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Photo alignment & cropping guide


Ego Eram Reputo

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I've been playing with this for a day or two.

Basically it draws alignment lines on a layer to give the user guidelines to centering, rotating horizons, rule of 1/3rds and cropping to a fixed ratio.

yhsjjie-7.png

This plugin is designed to be run on a transparent layer, above the existing image.

All renderings will be in the Primary color (unless the Secondary color checkbox is selected).

*New* The UI Explained:

Center Guidelines: Draws centered vertical and horisontal lines through the image, as near to the image centre as rounding will allow. The lines are linked to sliders so they can be moved. The idea is that this feature allows you to quickly divide your image into quarters and/or find the center of the image. The adjustable horisontal guideline gives you something to (re)align your image horison to (especially useful the wonky way I take pictures!).

yhsjjie-8.png

'Rule of 1/3rds Guidelines: Divides the image (selected region) into 1/3rds horisontally and vertically. This guide can be used to find the 'rule of 1/3rds' intersections (the points of interest in an image should be closely aligned to these intersections. See this thread for more info: http://forums.getpai...rule-of-thirds/).

yhsjjie-9.png

Cropping guide: Shades a portion of the image that would be out of bounds if the images height and/or width were adjusted by the given orientation and aspect ratio. Say you wish to crop an image to 4:3 ratio in portrait orientation: simply select the cropping guide & portrait orientation then locate and select the 4:3 ratio in the dropdown list. The primary color will be used to shade the portion of the image that would lie outside this cropping area. EDIT: this feature does now work on selections.

yhsjjie-10.png

Question: Is it useful?

Photo Alignment Tool.zip

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I'm putting together a mini tutorial. Be a day or two.

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Hello EER,

I've been silently following this thread over on discussions. So when you said you had abandoned development on this, I decided to have a crack at it.

It was something I had been considering before the thread started as I had the code from 'highlight' to move stuff around quite easily.

If it is O.K with you, I will publish my beta version here for people to test - If this is breaking etiquette, please feel free to remove it :)

The plugin is pretty self explanitory and designed to be run on the layer with the image. After using, you can straighten to align with the 'checkerboard',

then rectangle select and crop.

Any questions/suggestions welcome, bearing in mind this is probably only a 'stop gap'.

The finished plgin 'composition tool' is now in my plugin pack, link below

Red ochre plugin pack

Once again, I really hope this does not offend :/

Edited by Red ochre

 

Red ochre Plugin pack.............. Diabolical Drawings ................Real Paintings

 

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Nope, not offended boltbait.big_smile.png . You're welcome to post new (better) versions! Please feel free to do so.

Rick has said that he will look at possibly adding a 'rule of 1/3rds' option into v4.0 - which is why I stopped working on this.

Look forward to downloading your plugin with interest.

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Phew! ;)

I can see a use for a plugin like this to analyse the composition of a picture. However, personally I think it is best to get the composition right, then use 'rules', to see why it works. There are some great paintings that work and break all these rules - like the Degas horse paintings from when photography was a new thing - odd bits of horses legs and halves of faces all over the place - but they work.

I also think the leading diagonal and place in the picture with the greatest tonal contrast are the way the (western) eye 'reads' a painting.

Still it's useful to know where the golden section lines are.

'Symbols+' and your magic eye tutorials are brilliant by the way. :cookie: . (I'm still cross-eyed!)

 

Red ochre Plugin pack.............. Diabolical Drawings ................Real Paintings

 

PdnForumSig2.jpg

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I thought of adding more alignment tools for points of interest in a given image. There are lots of diagonals and ways to divide up an image (http://www.photos-of...etouche/golden/)

I found many of them entirely subjective, and ended up fitting a template to an image rather than the other way around. "Harmonious Triangles" .... my bottom boltbait.lol.png

In the end, simplicity won:

Users that don't know about composition can use this simple tool to assist them. More advanced users will already know cool stuff about how to lay out an image.

Thanks for the 'ups' for WhichSymbol+ and Stereograms boltbait.smile.png

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Hello EER,

I've been silently following this thread over on discussions. So when you said you had abandoned development on this, I decided to have a crack at it.

It was something I had been considering before the thread started as I had the code from 'highlight' to move stuff around quite easily.

If it is O.K with you, I will publish my beta version here for people to test - If this is breaking etiquette, please feel free to remove it http://forums.getpaint.net/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/boltbait.smile.png

The plugin is pretty self explanitory and designed to be run on the layer with the image. After using, you can straighten to align with the 'checkerboard',

then rectangle select and crop.

