Fotoxx Overview | description, prerequisites, license, downloads, capabilities |
How to Use Fotoxx | initialization, navigation, menus, general procedures |
File Menu | open, save, rename, trash, delete, print |
Metadata Menu | edit tags, geotags, ratings, captions ... search images |
Select Area Menu | select image objects or areas for separate editing, copy, paste |
Edit Menu | trim/crop, rotate, retouch, color, tone mapping, add text ... |
Repair Menu | sharpen, blur, denoise, red-eye, paint, clone ... |
Bend Menu | bend/warp, straighten, fix perspective, flatten book page |
Effects Menu | make drawing, painting, embossing, cartoon, add arty effects |
Combine Menu | HDR, HDF, stack, panorama, montage |
Tools Menu | image index, user options, batch functions, utilities |
Albums Menu | create and edit named collections, slide show |
Help Menu | quick start, user guide, translations guide, change log ... |
Organizing Images | optimize for searching and viewing |
Recent Changes | recent functional and user guide changes |
Technical Notes | technical methods and limitations |
+ or = |
zoom-in (amount adjustable in
user options) |
− |
unzoom, fit entire image
within window |
Z |
toggle: zoom to 1x image size,
zoom back to fit window |
← / → keys |
go to previous / next image in
current gallery |
Image View popup |
|
View Metadata |
Show short form metadata report |
Edit Metadata |
Edit photo date/time, rating, tags, captions, comments |
Edit Geotags |
Edit photo latitude / longitude, place name, country |
Rename |
Change the file name |
Copy to Location |
Copy the image file to
another location (duplicate the file) |
Move to Location |
Move the image file to
another location (delete the original) |
Copy to Image Cache |
Add the image file to the
file cache for later pasting into an album |
Copy to Clipboard |
Copy the image file to
the clipboard (for other apps to paste) |
Upright |
Upright the image that is turned 90 degrees |
Trim/Rotate |
Trim (crop) the image, level the image or turn 90 degrees |
Resize |
Resize (rescale) the image width and height |
Voodoo Enhance |
Limited automatic image enhancement |
Retouch Combo |
Adjust brightness, color, contrast, saturation, black point, white balance |
Brightness Dist. |
Adjust the brightness distribution (flatten, broaden, change black and white points) |
Zonal Flatten |
Enhance contrast and brighten shadows, especially image areas with low contrast |
Tone Mapping |
Enhance contrast and apparent brightness range by increasing brightness gradients |
Select Area |
Select an image object or area for separate editing |
Trash |
Move the image file into the wastebasket |
Delete |
Delete the image file |
Gallery View
popup |
|
Popup Image |
Show image in a larger window - resizable, movable, persistent until canceled |
Popup Image (add) |
Same as above, but a new
window is opened instead of re-using the previous one |
View Metadata |
Show short form metadata report |
Rename |
Change the file name |
Upright |
Upright the image that is turned 90 degrees |
Copy to Location |
Copy the image file to another location (duplicate the file) |
Move to Location |
Move the image file to another location (delete the original) |
Copy to Image Cache |
Add the image file to the file cache for later pasting into an album |
Copy to Clipboard |
Copy the image file to the clipboard (for other apps to paste) |
Trash |
Move the image file into the wastebasket |
Delete |
Delete the image file |
Popup Image
shortcut |
Shift
key + left click on a gallery thumbnail creates a popup window
containing the image. Zoom in/out using the mouse wheel. When zoomed small it disappears. |
General |
|
F / G / W keys | Change view mode: image File, Gallery, World maps |
F1 function key | Display user guide for current or prior function |
F11 function key | Toggle main window to full-screen (no menu) and back |
Image
File View |
|
left / right arrow keys | Previous / next image |
+ or = / - keys | Zoom image bigger /
smaller (zoom amount adjustable in User Options) |
Z | Toggle: zoom image to 100% / fit image in window |
S |
Sync Gallery to current
image file |
M | Magnify Image |
P | Open Previous File (or
toggle between last two files) |
U | Undo current edit, or undo one edit step in the current image |
Shift+U | Redo current edit, or redo one edit step in the current image |
N | Rename Image File |
K | View and edit keyboard
shortcuts |
Alt+G | Grid Lines on / off
(toggle) |
T | Trim / Rotate Image |
V | Voodoo Enhance |
R | Retouch Combo |
Escape key | Exit a dialog, exit Slide
Show mode |
Space Bar | Pause / resume a running
slide show |
Gallery
View |
|
