Release Notes

Version 1.4.11 - July 1, 2020 

We've added the ability to disable 30 bit color mode, and made some minor bugfixes.

• Added a checkbox to preferences: [ ] Use 30 bit color if available. This box can be unchecked to work around an issue where newer Intel display drivers (such as those for the Intel(R) HD Graphics 530) advertise 30 bit color capability even though it does not actually work. This corrects a banded, unusable preview.
• Add the ability in the installer to recognize and install directly into additional modern photo editors.
• Minor library updates to add more robustness in dealing with malformed color profiles.

Version 1.4.10 - May 30, 2020 

• Fixes for fundamental "Editor fails to unload plug-in after use" problems on second and subsequent runs in cases where some non-Photoshop editors don't fully implement the 8BF filter plug-in interface:
• Now the licensing subsystem allows a second run without putting up an error message.
• Cancel during final rendering should always be recognized and not make the progress bar inaccurate.
• Correction of a "no tool appears selected" failure.
• Correction of a "no zoom value is showing" failure.
• Correction of a "no slider icons show" failure.
• Minor C++ code improvements suggested by the latest compiler release.
• Updates to web communications and color management layers.

Version 1.4.9 - February 7, 2020 

• Sending in a problem report securely online is now more reliable on Windows 10.
• The plug-in will now return control more quickly if canceled from the progress dialog.
• Added awareness of Photoshop 2020 and other current editors to the installer.
• Corrected several issues with processing images larger than 1 gigapixel.
• Security updates to web communications layers.

Version 1.4.8 - March 3, 2019 

• Fixed a problem accidentally introduced in the last version that could cause blotchy colors or lines across the image with some display drivers, especially on Windows 7.
• Added a more descriptive message if a user enters a license ID for another product.
• If the user checks the "Don't show me this update again" the choice will be honored under all conditions.
• Removed a repeated network operation, which speeds up startup under some conditions.
• Bugfix to prevent a failure with certain uncommon color profiles.
• Security updates to web communications layers.

Version 1.4.7 - December 7, 2018 

• Fixed clicking on the (?) help icon in the Preferences panel causing selection of the System Theme.
• Made operation more robust and plug-in exit cleaner, with clearer error messages, if RAM is exhausted.
• Corrected an issue where the name of a modified parameter set might not appear in the Settings selector.
• Corrected an issue where a bad or missing color profile could cause a plug-in crash.
• Security updates to web communications layers.

Version 1.4.6 - August 24, 2018 

• Corrected scaling issue and improved appearance of Zoom Buttons and ComboBoxes in the System Theme.
• Correction of dialog scaling issues when System (Enhanced) compatibility settings are enabled.
• Improvements in control positional accuracy at different dialog scales.
• Deletion of a current set of parameters causes Default parameters to be loaded.
• Changed all web links to ProDigitalSoftware.com to use secure https.
• Corrected bug in Fireworks and other editors where the Always Analyze checkbox was unexpectedly showing.
• Corrected a low probability crash if the plug-in is canceled just at the right point during startup.
• Corrected slightly truncated "Check online" message in Installation Activated and Preferences dialogs.
• Corrected checkbox and radio button appearance when Windows 7 "Classic" theme is selected.
• Corrected a failure to update the display properly after a Windows theme change with the plug-in running.
• Corrected a shader compatibility issue in Parallels new version 14 that led to a failure to run.
• Improved error message clarity when the host photo editor reports a RAM shortage.

Version 1.4.1 - July 23, 2018 

• Added a configuration preference you can use to set the user interface to your preferred size.
• Resolves UI problems when used in editors to which Windows 10 DPI compatibility settings are applied.
• Stops PaintShop Pro from moving our plug-in dialog at startup from the screen location you last used it.
• Maintenance and minor bugfixes.

Version 1.3.4 - June 15, 2018 

• Minor user interface bugfixes and updates.
• Scaling changes are now smoother while dragging between monitors with DPI differences on Win 10.

Version 1.3.2 - May 28, 2018 

• Update of the preview display is now more fluid when the dialog is being resized.
• Control-A in a slider edit box to select all text no longer emits a warning sound.
• Symbols in the [-], [+], and [v] controls now size properly when moving the dialog to a different monitor.
• The dialog can now only only be sized up to the max OpenGL texture size, to prevent OpenGL errors.
• A problem where the preview could show black on some ATI GPUs was corrected.
• Selecting a preset that can be represented accurately in Basic mode will switch from Advanced to Basic.