Any questions/suggestions welcome, bearing in mind this is probably only a 'stop gap'.

Once again, I really hope this does not offend http://forums.getpaint.net/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/boltbait.hmm.png

Hi Red ochre !!!

Thanx a million for your participation in this subject !!! Your Plugin looks very prommissing !!!

I have tested it and ... either I do something wrong or ... but here are my comments, if you don't mind:

1) "angle" section: if I change from 0.00 to 0.50 that will turn the grid to 90 degrees !!! The value in Input field must be dergees (like in normal Rotation tool) and not something else.

2) changing the angle should rotate the main layer (photo) but not the grid !!! The photo processing sequence I always follow is: first I need to align the photo and only then I apply template with Rule of Thirds or Golden Section, rescale (proportionaly !!!), reposition and only then I crop.

3) The plugin can, probably, detect the Canvas/Image size and orientation (Landscape or Portrait) and being applied automatically to the full "frame" with correct proportions

You have probably seen that Ego Eram Reputo has a "Croping Guide" with "Aspect Ratio" menu and "Orientation" in his Plugin ... I find it very useful.

if it can be possible to implement "Aspect Ratio" menu in your plugin to automaticaly adjuct the grid size - that will be perfect !!! I think one checkbox "Keep proportions" will be also required to accompany the "Aspect Ratio" options. Means if this checkbox is activated then manual adjustments of grid's width (or height) will be proportionally changing height (or width) accordingly.

4) As you can see on my photo ... I have dark horizon now ... and I have black horizontal line which I need to use for aligning. Hhmmm ... that cab be difficult to do. One suggestion - if possible, add a checkbox "Invert colors". That can be applied to all colors you are using: Black, Red and Yellow - invert to -> White, Blue and Green for example. In that case will be no problems to see the lines on any photo !!! http://forums.getpaint.net/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/boltbait.wink.png

5) As has been mentioned before - angle option must turn the photo and not the grid. Because after rendering I get the image like this:

By looking at this screenshot I can suggest one more thing: when OK button has been pressed in your Plugin and the rest of the image has been deleted, then it make sense (maybe also using additional checkbox) to apply like "Crop to selection" function to have a final aligned and compositioned part of the original photo.

In the current version I need to rotate the layer to have it horizontal, then make an image selection and apply "Crop to selection". I hope all these steps can be skipped by improving your very nice Plugin as I have mentioned above ... or maybe you will have even better ideas !!!

The biggest benefit of your Plugin is: no need to create any separate layers !!! That is COOL !!!

Let me summarize a bit:

1) "angle" field must have degrees and turn the layer but not the grid. Value "90" must turn the image on 90 degrees.

2) grid must be applied to full image with auto detection Landscape or Portrait type.

3) must be a checkbox "Keep proportions" for proportional changing the width or height of the grid.

4) "Aspect Ratio" menu would be very nice to have ... I have 2 cameras ... one is making pictures 3:2 and another is 4:3 but I always scop to 3:2. First option in this menu must be "Current" or "Actual" - as actual ratio of the photo/layer. Please, check Ego's plugin regarding this menu ... maybe it will be possible to implement the same ... will be really very useful feature !!! http://forums.getpaint.net/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/boltbait.tongue.png

5) when layer has been turned/aligned and composed based on Rule of Thirds or Golden Section and OK button has been pressed - image must be cropped to "selection"/grid to have the final result for any further processing.

Well ... these are my comments !!! Feel free to comment/ask/send_me_to_hell ... but I hope that you will keep improving your tool and it will be very useful for people who works with photorgaphy.

And thanx again !!! http://forums.getpaint.net/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/boltbait.tongue.png

Edited by Ego Eram Reputo
Killed spam my images
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Hello Guerrilla,

Thanks for your testing.

There are some things I can do, some I can't and some that are impossible (for me at least).

1. Angle - yes I can change it to show degrees rather than radians. (not really sure why you need such accuracy? - if it looks right it is right!)

1.a - no I can't rotate the image - it is possible but pointless - the idea is to rotate the grid so that it is aligned with the image, the cropped image can then be straightened afterwards using 'move selection' and a right click and hold - straightening it up, using the checkerboard background as a guide.

2. I could set the plugin to open with a default size of the canvas size - but not sure it good idea - at least as it is the height and width sliders give true values.

If I add presets (which I may) then these will override the sliders. - I'll think about this.

Surely the purpose is to create a good composition from the given starting photo - if your going to keep all of it then what's the point?

