Tanel Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 (edited) This plugin is designed to fix excessively contrasty photos, by brightening shadows and/or darkening highlights. Menu location: Effects > Photo. Download as part of my plugin pack. Updated to version 2.2 (2008-12-24)! Changes: few UI and code optimizations; moved to Photo submenu. Updated to version 2.1 (2008-08-31)! Changes: - Plugin now starts with default settings loaded (shadows: 100; smoothing 50) - Compatibility fix for paint.net 3.36 Changes in version 2 (2007-09-20): - Improved core algorithm produces smoother tone transitions - Added "Basic" user interface and re-arranged some previous controls (see below in blue) - Added "Review" button for quick before & after check: hold the button down to see original, release the button to re-apply changes USING THE PLUGIN Start in Basic mode - use Shadows and Highlights controls to get desired brightness; use Smoothing to adjust tonal blending. Switch to Advanced mode to override / fine-tune any settings. BASIC CONTROLS * Shadows - strength of shadow adjustment * Highlights - strength of highlight adjustment * Smoothing - blending of shadows and highlights. Adjust this together with Shadows and/or Highlights controls to get the desired look. Generally low values suite for images with extreme shadows & highlights, higher values for more balanced images. Basic controls actually use sets of Advanced controls. You can switch to Advanced mode anytime to override / fine-tune the settings. ADVANCED CONTROLS Shadows: * Amount - strength of shadow adjustment * Tonal Range - brightness range of shadows to be adjusted (at the bottom of 0 - 255 scale) * Saturation - saturation of shadows Highlights: * Amount - strength of highlight adjustment * Tonal Range - brightness range of highlights to be adjusted (at the top of 0 - 255 scale) * Saturation - saturation of highlights Note: saturation controls are independent from brightness, so alternatively you can only increase saturation - for example adjusting sky color. Smoothing * Local Contrast Radius - preserves local contrast by bluring the original image at selected radius (in the backround) before reading the tonal values. In effect setting Radius 10 - 20 avoids fine textures from becoming flat. Default radius in Basic mode is 12, which is optimized for screen size images. You may need greater radius (30, 50 or more) for large, several MP images. Note that large Radius values slow down processing, so I'd recommend to tune it last. * Local Contrast Intensity - as a side-effect, Radius may produce halo near strong edges - for example around dark objects against bright sky. Intensity control allows to reduce halo. Reducing it too much results in flat look due to loss of contrast. Values between 50 and 100 (%) should be okay. * Compression - amplifies strength of effect progressively towards the extreme shadows/highlights, allowing to reveal much more detail especially from deep shadows. Color Mask aims the strength of adjustment into certain color areas based on selected color balance. For example increase red value while reducing green and blue, to aim majority of adjustment at skintones; or increase blue to aim adjustment at sky. Some extreme before & after samples: Settings applied: Basic mode, Shadows 180, Smoothing 50 Settings applied: Basic mode, Shadows 140, Highlights 40, Smoothing 80 Edited November 26, 2018 by toe_head2001 Restored images Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 very cool, will save tons of time for photos Thanks!! Quote All creations Ash + Paint.NET [ Googlepage | deviantArt | Club PDN | PDN Fan ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natjo1986 Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 I can see some definite use for this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moc426 Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 Tanel, your plugins are very good. Keep it going! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoltBait Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 Nice! I like it. Quote Download: BoltBait's Plugin Pack | CodeLab | and a Free Computer Dominos Game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Lionhearted Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 Looks amazing...I'm guessing this is the followup plugin to that wonderful stickied tutorial? Quote My Gallery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DecemberWinds Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 Wow this is really useful. Thanks! (should be implemented into the basic Paint.NET in next release =D) Quote | [deviantART] | [Photobucket] | Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Frojo Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 Nice! I can see myself using this all the time. Quote I'm still alive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpope Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 Looks and works great. I must say that you do a very nice job with your plugins. The UI is quite user friendly. You've earned a few :mtdew:'s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helio Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 ^Agreed. Go buy a for a treat! Quote v An excellent open–source strategy game—highly recommended. "I wish I had never been born," she said. "What are we born for?" "For infinite happiness," said the Spirit. "You can step out into it at any moment..