Getting started with Silkypix - it's easy!

[Trevor G]

2c) Always check the results of your adjustment, which take place in real-time in the image window. Some changes will take time (10 seconds) to finish even at preview level - you can speed this up by temporarily reducing the size of the window as much as possibly. Also see 4) below. /

Well, I find that even with reducing the window size, the initial drawing of the image when opened in Preview mode takes time. At first, I thought my image was soft, until I saw the image drawing across the window. This is very disconcerting.

Hello Rich

Sorry to miss your comment in the other thread.

What speed is your PC, with what processor? How much RAM do you have?

My old PC which took 10 seconds or so to make changes in real-time, especially when developing an image, was a Pentium 4 3.2Ghz processor.

My new computer, which takes no more than 4 seconds to develop an image and makes very quick changes in real-time, is a Core i5 760 running at 3.4GHz.

Powerful software needs powerful computers to process things quickly. If you see the image "drawing" across the screen when you load it I am going to suggest that you either have a slow computer, insufficient RAM or too many things running in the background.

I'll tell you how to deal with that and speed up your Silkypix work, if you like.

Another observation is that unlike Canon's DPP, there doesn't seem to be a Folder view where you can view your Folder hierarchy like within Windows Explorer on PCs. This means having to File|Open Folder (CTRL F) and navigate manually to the folder. Very irritating.

I can see my folders when I click "Open folder" and once I open that folder all the images in it are displayed at the bottom of my workspace.

In Silkypix choose View/Combination mode or just click on the Combination mode icon which is below View in the file menu.

I'm not sure what Canon's DPP does but I imagine it does not develop Panasonic RAW files. Silkypix is not meant to be a file management tool.

However, I work very successfuly like this:

1) Use Windows Explorer to open the folder where the images are;

2) Right click the first image to be viewed and click Preview - this opens Windows Picture and Fax Viewer which you can resize to suit your needs

3) Navigate to the image you want to work on

4) If JPEG simply right click it in the Preview window and choose Open with...Silkypix*

5) If RAW go back to the Explorer window and right click the appropriate RAW file and choose Open with...Silkypix.

If Silkypix does not appear in the "Open with" menu choose browse and go to the ISL folder - then click on the .exe file there which sits in the Silkypix Developer Studio folder.

Another observation is that some of the popup boxes are so small, such as EXIF information.

I'm puzzled.

Once I resize the EXIF box (width and height) I can close it and it reopens to the previously chosen size every time.

Are you running in full screen mode? Don't. Always use less than fullscreen (called restore mode) so that you can resize all your windows (just once is all that is needed) so that you can see all the information you want.

There should be the option to have it full screen when you call it up.

Once I resize mine, to about half the height of the main image pane, it displays all the EXIF info and it always re-opens to the same size and location previously set, every time.

Have you noticed that much of the EXIF information also displays along the bottom window frame?

Also, When dragging it to a fixed position on the left, it's so tiny that you have to use the scroll arrows to see the items, so docking it is not a practical option.

Choose Restore mode and resize the whole Silkypix window so that you can dock outside the Silkypix frame - the boxes will stick on the outside also.

Unfortunately, I'm stuck with using Silkypix to convert RAW to TIFF since my version of Photoshop doesn't handle the G3 files.

Fortunately I'm blessed with Silkypix to handle my Nikon D700, Fuji S5, Pentax K-x and Panasonic G1 images. I haven't found anything like it; as you can probably guess I'm rapt in it.

It's OK if you don't like it, but I will help as much as I can.

--
Cheers

Trevor G

http://photo.computerwyse.com

 

[Trevor G]

Trevor G wrote:

I think most people have never bothered to learn it because it does things in such a non-oriental way

(Tongue in cheek) I love it. SP is Japanese software. And the last time I checked, Japan is still in the Orient!

I was tongue-in-cheek also. Adobe products have never run from left to right, and top to bottom. They might do one but not the other. They are haphazard, in my experience, yet once you get used to them, their's seems like the only way to many.

Not so Silkypix, which is so methodical to the western eye that it defies its oriental origin. I always understood oriental text to flow from right to left and from bottom to top...

--
Cheers

Trevor G

http://www.computerwyse.com

 

[Trevor G]

You'll see various options there for saving EXIF with the image.

Unfortunately, Silkypix does not create a complete EXIF. One glaring omission is the focus mode: AF or MF.

