Colormancer Documentation
Please note that updated and more extensive documentation can be found online
at http://colormancer.com/support/colormancer/manual.htm
Installation Instructions
Mac OS X |
Windows |
-
Download the .zip archive.
-
Unzip/un-archive the file. If your computer cannot do this, download
and install a free version of Stuffit
Expander to do this.
- Double-click the "mac" folder.
-
Move the plug-in (the file with the .plugin extension) into your
Photoshop Plugins folder. The Plugins folder should be found under
something similar to Applications --> Adobe Photoshop CS3 -->
Plug-ins
-
Delete any old plug-in versions in your Photoshop Plugins folders.
-
Quit and relaunch Photoshop if it's already running.
-
In Photoshop, the plug-in will be found under Filter --> Colormancer
|
-
Download the .zip archive.
-
Unzip/un-archive the file. If your computer cannot do this, you may
need to download and install a free version of WinZip
or WinRar.
- Double-click the "windows" folder.
-
Move the plug-in (the file with the .8bf extension) into your Photoshop
Plugins folder. The Plugins folder should be found under something
similar to
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS3\Plug-Ins\
-
Delete any old plug-in versions in your Photoshop Plugins folders.
-
Quit and relaunch Photoshop if it's already running.
-
In Photoshop, the plug-in will be found under Filter --> Colormancer
|
System requirements
Mac:
- Adobe Photoshop CS3
- OS X 10.4.0 or higher
- PowerPC or Intel processor (the plug-in is a Universal binary that works
on both platforms)
Windows:
- Adobe Photoshop CS, Photoshop Elements 2 or higher
- Windows XP/Vista
Quick Start
- The three most useful controls are Contrast, Brightness,
and Saturation.
Most images will benefit from a boost in Contrast, usually
in the range of around 6 to 14. As with all the controls, you can drag the
slider around to adjust the setting to taste.
Some (but not all) images will benefit from an adjustment to Brightness.
Decreasing brightness can make an image darker and moodier while increasing
brightness can help flatten out shadows. Be aware that adjusting Brightness
will have an effect on perceived contrast. To compensate, increase the Contrast
setting when increasing Brightness and vice versa.
The Saturation control does what its name suggests. Adjust
it to taste.
- The Reset button will reset all controls to their default
neutral positions. This can be helpful when starting with a new image.
- Use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out of the proxy (preview
area). Click and drag the proxy area to move around in it.
- The other controls (Brightness/Contrast Adjust, Luminance
Compensation, and the Luminance coefficients for
red, green, and blue) change the effect of brightness, contrast, and saturation.
In many cases, their effect is quite subtle so these controls can be ignored.
- Note that Colormancer can be used as a Smart Filter (*Photoshop CS3 required).
It can also be combined with other filters such as Shadow/Highlight to recover
any shadow detail that may be crushed when enhancing contrast.
That's all you need to know to get started!
Controls In-depth
Brightness: This changes overall brightness of the image
similar to the effect of the Midtones slider in Photoshop's Levels adjustment.
Contrast: This increases contrast in the image by applying
a s-shaped curve to the image. This is equivalent to using a s-shaped
curve in Photoshop's Curves adjustment.
Brightness/Contrast Adjust: This control changes the
Brightness and Contrast algorithms and alters their effect. Higher values
tend to make the image appear more pastel. Lower values will make saturated
colors darker. This value does nothing if both brightness and contrast
are at neutral positions.
Saturation: Higher values increase saturation. Saturation
is never increased in a way that would cause clipping. Each pixel is evaluated
individually. Negative numbers can be used to create negative saturation.
Luminance compensation: This control changes the saturation
algorithm. If set to 0, luminance compensation will be disabled. Without
this, increasing saturation will increase the luminance of saturated colors,
making them brighter than they should be. The default setting (1.0) will
maintain constant luminance so that saturation adjustments do not affect
luminance at all.
Luminance coefficients: These are the co-efficients, or weightings,
used to calculate luminance. Changing these settings will adjust the weight
given to each color in the saturation algorithm. In most cases the effect is
subtle and you do not need to adjust these parameters.
Show original: Toggle this button to see the image without
any effect applied.
Support
For technical support, please visit http://www.colormancer.com/support/