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Man Dan Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 This is a very nice, well made plugin. Having Contrast Range control is splendid, but being able to weight the effect based upon RGB color channel is splendiferous! Well done! :CMDface: >_> Quote I am not a mechanism, I am part of the resistance; I am an organism, an animal, a creature, I am a beast. ~ Becoming the Archetype Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.atwell Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 High five, great job! Quote The Doctor: There was a goblin, or a trickster, or a warrior... A nameless, terrible thing, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies. The most feared being in all the cosmos. And nothing could stop it, or hold it, or reason with it. One day it would just drop out of the sky and tear down your world.Amy: But how did it end up in there?The Doctor: You know fairy tales. A good wizard tricked it.River Song: I hate good wizards in fairy tales; they always turn out to be him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyrochild Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 Pretty spiffy, but... and... Completely unimportant, but still rather annoying to an OCD ADHD kid like me 8) Quote http://i.imgur.com/xZYt6wl.png ambigram signature by Kemaru [i write plugins and stuff] If you like a post, upvote it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpope Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 This is a very nice, well made plugin. Having Contrast Range control is splendid, but being able to weight the effect based upon RGB color channel is splendiferous!Well done! :CMDface: >_> How about :Jerbertface: --> :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paint_boy Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 Wow, simply an amazing plugin. I like it! Fantastic, everyone should use this. Some of the UI could be changed, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanel Posted August 23, 2007 Author Share Posted August 23, 2007 Thank you guys, glad to hear it works for you. Pretty spiffy, but... and... Thanks for pointing out, fixed it now (moreless); use the original link to download: (Applied the same fix to Sharpen+ plugin today) Looks amazing...I'm guessing this is the followup plugin to that wonderful stickied tutorial? It doesn't replace HDR really, but works on the same issue indeed, in smaller scale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blooper101 Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 Awesome way of advertising your plug-in eh? Both are awesome, and both have been downloaded by blooper101. @CMD: Add this to your photobucket/imageshack: ":CMDface:" no more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanel Posted August 26, 2007 Author Share Posted August 26, 2007 Plugin updated today; download version 1.5 beta: shadowhighlight_v1-5beta.zip Added a new control called Compression (on Smoothing tab). This control amplifies strength of effect progressively towards the extreme shadows/highlights, allowing to reveal much more detail from deep shadows. Default value is 5 (on 0-10 scale) - as a result, amount controls are also much more sensitive now. Turning the compression down to zero reduces the effect back to what it was in previous version. Hope you like it. See what I could squeeze out of darkness now: Settings applied Shadows: Amount 120, Tonal Range 0, Saturation 60 Smoothing: Radius 8, Fade 140, Compression 6 Damn, it almost replaces my HDR tutorial! :? :D The plugin remains in beta state as I continue R&D on it (I see room for improvement in algorithm). Possibly I will remove the compression control from final version by merging it with Amount controls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drakaan Posted August 26, 2007 Share Posted August 26, 2007 wow, Tanel...that's an extremely handy plugin. Sorry that your HDR tutorial just got a lot shorter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted August 26, 2007 Share Posted August 26, 2007 @Tanel: Please put all download link in your 1st post, so if/when this topic is many pages long. users don't have to dig in every pages to try to find the latest version. Thanks Quote All creations Ash + Paint.NET [ Googlepage | deviantArt | Club PDN | PDN Fan ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Lionhearted Posted August 27, 2007 Share Posted August 27, 2007 Awesome Tanel! It was cool to see what settings you used to bring out the shadows in that picture. Helped a little to figure out this (imho) complex plugin. 8) One request though...is there any chance you could assign a reset button to each individual tab instead of a reset button for everything? Sometimes I find myself playing around with the settings, trying to figure out what they do...and I don't always remember what they were orginally set at :oops:. Quote My Gallery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moc426 Posted August 27, 2007 Share Posted August 27, 2007 Second that. One request though...is there any chance you could assign a reset button to each individual tab instead of a reset button for everything? Sometimes I find myself playing around with the settings, trying to figure out what they do...and I don't always remember what they were orginally set at :oops:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jezulkim Posted August 27, 2007 Share Posted August 27, 2007 You know, this plugin is unreal EDIT: I tried it on few photos and the results were amazing. This is one of the darkest pictures and I didn't even know there was people on the photo . Original on the right. Click to get larger Quote Internet Explorer 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidtayhs Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 Thanks for an excellent and user-friendly plugin. It will certainly rescue many photos with too marked contrasts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanel Posted August 28, 2007 Author Share Posted August 28, 2007 I am thinking about adding a "Basic" mode with just three controls (Shadows, Highlights, Smoothing), to make it easier for basic users (most of us I guess). That would be default UI, with ability to jump into Advanced mode (current design) and override fine settings any time. Ideally it would speed up the work for advanced users as well. But it takes quite some time, 'cause I need to test and figure out some generally good combination of settings to bundle. Meantime pretend you are advanced users just a sketch: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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