Actually Silkypix does not display the complete EXIF data, and it does appear that the focus information that was originally in the image is not recorded in the developed image.

Photome shows focus info in the original, but not in the Spx output. I don't know, at this stage, if this is typical of other image software. Most, maybe all, other things seem to be there.

Have you tried the file management software which came with the camera? It is possible that that will do the job you require.

--
Cheers

Trevor G

http://www.computerwyse.com

 

[BillHinge]

An exhaustive test printing crops to simulate A2 sized prints (about 20" wide) showed me that Adobe ACR (same conversion engine in Photoshop and Elements and Lightroom) extracts a tiny bit more pixel peeping detail than Silkypix, but on the 20" print that extra detail is just not seen. The Silkypix converted prints were judged to be the best looking.

Regards............ Guy

Some Silkypix links..... http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~parsog/silkypix/s01-menu.html

Strange, I find the opposite to be true, I usually get more from SP. Did you toggle the 'normal sharp' vs 'pure detail' option in sharpness? (having the colour too saturated sometimes seems to hide detail in SP)

Overall I prefer most SP colours except blue for some reason which always seems to be slightly purple

 

[Kjartan Haugen]

Overall I prefer most SP colours except blue for some reason which always seems to be slightly purple

I agree with you. Do you know how to get the blue color better?.. its almost perfect.. but slightly purple..

--
Kjartan

 

[Trevor G]

Kjartan Haugen wrote:

Do you know how to get the blue color better?.. its almost perfect.. but slightly purple..

Wouldn't you use the Fine color controller to do that? Also known as the color wheel? Just reduce pink...

--
Cheers

Trevor G

http://www.computerwyse.com

 

[BillHinge]

Kjartan Haugen wrote:

Do you know how to get the blue color better?.. its almost perfect.. but slightly purple..

Wouldn't you use the Fine color controller to do that? Also known as the color wheel? Just reduce pink...

--
Cheers

Trevor G

http://www.computerwyse.com

I try, but never seem to get it the same as the other RAW converters I have (eg LR, Aperture, Capture 1 express)

just waiting for the Mac SP 5 version to come out

 

[Aleo Veuliah]

--
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

God is the tangential point between zero and infinity.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

God always take the simplest way.

• http://aleo-photo.org

• http://blog.aleo-photo.org

 

[Aleo Veuliah]

--
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

God is the tangential point between zero and infinity.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

God always take the simplest way.

• http://aleo-photo.org

• http://blog.aleo-photo.org

 

[richj20]

I haven't found anything like it; as you can probably guess I'm rapt in it.

It's OK if you don't like it, but I will help as much as I can.

Thanks, Trevor, it's nice you take the time to help with Silkypix.

OK, here is a scenario: a scene's dynamic range requires bracketing, and blending for the final image.

Last evening I posted some stained glass window photographs here:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1041&message=39111798

Using the last one, the Children's Room, as an example, here are the two bracketed files that resulted in the image you see in that post:



Using a more extreme example as a test, from a trip to Yosemite:



And the resulting final image:



In Photoshop, one way of blending is to create duplicate layers, and then use the Eraser tool.

How can this be done in Silkypix?

Thanks,

Richard

--
"Careful photographers run their own tests." - Fred Picker

 

[Trevor G]

I haven't found anything like it; as you can probably guess I'm rapt in it.

It's OK if you don't like it, but I will help as much as I can.

Thanks, Trevor, it's nice you take the time to help with Silkypix.

OK, here is a scenario: a scene's dynamic range requires bracketing, and blending for the final image.

How can this be done in Silkypix?

It can't. Not yet.

The new version 5 which was released in February this year in Japanese only so far, has an HDR feature.

We are waiting for it to be released in english. ;-)

--
Cheers

Trevor G

http://photo.computerwyse.com

 

[richj20]

The new version 5 which was released in February this year in Japanese only so far, has an HDR feature.

We are waiting for it to be released in english. ;-)

Thanks for the information!

Best regards,

Richard

--
"Careful photographers run their own tests." - Fred Picker

 

[normsmith]

Trevor thanks for starting this interesting thread.

I have always been a JPEG shooter, satisfied that the extra work of RAW did not justify abandoning JPEG.

having just got Lightroom and awaiting the G3 upgrade, I thought I should try and enter the RAW 'learning curve' so booted up SilkyPix. - Even just with my first few images done, I can see the benefits, mainly in the extra detail.