Home / End keys | move to first / last page of image gallery |
Page Up / Down keys | move to previous / next page of image gallery |
up / down arrow keys | move up / down by one row of image gallery |
left / right arrow keys | move to previous / next page of image gallery |
+ or = / - keys | bigger / smaller thumbnail size |
Escape key | exit a dialog |
left click | Zoom-in: magnify image, center at click position |
right click | Zoom-out: restore image to window size. If no zoom, popup menu with common functions. |
mouse wheel | Zoom in and out depending on wheel direction |
left drag on image | Pan / scroll zoomed image, same direction or magnified opposite direction (like scroll bars) |
right drag on gallery | Scroll down or up by
dragging to the top or bottom edge, faster as mouse approaches the edge. |
mouse + Ctrl key |
Mouse acts on main window
instead of a mouse-using dialog like Select Area. |
menu text | text for the popup menu - optional if a menu icon is used |
menu func | the Fotoxx function to use - the exact menu name |
menu icon | menu icon - /directory.../filename.png - optional if a menu text is used |
icon size | if icon is used, its size from 24x24 to 64x64 pixels |
close window | checkbox: close the popup window when this menu is selected |
tiff-16 | tiff-8 | png-16 | png-8 | jpeg-100 | jpeg-90 | jpeg-80 | jpeg-70 |
70 MB | 35 MB | 23 MB | 17 MB | 8 MB | 3 MB | 2 MB | 1 MB |
Key Name | Fotoxx Usage |
Date / Time Original | Edit Metadata function - image date |
Keywords | Edit Metadata function - image tags |
Rating | Edit Metadata function - image stars |
User Comments | Edit Metadata function |
Caption-Abstract | Edit Metadata function |
Geotags | Edit Geotags function, 3 search image functions |
Image History |
History of Fotoxx edits applied to the image |
any key | Edit Any Metadata, Delete Metadata |
Edit Any Metadata ![]() This is a dialog for editing any EXIF or IPTC metadata. Enter the desired key name and press [Fetch]. Change the returned data, if any, and press [Save]. The metadata is updated. You may enter the key name in lower case and with or without spaces between the words, e.g. "Bits per Sample" and "bitspersample" will both work. To see all present keys and data, use View Metadata (long). |
Batch Add Geotags ![]() |
Rectangle | Drag the mouse to enclose a rectangular area. |
Ellipse | Drag the mouse to enclose an elliptical area. |
Freehand Draw | Drag and click the mouse to draw lines that outline an enclosed space. |
Follow Edge | Click or drag along
the edge of an image object to draw lines that follow the edge. |
Replace | Drag the mouse near an area edge-line to move the edge to the mouse. |
Select area within mouse |
Left / right drag
to select / unselect all pixels within the mouse circle. Selection is independent of color. |
Select one matching color within mouse |
Click on the image
to select a color. Left / right drag to select / unselect pixels inside the mouse circle that match the selected color within "match level". |
Select all matching colors within mouse |
Left / right drag
to select / unselect pixels surrounding the mouse that match the color of any pixels inside the mouse circle, within "match level". |
Controls for mouse selection methods |
"mouse radius" sets
the size of a selection circle around the mouse pointer. "match level" sets the color match (0-100%) required for pixel selection. |
left drag | select pixels inside mouse circle and those with matching colors within search range |
right click | undo previous selection, repeat to unselect more |
right drag | unselect pixels inside mouse circle and those with matching colors within search range |
amplifier |
increases or decreases
the effect of the brightness edit curves |
brightness |
moves the entire curve up
or down |
contrast |
moves the curve lower and
upper parts in opposite directions |
low color / high |
increases or decreases
color saturation |
warmer / cooler |
adjusts color temperature
(reddish <--> blueish) |
dark
areas / bright |
apply color changes to
darker / all / brighter image areas |
brightness distribution |
show a brightness
distribution graph in the curve edit window |
click for white balance |
enables the mouse to
click on a black point or gray / white point |
Settings File |
dialog settings can be
saved in a file and loaded later for use with other images |
