Zerene Stacker Modification History

Improvements in T201110101145

• Added a launch parameter -Dlogging=false , to help debug rare situations in which launch fails without diagnostic.

Improvements in T201110101105

• Added tags in template for naming output images, to make names that contain parameter values for DMap, alignment control, and every N'th frame.

Improvements in T201109192220

• Changed default DMap Settings to be Estimation Radius = 10 and Smoothing Radius = 5, which work better for new users and 10+ megapixel cameras. (The old defaults were Estimation Radius = 5 and and Smoothing Radius = 2.)
• Automatically adjust Smoothing Radius to match Estimation Radius in DMap settings.
• Add Preferences > Preprocessing option to stack every N'th frame.
• Bug fix: prevent two popup dialog windows from getting hidden behind others.
• Bug fix: contrast threshold percentile was remembered as 0 if the slider was never touched.

Improvements in T201109150905

• StackShot: add “prerun distance” to automatically take up backlash in the lead screw when going to start or end, or shooting a stack, even if the exact backlash distance has not been determined.
• Use bracket keys ”[]{}” to adjust image scale when the hand cursor is showing. (This is in pan-tool mode, entered by pressing the spacebar.)
• Bug fix: issue coherent diagnostic if an invalid path is specified when saving an image file.

Improvements in T201108291210

• Bug fix: Macintosh, address UI hang if user has switched desktops (spaces) when ZS pops up a modal dialog.
• Bug fix: avoid inactive retouching brush caused by absence or loss of shift-release event.

Improvements in T201108221250

• Macintosh: do not need to install drivers in /usr/local/lib.

Improvements in T201108220910

• Bug fix: allow special license keys that avoid trial checking, to work around a rare issue accessing the Windows registry.
• Bug fix: eliminate resource leak in zshelper app.
• Bug fix: support Mac OS X 10.7 in selecting StackShot drivers.

Improvements in T201108102145

• Bug fix: diagnose error instead of “unexpected condition” if Watch directory is never specified for Stack New Images.

Improvements in T201108020545

• Bug fix: automatically retry and Use External TIFF Reader for remainder of the current execution, if ImageIO fails to read TIFF due to the Java readBytes memory bug.

Improvements in T201107102045

• StackShot controller: added “robot:” facility to allow generating synthetic mouse and keyboard actions as a way of communicating with another running program, instead of launching an external trigger command.

Improvements in T201107101715

• StackShot controller: work around bug in FTDI 2.8.14 driver causing occasional communication errors.
• Bug fix: if Options > Preferences > Alignment is changed while retouching, then diagnose but don't crash.

Improvements in T201107060120

• StackShot controller:
  • improved robustness to transient communication errors,
  • extended logging of rail control parameters.
• Files rejected during drag-and-drop are now logged.
• Bug fix: memory usage tracking works with >2GB allocation.

Improvements in T201106271925

• Bug fix: avoid “won't brush” condition caused by navigating away from one input file and then back to the same file while shift is held down.

Improvements in T201106252220 (Beta)

• Bug fixes:
  • Remove inadvertent pop-forward-and-steal-keyboard when an output image is completed.
  • Prevent occasional ignoring of keyboard in retouching mode when mouse was held still after a button press.
  • Diagnose source files still missing after user attempts to locate them by browsing
  • Prevent filechooser from descending into previously saved project when two Save Project's are done in the same session.

Improvements in T201106111240 (Beta)

• Save Other > Save Adjusted Input Images added as new capability (Professional Edition only).
• Detect source files moved or deleted since project was created, allow user to locate them by browsing.
• Allow .szj project files to be drag-and-dropped onto Input Files panel.
• File names containing variable-length numbers are now sorted according to Windows convention: img3.jpg before img20.jpg before img100.jpg
• Automatically include 32- or 64-bits mode in Help > Email.
• Bug fixes:
  • Improve diagnostic on incorrect paste to Input Files panel.
  • Improve diagnostics if source image file cannot be read.
  • Improve diagnostic if selected source image for retouching is a different size from image being retouched.
  • Prompt for administrator or power user password when installing from a non-privileged account.

