A low slider valuetargets image areas that are black, grey and white whereas a high value is aimed at image areas with intense colors. Inthe case of the two Bri Mask presets the Tone slider lets you select the brightness value. A low value means that darkimage areas are used for the mask and a high value selects bright image areas.

If you activate one of the presets from the second and third row you will see a color box. The color that is displayed in thecolor box will be used for creating the mask. To choose this color you can click on the preview or click on the colorbox itself. For example, if you want to give back color to purple image areas, please click on one of these purple imageareas in the preview.

The Limit slider works the same for all preset icons. It lets you adjust the size of the color image areas by expanding orshrinking the mask.

Hyper Links



Split Color

The Split Color mode lets you partially colorize the B/W image or colorizes shadows and highlight areas with differentcolors.

Preset Icons


Sliders

The two top preset icon rows display only two sliders for partially colorizing a B/W image. Image areas that were black,white and grey in the original B/W image will have less color added with these presets. The Hue and Saturation sliders letyou choose the color and its intensity with which the image is colorized.

The two bottom icon rows are for colorizing the shadows and highlights with individual sliders. As it is a more complexeffect six sliders are needed. The Shadow−Hue and Shadow−Sat sliders define the color that is used for colorizing theshadow areas whereas the Highlight−Hue and Highlight−Sat sliders select the color for the highlights. The borderbetween the shadow and highlight areas is defined by the Threshold slider. A slider value above 128 will make the colorfor the shadows dominant in the image and a value below 128 will make the highlight color dominant. Finally, theTransition slider blends shadows and highlights together. If you use a very high value, you will only see one color whichis a mixture of both the shadow color and the highlight color. A too low value isn't recommended either if you want to avoidugly edges between the two colorized areas.

Hyper Links



Vignette Blur

The Vignette Blur mode applies a blur or diffusion effect to the outer image areas while keeping the circular inner area asit is.

Preset Icons


Sliders

The first two sliders control the diffusion effect: The Intensity slider controls the strength of the diffusion effect and theRadius slider controls its smoothness.

The remaining four sliders let you shape the vignette to your needs. The Size slider determines the size of the vignetteand the Density slider makes the vignette borders harder or smoother. The Ovality slider shapes the vignette into anellipse and the Rotation slider lets you rotate the vignette. If the Ovality slider has a value of zero, the vignette is a circle,so using the Rotation slider has no effect.

Hyper Links



Dark Mist

The Dark Mist mode lets you add diffuse shadows to the image.

Preset Icons


Sliders

The Intensity slider controls the strength of the effect and the Radius slider controls its smoothness of the mist. TheThreshold slider lets you expand the mist effect to other image areas and the Color Filter slider influences the locationof these image areas.

Hyper Links



B/W Quick Mode

The B/W Quick Mode provides the means for quickly converting a color image to B/W and adjusting the B/W result. Itbasically provides a few controls of three tab sheets of the Expert Mode. This mode is especially useful if you areinterested in a pure B/W conversion without any additional special effects.

Convert

The Convert tab sheet offers the controls of the Color Filter method of Expert Mode. You can choose the color of the filterthat will be used for B/W conversion with the Hue slider. The Contrast and Brightness sliders offer means for adjustingbrightness and contrast during the B/W conversion. They use color differences to produce their effect, so they don't havethe same effect as conventional Brightness and Contrast sliders which use brightness differences for adjusting the image.Conventional Brightness and Contrast sliders are available on the General tab sheet below the Convert tab sheet.

Selective

The seven Selective sliders let you adjust the brightness of certain image areas independently from each other. Forexample, the Red slider lets you darken or brighten image areas in the B/W image that had red color in the original colorimage. The other sliders work similar but affect other colored areas. If one of these sliders doesn't seem to have an effect,it means that the appropriate color was not present in the original color image. This is often the case with the Magentaslider, because most digital cameras are not very sensitive for the color magenta and often capture it as a variation of blueor red. An activated Boost check box increases the effect of the seven sliders in case you need to perform a strongerselective correction. The same controls are also available from the Simple method on the Selective tab sheet of ExpertMode.