I have a shot of a neighbours brick chimney plus aerial wires etc taken with a pentax Kr - it is rich in colour and detailed in texture as a JPEG. When i shoot the same thing with my G3, I can only described the image as being 'mushier' but if shot in RAW, I can get close to the detail that the Kr was giving - so I think i may become a RAW convert - thanks for your work on this thread.

by the way, if you sharpen in the program, does the Unsharp mask in the development process result in over-sharpening? (I am thinking here of how i sharpen JPEGs and double sharpening would be a problem)

 

[Trevor G]

by the way, if you sharpen in the program, does the Unsharp mask in the development process result in over-sharpening? (I am thinking here of how i sharpen JPEGs and double sharpening would be a problem)

USM is designed to compensate for lack of definition when reducing the size of an image.

As mentioned in my notes above, when using USM in Silkypix you can preview the result on the output image, at its projected new size, in real time.

Make any adjustments you like and watch the preview change as you go. It's very satisfying. ;-)

If you use too much, you will see the haloes appear, before you Save.

PS Don't forget to try Silkypix on some of your JPEGs, too. It works in the same way as it does for RAW. Sharpening and noise reduction requires different settings, though, but like all Silkypix controls, you can see what the changes you make will do as you make them.

Cheers

Trevor G

http://photo.computerwyse.com

 

[DP in Tejas]

Do you have any Development Recipes that you've found exceptionally useful? I'm just now having a go at RAW and definitely see it as a way to take the PP workflow to the next level. I'm sure Adobe's devotees have valid reasons for their loyalty, but not having been down the ACR path, I have no particular bias.

The presets are a good launch point, but I would be interested to know of anything you might be willing to share. The B&W approach would be of particular interest.

 

[Guy Parsons]

Do you have any Development Recipes that you've found exceptionally useful? I'm just now having a go at RAW and definitely see it as a way to take the PP workflow to the next level. I'm sure Adobe's devotees have valid reasons for their loyalty, but not having been down the ACR path, I have no particular bias.

The presets are a good launch point, but I would be interested to know of anything you might be willing to share. The B&W approach would be of particular interest.

I'm not into B&W at all, but one "recipe" I made for those people with Panasonic LX3/5 who wanted the Dynamic B&W look, without using that feature in the camera.

Copied from my LX3 web pages....
...........quote...............

One of the favourite methods in the forum for dynamic B/W seems to be what I recommended using Silkypix. It works with any RAW or jpeg file if you buy the full version of Silkypix, otherwise the free SE version only with the jpegs or RAW from Panasonic RAW capable cameras.

? Open a full colour jpeg or RAW file.
? Set colour temperature way to right 90000K.
? Set Colour to Monochrome 2.

? Set Contrast to Strongest Contrast or use the 4 manual controls to set Contrast to maximum, and slide the Contrast Centre, Gamma and Black Level until you get something you like.

Fiddling with that gave me some nice dramatic B/W effects, but of course it's a taste thing and you need appropriate source images as well. Don't try and understand the loopy Silkypix manual, it's way easier to experiment with all the buttons and menu items and see what works. You can output 16 bit tiff from Silkypix to experiment further in Photoshop etc. Some Silkypix links here. http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~parsog/silkypix/s01-menu.html
..............unquote.........................

Regards........... Guy

 

[DP in Tejas]

Thanks Gary.

I don't have any hands on experience w/ Dynamic B&W, but hearing the raves from this forem has me curious. I've been experimenting w/ some of the in camera settings on the G3 and GF2 to try to approximate what I've heard described. So far I'd say the results are mixed.

I appreciate the link and your recipe. Do you have any images you care to share that illustrate "the look".

Thanks again.

 

[Aleo Veuliah]

--
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

God is the tangential point between zero and infinity.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

God always take the simplest way.

• http://aleo-photo.org

• http://blog.aleo-photo.org

 

[Guy Parsons]

Thanks Gary.

Er, it's Guy, not Gary.

I appreciate the link and your recipe. Do you have any images you care to share that illustrate "the look".

None to show, I only experimented with Silkypix to get results that looked like the things that Dynamic B&W lovers got.

Often using high ISO to get lots of ugly noise also helps with a gritty B&W look. I just don't like it and never use it. I like things to look more real so it's colour all the way for me.

Regards............ Guy

 

[DP in Tejas]

Sorry, Guy, ordinarily I'd be red faced, but since our theme is B & W I'm hoping you didn't notice.

Thanks for the input.