Improvements in T201106061305 (Beta)

• Retouching: added control for screen brightness, allows improved visibility of halos in shadows (pro-only feature).
• Batch mode: added option to allow saving output images to a designated folder without prefixing a source indication to their names.
• Bug fixes:
  • Retouching now allows brushes as small as 1 pixel wide instead of 3 (radius=0 instead of radius=1).
  • Prevent a project from being saved into itself, which would otherwise result in a recursive copy situation.
  • Skip “trial” dialog on pro-only features if pro license is already installed.
  • Improved appearance of labels for pro-only features.

Improvements in T201105292045 (Beta)

• Improved memory management: 64-bit versions now Set Automatically to a maximum of 3000 MB instead of 3/4 of physical memory.
• StackShot interface: added “External trigger command” to allow software triggering of cameras that don't have StackShot-compatible shutters.

Improvements in T201105272030 (Beta)

• First full release of StackShot controller and Stack New function.
• Provide a separate trial period for each Pro function.
• Additions to StackShot driver:
  • Added GUI controls that give better handling of the StackShot interface, especially for users who don't have StackShot.
  • For Macintosh, drivers are now automatically installed.

Improvements in T201104281035 (Beta)

• Additions to StackShot driver
• Extended range of movement to support new 200 mm rail.
• Improved detection and diagnosis of communications errors.
• Added option to log all communications with StackShot.
• Upgraded to FTDI D2XX drivers level 1.0.4 for Macintosh (greatly improved reliability and responsiveness).
• Plugged memory leak in StackShotHelper.
• Bug fixes
  • Fixed problem of S-release being ignored if it occurred while an image was being prepared for retouching. This bug left the output window hung showing source until the “s” key was pressed and released again.
  • Fixed null pointer exception due to errant key/mouseclick directed to scale box when nothing was selected there.
  • Fixed bug causing output images to be read twice instead of just once when switching from one to another.
  • All special characters such as pound sign (#) in the installation directory paths.
  • Corrected appearance of pro-only features in Macintosh menu system.
  • Desktop appearance: changed shortcut icon to 48×48 for crisper appearance on Windows 7.

Improvements in T201103300050 (Beta)

• Changes to main GUI of application:
  • Rearranged File menu to place most frequently used commands first.
  • Added Look & Feel option to control notification, on completion of saving an output image.
  • Professional-only features are now identified in the menu system and become gray for other license types when the trial period has expired. A Look & Feel option is provided to hide these features entirely instead of just turning them gray.
• Additions to StackShot controller GUI
  • New “Back” and “Fwd” buttons work like the corresponding buttons on the StackShot controller box.
  • Fixed-position hotkeys “asdf” correspond to Back (a), Fwd (s), Set Start (d), Set End (f). Left and right arrow keys also work as hotkeys for Fwd and Back once either of those buttons has been pressed.
  • Maximum rail speed and ramp time appear as Device Settings in the configuration menu.
  • “Panic Stop” can be triggered by a button in the GUI, or by pressing spacebar at most times, or by pressing any button on the StackShot controller while the rail is in motion.
  • “High precision” mode is now enabled only when a sufficiently small step size is selected. (Threshold is set by user.)
  • Feedback is provided while a stack is being shot.
  • Step size, number of steps, and all configuration parameters are now retained between sessions.
• Bug fix: avoid exception on extraneous event that touches image scale box

Improvements in T201103291930 (Beta)

• Updated Java Runtime to version 1.6.0_24-b07.
• Clarified licensing terms regarding Personal Edition and organizations.

Improvements in T201101291045 (Beta)

• Bug fix: allow to acquire images with .JPEG extension during Stack New Images.