General

The sliders of the General tab sheet let you adjust the brightness and contrast in the whole image. For more informationplease see the General Tab Sheet page.

Button Menus


Apart from the arrow−down−button at the top, which offers global presets and is explained on the Reset, Undo &Presetspage, there is an arrow−down−button on each of the three tab sheets in B/W Quick Mode. Clicking on it will display amenu for selecting a local preset that will set the controls of the tab sheet to some useful values. For more informationabout the Local Presets page.


Expert Mode

Expert Mode is the most sophisticated mode of B/W Styler. It offers the combined effects of all other modes and evenmore. All adjustments that you make in the other modes will be visible in this mode. Expert Mode lets you fine−tune themeven further, because it offers the most possibilities.

Tab Sheets

Expert Mode consists of two tab controls with four tab sheets each. Each tab sheet offers different effect and adjustmentmethods that can be selected from a Method combo box. For more information, please read the following pages:ConvertTab Sheet, Selective Tab Sheet, General Tab Sheet, Colorize Tab Sheet as well as Mask Tab Sheet, Soften Tab Sheet,Grain Tab Sheet, Lab Tab Sheet.

Method Combo Boxes

All tab sheets offer a Method combo box (except for the General tab sheet) for choosing between different effect andadjustment methods. Each method offers two or more sliders and some methods also offer other controls, e.g. a colorbox. Methods are exclusive, which means that if you choose another method from the same combo box, the effect of theprevious method won't be applied anymore. The only exception are the Vignette and Frame methods of the Mask tabsheet. If you activate the Lock check box for them, they will still be applied to the image even if you choose another Maskmethod.

Button Menus

Each of the eight tab sheets offers an arrow−down button for displaying a menu with local presets. These local presets setthe sliders of a tab sheet to some predefined values for a useful effect. For more information please read the LocalPresets page.


Convert Tab Sheet

The Convert tab sheet of Expert Mode is for adjusting the B/W conversion process. It offers six methods, which can bechosen from the Method combo box.

Contrast & Brightness Sliders

All methods offer a Contrast and Brightness slider. They don't work like normal brightness and contrast sliders. Theyinfluence the B/W conversion itself and are based on color differences in the original color image. Slider values abovezero usually produce brighter results whereas values below zero result in a darker image. Both sliders allow quite extremeadjustments, so be careful not to overdo it.

Standard

The Standard method converts to B/W by using the luminosity of the color image.

Desaturation

The Desaturation method converts to B/W by using the lightness of the color image. It only desaturates the color image byremoving all colors.


Color Filter

The Color Filter method lets you choose a color for doing the B/W conversion. For example, if you choose a red color withthe Hue slider, the red areas of the color image will get bright in the B/W image. As Cyan is the complimentary color ofred the cyan image areas will get dark. All other areas will have grey tones that are in between.

Channel Mixer

The Channel Mixer basically works similarly to the Color Filter Method except that it lets you choose more extreme colorsfor more extreme results. It also lets you select a color for the B/W conversion with the Red, Green and Blue sliders. Thechosen color is displayed in the color box to the left of the sliders. Clicking on this color box displays a color dialog forchoosing a color and sets the sliders accordingly. If you deactivate the Preserve check box, B/W Styler won't preservethe brightness of the image and let you produce under− and overexposed B/W conversions.

Infra−Red

The Infrared method tries to recreate B/W photos that were shot with infra−red sensitive film. The Range slider simulatesred, yellow and green lens filters that were traditionally used to produce other infrared looks.

A similar effect can be created with the Infrared preset on the Selective tab sheet of Expert mode or in B/W Films mode.But often it has some advantages to use the Infrared method from the Convert tab sheet and additionally use theSelective tab sheet or B/W Films mode to adjust the Infrared effect further.

