Image Browser

Image Tree

Picture Window organizes images it is currently working on as a tree. The image tree serves several purposes:

It shows you what you did to your image and in what order.

It lets you explore and compare different ways of processing the same image.

It records all the operations you perform in a compact script that can be saved and played back later to recreate the original workflow and apply it to the same or different images.

It lets you change the order of operations in a workflow or insert new operations at any point.

It lets you modify any stage of a workflow and have the changes ripple through subsequent images in the workflow, a little like the way changes propagate through a spreadsheet when you change a number.

The image tree is displayed in the Image Browser on the left side of the screen, represented as a series of thumbnails organized into branches.

A vertical line separates the image browser on the left from main image area on the right. You can drag the line left or right to adjust the relative widths of the two sections. Clicking on an image in the browser makes it the current image and displays it full size in the image area.

Four buttons on the main tool bar to let you display only the image browser, only the main image area, both together, or assign the image browser it own window that floats over the main window and can the independently moved or resized. While displaying both is the most common mode, there may be times you want to see either the image browser or the main image as large as possible. Or, if you have a second monitor, you can keep the image browser in a separate window and drag it to the other screen.

Thumbnails

The image browser displays small versions of each image Picture Window is currently working on. These miniatures, called thumbnails, help organize your images and keep track of how they are related.

There is a group of three buttons at the top of the image browser; the first two increase or decrease the size of thumbnails so you can trade off seeing more detail in each one against seeing more of them at a time. The third button displays this help file.

A fourth button is used to view or hide the selection and close/copy tool bars -- these features are described later.

Branches

When you open an image file and apply a series of transformations to it, the collection of images you create is called a branch. The first image (typically the result of a File Open), is at the top and each transformation you apply adds a new thumbnail just below the last one. Since each image forms the input for the one below it, a branch is a visual representation of all the stages you pass through from opening an image file to creating the final processed version.

The Current Image

The current image thumbnail is highlighted by its white caption background. When you click on a thumbnail, it becomes the current image and a full-size version is displayed in the image area. You can use this feature to review all the changes you have made to the original image or to quickly flip back and forth between two different images to compare them. It is important to keep track of which image is current as this marks the place where new transformations are inserted.

Scroll Bars

If the entire image tree does not fit in the available space, image browser scroll bars are displayed to let you see the rest. The current image is normally kept in view unless you manually scroll it off the screen. If you need to see more of the tree on the screen at once, you can use the buttons at the top of the image browser to make the thumbnails smaller, or you can drag the separator line to the right to make more room for the image browser at the expense of reducing the main image area width. You drag the separator bar by dragging the white diamond in its center.

The mouse scroll wheel scrolls the image browser vertically if the cursor is in the image browser.

Transformations

A transformation is an image operation such as opening a file, resizing, cropping, color balancing, selective color correction, sharpening, blurring, retouching, converting color to black and white, special effects, and so on. Transformations generally operate on an input image and produce an output image, although some transformations, such as File Open, do not have an input image, in which case they must be the topmost transformation in a branch.

To apply a transformation to an image, first click on its thumbnail in the image browser to select it. Next, pick the transformation you want to apply from the Transformation sub-menu of the main menu. For purposes of illustration we will use Transformation Geometry Level which can be used to level horizons. Once you select Level from the main menu, a transformation dialog box is displayed which lets you adjust the transformation’s parameters. In this case, there are three parameters: how you want the result image cropped, whether you are doing horizontal or vertical alignment, and how much of an angle you need to rotate the input image by.

For some transformations such as the one illustrated here, in addition to using the controls in the transformation dialog box, an overlay is displayed over the input image. In the case of Level, the overlay is a line with control points at either end. Dragging the control points on the overlay lets you position the line parallel to the horizon, thus measuring the exact angle of its tilt.

When you click OK, several things happen:

1) The output image is calculated and the transformation is inserted into the current branch, immediately after the current image. If an error occurred when calculating the new image, it is displayed in red with an error message.

2) The output image becomes the current image.

3) The transformation dialog box is closed.

4) If the image you selected is in the middle of a branch, the following transformation in the branch will now take the output image as its input image and the changes will propagate down through the branch to the end.