Version 1.3.0 - May 25, 2018 

• Implementation of Windows 10 Per-monitor Scaling v2 support.
• Controls are now a bit more rounded and buttons larger for an easier to use and modernized look.
• Brightened slider handles slightly in the dark UI choices for better visibility.
• Centered the current settings caption in the Settings selector.
• Tweaks to flat derivation algorithm to improve separation of background illumination from diffuse subjects.
• Now handles HDR values in excess of 1.0 in 32 bits/channel input images.
• Update of underlying libraries to improve security.
• EU GDPR compliance changes including descriptions of data usage in various dialogs.
• Update check preference is only available after the plug-in is activated, and is now off until user opts-in.
• "Configure Options" terminology is now "Preferences" for more consistency with editor software.
• Corrected possible display corruption and improved appearance during dialog resizing.
• Corrected an issue where the preview image area border could have been too thick.
• Ensure all tool icons (Hand, Magnifier, etc.) are properly proportioned.
• Dialog now changes focus rectangle thickness when the parameter in the Ease Of Access options is changed.
• Fixed an issue where the focus rectangle could fail to show when the dialog runs across multiple monitors.
• Main dialog now retains keyboard focus on the control that had it when another application became current.
• Corrected some problems where accelerator key indicators and focus rectangles would appear unexpectedly.
• Removed unwanted system warning sound if Return is used to make a Settings selection with the keyboard.
• Changed code to verify OpenGL compliance before requesting activation.
• Now centers the dialog better over the host editor on the first run.
• Manual changes to document updated features including user interface changes.

Version 1.2.21 - April 11, 2018 

• Fixed a problem where running the plug-in could cause Photoshop to drop out of GPU-accelerated mode.
• Slightly faster startup times due to improved OpenGL context management.
• Check for minimum texture unit count to ensure an OpenGL implementation meets minimum requirement.
• Reduction of sequentially displayed error messages in uncommon conditions for a clearer user experience.
• Better control-C/X/V copy/paste handling in Edit boxes.
• Fixed bug causing "Report Plug-in Problem" not to show in the Windows Start Menu on some systems.
• Elimination of preview image display artifacts at high zoom levels when "Display appears smoother".
• Fixed a bug in color-management that could have caused inaccuracy in dark parts of 32 bit images.
• The progress bar during initial image analysis is now a bit more fluid/accurate.
• Minor efficiency improvements and bugfixes throughout.

Version 1.2.16 - February 12, 2018 

• Worked around a problem with an ATI display driver not retaining shader source code for recompilation, resulting in an error message and plug-in abnormal exit.
• Worked around a problem with an ATI display driver version not conforming to the OpenGL specification with regard to error reporting, resulting in a plug-in abnormal exit.
• Corrected a problem where operation a dual Intel/ATI GPU system was being set up for Intel OpenGL operation when the ATI GPU was actually the one that was active.

Version 1.2.15 - January 21, 2018 

• Worked around a customer-reported problem with Intel HD 4000 GPUs where the plug-in would run very slowly, taking literally minutes to do anything.
• Increased OpenGL compatibility and peformance through code refactoring, addition of new shaders, and update of usage hints.
• Increased performance of zooming and scrolling by making code that doesn't need to be executed every preview update cycle conditional.
• Made resizing the plug-in dialog a little smoother / more responsive.
• Made canceling the plug-in more responsive / quicker to complete.
• Fixed a problem where pasting a value into an edit box would cause a "system error" sound to be emitted.
• Reduced the cases where Photoshop emits an extra error message after the plug-in itself pops up messages describing a problem then exits.
• Fixed a low probability bug where the preview display might not update after moving a control rapidly.
• The installer can now be run successfully over a Remote Desktop connection, though running the plug-in over RDP is still subject to OpenGL availability as defined by Windows.
• Added a message describing a way to work around OpenGL difficulties when running the plug-in via RDP.
• Increased robustness of preview display code to prevent errors from being unnoticed and causing incomplete or corrupted displays.
• Fixed a problem where a password could not be pasted into the activation dialog.
• Fixed a low-probability problem where an activation attempt with a valid License ID and Password could fail.
• Installer and communications libraries used under the covers have been updated to include the latest security patches.

Version 1.2.5 - December 23, 2017 

• Corrected a slight inaccuracy in the output image.
• Minor change in the way the plug-in interacts with ATI/AMD display driver implementations.

Version 1.2.3 - December 18, 2017 

• Fixed a bug that could result in a crash of the plug-in while calling a function in an older ATI driver.