Split B/W

Split B/W is a unique method for B/W conversion which produces results that are no possible with the other methods ofthe Convert tab sheet. The Shadow−Hue and Highlight−Hue sliders let you select individual color filters for the


shadows and highlight areas during the B/W conversion.

The Threshold slider lets you shift the borders between the shadows and highlights. A middle value of 128 definesshadow and highlight areas of equal width whereas a value of zero suppresses the shadow hue and a value of 255suppresses highlight hue. The Transition slider adjusts the smoothness between the shadow and highlight areas. Aslider value of zero usually creates ugly aliased edges in the image, so it is best to use a higher value for a smoothtransition. A value of 255 on the other hand blends the shadow/highlight borders too much and produces a B/Wconversion that is very similar to that of the Color Filter method.

If you consider the Split B/W method too complex, you can also use the Color Filter method together with the Simplemethod from the Selective tab sheet. However, you won't be able to do the same B/W conversions with this strategy aswith the Split B/W method. For some images only the Split B/W method may achieve a certain result that you have inmind.


Selective Tab Sheet

The Selective tab sheet of Expert Mode offers two methods for selectively adjusting the brightness and contrast of imageareas that had a certain color in the original color image. It can be used to fine−tune the result of the B/W conversion thatis performed with the Convert tab sheet.

Simple

The Simple method offers seven sliders with the name of seven colors ranging from Red to Magenta. Slider valuesabove zero increase the brightness of the image areas that had the appropriate color in the original image. Values belowzero reduce the brightness. The Boost check box amplifies the effect of the seven sliders allowing you to achieve evenstronger brightness changes.

Advanced

The Advanced method offers more options for each color than the Simple mode. As a consequence you need to switchbetween the different colors by clicking on one of the color boxes. Additionally the Advanced method also offers twoadditional colors: Pink (for skin tones) and Grey (for color−neutral areas). Each of these nine colors can be individuallyadjusted with four controls: three sliders and a hue bar.

The Brightness slider adjusts the brightness of the image areas that had the appropriate color in the original image. TheContrast slider does the same for the contrast of the appropriate image area. The Impact slider on the other handcontrols the effect intensity of the Brightness and Contrast sliders. Higher values produce a stronger effect. In this respectthe Impact slider is a more elaborated version of the Boost check box of the Simple method, which represents Impactslider value of 50.

The hue bar is displayed as a color gradient which ranges from red to green to blue and finally to red again. It representsa continuos color circle, because the red color on the left and right side are identical. Below the hue bar are two arrowsthat are connected with a line. The arrows indicate which color range is currently targeted. If you switch to another color inthe color box row above the hue bar, you can see that the two arrows will be repositioned to display the color range of thenewly selected color. You can change this color range, e.g. to affect a larger image area, by dragging one of the arrows. Ifyou drag an arrow beyond the left or right side of the hue bar, it will reappear on the other side. By dragging the line that


connects the arrows or dragging directly on the hue bar between the arrows you can move both arrows simultaneouslyand retain the size of the color range.

Please note that the adjustments of the hue bar are only subtle. For example, if you currently have the red color box at thetop activated and drag the arrows towards the blue area of the hue bar, you won't be able to brighten the previously blueareas in the image. So if you want to adjust the blue image areas, please activate the blue color box and repeat youradjustments.


General Tab Sheet

The General tab sheet contains controls for adjusting the brightness, contrast and other image parameters. Unlike thecontrols in the Selective tab sheets, which influence only certain image areas, the General controls work on the wholeimage.

Sliders

The Brighten slider lets you increase or decrease the brightness of the image in EV steps from −5.0 to +5.0. For manyimages you will only need adjustments between −1.0 and +1.0 though. It doesn't work like the brightness or gammasliders that are known from many graphics applications. It doesn't cut off shadows or highlights and also doesn't changethe contrast.

The Contrast slider does what its name suggests: It adjusts the contrast of the image. Values below zero can makesome details more visible, but can create a more grayish look. Values above zero increase contrast and give the imagemore punch, but may make some shadow details less visible. If you deactivate the check box at the left, the Contrastslider is split up into two sliders, called S−Contrast and H−Contrast, for adjusting the contrast in the shadow andhighlight areas independently. If both sliders have the same value, the effect is the same as that of the single Contrastslider.