Improvements in T201012061455 (Beta)

• Added interface to the StackShot automated focus rail and stepper motor controller (Professional Edition only).
• Added “Stack New Images (PMax)” capability, to acquire and stack simultaneously (Professional Edition only).
• Changed initialization of Stereo Preview to automatically load images based on the output image list selection(s).
• Added look-and-feel option to automatically maximize on Stereo Preview and set back to normal on exit.
• Added support for Instructional Lab Edition licenses.
• Added ability to save a copy of DMap source images with unused pixels blanked out = made white. (Professional Edition only)
• Added menu entry to set over/under layout.

Improvements in T201009091815 (Beta)

• Now display any special license terms in the splash screen.
• Bug fix: eliminated certain timing dependent exceptions in retouching due to unusual brush movements.

Improvements in T201008081620

• Reworked retouching for improved performance on some computers that previously misbehaved when display hardware acceleration was set too high.
• Added Preferences > Look & Feel option to control beeping when mouse or keyboard actions are ignored due to click-ahead prevention.
• While retouching, “busy” status is now indicated by changing the brush color to gray in addition to enabling the operating system's “wait” cursor.
• Error logs are now written automatically even if the application hangs so severely that it cannot be exited normally.
• Bug fix: add warning dialog if application is closed while retouching is active.
• Bug fix: Click-ahead while retouching is now prevented for keystrokes as well as mouse actions.
• Bug fix: eliminated timing dependent exceptions in retouching due to navigating with shift-drag.
• Bug fix: corrected obsolete version numbers in Help > About and Macintosh pinfo.

Improvements in T201004151335

• Console logs are now saved on exit, as either LastNormalLog.txt or ErrorLog<timestamp>.txt in the application data directory.
• Added extended diagnostics around strange exception in retouching (MaskMergePyramidsManager).
• Added name and version of operating system to emails generated by Help > Email Zerene Systems.
• Improved error checking for batch mode save images and projects.
• Bug fix: extended trial “from first use” licenses can now be installed by users.
• Bug fix: retouching brush now remains active if 'shift' is pressed when using output image as source.
• Bug fix: “Expired Trial” watermarks are now removed immediately when a valid license is installed, rather than requiring exit and relaunch.

Improvements in T201002141655

• Bug fix: remove a superfluous warning, introduced in T201002062230, that prevented unattended operation in batch mode if projects were being saved.
• Bug fix: fix exception in retouching, if performed in a project that had been closed and re-opened with no further stacking operation and the output name template used the mininp/maxinp pattern.

Improvements in T201002062230

• Bug fix: potentially catastrophic replication of files and/or deletion of existing project data if the “in specified directory” location for new projects was the same as a parent of the Save As directory for old projects.
• Bug fix: avoid popping source window to front on each new source file selection.
• Improved registration for some stacks requiring significant brightness correction.
• Bug fix: add warning dialog if application is closed while an operation is in progress.
• Bug fix: avoid null pointer exception when retouching with an expired trial licence.
• Bug fix: in output image name templates, some instances of mininp with ”:charpos” were being ignored.

Improvements in T201001201425

• Image display windows now automatically resize when the main application window is resized.

• Two new Look & Feel preferences have been added. One of them is to automatically restore the default layout whenever a project is created or opened. The other is to automatically set display scale for the source and output windows so that full images are shown until you explicitly select another scale. These options are turned on by default. To get the old behavior, you must explicitly turn them off by unchecking the boxes in Options > Preferences > Look & Feel.

• New projects are silently placed in the application default directory if they are specified to go with source images but that location cannot be written.

• Improved diagnostics if there are unexpected problems in new project placement.

• Bug fix: New Folder button now works in filechooser dialogs.

• Bug fix: screen preview images are now updated correctly if preprocessing scale is changed after the stack has been processed.

Improvements in T200912272255 (Version 1.02)

• Options > Preferences now allows to save and load preferences.

• Batch scripts can now be saved and loaded.

• When a directory or zip archive is loaded that contains a file named “ZereneBatch.xml”, that file is automatically executed as a batch script.

