GEM users guide Adobe Photoshop

GEM users guide Adobe Photoshop GEM users guide Adobe Photoshop

Contents

© 2002 Applied Science Fiction, Inc All rights reserved Applied Science Fiction, ASF, and Digital GEM are all pending or registered trademarks of Applied Science Fiction, Inc All other

1 WELCOME TO DIGITAL GEM

The Digital GEM plug- in is software that automatically reduces noise in digital image files so that the overall image is more visually pleasing

The Digital GEM plug- in works with digital image files from any source, including film

scanners, flatbed scanners, digital cameras, CDs and the Internet It is compatible with Adobe® Photoshop® and other Photoshop plug- in compatible programs and supports both Windows® and Macintosh® platforms It is available as an Internet download and on a CD

System Requirements

The Digital GEM plug- in is compatible with Adobe Photoshop (may also work with other

Photoshop plug- in compatible applications) and runs on both Windows and Macintosh

Recommendations for Windows Version

• Pentium® II or better with 128 MB of RAM (for typical sized images; very large images will require more memory)

• Windows 98 SE, NT 4.0 (Service Pack 6a), 2000, ME, XP Home, XP Professional

• Adobe Photoshop 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, or 7.0; Adobe Photoshop Elements 1.0 or 2.0; Adobe Photoshop LE 5.0; Adobe PhotoDeluxe® Home Edition 4.0; Jasc® Paint Shop Pro® 7

• Minimum display resolution: 800 x 600 pixels (Note: Use only the Small Fonts display font size at 800 x 600 resolution.)

Recommendations for Macintosh Version

• PowerMAC® G3 or better with 128 MB of RAM (for typical sized images; very large images will require more memory)

• Macintosh OS 8.6, OS 9.x, OS X

• Adobe Photoshop 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, or 7.0; Adobe Photoshop LE 5.0; Adobe Photoshop Elements 1.0 or 2.0; Adobe PhotoDeluxe 2.0

• Minimum display resolution: 800 x 600 pixels

Installation from CD

If the installer does not load automatically, click on Start and then select Run Enter

D:\WIN\setup.exe into the Run dialog box (where D: is the drive letter of your CD ROM) Click

on “OK” to start the installation

Macintosh

• Load your Applied Science Fiction plug- ins CD into your CD-ROM drive The ASF CD icon will appear on your Macintosh desktop

• Double click on the ASF CD icon

• Double click on the MAC icon

• Double click on the icon for the Digital GEM plug- in installer The installer will guide you through the installation process

NOTE: The default lo cation for the ASF Plug- in Software is in the Applications folder If

you choose the default location for the plug- in, you will need to drag the plug- in from your Applications folder into the Plug- ins folder of your host application, such as Photoshop

Installation from the Internet

Everyone starts with the Trial software If you like the ASF Plug- in Software and want full functionality (i.e., no watermark on future images), pay for the software and ASF will email you

a registration code that allows you to convert the Trial software into the full plug- in product Before installing the Digital GEM plug- in, close all other applications

Installing the Digital GEM Plug-in

• Go to the Applied Science Fiction Downloads Web page

www.asf.com/download/register.shtml

• Enter the information into the required fields and click on “Submit.” The Downloads screen appears

• Choose the platform on which you want to run the Digital GEM plug- in, as explained below

Windows Platform

If you want to use the Digital GEM plug- in on Windows, complete the following steps:

• Click on the ASF plug- in “Windows” entry that matches your operating system (98 SE/ME, NT4 SP6a/2000, XP)

The Security window opens

• Click on “Yes” to accept the security verification The installer then starts the

installation

• When “Welcome to the InstallShield Wizard …” appears, click on “Next.” The license agreement appears next

• Review the license agreement and click on the “I accept …” entry to accept the terms of the license agreement Clicking on “I do not accept …” exits the installation program The Custom Setup screen then appears

• Verify that the plug- ins will be installed in the folder for the host application that you want to use If necessary, select an alternative location where you want to install the ASF plug- in software

• Click on “Next.”