The Amplify slider is meant to be used in addition to the Brightness and Contrast sliders. It offers further precision forbrightness and contrast adjustments for difficult images. It performs a white point adjustment for positive values and ablack point adjustment for negative values. Please use with care, because it can easily blow highlights or suppressshadows.

The Color Contrast slider works quite differently from the above mentioned Contrast slider. It uses the color differencesin the original color image to increase the contrast of an image. Values above zero make blue areas darker and red andgreen areas brighter, which is what a traditional Polarizer filter does. On the other hand slider values below zero will makeblue areas brighter and red and green areas darker.

The Multigrade and Paper Density sliders simulate the effect that different B/W photo papers had on the traditional B/Wphoto. The Multigrade slider ranges from −2.0 to +3.0. A value of zero will have no effect on the image, values below zerowill make the image appear softer and values above zero will increase the edge contrast. The Paper Density slidercontrols the roughness of the effect. Higher values will make the effect rougher whereas low values will produce an effectwith finer details.


Colorize Tab Sheet

The Colorize tab sheet of Expert mode offers methods for adding back color to the B/W image. It lets you simulatetraditional color toners or even add extreme color effects.

Standard

The Standard method is a simple way to colorize B/W images. It offers a Hue slider for choosing a color tone and aSaturation slider for fading the color to grey or intensifying it.

Enhanced

The Enhanced method lets you choose a color for colorizing the image by using three sliders (Red, Green, Blue) or byclicking on the color box at the left. If the Preserve check box is activated, then the color that is selected with the Red,Green and Blue slider won't change the brightness of the image.

There is also a Saturation slider for controlling the intensity of the color. The Tonality slider lets you influence how theB/W image is colorized. It adds the color more in the shadows, midtones or highlights. Finally, the Contrast slidercontrols the contrast of the color effect. It has a more or less strong effect depending on the setting of the Tonality slider.

Partial Toning

The Partial Toning method is similar to the Standard method except that it adds less color to neutral image areas. Thismeans that black or white areas are not colorized at all or much weaker by it. As with the Standard method it also offersHue and Saturation sliders.


Split Toning

The Split Toning method can colorize shadows and highlight areas with different colors. The color for the shadow areas isselected with the Shadow−Hue and Shadow−Sat sliders whereas the color for the highlight areas is selected with theHighlight−Hue and Highlight−Sat sliders. The border between the shadow and highlight areas is defined with theThreshold slider. A slider value above 128 will make the color for the shadows dominant in the image and a value below128 will make the highlight color dominant. Finally, the Transition slider blends shadows and highlights together. If youuse a very high value, you will only see one color, which is a mixture of both the shadow color and the highlight color. Atoo low value isn't recommended either if you want to avoid ugly edges between the two colorized areas.


Mask Tab Sheet

The Mask tab sheet offers several methods for targeting the effects of B/W Styler to certain image areas only. Additionallythere are two options called Vignette and Frame for framing the image.

The N and P Buttons

All methods of the Mask tab sheet (except Vignette and Frame) offer N and P buttons for displaying the created mask. Ifyou activate the N button you will see a negative version of the mask in the preview. If you activate the P button you willsee a positive version of the mask. Both buttons help you to adjust the mask more precisely.

Linear Mask

The Linear Mask method creates a linear gradient that is used as a mask. The Offset slider positions the gradient, theDensity slider expands or shrinks the gradient and the Rotation slider rotates the gradient by 360 degree.

The Linear Mask mode lets you apply all effects of B/W Styler to one half of the image, but if you activate the ND Gradcheck box, the effects will again be applied to the whole image. The only exception is the Brightness slider of the Converttab sheet. So with activated ND Grad check box you can simulate a ND Grad effect.

