What would you want in a GraphicConverter Lite?

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JamesInSanDiego
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What would you want in a GraphicConverter Lite?

Post by JamesInSanDiego »

A while back I asked if a Lite version of GraphicConverter was ever considered. Gold47 suggested a switch within GraphicConverter where the user could choose a Basic version or a Expert version. Thorsten wrote that this could be done, with some effort of course, but he would have no idea which features would be turned off in a Basic version. So I thought I would take it upon myself to do some research and collect your thoughts and collate them then present them to Thorsten at some future point for a Basic version of GraphicConverter. It is entirely possible we will discover it can't be done too.

So which features could you go without in a Basic version of GraphicConverter and which would have to be there?

How about anyone/everyone responding with the ten features you couldn’t go without in a day to day version of GraphicConverter?
How about anyone/everyone responding with the ten features you wouldn’t need in a day to day version of GraphicConverter?

You can respond here with your lists or if you want you can send me a message. Either way, I bet with all your responses we could come up with a list for a Basic version of GraphicConverter.
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Re: What would you want in a GraphicConverter Lite?

Post by forum_adm »

Thanks. That would help much.
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John Hill
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Re: What would you want in a GraphicConverter Lite?

Post by John Hill »

IMHO the whole concept of a “Graphic Converter Lite” is fundamentally unsound.

Firstly, how are the “Expert” features to be turned off? By software switches? This will serve only to make the whole package bigger and more complicated, with attendant risk of introducing bugs. Or by excising them, which would leave Thorsten with the problem of maintaining two separate versions (and applying updates to the shared parts in parallel - twice the work)?

Secondly, what is to be gained? I use maybe 10% of the features of GC, and do not claim to understand more than about another 10%. But the rest does not obtrude, or attempt to do things for me that I have not asked for, unlike a lot of modern software (no names, no pack-drill). Features are there if I should want them and do not bother me if I don’t. I have never heard anyone suggest Lite versions of Word or Excel, but there was a lot of grumbling when features that used to be in Pages were dropped.

Thirdly, how is Thorsten to market a Lite version? At a reduced cost? This would involve him in greater work for a reduced income. Graphic Converter is already pretty cheap as compared with other graphics applications, and is constantly being upgraded and improved - often (and very promptly) in response to requests and suggestions on this Forum. And, let’s face it, pretty well everyone reading this thread will have already paid for it, most of us to the current release version. We are hardly likely to pay for a Lite version, at least until the next major update.

I am not denigrating your attempt to find out what people find most useful and what they would cheerfully dispense with; it will be very interesting to see the results of your survey. I merely question the need for two versions, and would be interested to hear comments on that proposition.

John Hill.
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JamesInSanDiego
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Re: What would you want in a GraphicConverter Lite?

Post by JamesInSanDiego »

Last August 11th, I posted a question regarding a Lite version of GraphicConverter and Thorsten replied:
Re: How about a GraphicConverter Lite?
Post by forum_adm » Fri Aug 11, 2017 4:22 am

Hi,

it would not be very difficult to hide some features.
But now the big question:
- which features should be active in the basic mode?

Thorsten
I appreciate your posting but you have suggested problems which wouldn’t happen. I imagine that a switch would be built into the GC Preferences where the user can choose which mode he/she would like to work in just like there is a regular and simple version of Apple's Finder. The user would select using that one switch which mode they wanted to work in. There wouldn’t be multiple programs so upkeep and marketing wouldn’t be issues.

I wonder how many people have downloaded GC, tried it out and found it more complex than they wanted or needed. Perhaps offering a basic mode would be additional new users (more income) who would otherwise be turned away from the complexity of GC. That is exactly what has happened with nearly every Microsoft program. There are so many features that it has become way to complicated (and incredibly expensive) for a basic user. I used to teach the Microsoft software in a high school Computer Science course but I never used it myself. For years I used Bean because it had all the features I needed and they were presented in a clean uncluttered way and I found I could get my work done quicker. Oh, and it was free. Eventually Bean was not supported anymore so I switched to Apple's Pages. But now I have found out that Bean is back and available for High Sierra. Hmm, maybe I will switch back. Honestly, I doubt I will switch again since I am now comfortable with Pages.

So Thorsten said it wouldn’t be difficult to hide some features but didn’t know what to keep or hide. Even today he replied here saying, "Thanks. That would help much." Attempting to answer his question is the purpose of this discussion.
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Re: What would you want in a GraphicConverter Lite?

Post by macfoto »

I can see that with GraphicConverter doing so much could overwhelm someone, especially someone that is just beginning with digital photography, that a basic mode might help. The "Effect" menu is quite long and has some items that look quite specialized that could be hidden.

I would also suggest, though probably something you do as much as you can, is keep the manual up to date. For instance, I was just wanting to figure out the new B&W feature in 10.5.1 and wasn't knowing how that works. I found the filter, but it is greyed out so it would be good if those things are explained.
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Hagen Henke
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Re: What would you want in a GraphicConverter Lite?

Post by Hagen Henke »

Hello,

sorry the manual was not done when the 10.5.1 of GC was released. Here is my text that should help understanding the new Deep Data background and the functions in GC. If you find mistakes in my text or want to suggest improvements feel free to email me at: hagen.henke@gmx.de.

New in GraphicConverter 10.5.1
Pictures in HEIC format can contain Deep Data. These informations are used by different functions in GraphicConverter. Deep Data describe which parts of a picture were how far from the camera when the picture was taken. In the iPhone 7 Plus and newer iPhones these data are generated as these iPhones have two lenses and thereby can record the space three-dimensionally. In iPhones these data are used particularly to make the background of portraits blurry.

This effect is popular with photographers as the background does not disatract from the foreground. Unfortunately this effect does not always function properly as the space cannot be recorded perfectly by two lenses closely bound together. Photographers create background blur without tricks but use the low depth of field of large appertures like 2.8 or lower values combined with using focal lenght of about 100 mm or more (telephoto). Therefor a full frame camera is needed as cameras with crop sensors have a far grater deapth of field.

If you want to see the Deep Data you can open a HEIC-Picture and display the Deep Data with Show Depth Data in New Window from the context menu you open over the opened picture. A new window with a greyscale picture opens. Objects in the foreground are displayed white or very bright, objects in the background are displayed black or very dark. Please note not all HEIC pictures contain Deep Data. If the Deep Data is missing the functions for Deep Data are not available and appear disabled.

With Picture / Alpha Channel / Create from Deep Data you can mark the background in the alpha channel to use this mask to crop the foreground.

With Filter / Depth Blur you can blur the background if this has not been done in the iPhone or you can change the effect. A dialog opens in which you can select the amount of blur.

Filter / Depth Black&White allows you to decolorize the background. A dialog opens in which you can reduce the saturation of the background continously.

Deleting of extended attributes (XAttr) is available in the context menu and now in the service menu of the Mac OS too.

GraphicConverter creates a backup of the preferences file and checks the preferences file when launching. If the file is corrupted a dialog opens. You can choose to create a new preferences file or to replace the corrupted file with a backup.

With Effect / Inverse Fisheye you can descew pictures taken with a wide angle lens, for example, from an action camera. You will need to crop the picture afterwards.
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Re: What would you want in a GraphicConverter Lite?

Post by macfoto »

Thanks for the reply. I don't have a phone supporting that, but it is good to know.
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Re: What would you want in a GraphicConverter Lite?

Post by forum_adm »

GraphicConverter 10.5.3 can convert HEIC files to i.e. JPGs on 10.9 or later.
The conversion keeps als metadata: Exif, XMP and ICC (color profile).
It can complete a complete folder as batch action with a few clicks.
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