Zonal Flatten ![]() ![]() Zonal Flatten enhances visible detail in areas having poor contrast. It is similar to Flatten, described above, but is more effective for an image already having a wide overall brightness distribution. The revised brightness for a pixel is based on the brightness distribution for nearby zones. A larger zones value calculates new pixel values from closer areas. Flatten controls the strength of the effect, and deband moderates darker or brighter image areas. This function can amplify noise in uniform areas like sky. If the deband control is insufficient to correct this, use Select Area and Denoise to fix the noisy areas. Alternatively, use Select Area beforehand to select sky (or other areas to omit) and then invert the selection prior to using Zonal Flatten. Technical Explanation (optional) The image is divided into areal zones. The zone count approximates the user input and may be slightly more. Each pixel is adjusted based on the 9 closest zones, the 3x3 zones surrounding the zone of the pixel. More zones means smaller and closer zones. The brightness of a pixel is compared to the brightness distributions of the nearby zones, and the brightness is adjusted up or down in the direction that would flatten the distribution if the pixel were really a member of the distributions. The influence of the 9 zones are weighted based on their distance from the pixel being calculated. The influence of the leftmost zones goes to zero for a pixel on the right edge of its zone. The same is true for the topmost zones, etc. This prevents abrupt brightness transitions that would be visible to the eye. The nature of the eye helps hide the bizarre alterations in pixel brightness, since the eye also judges the brightness of a spot based on its surroundings. A larger number of zones will make each pixel brightness adjustment depend on areas closer to the pixel. |
Tone Mapping ![]() In the dialog, the graphic curve determines how much local contrast is increased depending on initial local contrast. The left end of the x-axis corresponds to low-contrast pixels and the right end high-contrast pixels. Raise the left side of the curve to increase the contrast of low-contrast pixels (but this will also enhance low-level noise). The Amplify slider below the curve regulates the internal algorithmic calculation, from no contrast amplification on the left to full amplification on the right. If moved too far to the right, the image may show ugly artifacts, so push it back until these disappear. The curve can be dragged with the mouse and its effect on the image will show up in a second or so (depending on image size and CPU speed). The Amplify slider also needs time to show up in the image. If more contrast is wanted, raise the curve. If uniform areas (e.g. sky) become mottled, pull the left end of the curve down to reduce amplification for low-contrast pixels. In some cases it will be best to select different areas of the image and process them separately, e.g. more conservative for sky, more aggressive for textured surfaces like stone walls and vegitation. |
![]() Making a Watermark: use a text transparency of 70% or more and a background transparency of 100%. The text should be faint but readable. To add a "relief" effect, use Select Area to put a box around the text and Embossing to give the text an appearance of depth. |
Menu
Name |
command
line |
Gimp |
gimp %s |
auto-gamma |
mogrify
-auto-gamma
%s
|
Gthumb |
gthumb %s |
Denoise Image - reduce noise ![]() ![]() This function reduces the noise in photos taken under poor lighting conditions, making uniform surfaces appear speckled. It also works for scanned prints, as in the example here. Multiple methods are provided because the best method varies with image noise characteristics. Mixing methods (using one and then another) is often helpful. When a method's [apply] buttons is pressed, it is executed using the associated radius or threshold value. Each new [apply] uses the modified image from the previous [apply], so each use will have increasing impact. With a large image, some methods may be slow. To save time, select a small area and experiment with the different methods and settings until you make a decision, then apply the chosen method to the entire image. The dark areas slider can be used to restrict the process to darker image areas, which are most prone to noise. If left at the right end, all areas are processed. Move it back to the left to process increasingly darker areas only. The [measure] button starts a dialog to measure the actual noise level. Click on the image to show the RGB noise levels in the area of the mouse. This must be a featureless area so that noise is the only variation present. A dark gray sky is a good source, or a badly out-of-focus area. To measure camera sensor noise, use a RAW image. A JPEG image was already processed inside the camera to reduce noise. More information can be found in the technical notes. Here is a short technical description of each method:
The wavelets algorithm was adapted from code found in a Gimp plug-in. The initial version was written by Dave Coffin for the program Dcraw |
Brightness | Increase or
decrease overall image brightness |
+Red
- Cyan etc. |
Increase or
decrease the brightness of one color and change complimentary color in the opposite direction |
Contrast |
Increase or
decrease the overall image contrast |
Red, etc. |
Increase or
decrease the contrast of individual RGB colors |
Mashup ![]() ![]() In the first Mashup dialog, choose a background or layout image where other images will be placed. Choose an existing image or create a new monotone image with a specified size and color. You may also open a previously saved mashup project and continue editing. ![]() The 2nd Mashup dialog is a choice: edit images, edit text, edit lines and arrows, rescale to a larger size, save the completed composite image (Done) or abandon the image (Cancel). The first three choices lead to dialogs to perform the respective edits. Each of these return to this dialog when done, so you can add or modify images, text, and lines / arrows in any sequence. Rescale is explained below. ![]() ![]() "Paint" more or less transparency for selected image areas. Click on an image to select it. The mouse will have a circle around it to show the range of action. Use radius to adjust the size of the circle. Left-drag the mouse over the image to make it transparent in the areas covered by the circle. Right-drag to make it opaque. If Gradual is checked, transparency changes are made slowly as the mouse is dragged. Specify a power value for the mouse center and edges to make the changes faster or slower. ![]() Click this dialog to insure it is active, and click on an image to select it. Drag the image with the mouse - the image will warp or stretch locally in the direction of the mouse (like sheet rubber). The area of warping is roughly given by warp span, which is a fraction of the image size. Each drag is a step that adds to previous steps. Recent steps can be reversed with [undo last], and the unbent image can be restored with [undo all]. ![]() The Edit Text dialog is used for placing text on the layout. Enter some text and press Add. You are asked to click on the layout where the text will be added. Drag it into position, then use the dialog controls to set font, size, color, angle, background color, outline size and color, shadow size and color, and transparencies for each of these. Drag the text to a new position at any time. Click on any existing text to show its properties in the dialog and revise them. Click on a text and press Delete to remove it. When done editing, press Done to return to the 2nd Mashup dialog. ![]() The Edit Line / Arrow dialog is used for placing lines or arrows on the layout. It works very much like adding text. Enter a length and width and press Add. You are asked to click on the layout where the line will be added. A line is placed on the layout, or an arrow if one of the Arrow head options is checked. Drag the line / arrow to the desired position. Adjust length, width, angle and attributes (background, outline, shadow) using the dialog. You can also drag either end of the line/arrow to reposition that end while leaving the other end fixed. You can use the mouse to move and resize objects in the layout: + click the object to select it - it flashes to confirm the selection. + drag from the approximate center to reposition the object. + drag the image or text lower right corner to resize. + for a line/arrow, drag either end to move that end only. The keyboard arrow keys can also be used to move the currently selected object in 1-pixel steps. You can also add images saved by Select Area. In the Edit Images dialog, press [Add] to start the file selection dialog. Use the [Top] button in the gallery window, select HOME, then select .fotoxx/saved_areas. Open any of the .tiff images found there. The original area outline is used, and edge blending works from these edges. Mashup project files You can save a project and open it later to continue editing. However, the project file will open successfully only if the layout image and all the overlay images are still available in their original locations. The Mashup project is rebuilt using these images and some saved metadata that is in the project file: image and text locations, scales, transparency, etc. Mashup Rescale Working with a very large layout (over 20 megapixels) can be quite slow, especially if the PC is not very strong. Dragging a large overlay image can be slow and jerky. You can work much faster if you use a smaller layout to build