• Click on “Finished” after the installation is complete You may need to restart your PC

Macintosh Platform

If you want to use the Digital GEM plug- in on a Macintosh, complete these steps:

• Double click on either the Digital GEM “Macintosh (hqx)” or “Macintosh (bin)” entry The bin file downloads faster but is less compatible with older systems The hqx file takes longer to download but is more compatible with older systems Double click on the .hqx file to uncompress the installer and then double click on the installer

The installer will then create a file named “ASF Digital GEM x.x Installer” on your Desktop (where x.x represents the current version number)

• Double click on “ASF Digital GEM x.x Installer.” An orange Digital GEM plug- in screen appears

• Click on “Continue.” The license agreement opens next

• Review the license agreement and click on the “I accept …” entry to accept the terms of the license agreement Clicking on “I do not accept …” exits the installation program

• Select a folder where you want to install the Digital GEM plug- in, and click on

“Choose.” You may want to install it in the plug- ins folders for any host applications on which you want to run it Or you may want to install it in a downloads folder

• Once the installation is successful, click on “Continue” to install the plug- in in other locations, or “Quit” to exit installation

Purchasing Digital GEM

Click on the Buy and Register button in your Digital GEM plug- in window and then click on the Purchase Online button Alternatively, you can launch your Web browser and go to the ASF Web site store at www.asf.com/store, which will bring up the ASF storefront page with

instructions

After buying the Digital GEM plug- in, you will receive a purchase confirmation email that contains the information you will need to register your ASF Plug- in Software

Registering Digital GEM

Make sure you have handy your purchase confirmation email which contains your registration information Start your host application, and open an image file Select Digital GEM from the Applied Science Fiction option under the Filter/Effects pull down menu The Digital GEM

plug-in wplug-indow will open Click on the “Buy and Register” button A Registration wplug-indow will open Be sure to enter your Registered name, Registered email address, and Registration code exactly as they appear in your purchase confirmation email Click on “OK” and a Thank You window opens Click on the Thank You window “OK” and both the Registration and Thank You windows will close You have completed your registration

Starting Digital GEM

After loading your copy of the Digital GEM plug- in, you will need to start your host application, open an image, and start Digital GEM Two examples with different host applications are listed below For more information on using plug- ins, please refer to the documentation that came with your host application

Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Photoshop Elements

• Start your host application (Photoshop or Photoshop Elements)

• Select the File menu

• Select the Open entry

• Select the image file you want to change

• Click on Open

• Click on the Filter menu

• Select Applied Science Fiction

• Select Digital GEM

Adobe PhotoDeluxe

• Start PhotoDeluxe

• Select the File menu

• Select Open File

• Select the image file you want to change

• Click on Open

• On Windows, click on the Advanced Menus button on the lower left side of the screen

• Or, on a Macintosh, click on the Advanced button on the upper left side of the screen

• On the main toolbar at the top of the menu, click on the Effects button

• Select Applied Science Fiction

• Select Digital GEM

3 DIGITAL GEM PLUG-IN OPERATIONS

The Digital GEM plug- in window offers a few simple controls for operating its features These are easily accessible in the Digital GEM window, as shown below in Figure 1

NOTE: The Trial version places a watermark in processed images Watermarks in saved

images can never be removed To convert the Trial version into the non-watermarking version, buy a Registration Code and register your plug- in

Digital GEM Plug-In Window

Figure 1 Digital GEM Window Check for Update Button

The Check for Update Button will launch your default browser and open the ASF Update site so you can check whether you have the latest version of the plug- in software If you do not have the latest version, this site can facilitate acquiring the latest version if you should choose to do

so

Buy and Register Button

In the trial version of the Digital GEM plug- in, each processed image is watermarked with

“Applied Science Fiction™.” To prevent the watermark from appearing on future images, you need to purchase and register the Digital GEM plug- in Until you register your plug- in, a “Buy and Register” button will appear in the top left corner of the Digital GEM window If your computer is currently connected to the Internet, clicking on “Buy Online” launches a default browser window that will bring up the ASF store (www.asf.com/store) The plug- in window will remain open Follow the on- line instructions to complete your purchase If your computer

is not currently connected to the Internet, the browser will display a "Page not found" error message Connect to the Internet and then click on “Buy and Register.”