Clicking the Apply button instead of OK does the same thing, except it does not close the transformation dialog box. Use this option if you want to check your results but expect to make further changes to the transformation settings.

Clicking the Cancel button closes the dialog box without creating a new image or transformation. This brings you right back to where you started.

Clicking the button displays the transformation’s help file.

Clicking the button displays a settings menu. The first several items in the menu are standardized for all transformations. Some transformation may append additional items to the menu to control less frequently used settings.

Reset

This resets all the transformation’s settings to the current defaults. If you have changed a lot of settings and just want to start over, this is the quickest way.

Save Settings As…

This saves all the transformation’s settings in a file for later use. If you have several different groups of settings you regularly use with the same transformation, this is a good way to store them. Just try to name them so you can remember later what they do.

Load Settings…

This loads all the transformation’s settings from a previously saved file.

Save as Default Settings

Saves the current settings in a file named Default. These become the new default settings when the transformation starts up or when you Reset.

Clear Default Settings

Clears the current default settings by deleting the Default settings file. This item is grayed out if there is no default settings file. If there is no default settings file, built-in default settings are used when the transformation starts up.

Note: Settings files are organized into separate folders by transformation. The settings filename extension is also transformation-specific. Picture Window settings folders are normally stored in a folder in My Documents called Picture Window Pro. Saving this folder is an easy way to back up all your settings files or to transfer them from one computer to another.

Transformation Dialog Boxes

You can have more than one transformation dialog box open at a time, but all but the one for the current image are hidden to avoid screen clutter. Selecting a new image hides the dialog box for the previously current image, if any, and displays the dialog box for the new image, if any.

While the default initial location of a transformation dialog box is in the lower left corner of the main window, it can be dragged outside the main window to get it out of the way. This is especially useful if you have a large monitor and the main window does not take up all of it, or if you have a secondary monitor.

Editing Transformations

Double-clicking on a thumbnail re-opens its transformation dialog box and restores the same settings you used to create the image. At this point you can make any changes you want. When you click OK, the output image is recalculated, and the changes ripple through all the images below. The transformation dialog box is then closed. Clicking the Apply button in the transformation dialog box does the same thing, but leaves the dialog box open so you can make further adjustments without having to re-open the dialog box.

The example to the left shows what happens when you double click on the Tint thumbnail, namely Picture Window displays the Tint transformation dialog box and restores the settings used to create the image. At this point you can change the settings and click OK to update the transformation, or you can click Cancel to close the dialog box leaving everything the way it was.

Editing transformations is a very powerful feature — it lets you go back and edit any link in the chain of transformations that produced a final image. Using scripts, this ability can be preserved even after you exit Picture Window.

Double-clicking on a File Open top-level thumbnail lets you change which file is opened. This lets you apply all the transformations below it to the new file.

Bypass Button

Bypass off -- image transformation is computed normally

Bypass on -- image transformation is bypassed

Each thumbnail in the image browser has a small circular button in its upper left corner. Clicking this button toggles the bypass setting for the corresponding transformation, causing it to alternate between white and gray. Gray means the transformation is bypassed and its output image temporarily becomes a copy of the its input image. White means the transformation is not bypassed and its result is computed normally. In effect, toggling the bypass button turns the transformation on or off. This gives you a quick way to see a before-and-after for any step of the branch or to see what the effect of one transformation is on downstream images. Some transformations such as File Open cannot be bypassed. Others like splitters and side branches are always bypassed.

The bypass button is also active when the associated transformation dialog box is open, and this is one way to switch between viewing the input image and the result image. This is important for those transformations such as Crop, Warp, Gradient, etc. that display overlays on the input image which you can reposition by dragging.

Right-clicking the bypass button in the image browser toggles the bypass setting for the image without making it the current image. This can be handy if you are looking at or editing an image and you want to see the effects of bypassing one of the images it depends on.

Caption

By default, the caption for each thumbnail is the name of the transformation that created the image. The caption for the current image is highlighted. If you wish, you can replace the default caption with a new caption via the Image Info dialog box. The caption also includes a number unique to the image -- this can be useful when selecting images by name and one or more images has the same caption.