The Color check box lets you add back the color to the areas that are not selected by the linear mask. With its help youcan produce an effect which gradually blends the color areas into B/W. The Invert check box inverts the mask and letsyou quickly swap the masked areas.

Circular Mask

The Circular Mask method creates a circular gradient that is used as a mask. The Size slider determines the size of thecircular gradient and the Density slider makes its borders harder or smoother. The Ovality slider makes the circulargradient elliptical and the Rotation slider lets you rotate it. If the Ovality slider has a value of zero, the gradient is circular,so using the Rotation slider has no effect.

The Circular Mask mode lets you apply all effects of B/W Styler to the center of the image only, but if you activate the VigBlur check box, the effects will again be applied to the whole image. The only exception are the Diffusion, Soft Focusand Fog effects from the Soften tab sheet. So with activated ND Grad check box you can simulate a ND Grad effect.


The Color check box lets you add back the color to the areas that are not selected by the circular mask. With its help youcan produce an effect which gradually blends the color areas into B/W. The Invert check box inverts the mask and letsyou quickly swap the masked areas.

Color Mask

The Color Mask method lets you apply all B/W Styler effects to image areas that had a certain color in the original colorimage. The color that is displayed in the color box will be used for creating the mask. To choose this color you can clickon the preview or click on the color box itself. For example, if you want to give back color to purple image areas, pleaseclick on one of these purple image areas in the preview. The Limit slider lets you adjust the size of the image areas byexpanding or shrinking the mask.

The Color check box lets you add back the color to the areas that are not selected by the circular mask. With its help youcan produce a selective B/W effect if you additionally activate the Invert check box. The Invert check box inverts themask and lets you quickly swap the masked areas.

Saturation Mask

The Saturation Mask method lets you apply all B/W Styler effects to image areas that have a certain saturation value. TheTone slider lets you select the saturation value. For example, if you set it to 255, only the highly saturated image areaswill be affected. If you set it to zero, only the low saturated image areas will be used. The Limit slider controls thesaturation range. A higher slider value will include larger image areas in the mask whereas as value of zero means that noimage area is affected at all.

The Color check box lets you add back the color to the areas that are not selected by the mask. With its help you canproduce a selective B/W effect. The Invert check box inverts the mask and lets you quickly swap the masked areas.

Brightness Mask

The Brightness Mask method lets you apply all B/W Styler effects to image areas that have a certain brightness value.The Tone slider lets you select the brightness value. If you set it to 255, only the brightest image areas will be affected. Ifyou set it to zero, only the dark image areas will be included in the mask. The Limit slider controls the brightness rangethat is used. A higher slider value will add larger image areas to the mask whereas a value of zero means that no image


area is affected at all.

The Color check box lets you add back the color to the areas that are not selected by the mask. With its help you canproduce a selective B/W effect. The Invert check box inverts the mask and lets you quickly swap the masked areas.

Vignette

The Vignette method allows you to add a colored vignette effect to the image. The color of the vignette can be chosen byclicking on the color box at the left. The size of the vignette is controlled by the Size slider and the softness of thevignette borders is adjusted with the Density slider. Higher values than zero of the Ovality slider will transform thecircular vignette into an elliptical vignette. The Rotation slider only works if the Ovality slider is higher than zero. Thenyou can use it to rotate the elliptical vignette. The Transparency slider seamlessly blends the vignette with the imageand makes the vignette transparent.

If the Lock check box is activated then the Vignette effect will be applied to the image even if you choose another itemfrom the Method combo box of the Mask tab sheet.

Frame

The Frame method lets you add a rectangular or square frame around the image. The frame is placed inside the image,so it hides a part of it. The Outside slider sets the size of the outer frame part, the Border slider adjusts the size of thesecond frame element and the Inside slider increases or decreases the size of the inner frame part. If you set one ofthese sliders to zero, the appropriate frame element will disappear. The Transparency slider makes the frametransparent and lets the image underneath shine through.

If the Lock check box is activated then the Frame effect will be applied to the image even if you choose another itemfrom the Method combo box of the Mask tab sheet.