the project, and then make it larger after you are finished. There is no loss of resolution in the final image, since the overlay images and text are regenerated from the inputs (e.g. an image that was scaled to 0.2x in the initial layout is rescaled to 0.6x if the layout is magnified by 3x). The original full size image file is used for this rescale. The Rescale button allows you to magnify the project by 2x, 3x or 4x (4x, 9x or 16x by area). There is also a reset option to restore the original smaller project size. With this method, you can work with a 10 megapixel layout and resize it up to 160 megapixels when done. The larger layout can still be worked on directly afterwards, but it will be much slower. PT Panorama Fix Mashup can be used to fix minor alignment offsets from PT Panorama. After running PT Panorama, start Mashup (in the same Fotoxx session), and create a flat layout image with a good size for editing (e.g. 3000 pixels wide). Start the dialog to add images to the layout. Navigate to the directory /tmp/fotoxx-xxx/ where you will find the images left by PT Panorama. They have been color matched and warped to fit together. Add these images to the layout. Check the box to make the black margins transparent. Resize them to fill the layout (all must have the same scale) and move them around to fit together. Zoom the window larger for precise algnment and align the images as well as possible. Small misalignments will persist if the images do not fit perfectly. There may also be brightness or color mismatches at the image edges, but these can be fixed later. Start the Warp Images dialog. Drag the mouse in small steps over a misaligned area to move an image into alignment with its neighbor. Use a small span (e.g. 0.1) to insure that correcting one misalignment does not create others elsewhere. Several cycles of dragging the images in several locations may be needed, but with patience you can make the alignments perfect. If there are visible brightness or color mismatches at image edges, blend these together using the margin blend controls. This should be done only after the alignment has been perfected - otherwise this will cause blurring where the images do not align, making alignment corrections harder to see and control. Lastly, rescale the layout to a larger size if wanted. This does not lose resolution, since the input images are rescaled and the warps are rescaled and re-applied. |
Startup Display | Determines the initial
window content when Fotoxx is started. Recent Files: the most recently viewed or edited image files (gallery display). Newest Files: image files most recently added to the Fotoxx database (gallery). Previous Gallery: the directory of the last image viewed (gallery). Previous Image: show the last image viewed. Blank Window: start with no current image and the top image directory in the gallery. Directory Gallery: the given image directory. Image File: the given image file. |
Browse |
Opens a dialog to browse for the starting directory or image file (last 2 options above). |
Menu Style | The menu style: icons
only or both text and icons. |
Image
Pan/Scroll (zoomed image) |
Drag: image moves with
the dragged mouse. Scroll: image moves against the dragged mouse (like invisible scroll bars). Magnified: movement is magnified: multiple drags for large movement are not needed. |
Zooms
for 2x |
Choose 1, 2, or 3 zooms for each 2x increase in image size. |
JPEG quality | The default quality value when saving an image as a jpeg file type. |
Thumbnail size |
The pixel size for
gallery thumbnail width/height: 128 | 256 | 512 (default 256). 512 is a bit
slower but better for a large monitor or one with a high DPI
resolution, or when viewing large galleries.
If this is changed, you need to delete your thumbnail files so that the
file index process will rebuild them with the new size (next Fotoxx startup). |
hidden
directories |
Show hidden directories
in gallery view. If not checked, these are not displayed. |
prev/next
version |
Show only the last
versions of image files when using the prev/next button or KB keys. |
RAW command | The command used to
convert camera RAW files to tiff-16. This can be changed if you need. See the man page for dcraw for more details. |
RAW file types | The RAW file types
recognized. If your camera uses something else, add it to the list and
this may work. You can also shorten the list to those file types you actually use. |
![]() |