Close Button

Each thumbnail in a branch has a small X button in its upper right corner. Clicking this button displays a confirmation dialog box. If the image you are closing is a top level image that has other images below it, the entire branch is closed, so you get a different confirmation message.

Saved Indicator

If you save an image, an S is displayed near the close button as a reminder that the image has been saved since it was created. If the image has been recalculated since it was last saved, the S changes to an M to indicate that the saved version may not be up to date.

Selecting and Comparing Images

When you click on a thumbnail image or its caption bar in the image browser, that image becomes the current image, and a full-size version is displayed in the main image area. This is the normal way to select or view images and also lets you quickly switch between different versions of the same image to compare them.

If you hold down the Alt button while clicking on a thumbnail, the image you select is displayed in the main image area with the same zoom factor and scroll position and the previously current image - assuming the new image is the same size as the previous image. This lets you zoom in on an area of interest in one image and see how the same area looks in other versions of the same image (or in any other image of the same size).

Multiple Branches

There are two ways to create multiple branches: by creating a new top-level image or by inserting a splitter into an existing branch.

Top Level Images

Images you create that do not have an input image are called top-level images. They are displayed at the top of the image browser and each one starts a new branch displayed to the left of the previous branch. There most common ways to create a new top-level image are File Open, File New and pasting an image from the clipboard

Since each new branch is displayed far enough to the right of the previous branch to accommodate its full width, there may be horizontal gaps between top level images.

New top level images are created at the far left and any existing top level images are moved over one spot to the right to make room.

Splitters and Side-Branches

To create side-branches on a branch, you insert a splitter via the Edit/Add Splitter After command or the Ins keyboard shortcut. Splitters allows the same input image to be shared by multiple branches which are displayed in a row below the splitter connected to it by lines. Each of these forms the start of a new branch below which you can add new transformations. The input image for the first image in each new branch is always the image immediately above the splitter.

Before After Inserting Splitter

The splitter does not actually make copies of this input image – it just links back to the original image. Side-branches are all independent of each other, so what happens in one does not affect the others.

If the current image is a splitter or a side branch, you can use the Edit/Add Branch to splitter command to add a new side branch.

After Adding a Branch to the Splitter

Cloning a Branch

A common use for splitters is to let you explore alternative processing scenarios for an image. One easy way to do this is with the Clone Branch command (either Edit/Clone Branch from the main menu or right-click on an image and select Clone Branch from the popup menu). What this command does is to insert a splitter just above the current transformation and copy the current transformation and all the ones below it on the current branch to the new side branch.

Before Right-Click Menu After

After cloning a branch, you get a second copy of all the transformations and can modify one branch without affecting the other. To compare the results, either click back and forth between the two result images or use the Compare transformation.

Naming and Removing Splitters and Side Branches

By default, splitters are named Splitter and side branches are named Branch 1, Branch 2, and so on, but it is highly recommended that you rename each branch to help you remember what each one does. To rename a splitter or branch, double click its thumbnail.

To remove a branch and all the images below it, click on the close icon (the small x) in its title bar. Removing the next to last branch removes the splitter above it as well since at this point there is only one branch left and the splitter is superfluous. To remove a splitter and all the branches below it, click on its close icon.

Image Info

The Image Info dialog box displays useful information and metadata associated with an image. There are two ways to get to the Image Info dialog box:

Right-clicking a thumbnail or the main image and selecting Image Info… from the context menu.

Selecting Image Info… from the Edit menu in the main menu bar.

The Image tab displays basic image and file information. At the top of the first tab is the image caption – you can enter a new caption here if you wish.

The Camera tab displays exposure, camera and lens information.

The Notes tab displays descriptive information about the image.

The GPS tab displays GPS location data and lets you view the image location using Google Maps.

Additional Inputs

Some transformations (e.g. Composite, Filter or Stereo) either require or can accept multiple input images. In this case, half-size input images are displayed to the right of the main branch image.

Input images cannot be closed or bypassed, so they have no close or bypass icons. Clicking an input image does however switch the main display to that image so you can examine it more closely or flip back and forth between the different images.