• Command line arguments have been added to:
  • suppress the usual splash screen,
  • run with the GUI minimized,
  • force execution of a specified batch script,
  • automatically exit on completion of a batch script. These arguments and program-generated batch files provide a basic API (application programming interface) that allows other programs to launch and control Zerene Stacker, essentially using it to extend their own operations.

• Order of processing (front to back, back to front) is now automatically determined to avoid “streaky edges”.

• Image pre-sizing and pre-rotation can now be changed when a project is open.

• Rules for generating output image names can now be specified by flexible templates for selecting and rearranging timestamp, method, source image names, output sequence numbers, and user-provided text.

• When a project that contains multiple output images is opened, now none of them is selected automatically. This avoids unnecessary delay, particularly with large images.

• Configuration is not saved if exit is forced while operation is in progress.

• The amount of physical memory can now be provided by hand, even it was determined automatically. This allows manual correction of the rare case where an incorrect value is determined by the automatic process.

• In batch mode, output image disposition can now be set independently for each task to be performed.

• Tooltips have been added for Options > Preferences > Image Saving.

• Clickable links are now supported in update notifications.

• Priority of computational threads is reduced one more notch to improve responsiveness of interactive programs running at the same time.

• Batch tweak: output images disposed as “Save in source folders”, will be placed with the first source image if the operation is specified as applying to ”%CurrentProject%”.

• Bug fix: when retouching, pressing the shift key now does not clear the selection of an output image as source, unless the cursor is dragged.

• Bug fix: properly handle scale change on new project in batch.

• Bug fix: clear output window when project closed.

• Bug fix: parameters were not always saved properly after “Reset to default”.

• Bug fix: incorrect version was shown by Mac OS X system menu.

Improvements in T200911231310:

• Image files can be read directly from .zip archives.

• Drag-and-drop now accepts directories and .zip archives. For ordinary directories, all images in the directory itself are added, but not any in subdirectories. For zip archives, images one level down are added also. (This convention means that the same files are accessed in an ordinary directory of images as when the .zip archive is created by Windows using “Send <folder> to Compressed (zipped) Folder”.)

• More robust memory management: allows working with larger images near the limits of available memory.

• Updated to the most recent version of Sun JVM.

• Increased default alignment limits to 20% to allow proper handling of more cases especially for handheld stacks.

• Added a “Reset to Default” button for alignment limits.

• UI tweak: “Abort” button changed to say “Cancel”.

• Bug fix: ignore “non-breaking space” injected into license keys during certain email transfers.

• Bug fix: avoid hang in certain rare cases where alignment limits are exceeded.

• Bug fix: on Windows 7, filechooser icons are no longer missing.

• Bug fix: on Windows 7, the Abort button now looks like a button.

• Bug fix: in batch mode, properly diagnose source directories that cannot be read or that do not contain at least two image files.

• Bug fix: remove confusing entry from list of zoom factors.

T200909262115 was the first release of version 1.0, marking the end of the public beta period.

Improvements included:

• Change default license key to be 30-days-from-first-use free trial.

• Automatically stop stereo previewing when project is closed.

• On Macintosh, give proper instructions if browser cannot be opened to download a new version.

• Bug fix: when retouching, completely reset edit mask on source file changes to avoid accumulating brush effects on nearby edits.

• Bug fix: properly handle non-ASCII characters in license keys.

Improvements in T200909130840:

• A new option has been added for handling TIFF files: Options > Preferences > Preprocessing > Use External TIFF Reader. This option is now used by default on Intel Macintosh computers, where it fixes the problem that many kinds of TIFF files used to be very slow to read (minutes per image). Well-behaved TIFF files will read somewhat more slowly with this option selected, so if you were previously getting good results with TIFF on Macintosh, you may prefer to de-select the new option.

• Gray-scale images are now supported.

• Added time-from-start stamps to each line of console log.

• Batch mode is included with Student licenses.

• Added Cancel option if new project cannot be created where specified by Options > Preferences.

• When selecting image files using the mousewheel, each selection event is now shown immediately instead of only when input stops.

• Stereo/rocking selection is now turned off when Zerene Stacker is launched. It is also turned off in saved projects.