After purchasing, you will be emailed registration information that you will use to register your plug- in To register, click on the "Register" button to open the Registration window Complete the entry areas using the Registered name, Registered email address, and Registratio n code exactly as they appear in the email The easiest way to enter your registration information is to copy and paste it from the email, making sure there are no blank spaces before or after the code Once you complete registration, the "Register" button will disappear

Preview Window

The Preview window shows you the portion of your image you have selected in the Navigation window You use the Before and After buttons to determine whether the Preview window

displays the image as it appears before or after applying Digital GEM If you change the settings

of the Controls, the preview window will reprocess the image accordingly

Before/After Buttons

The Before and After buttons determine what will be displayed in the Preview window

Selecting the Before button shows how a specified area of your image looks before Digital GEM processes it, so that you have a constant to compare your changes against It presents the area of your image enclosed in the red box in the Navigation window Selecting the After button shows the same area after Digital GEM processes it

Navigation Window

The red box in the Navigation window outlines the area that appears in the Preview window for your review This allows you to focus on a specific area within the image to see the overall effect of Digital GEM You can shrink or enlarge the box with the Zoom buttons To review a different area, click on that area and the red box will outline it Or click and hold on the box and

button The zoom buttons do not restrict where Digital GEM will be applied in the image Digital GEM is applied to the entire image

Controls

The Controls regulate amount of noise reduction and clarity applied to the processed image To change from the default setting, adjust the effect controls by clicking on a slider bar with your mouse pointer, holding the left mouse button down, and sliding the bar left or right

If you are using Windows, you can move the sliders in one- increment steps using the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard once you have selected it by clicking on it or using the tab key You can also use the home and end keys to move the slider to the minimum and maximum values

The Highlight Noise Reduction slider controls noise reduction in the lighter areas of the image Moving the slider to the right increases the degree of noise reduction The Highlight Noise Reduction slider goes from 0 (unmodified original image) to 100 (maximum image adjustment), with 50 being the default setting Experiment to find the right balance your image The exact level of Highlight Noise Reduction is displayed in the Highlight Noise Reduction Edit Box to the right of the slider

The Shadow Noise Reduction slider controls noise reduc tion in the darker areas of the image Moving the slider to the right increases the degree of noise reduction The Shadow Noise

Reduction slider goes from 0 (unmodified original image) to 100 (maximum image adjustment), with 50 being the default setting Experiment to find the right balance your image The exact level of Shadow Noise Reduction is displayed in the Shadow Noise Reduction Edit Box to the right of the slider

Moving the Clarity slider bar to the right will sharpen the image details in conjunction with the effects of the noise reduction settings Moving the Clarity slider bar to the left will soften the image details in conjunction with the effects of the noise reduction settings

In all, you have a very simple set of controls that let you regulate the noise reduction and clarity you want to achieve with Digital GEM Any settings you change are automatically shown in the Preview when the After button is selected

OK Button

Click on “OK” to apply the current Digital GEM processing results to your image Remember that to save your image, you will need to use the Save command in your host application

Default Button

The Default Button sets the ASF plug- in slider controls back to the default values

Cancel Button

To exit Digital GEM without processing your image and end your Digital GEM session, click on

“Cancel.”

Help Button

Clicking on “Help” brings up an index of useful topics about how to use the Digital GEM

plug-in Click on the topic you need If you cannot find the information you need, click on the

“Technical Support” entry in the help index for how to obtain further information The Help window also has an About entry that you can click on to see the version and date of your copy of the Digital GEM plug- in

About Plug-In Window

Some image editing applications provide an About Plug-In feature under the application’s Help menu The About Plug-In window for Digital GEM shows the version and date of your plug- in software It also has Buy Online and Register buttons, for quick access to those processes

The plug-in is not working, I get an error message

The problem could be your monitor display resolution Check that your display resolution is set for at least 800 x 600 and for small fonts The ASF Plug- in Software may not function properly when using 800 x 600 resolution and large fonts

I get the error message "Could not complete the Digital GEM command because there is not enough memory (RAM)."

Try to increase the RAM or swap space available to your host application You can modify these settings in Photoshop, for example, under Preferences-Plug-ins & Scratch Disks, and Edit-Preferences-Memory & Image Cache You can also try reducing the size of your image by reducing its dimensions or resolution prior to running the Digital GEM plug- in

The Digital GEM plug-in appears on the menu, but it is grayed out and I am unable

to select it

The Digital GEM plug- in will be enabled when you open an image that it can process If you open an image and the plug- in is still grayed out, make sure that the image is 8 bits per pixel and