Transformations that only support auxiliary inputs such as the Layout, Combine Channels, Texture, Test Patterns and Wave transformations, are created as top level images, even though they may depend on other images. While they are displayed alongside other branches, they are still recalculated whenever any of the images they depend on is modified.

Masks

Many transformations have Amount controls which can either be a simple slider that varies the strength of the transformation uniformly over the entire input image, or they can specify a mask image to vary the effect over different parts of the input image. Some transformations may have more than one Amount control. For every Amount control with a mask assigned to it, a half-size thumbnail of the mask is displayed in much the same way as for input images.

Rearranging the Image Tree

Rearranging the image tree rearranges transformations -- not images. The same transformation, when copied or moved to a different location in the image tree can produce a totally different image. After each change to the image tree, all affected transformations are recalculated, and their images are regenerated.

Moving Transformations Up or Down

You can move the current transformation (along with its associated thumbnail and settings) up or down one position in its branch either with the Edit/Move Up or Edit/Move Down commands from the main menu or by the keyboard shortcuts Shift-↑ or Shift-↓. This swaps the current transformation with the one before it or the one after it in the branch. While some pairs of transformations produce the same result when performed in either order, in general this is not true. Consequently, moving a thumbnail up or down causes a recalculation of all subsequent images in the branch.

Moving Transformations Left or Right

You can move top level transformations or side-branches left or right in the image tree either with the Edit/Move Left or Edit/Move Right command from the main menu or by the keyboard shortcuts Shift-← or Shift-→. These commands are purely cosmetic – only the image browser display is affected.

Select and Close/Copy Tool Bars

A more powerful way to rearrange transformations in the image tree is with the Select and Close/Copy tool bars. To make these tool bars visible, depress -- otherwise the tool bars are hidden.

To close one or more transformations, first select them and then click .

To copy one of more transformations to a new location, first select them and then click on the thumbnail you want to insert the copies after, and then click .

Select Tool Bar -- Selecting Multiple Transformations

This tool bar lets you select a group of transformations you want to close or copy to a new location. Selected thumbnails are displayed with a yellow check mark in their caption bar:

-- Selects the current transformation. If already selected, it is deselected.

-- Selects the current transformation and all the ones below it on the current branch. If the current transformation is already selected, it is deselected along with all the ones below it on the current branch.

-- Selects the current transformation and all the ones downstream from it. This is similar to selecting the transformations below the current image on the current branch, but also includes any transformations that depend on the current transformation via auxiliary inputs or masks. If the current transformation is already selected, it is deselected along with all downstream transformations.

-- Selects the current transformation and all the ones upstream from it. This includes all the transformations above the current image on the current branch as well as any images the current transformation depends on via auxiliary inputs or masks. If the current transformation is already selected, it is deselected along with all upstream transformations.

-- Selects all the transformations in the image tree. If any transformations are already selected, all images are deselected instead.

In addition to using the Select tool bar, you can also select images with the mouse:

Click -- sets the current transformation

Ctrl-Click -- toggles the selection of a transformation

Shift-Click -- selects all the transformations from the current transformation to the one you Shift-clicked on, assuming they are on the same branch.

Ctrl-Shift Click -- toggles the selection of a transformation and all the ones below it on the current branch.

Close/Copy Tool Bar

This tool bar lets you either close or copy selected transformations. The tool bar is grayed out if no transformations are selected.

-- Close selected transformations.

If you close a top level transformation, a splitter, or a side branch, all the transformations below it on the current branch are also closed.

After closing the selected transformations, any remaining splitters with less than two branches are automatically removed.

Closing a transformation also clears any references to the closed transformation as an auxiliary input or as a mask. For example, if a Layout transformation includes an image as an auxiliary input, and you subsequently close the image, the corresponding panel is set to a solid color.

Example:

Before Close After Close

Closing Branch 1 leaves the splitter with only one branch, so it is removed.

-- Copy all selected transformations and insert them immediately following the current transformation.

The images themselves are not copied, just the transformations that generate them -- a transformation copied to a different part of the image tree will generate a different image if its input image is different.