• “Paste from clipboard” button is provided in registration dialog.

• License key validation can now handle lines being merged due to email reformatting.

• Bug fix: avoid rare silent hang in brightness correction.

• Bug fix: correctly handle pre-rotation in filechooser preview images.

• Bug fix: in batch mode, “Save in project folders” now creates the SavedImages directory if required.

• Bug fix: in batch mode, folders of image files can now contain subfolders and Zerene Stacker projects.

• Bug fix: menu entries for retouching and stereo operations are now interlocked to avoid conflicting selections.

• Bug fix: File > Close Project now clears output window in all cases.

• Bug fix: Mac version now does not truncate leading digits of zoom factor.

• Bug fix: removed spurious sequence number from the names of retouched image files.

Improvements in T200908150945:

• Run heavy computations at reduced priority, for better responsiveness on multi-function systems.

• Much faster retouching brush with large images.

• Changed appearance of “unable to check for updates” popup dialog from error to informational.

• Updated license terms to cover purchased licenses.

• Bug fix: avoid bogus popup diagnostics caused by “s” and ” ” getting directed to scale boxes during retouching.

• Bug fix: changes to presizing were sometimes not honored until next program execution.

Improvements in T200907311550:

• Added menu entry to run both PMax and DMap in a single command.

• Multiple output images can now be written to image files in a single step.

• Stacks can now be synthetically skewed by a few degrees before stacking. This can be used to generate stereo pairs from a single stack, or to create a sequence of frames to make a “rocking” animation, or both.

• Added stereo preview tool to pick best two frames from a skew sequence.

• Added “Make Stereo Pair(s)” tool to construct side-by-side stereo pair images.

• Images can now be pre-rotated as well as pre-sized. This is particularly useful when generating stereo pairs from images shot in vertical format.

• Improved speed when not pre-sizing.

• Reduced memory requirement when aligning and stacking in one pass.

• Reduced memory requirement even farther when aligning and stacking as separate operations.

• Improved reliability when short on memory.

• Produce diagnostic popup when drag-and-drop fails to add a file because the file is not an acceptable image type.

• Report detailed diagnostic when drag-and-drop fails to add a file because of some unexpected problem.

• Convenience tweak: automatically select the output window when it is popped to front.

• Changed filechooser labeling to clarify that “raw” image files cannot be handled directly.

• Progress bar and hourglass now shows when adding files.

• Drag-and-drop to input files list now works on Linux and Macintosh.

• Options > Preferences > Memory Usage now works on Linux.

• Added name of licensed user to title bar.

• Linux 32-bit and 64-bit for Intel and compatible processors are now standard build versions.

• Bug fix: physical memory size is now detected on Mac OS X 10.4.

• Bug fix: in Macintosh native look-and-feel, files that are not acceptable image types can no longer be selected for additions.

• Bug fix: in Preferences > Color Management, changes to the profile selection were sometimes not saved.

• Bug fix: Linux version now accepts drag-and-drop.

Improvements in T200907112235 include:

• The user can now specify pre-scaling of images before stacking. See Options > Preferences > Preprocessing.

• Options > Preferences > Memory Usage is now used to specify memory allocation. This replaces manual editing of the file 'zerenstk.ini' (Windows) or Info.plist (Macintosh), as required in previous versions.

• Macintosh version is extended to run in 64-bit mode on systems that support 64-bit Java. (This includes Intel Core 2 Duo and higher, but not Intel Core Duo and lower.)

• Placement of the zerenstk.cfg configuration file has been modified so that program settings are specific to the individual user and will be retained across future updates. On Windows, it is now consistently placed in %appdata%\ZereneStacker, even if the program is installed to someplace other than Program Files. For this update only, advanced Windows users who installed Zerene Stacker in a writeable directory may wish to copy or move zerenstk.cfg from that directory into the new location, %appdata%\ZereneStacker\zerenstk.cfg On Macintosh, it now resides in the user's Library/Preferences directory. For this update only, advanced Macintosh users may want to copy or move zerenstk.cfg from their current Zerene Stacker application bundle: ZereneStacker.app/Contents/Resources/Java/zerenstk.cfg into the new location: ~/Library/Preferences/ZereneStacker/zerenstk.cfg

• On Windows, the launcher is now much more robust. It now automatically falls back to “safe mode” if the current parameters do not give a successful launch. This prevents undiagnosed failures when more memory is specified than can be obtained.