When a point on the image is clicked, the RGB values are shown in a dialog window. The last 9 clicked points are displayed. The values have the format xxx.dd, where xxx is the upper 8 bits of the color value and .dd is the lower 8 bits. The range is 0.00 to 255.99. The lower 8 bits are zero unless the image is being edited or the image is a 16-bit TIFF or PNG file. EV (exposure value) is an alternative unit, useful for precise color adjustment. EV is zero for mid-brightness (128). The outputs are updated immediately if the image is being edited. The last nine points clicked are shown. The points are labeled on the image corresponding to the letters A-I in the dialog window. If "delta" is checked and the image is being edited, then the changes are shown instead of the absolute values. If no edit is active, "delta" does nothing. |
RGB | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 32 | 64 | 128 | 256 |
EV | nan | -7 | -6 | -5 | -4 | -3 | -2 | -1 | 0 | 1 |
![]() This function magnifies the image in an area around the mouse pointer. Left-drag the mouse around the image to magnify different areas, analogous to viewing a printed image through a magnifying glass. Use the dialog to adjust the radius of the area and the amount of magnification. A mouse click will end the magnify, and a new mouse drag will start it again. Use the M-key shortcut to start or end the Magnify function. |
Monitor Gamma ![]() Gamma determines how RGB brightness values (0-255) are converted into brightness on the monitor. The standard value is 2.2 and this should normally be used for image editing. Adjust the dialog slider until the middle band has the same brightness as the upper and lower bands at scale location 2.2. Be far enough from the monitor that you cannot see the fine lines in the chart. The chart only works at 100% size, so do not zoom the chart. The command line utility "xgamma" is required (normally present). The chart image originates from Norman Koren. The linked web site has more information about this chart. The chart here in the User Guide has been reduced. Do not use. |
Select Files |
Select files to convert
from a gallery window (link). |
New Name |
Optional new name with #
characters to be replaced with
sequence numbers. |
base, adder |
Starting sequence number
and adder for each output file. |
New
Location |
Optional new directory
location for the converted files. |
new
file type |
File type for converted
images, or "no change". |
max.
width, height |
Output images will fit
within these dimensions (ratio is not changed). |
delete
originals |
Delete the input files
after successful conversion. |
copy metadata |
Copy all EXIF and IPTC
metadata to the output files. |
upright |
If an image is rotated
90\B0/180\B0, upright it (status known from EXIF). |
sharpen |
Sharpen output images
using the two supplied parameters |
Batch Delete/Trash ![]() Select the option to delete or move to trash. [Proceed] |
Manage
Albums Dialog![]() Choose: Choose an album to view or edit. The gallery window will show its current images. Use the thumbnail popup menu (below) to add or remove images. Images: Add images to the image cache using the standard dialog for selecting images from gallery windows (link). Select image files in any order from any gallery. You can also use Search Images to create a gallery for selecting images, or choose an album gallery. Selected images are added to the image cache. The cached images can now be added to an album using the popup menu (below). Clear: Discard all images in the image cache. Delete: Select an album to delete. Image files are not deleted. New Album dialog ![]() |
Copy to Image Cache |
Add the clicked image to the image cache. |
Cut to Image Cache |
Remove the image from the album and add it to the image cache. |
Copy to Clipboard |
Copy the image to the clipboard (for other apps to paste). |
Paste Image Cache Here (keep) |
Insert all cached images at the clicked position. Click roughly between two thumbnails where the images will be inserted. |
Paste Image Cache Here (clear) |
Same as above, but the cache is cleared. |
Paste Current Image File Here |
Inserts the current image file at the clicked position. |
Remove from Album |
Remove the clicked image from the album |
Popup Image |
Pop-up a large resizeable window for the image. Replace previous popup window. |
Popup Image (add) |
Same as above, but keep previous popup window and create a new one. |
View Metadata |
Metadata short report for clicked image file. |
The desktop
background image is changed at regular intervals, using a Fotoxx album
as the list of images to show. Fotoxx runs in the background without
a window or GUI interface. It has no effect on normal interactive use of Fotoxx. How to cycle the desktop image:
To make a permanent process that persists after a reboot or new logon, put the following command into your startup list: fotoxx-dt -cycledesktop albumName 3600 & This example changes the desktop background image every hour. To change the desktop only for each new login, use a time value >1 day: 86400. Note: this function works only for the Gnome window manager (including Ubuntu Unity). |
USA.jpg, 24.855, 49.17,
-124.99, -59.766 Europe.jpg, 30.89, 71.25, -10.73, 39.71 |
Method
and Example |
Advantages |
Disadvantages |
Directory
and
File Names e.g. image files like this: /images/2012/Rome-12.jpg |
+ simple and easy to use + fast implementation: batch move and rename files with added sequence numbers + gallery overview at each level of hierarchy + easy to navigate up / down hierarchy levels |
+ no overview of
available search terms + long file names required for multiple search categories (date, place, persons, events ...) + risk of inconsistent names, unreliable search |
Captions and
Comments e.g. caption or comment like this: 2012 Italy Rome Forum |
+ simple and easy to use + flexible search using multiple categories + moderately fast implementation: think + write time, per image |
+ no overview of
available search terms + may end up with thousands of categories + risk of inconsistent names, unreliable search |
Managed Tags + e.g. rome, Italy, Susan + Point and click in a tag list to add tags to images + Tags have categories for faster visual location in the tag list + Recommend <500 tags |
+ good overview of available tags to click (organized by persons, places, events ...) + easy creation of new tags + no inconsistent or redundant tags, no typos + therefore searching more reliable |
+ requires careful
planning of tags + slow to find and click tags if >500 tags + hard to revise tag naming system (batch tag add / delete / rename available) |
Random Tags + tags with no organizing system + large tag count >500 |
+ no planning needed + creating and entering tags is faster (point and click or key-in tags) + legacy tags can be kept unchanged |
+ inconsistent tags (scenery, landscape) + redundant tags (Susan, Susi, Susy) + tags with typos (scenery, scenrey) + poor ovrview of existing tags + therefore searching less reliable |
Geotags
e.g. location data like this: Rome Italy 41.89 N 12.48 E |
+ cameras with GPS
store
data automatically + add locations in a few seconds per image (or batch add location to many images) + search location by clicking on a map image + search location and date-range by clicking on a report of available locations / dates |
+ useful only for
searching by location + chaotic location naming by cameras (revise using search and batch update) |
Albums e.g. album names like this: + best scenery + Italy 2012 |
+ make ad hoc albums
using any criteria + images can be in multiple albums or multiple times within one album |
+ time to locate and
add
images to an album (find and click gallery thumbnails) + images not searchable by other categories + not usable by other applications |
image
files |
Fotoxx has been tested
with 156K image files and performace was good on a strong PC. 500K image files should be practical, but startup time may be 20+ seconds. |
image size | The max. supported image width or height is 20,000 pixels (compile time constant). |
image edits | 99 edits for undo / redo and file version numbering (filename.v01 to filename.v99). |
image tags |
10,000 tags, 200,000 chars. for all tags, 1000 chars. for 1 image file |
geotag cities | 20,000 different
cities / locations for geotagged images (compile time constant). |
xdg-utils | open text or html files with user's preferred application |
exiftool | (v. 8.60 or later) read
and write image metadata (tags, comments, etc.) |
dcraw | batch convert RAW image files to tiff, jpeg, or png |
ufraw | open a RAW file for editing using own GUI |
rawtherapee |
open a RAW file for
editing using own GUI (slightly better results than ufraw) |
brasero | burn a CD or DVD with selected images |
xgamma | used for the Monitor Gamma function (adjust monitor gamma) |
fotoxx-maps |
makes several geographic
maps available for reporting by clicked location |
hugin |
the function PT Panorama
uses the panorama tools utilities packaged with hugin |
g++ | GNU C++ compiler and C libraries |
libgtk3.0-dev | Gnome GTK3 / GDK3 / Pixbuf / etc. function libraries |
libtiff5-dev | tiff library development files |
libpng12-dev | png library development files |
liblcms2-dev | Little CMS development files |
/.../filename.jpg | initial image directory or image file to open | |
-ver | -v |
output release version and exit |
-recent |
-r |
show a gallery of recently seen image files, most recent at the top |
-new |
-n |
show a gallery of the
newest image files (from Index Image Files) |