Top level transformations are copied to a new branch instead of being inserted after the current transformation. If you copy a File Open, you will be prompted to select a new file since you cannot have the same file open twice in the same image tree.

To maintain the integrity of the image tree, all selected transformations must be on the same branch.

Splitters or side branches between the topmost selected transformation and all the other selected transformations are automatically added to the selection before copying.

After copying the transformations, if any splitters have less than two branches, they are automatically removed.

After the copy is completed, the selected transformations are left selected just in case you want to close them or copy them to another location.

Example 1:

Before Copy After Copy

This illustrates a quick way to copy a set of transformations from one branch to another.

Example 2:

Before Copy After Copy

Note that an extra branch in added to the splitter to accommodate the transformations below the current image.

Tip: To be able to see more of the image tree at once when rearranging it, you can switch the display to Show browser only by clicking on the button on the main tool bar.

Order of Operations

Most transformations are relatively insensitive to the order in which they are applied. For example, sharpening, tonal adjustments and color correction give pretty much the same results no matter what order you do them in. One set of exceptions includes creating masks or using the retouching tools (paint, clone, lines arrows text, speck removal and scratch removal). Masking and retouching are specific to the image dimensions in pixels, so if the input image changes size for any reason, they will stop working.

The easiest way to avoid image size problems is to perform cropping at the end of the branch. Otherwise, if you go back to adjust the way the image is cropped, you will change the image size and may invalidate any downstream masks or retouching.

Another potential problem to be aware of is that some transformations only work on certain image types. For example, the color balance, monochrome and selective color correction transformations only work on color images. If the input image is changed to black and white, these transformations will fail. If you change the File Open at the top of a branch from one type of image to another, you can create problems for some of the following operations. If this happens, you can always insert a Convert transformation after the File Open to change the image to the required file type.

Circular References

Transformations can only be computed after all of their inputs have been computed. These inputs are called dependencies since the result of a transformation depends on its inputs. Transformations with no inputs or whose only input is the image immediately above it are automatically computed after their input since recalculation proceeds from the top to the bottom of a branch. For transformations with additional inputs such as Composite, Blend, Filter, Compare, Layout, Stack Images, etc., the situation is a little more complicated. When editing one of these transformations and selecting an additional input image using the Image Picker control, only images upstream from the current image are listed in the image menu. This prevents you from selecting an input image that depends on the current transformation, a situation called a circular reference. A circular reference occurs when two (or more) images each depend on the other, in which case Picture Window cannot recalculate one without first recalculating the other and vice versa. Even if a transformation has no additional inputs, an input dependency can be created if it has an Amount control with a mask created based on another transformation. Most of the time you do not need to worry about circular references since Picture Window does its best to make it impossible to create them. What you may notice however is that unexpectedly you may not be able to select a particular image as an additional input.

Dependency Highlighting

The current image depends on its input images and in turn on all the images those inputs depend on. These input images are called upstream images. Similarly, there are downstream images that depend -- possibly via one or more intermediary images -- on the current image. In other words if you change an image, all its downstream images are also affected. Images that are neither upstream or downstream of the current image do not affect it when they are modified and are not affected by the current image when it is modified.

In the case of a simple linear branch of images that are entered in sequence, images displayed above the current image in the image browser are upstream, and images displayed below the current image are downstream. If there are side branches, masks that refer to other images or additional inputs, the dependency relationships can get more complicated. Since downstream images cannot be selected as transformation parameters (because this would created a circular reference), it can be useful to see how images are related.

To help you visualize upstream and downstream images of the current image, the captions of the thumbnails in the image browser are color coded according to their relationship to the current transformation as follows:

Current Transformation -- caption background is white

Upstream Transformations -- caption background is dark red

Downstream Transformations -- caption background is dark green

Unrelated Transformations -- caption background is gray

Here is an example where the middle transformation is current, the top transformation is upstream and the bottom one is downstream:

Recalculation Highlighting

When you modify a transformation, its image and all downstream images are automatically recalculated. During recalculation, the image currently being recalculated is highlighted with a cyan background in its title bar. This gives you a visual cue that recalculation is in progress and lets you watch as it propagates through the image tree.