3. - It's really tempting to keep adding options and check boxes for this and that - but the UI gets so big that you can't see the picture!

4.a I originally planned to use the inverted image colours as a guide and may do this for the 'all' option.

4.b - aspect ratio drop down box - possibly as mentioned above (2).

5. It is not possible (allowable) to crop the layer from within a plugin, as far as I know. - shame but I'm sure there are good reasons.

Anyway - thanks for the feedback - I'll see what I can do. ;)

 

Red ochre Plugin pack.............. Diabolical Drawings ................Real Paintings

 

PdnForumSig2.jpg

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Original post and attached file updated. Screenshots added too - I eventually found some time :)

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Red ochre - thank you for reply !!!

1) Yes, please, degrees are required and it must be precise

2) if it is not possible to rotate the image, then it is pointless to rotate the grid ... from my point of view ... sorry to say that but that can be much more comfortable to rotate the image from inside of your tool, align it, then move Rule of Thirds grid as desired, crop and here we go - final result !!!!!! It doesn't make much sense to me to rotate the grid and then to rotate cropped image once again to have the photo straight ... don't you think so ??? There is a Rotation Plugin ... I have tested it before but have not seen any difference with Built-in rotation tool ... that should be possible to rotate the image from the plugin

3) agree with you ... no need to put the grid to 100% of the image ... maybe 70% will be OK with automatic detection of the canvas orientation ???

4) I believe that adding couple of really necessary checkboxes will not make the plugin screen much bigger ... it is always possible to slide this window to the side if looking at the original image is required. But would be very helpful to have a checkbox for "Apply inverted colors for grid lines"

5) even if it is not possible to crop the image from the Plugin (sad but ...) , that will be not a big problem if the image alignment can be done by plugin ... means if the rotation of the image will be done by plugin

6) adding "Crop guide" will be fantastic !!! That means it must be one more checkbox to activate/deactivate the "Crop guide".

Back to rotation issue ... if that will be possible to rotate the image and not the grid - that will be very very cool !!! if not ... I don't think I will be using this tool :( ... but maybe someone else will ... for me the main thing is a time spent per one photo ... currently I have to create new layer, apply the grid every 100x100 pix, go back to first layer, open Rotation tool, align (very often it is less then 1 degree but without alignement it's possible to see that Horizon is not straight), then I delete 2nd layer. These are the alignment steps ... For croping: menu Layers->Import from file ... import "Rule of thirds" template, resize, move it to final position, use Magic Wand to select the space outside the grid, press "Ctrl + I" to invert selection, go back first layer, apply "Crop to selection" and delete 2nd layer with the grid. ... That's it ...

I am looking for easier and faster way to do all of this ... hope your plugin will be able to be easier and faster, that all people, who works with photography, will be using this tool.

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Oh DUH!!!


void Render(Surface dst, Surface src, Rectangle rect)
{
........

for (int y = selection.Top; y < selection.Bottom; y++)
{
	for (int x = selection.Left; x < selection.Right; x++)
	{
	........

New build is much faster :roll:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Here is the new beta version of the composition tool.

It can now rotate the image, and on ticking the last box, moves the rectangle to the top right corner. Meaning cropping is a simple rectangle select from 0,0 to the opposite corner, then crop.

It also has a moveable horizon line, colours that should be visible on any background and EER has kindly let me include his list of preset aspect ratios.

There is a small problem with the rotation - it becomes inaccurate at extreme angles, but for normal straightening this shouldn't be a problem.

I will try to sort this out in coming weeks, if there is a demand for such a tool.

Please test and report back with comments.

(Many thanks to EER and thank you to 'Maccas' too for publishing source code that avoided ROI problems in code lab - and served as an example)

The finished plugin is now in my plugin pack.

Red ochre plugin pack

Edited by Red ochre

 

Red ochre Plugin pack.............. Diabolical Drawings ................Real Paintings

 

PdnForumSig2.jpg

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Just have tested it now ... everything looks OK apart from grids - there are no grids displayed ... no matter what I choose from "grid type" menu :/. But this Betta2 is much better as the first one !!! Well done Red ochre !!!

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Hello 'Guerrilla',

- I've just tested downloading the .dll to make sure it's the same as my version, and it is. The grids display fine for me? - obviously they disappear as intended when the final check box is ticked and 'rectangle' is moved to the top right. Are the grids showing up ok when this is not ticked, as they should?