Version 1.2.2 - December 17, 2017 

A minor feature enhancement and many bugfixes and reliability improvements:

• Added new [ ] Use Selection checkbox to indicate that a user selection is in force when starting the plug-in.
• Added installer support for latest Photoshop Elements and PaintShop Pro releases.
• Corrected a problem with shader compilation that would lead to a driver incompatibility message.
• Corrected a problem where tabbing between fields would fail and some keys would not be recognized.
• Fixed an issue where the bottom of the plug-in dialog could be hidden behind the Taskbar.
• Corrected stalls seen with some Intel display drivers.
• The plug-in will now detect an internal stall and not lock up Photoshop for a long time.
• Refactoring a lot of internal OpenGL code to improve reliability, compatibility, and performance.
• Corrected a low-probability crash during initial image analysis.
• Corrected the ToolTip wording for the Flat Only checkbox and added a missing ToolTip for the Help icon.
• Added an underscore to the 'E' in "Enhance Preview" when the Alt key is pressed.
• Incomplete read of parameters no longer leaves an unread parameter at 0, but uses default parameter value.
• Libraries and Visual Studio build environment updated for the latest security and reliability enhancements.
• Improved reload detection logic so that if one of our plug-ins fails it won't block our other plug-ins.
• Corrected a small resource leak on exit.
• Some minor help manual corrections and wording updates.

Version 1.1.0 - October 17, 2017 

• Correction of a serious problem that would block the installation on a dual GPU system.
• Code refactoring and upgrade to full Unicode operation to support international character sets.
• Correction of a problem where an unexpected OpenGL failure could cause a freeze.
• Built on the latest Windows SDK and OpenGL libraries.
• This release will allow another evaluation even if an earlier version was installed and the trial period expired.

Version 1.0.5 - October 6, 2017 

• Corrects a failure to install because of extended characters in usernames. Initial installation is more robust.
• Made the use of color profiles more reliable under more different host image editors.
• Color-management operations are 5% to 20% faster; this yields faster plug-in startup with bigger images.
• Some code refactoring to increase efficiency in interacting with the host editor.

Version 1.0.4 - September 25, 2017 

• Corrected a problem where the plug-in would not do proper color-management using the document profile when run under Photoshop CS5.
• Lengthens the BACKGROUND_TASK_TIMEOUT to 30 seconds to accommodate slow GPUs (e.g. Intel with software rendering).
• Removed extra glFinish() calls that caused stalls with some Intel display drivers resulting in failures after pressing [OK].
• Lowered the maximum number of quads to be drawn in one iteration when in compatibility mode from 65536 to 4096 to correct sluggishness with some Intel display drivers.
• Re-factored the system identifiers so that Windows 10 systems with the "Randomize MAC Address" feature enabled won't de-activate the installation.
• OpenGL setup and checking logic is consolidated for installation, normal runs, and the customer support dialog, and the installer can now invoke the problem reporting mechanism if problems are detected.
• Added integrity checking of the records the editor provides to make startup more reliable.
• Removed GPU selection exports added in the last version that didn't help with dual-GPU system installations.
• Added trace and stack walk logging to help diagnose customer-reported problems more quickly.
• Improved 32 bit stack tracebacks for crashes. XMM registers and offsets within functions now shown.
• Now allows a bug report to pop up immediately if there is a crash in a sub-thread.
• Improved processor logging so APIC ID is always shown.

Version 1.0.3 - September 17, 2017 

• An initial attempt is now made to get the display driver to switch to the higher performance GPU on dual GPU systems. This averts installation failures on some laptops.
• Adjustments have been made to the internal OpenGL pixel formats requested to avoid triggering failures in some older display drivers.
• A problem that disallowed operation with the error "This software is not licensed to run on this system" with certain hardware configurations has been corrected.
• Inaccuracies when interacting with the host editor to display the final progress bar after [OK] are corrected.
• For new installs, the license file is now stored in a user profile subfolder per Microsoft's recommendation to avoid disparities in activation status between privilege-escalated and non-escalated runs.
• The plug-in will no longer allow another run without restarting the host editor if there is an unexpected failure during shutdown. This avoids compounding problems and possibly de-stabilizing the user's editor.
• Buffer security checks are added for 32 bit builds to improve robustness and security of operation.
• Improved user-submitted problem reports to better document issues in installation, startup, or shutdown.

Version 1.0.2 - September 1, 2017 

• Reduces the load on the GPU shader compiler in the display driver during startup, to speed the initial display of the main dialog and avert failures in older drivers.
• Adds a workaround that averts a problem with older display drivers that return unaligned buffer pointers for Pixel Buffer Objects.
• Improves logging that can help us diagnose problems when a problem report is sent in.
• Adds previously missing ToolTips for color buttons in the options dialog.

Version 1.0.1 - July 8, 2017 

• Minor bug fixes

Version 1.0.0 - July 3, 2017 

• First public release!