-prev | -p |
show the last file viewed in the previous session |
-blank |
-b |
show a blank window |
-lang lc_RC |
-l |
language code (+ opt. region code) to use for GUI (de, de_AT, fr ...) |
-menu "func name" | -m |
startup menu function - Fotoxx will start with this function active. |
-noindex |
disable image indexing (see
below for bad
implications). |
|
-cycledesktop ... |
use fotoxx to rotate
desktop background image (see cycle desktop) |
CPU 123% | current Fotoxx CPU load for all threads and processor cores |
MB 1234 |
total free memory,
including the file cache (which can be reallocated to apps) |
2345x1234x8 |
image width x height x depth (bits per color) |
3.45M | image file size (updated when a modified image is saved) |
56% | zoom status, image % size |
edits: 3 | 3 edits have been made and can be reversed with the [undo] button |
area active | a select area is present and enabled - edits are confined within the area |
dialog open | a dialog for user input is open and waiting |
/usr/bin/fotoxx | the executable program file |
/usr/share/fotoxx/* | user guide,
translation.po files, icons, default data, etc. |
/usr/share/doc/fotoxx | change log, man page,
README and other documentation files. |
/usr/share/fotoxx-maps/* |
geographic maps data
files (112 MB) |
/usr/share/doc/fotoxx-maps/* |
change log, man page,
README |
/albums | image albums from
Manage Albums function |
/custom_kernel | saved custom kernel data files |
/favorites | saved data for user-configuration of favorites menu |
/image_index | text files containing searchable metadata for all image files |
/locales | saved translation (.po) files, possibly user-modified |
/mashup | saved mashup project files |
/patterns |
saved background patterns |
/retouch_combo | saved settings for the Retouch Combo function |
/saved_areas | "cutout" files saved from the Select Area > Save dialog |
/saved_curves | curve data saved from Retouch curve edit dialogs |
/slideshows | user preferences from
Slide Show function |
/thumbnails | thumbnail files (default location, user can change this) |
/write_text | image text overlays saved
from Add Text function |
bookmarks | bookmark names and image file locations |
KB-shortcuts | user-defined or modified keyboard shortcuts |
logfile | Fotoxx outputs that may be relevant for diagnosing problems |
mosaic_tiles |
binary file, compressed
tiles from the Mosaic function |
newest files | a list of the 200 most recently added image files |
pagesetup | saves page setup data for print function |
parameters | setup parameters that are saved across Fotoxx sessions |
plugins | saves the plugins menu contents |
printsettings | saves print settings data for print function |
recent_files | a list of the last 100 files opened by Fotoxx, saved when Fotoxx exits |
search_results | list of the last image files found with Search Images |
stuck-pixels |
data saved from the Fix
Stuck Pixels functin |
tags_defined | a list of all categories and tags currently used in all images |
zdialog_inputs | saved dialog data for dialogs that recall prior inputs |
zdialog_positions | saved dialog window positions (relative to main window) |
Metadata section and name | Usage | Indexed |
IPTC Keywords | tags entered by user | yes |
IPTC Rating | "star" rating entered by user | yes |
EXIF ImageSize | pixel width and
height, 1234x2345 |
yes |
EXIF DateTimeOriginal | date / time photo was made, or entered by user | yes |
EXIF ImageHistory | history of image
edits |
no |
EXIF UserComment | comment text entered by user | yes |
IPTC Caption-Abstract | caption or abstract text entered by user | yes |
EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFormat | camera focal length used, 35mm equivalent | no |
EXIF City, Country | city and country from camera GPS, or entered by user | yes |
EXIF GPSLatitude, GPSLongitude | earth coordinates from camera GPS, or entered by user | yes |
Benchmark
Description |
Time |
First time index of
7898 image files |
4.5 min. |
Subsequent startup
with no new image files |
< 1 sec. |
Subsequent
startup, 493 new files to index |
18 secs. |
Find all images
with tag "Rosi" (253 images) |
< 1 sec. |
Find all images
with "Rosi" in file name (111 images) |
< 1 sec. |
Find all images
dated Jan 1 - May 30, 2013 (255 images) |
< 1 sec. |
Find all images
dated in 2013 and
with city = "Freising" (90 images) |
< 1 sec. |
Find all images
dated in 2013 with EXIF "make" = "panasonic" (342 images) |
9 secs. |
Click on world
map, France / Esterel (5 images) |
< 1 sec. |
List all locations
having images with geotags (6714 images) |
< 1 sec. |
Click on location
Germany / Dresden (113 images) |
< 1 sec. |