• On Windows, an explicit ”(Safe Mode)” icon is now provided. This icon launches the program with a very conservative memory allocation. It also ignores any window location and size that may have been left over from a previous execution. This icon provides a simple method to recover from unusual conditions such as memory settings or changes in monitor placement that would otherwise prevent launching or would place the Zerene Stacker window where it could not be seen.

• Added explanatory tooltip to “Show as adjusted” checkbox.

• Added registration dialog for entering a license key.

• Expired versions now fall back to “expired trial” mode rather than refusing to run.

• Changed the default directory for unsaved new projects to be within java.io.tmpdir, which is the standard temporary directory for each computer. On Windows, this is typically “C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temp\ZereneStacker”. On Macintosh, it is typically ”/private/tmp/ZereneStacker”.

• Replaced the icon with a more colorful version. (The current icon is the distinctive wing pattern of Zerene eurydice, the California Dogface butterfly.)

• Added diagnostic if saving over an old project will cause any files not created by Zerene Stacker to be removed.

• Bug fix: on Macintosh, main menu bar would sometimes disappear and not return, when smaller dialog windows were opened and closed.

• Bug fix: projects could not be saved sometimes if this would require copying files from one device to another.

• Bug fix: scrollbars would not appear sometimes until scale factor was changed.

• Bug fix: encountering too many errors would make it impossible to close the error notification window.

Improvements in T200905191912

• Added mouse and key logging in the retouching manager, controlled by RetouchingManager.LogEvents=true in the zerenstk.cfg file.

Improvements in T200905131155

• Versions are now available for the following platforms:
  • Windows 32-bit
  • Windows 64-bit (using the native 64-bit JVM)
  • Mac OS X Tiger (PowerPC and Intel)
  • Mac OS X Leopard (PowerPC and Intel)

• A user interface is now provided to show the amount of memory allocated for Zerene Stacker. However, to *adjust* this setting still requires manual editing of a configuration file, outside of the Zerene Stacker interface. Removing the manual editing step is a high priority for the next release.

• Images too large to be processed are now diagnosed, and can be automatically pre-sized (shrunk) to process in available memory.

• Insufficient physical memory to run efficiently is now diagnosed.

• A user interface is provided to specify or override the amount of physical RAM available on the computer, if it cannot be determined automatically.

• Bug fix: when the DMap contrast threshold dialog is shown, the main window is also made visible if necessary. (Previously the main window would remain invisible if it happened to be minimized.)

• Bug fix: on Macintosh, command-Q and Quit from the Applications menu are now handled correctly.

Improvements in T200904161830

• Retouching now allows certain keystrokes to be used as an alternative to mousewheel rotation. To make the brush larger or smaller, you can use ”[” or ”]”. To navigate through the list of input files, you can hold down Shift and use up- or down-arrow.

• There is a new Look-and-Feel option to control whether preview images and certain controls are included in the file chooser windows for adding and saving images, or are presented as separate windows. This option is primarily for cross-platform compatibility, which is being prepared for release soon. The defaults adjust to the platform type so that file choosers present a natural appearance on both Windows and Macintosh.

• Automatically adapts to memory size of the computer. This avoids excess paging when running in smaller computers such as 1 GB. It also allows processing larger images than the previous version, on 2 GB machines.

• Alignment is more robust when working with small images.

• Compatibility: code base now compiles and runs against Java 5 (for Mac OS X Tiger).

• Bug fix: previous alignments are now discarded when an input image is removed.

• Bug fix: removed one cause of a red exception and hang while retouching.

Build T200904032045 was the first public beta release.