Soften Tab Sheet

The Soften tab sheet of Expert Mode contains methods for adding a softer look and glow effects to the image.

Diffusor, Soft Focus and Fog

All three methods work similarly, but soften the image in slightly different ways. Diffusor creates a weaker softness whileFog produces a more flat and softer look. The Intensity slider controls the strength of the effect and the Radius slidercontrols its smoothness.

Bright Mist and Dark Mist

The two Mist methods are a bit more complex than the three diffusion effects. Bright Mist adds bright glows in the highlightareas whereas Dark Mist increases the shadow areas with a diffuse blackness. The Intensity slider controls the strengthof the effect and the Radius slider controls its smoothness. The Threshold slider lets you expand the mist effect to otherimage areas and the Color Filter slider influences the location of these image areas.


Grain Tab Sheet

The Grain tab sheet of Expert mode adds noise and grain effect to the image. These features can be used to produce thelook of high−ISO films.

Grain

Four methods for adding a colorless grain effect are offered. They add different types of grain, some of them are a bit finewhereas others are more coarse.

The Intensity slider controls the intensity of the grain. Low values will make the grain vanish and higher values will floodthe image with grain. The Size slider defines the size of the grain particles. The value represents the radius of the grainparticle. A Size value of 1 means that the particle is 1 pixel big. A value of 1.0 creates grain particles that can be up to 3pixel wide.

The Shadow, Midtone and Highlight sliders let you increase or decrease the intensity of the grain effect in the shadow,midtone and highlight areas of the image independently. Setting them all to −100 totally removes the grain.

If the R button is not activated, the texture of the grain will stay the same. If you activate the R button, then the look of thegrain will change with every slider move and preview update. So if you don't like the current grain texture, just activate theR button, move the Intensity slider a bit and deactivate the R button if you found a grain texture that you like.

Activating the Uniform check box spreads the noise evenly across the whole image, which makes the grain effect look abit artificial. So it is only recommended to use it if you want to create the look of digital noise.

Color Grain

The normal grain types are also available as color grain version. Color grain means that the grain particles have differentcolors. Such grain is usually only seen on color images, but it can look nice on B/W images, too. The four Color Grainmethods work just like their colorless versions.


Lab Tab Sheet

The Lab tab sheet of Expert Mode offers various effects that can be achieved in the traditional photo lab or darkroom.

The Intensity Slider

The Intensity slider is available with all Lab methods. It adjusts the intensity of the effect. A value of zero means that noeffect will be applied and a value of 100 applies the effect at full strength.

Lith Film

The Lith Film method imitates the look of lith film, which can be adjusted with the Range slider. A value of zero and 255produce no effect at all, but values in−between create a faded and dried out look.

Monochrome

The Monochrome method allows you to achieve a B/W look that misses grey values. Its most extreme effect keeps onlytwo colors in the image: black and white without any grey tones. You can control the number of grey tones in the shadowand highlight areas with the help of the Shadows and Highlights sliders. Their values indicate the number of grey tones,but you can also see the number of grey tones from the Grey Levels label below them. The Threshold slider lets youinclude some image details and exclude others. It is best to use middle values for it, because low and high values canremove some essential details from the image.


Posterization

The Posterization method is another way to reduce the number of grey tones in the image. The more you move theAmount slider to the left, the more grey levels are removed. The number of remaining grey tones can be read from theGrey Levels label.

Solarization

The Solarization method simulates the effect of a partially developed B/W film. The Amount slider lets you adjust thedevelopment time from fully developed to not developed at all. The values in the middle range create the most interestingeffects. The Double check box produces a double solarization effect, which looks like solarized negatives of the samescene that were overlayed. If you activate the check box, the Amount slider will be split into an Amount A and an AmoutB slider.

Pseudo−Solarization

The Pseudo−Solarization method produces more extreme effects that look similar to solarized photos. The Cycle sliderlets you vary the effect. The Double check box allows you to produce more complex effects and displays two Cyclesliders.


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