I didn't see any need for the grids to be shown on the final image. My plugin is intended to be run on the layer with the image, not as a template.

Do you want a final image with grid lines left on? - Sorry I don't understand.

Thanks for testing - I will try to get around to fixing the issue at extreme angles.

 

Red ochre Plugin pack.............. Diabolical Drawings ................Real Paintings

 

PdnForumSig2.jpg

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Whoops!! - My apologies.

I based the line width of the grids on the size of the image and forgot the default size is much smaller than the photo I was testing on:mrgreen:

Here's version number 3 - still a beta, but you should be able to see the grids now!

The finished version is now in my plugin pack

Red ochre plugin pack

Edited by Red ochre

 

Red ochre Plugin pack.............. Diabolical Drawings ................Real Paintings

 

PdnForumSig2.jpg

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Hey !!! That works much better !!! Yes, the grids must be displayed during "adjustments" and yes, they have to disappear after final rendering !!! COOL !!!

Now couple remarks:

1) if possible, preset aspect ratio down-drop menu: the default option must be "same as original"

2) the final step will be highly appreciated - when "OK" button has been pressed and the "unnecessary" part of the image has been cut-off, then "Crop to selection" function is still missing ... now it is necessary to select Magic Wand, select transparent space, press Ctrl+I to invert selection and then Ctrl+Shift+X to perform "Crop to selection". When OK is pressed, you know the image size and you move it to the upper left corner ... maybe it is possible additionally apply "Canvas size" function and change the canvas size exactly to the image size. Then it will be the perfect tool !!!

If you have some time, please, thing about these 2 remarks. Your job is very appreciated !!! :P ... thanx a million !!!

Edited by Guerrilla
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Re: 2. Plugins cannot adjust the size of the canvas. You'll have to continue to perform this action yourself.

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Hello 'Guerrilla',

I've sorted out the trigonometry for the final move/rotate bit. (there was smoke coming out of my ears by the end!).

The main version I've published has the aspect ratio from the slider as default as I think this will be more useful to most users.

However, I am attaching a version with the 'as original' choice as default. Hope it helps your work flow.

AS mentioned before - plugins can't change the canvas size. Also the golden spirals are devilishly hard to do and will slow the speed of the plugin down considerably (at least with my programming skills!). - Incidentally the centre of the golden spirals are where the golden ratio 'diagonals' cross the main rectangle diagonals.

Here's the dll - thanks for the previous testing too.

 

Sorry, deleting this to free up upload space. P.M. me if you can't live without it.

 

 

Red ochre Plugin pack.............. Diabolical Drawings ................Real Paintings

 

PdnForumSig2.jpg

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Hi Guerrilla, et al,

I've just started to explore the PDN plugins.

You mention in one of your comments, the plugin

Ego Eram Reputo has a "Croping Guide" with "Aspect Ratio" menu and "Orientation" in his Plugin ... I find it very useful.

I have looked through the list of Plugins, which Ego Eram Reputo has created/maintained {Thank you}, and I do not see such a tool, at least by those names.

I wonder if you or someone could let me know which of the plugins is this?

As I have been thinking that a fine (as in by-very-small-degrees) rotation tool would be useful to me.

Thank you.

[Win XP Pro, SP3, 2GB, Pentium4 :( ]

[sorry, this looks like my first post to PDN forum, after joining over a year back. <sheepish>. ]

post-77611-131829048569_thumb.png

Edited by TechHarmony

The universe is intelligent and friendly

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That plugin was the one at the top of this post. See at the foot of the first post for the zipped *.dll.

As you can see from the rest of this thread, Red Ochre has stepped up and made something decent from my initial idea. His plugin retains the cropping guide and aspect ratios that I began with.

Though my plugin is still available in this thread - I'm only leaving it here as a reference point. I don't intend to release it publicly. You should go look at Red Ochre's Composition Tool

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  • 3 years later...
In my work I often need to drawing axes.

I was wondering if there is a plugin to do this quickly.

I found Photo Alignment & Proportion Tool but there is a problem: the alignment is different from that obtained with Center  Both.

I drew two lines in separate layers and I had centred them with Center  Both but there is a difference as you can see.

Maybe I do something wrong.

 

cnjKjNO.png

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It's probably down to the way rounding is done.  On an even pixel width image, it's impossible to have an equal number of pixels either side of the dividing line.  

 

E.g.  a 4 pixel wide image - do you put the crosshairs on pixel column 2 or 3?

 

I guess you have to accept the difference in these plugins, or use an odd width and height (which should make both the same).

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